Be prepared for everything to take a long time; longer than you believe possible.
There's nobody working in the SS office; everybody is working remotely. If you send a request to the SS office, it has to be scanned electronically and then wait for somebody to pick up the request.
If your request can be processed online, try that first. Be careful when logging in that you don't make too many mistakes entering your password. If your online account gets locked, you'll have to request a reset. This can only be done by calling in to the office and waiting on the phone queue. The reset will be done by sending you a reset code via USPS. This willl take three weeks. When you log in there's always a code that will be sent to your phone or e-mail. This will happen every time you log in. This is the most likely time to make a mistake and get your account locked.
Anything that's not a common request is not likely to be automated, so you will have to call in to the SS office and wait on a phone queue.
If you're on hold more than 30 minutes, the system will automatically drop your call; You'll have to call in again. Be persistent.
If you get somebody to answer your call, get their name and their extension. It's very important that you do this every time because the next time you call in, you're likely to be talking to a different person who will not take ownership for whatever the previous person told you. They'll ask you who you talked to before and if you can't tell them, might as well resign yourself to start all over again.
Try to call the same person that answered your call before, using their phone extension. You will likely end up talking to their voice mail recorder. Keep trying. Keep a written record of every call you make and whether it was answered or not.
Don't expect the SS staff to be particularly well trained on anything. You will likely have to educate them about the nuances of your case.
If they tell you that they processed your request and nothing happens, you'll have to wait at least 2 weeks before you can complain. In fact, if you submit a form, it will take them two weeks to process it, not counting the time it takes to mail the request to them, or the time it takes them to scan it in.
In my particular case, I had to request to dis-enroll from medicare part A because it conflicts with using a Health Savings Account (HSA) and there are IRS penalties if you have both at the same time (you would not believe how many times I had to explain this to the SS staff who are unaware of the rules and don't understand why you would want to dis-enroll from a service that is free). It took six months for me to finally get this procedure to go through and it involved technical specialists and supervisors to get it to happen.
Good luck!
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