Woman Receives ODD Phone Call From Dept. of Employment Security…What is Going on HERE

Receives

A Springfield, Illinois woman who has waited several weeks for a callback from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) finally got her wish, but it didn’t turn out the way she wanted it to. Needless to say, Leah Cheistder is livid after she receives the following message:

“Yeah, I don’t really know what you’re calling about…Umm six, six, that’s just freakin’ weird…well, Okay, have a good day.”

Cheistder is looking for answers regarding this horribly rude phone call.

Ms. Cheistder is having a difficult time paying her bills because of the IDE bureaucracy not being able to get their act together. Indeed, she was actually doing the dishes in her Illinois home and she missed her call back, but she had been on hold for at least twelve days, from September 24th to October 6th.

“Then, I saw that there had been a voicemail, and I was like, “A voicemail? Really? I thought they had only called once, so I’d better check it’, and so I did,” Cheistder recounted.

Needless to say, she was fairly taken aback by the first 15 seconds of the voicemail, and things only went from bad to worse:

“Hello, this is the Illinois Department of Employment Security, commonly referred to as the IDES. Uhhhh, well Leah, it looks like you gave us a call and then you got a call back. I’m really not sure why, so let’s see what’s going on.”

To top it all off, after that somewhat cavalier and lackadaisical message, then this Ms. Chiestdter heard this alleged IDES employee yawn as loudly as possible.

“I really felt insulted,” Ms. Chiesdter said. “These people are responsible for basically aiding in the worst unemployment of our times, and I just don’t feel like they were taking it very seriously or even being very professional about it.”

The voicemail closed with the employee’s “freakin’ weird” comment, and Chiesdter couldn’t help but wonder if she was the only one that this was happening to. Chiesdter said this was her chance to get her issues resolved, but now she has no choice but to go back to the end of the line, start all over again, and hope against hope that she can find someone with a bit more compassion next time.

IDES Acting Director Kristin Richards put out a statement regarding this incident:

“This type of behavior is unacceptable and beyond the pale. We expect that our employees will always give their very best when they represent the Illinois Department of Employment Security, and all of our claimants deserve that kind of service.

Department employees are going to be reminded that this type of behavior is unprofessional and inexcusable. Someone who receives this type of treatment is going to feel terrible. We are taking this matter very seriously and are looking at all necessary disciplinary actions.”

IDES officials did not name the employee, but they did say that this individual is most likely a year-round, regular employee and not one of the 500 temporary employees that Governor J.B. Pritzker had hired to field calls and keep up with the demand.

What do YOU think about the terribly unprofessional conduct of this IDES employee and the horrible treatment that this woman receives?

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