Claiming Dine and Discover vouchers is no simple matter.
I decided to apply online – I filled in all the details using my Medicare and health care cards as these were two of the choices.
Both were verified so I thought I was ‘home and hosed’. Not so. Nothing happened, so I did it all again but kept getting a message that the details were verified.
After many more attempts and then trying my birth certificate, I decided to be game and tried chat.
What an experience that was, to say the least.
I explained what the problem was but kept being told to make sure I had filled in all the details correctly, which I said I had.
Not sure how many times I was given these instructions.
When I said I had tried my birth certificate to no avail, the person to whom I was chatting couldn’t understand what I meant when I said naturally the details weren’t correct as I had changed my name on marriage.
She gave up on me and suggested chatting with a Service NSW specialist.
This I did for some time, also to no avail.
Eventually I was told to go to a NSW Service centre and show my Medicare card and a utilities bill.
I’d had enough by this time and when I was asked if I wanted to leave any comments, I decided against doing so.
Back to the service site for one more try – used my out-of-date passport, and low and behold, I now have my vouchers.
Not sure that I want to try for Carl’s as I can’t use the same email address as mine and he doesn’t have one.
I wonder how many people are missing out on these vouchers for similar reasons?
Thalia Phelps, Rowena
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