Andrew Simpkin did not give me any help

[LaoMao]

Yes, You are correct. He said "this is not my job" when I called this morning to ask the case status .  

Lao Mao, Woh whey shaw ediar pootungwah!!!!! Ni whey shaw Engui ma?

:lol:You makde an big progress. I can understand your "pu tong hua". Woh bu whey shaw Engui.

hey, how come u guys' pu tong hua is so strange? Hard to understand it.

Jennifer,

 

We should encourage people to speak "pu tong hua" even he couldn't talk perfectly.

[Guest jennifer_lam]

LaoMao, I thought it was Cat (Mao) family's language. haha...

well. I should learn some of those Putonghua. Otherwise, hard to communicate with u guys. hehe...

[Guest R2D2]

LaoMao, I thought it was Cat (Mao) family's language. haha...

well. I should learn some of those Putonghua. Otherwise, hard to communicate with u guys. hehe...

Wah Shu Meigoren!!

[Robert S.]

hey, how come u guys' pu tong hua is so strange? Hard to understand it.

Jennifer,

 

He is using the style of a Chinese course he is taking. This company has a course of study that they sell. Their method of changing Chinese to write it in English is apparently very very different from pin yin. Pin yin is not easy for English speaking people because pin yin changes the way a letter would sound in English. The course he is taking is trying to imitate the sound of Chinese while using the English letters which would be closer to the sound than either pin yin or the old Wade-Giles method of transliterating Chinese. Since Chinese people study pin yin in school it is easy for them to read it, but pin yin is difficult for English speakers because the words do not look like the way they are supposed to sound.

 

- Robert

[Guest jennifer_lam]

Robert, thanks for explaining to me! And I am getting used to read that kind of Putonghua.

Oh...I finnaly understand "Wah Shu Meigoren" means" I am American".

"Woh whey shaw ediar pootungwah" means " I can speak a little PutongHua". and "Ni whey shaw Engui ma" means "Can u speak English?"

Am I right? Wow! it really took me a long time to find out what it means. hehe.... Really funny!!

I always like my honey call me "Lo Po Jai" in Contonese. Make me so sweet.

[Guest R2D2]

Robert, thanks for explaining to me! And I am getting used to read that kind of Putonghua.

Oh...I finnaly understand "Wah Shu Meigoren" means" I am American".

"Woh whey shaw ediar pootungwah" means " I can speak a little PutongHua". and "Ni whey shaw Engui ma" means "Can u speak English?"

Am I right? Wow! it really took me a long time to find out what it means. hehe....   Really funny!!

I always like my honey call me "Lo Po Jai" in Contonese. Make me so sweet.

     

U are learning Pootungwah!!!!!

[JonInDenver]

as don said above, and as mick and i have discussed...

 

remember "greg" from the helpline back in early december? he was the only guy who would do whatever he could to get us information. he would even admit "you have a right to be angry". greg was reassigned.

 

simkin REALLY went to bat for us. however because he was decent enough to make phone calls to people who had sent letters to Harty - people started screwing him over by posting his name here on the site.

 

i BEGGED the first few people to remove his name from their posts. a couple did, but others said "he works for the government, he deserves what he gets." or "he gave me his name, so it must be ok."

 

so as he gets overwhelmed with more and more calls, he is completely unable to do his job (which is NOT to be a helpline surrogate), and does our situation no good. even the helpline flunkies were berating him for giving out information - and all he was trying to do was HELP.

 

so now he's the bad guy for not giving out info? and letters are being responded to by Lisa P... so it's safe to say that door is now closed to us. he used to respond to my e-mails requesting info, and he used to help me track other's cases (at their request) as samples. i was able to help a number of you by sending info off via e-mail.

 

now he will not respond to my e-mails, nor give me any info over the phone - and i can't blame him.

 

don't be foolish about this. keep your sources to yourself, because while they are working on your case they are helping us all through the process. the person who takes over his duties will NOT return phone calls, or give us anything but a canned e-mail response.

 

and that's what we've earned.

 

thanks

[Guest R2D2]

Now you get the point, Jon. This is also what happened by spamming Harty who was trying to help you guys.

[Robert S.]

simkin REALLY went to bat for us.  however because he was decent enough to make phone calls to people who had sent letters to Harty - people started screwing him over by posting his name here on the site.

The mention of the name of Mr Simkin is not what caused the problem. I had mentioned his name as far back as early December in my second group letter. The problem came when someone posted his phone number on G7 and at that point he became overwhelmed with calls. Actually he was the one who used to answer the phone sometimes at the regular Consular Affairs number 647-7948 which is how I first spoke with him. I talked with Kathryn Cabrala a couple of times that way also.

 

Now that CA is getting so many calls they have an answering machine and then you reach a secretary who claims she does not know who you are talking about. For a couple of weeks the 1225 info line was broken but Andrew told me that the info office now has a new system with 100 phone lines, though without more people. The last time I called them I spent 59 minutes waiting (letting the speakerphone hold on) and was surprised to get through.

 

This lack of information is miserable but is just typical of the way things are nowadays. Have you ever tried to call the info line at the Texas Service Center? OMG. Another service center shreds files. Immigration always was an issue given very little priority and now everything in the government is subservient to war politics.

 

At least the Russian embassy has info on their web site. Why can't GZ do this also? We have never been able to get any response to this question.

[Robert S.]

Now you get the point, Jon. This is also what happened by spamming Harty who was trying to help you guys.

I disagree here also. Harty responded very engagingly up to the point where she felt she had stated her position as clearly as possible. Those who wanted to keep questioning her were apparently not believing what she had stated already. No one can fault her for not responding to that. I don't blame people for feeling the way they do and we need an outlet for expressing ourselves and an outlet of current information. Unfortunately the members of Congress do not feel our needs are important enough to merit the attention it would take to get DOS to provide us better and more accessible information.

[Charlotte]

This is sad, but true. I felt bad putting his name down on board (i took them out yesterday). Sara at info line complained about it too. She gave her direct dial to 2-3 people and now her mailbox is so full that no more message is allowed. She said some people would call her everyday to check their cases. Sometimes we unintentionally ruin our own chances to get things done. I am trully sorry for this is happening. Not that we don't have the right to information, Gov't does set its own pace to get the things done. Sometimes we get lucky to have some compassionate people, like Greg, AS, Sara to help speed up the pace, but ....

Jon is right -- info people are upset with AS for giving out information causing addtional volume of calls.

[Jatuke]

I agree to a point, but if they had a streamline process that was efficient in processing petitions they wouldn't be bombarded. Granted some people abuse the contact privileges, but it's a two way street.

 

Let's hope there's a new and improved process with the upcoming "grand opening" of the DHS.

[Guest R2D2]

I agree to a point, but if they had a streamline process that was efficient in processing petitions they wouldn't be bombarded. Granted some people abuse the contact privileges, but it's a two way street.

 

Let's hope there's a new and improved process with the upcoming "grand opening" of the DHS.

Duct tape your mouth!!!!

 

[chinadave2001]

This is not our fault. It is theirs and theirs alone. They have created an unreasonable, inexplicable, illogical, unfair and unaccountable system for issuing visas. In addition, they offer no accurate information at any level. One could even accuse them of deliberately misleading people who are looking for visa information because if they knew the truth about this process, they'd probably try some other way....I believe that our government has the ability to predict when we will get our visas if they wanted to. But to predict and publish such information would then lead to accountability. aaaargh!!!!!! I AM SO TIRED OF ALL THIS.

Yes, these folks may have been trying to help - but you can't blame people for using these numbers when all other avenues of information are just form letters and meaningless vague statements.

Dave

PS. If we can fill up one mail box, how about some others?

[AngryTexan]

Dave is absolutely correct, and I could not have put it better. There is absolutely, positively NO EXCUSE for the shabby way we have all been treated. I really do feel for Greg, Andy Simkin, Sarah, and the others who have tried to help us. They have been shining lights in an otherwise very dark situation. But we have been treated like second-class citizens, or worse, simply because we want to marry and spend our lives with someone of another nationality. It's absolutely disgusting, and is so obscene that there are no words for it. I offer Greg, Andy Simikin and Sarah my heartfelt thanks for their extraordinary efforts to help us, as well as my apologies for what they have suffered as a result. But I will NOT apologize for being persistent in simply seeking BASIC information about when my fiancee might be able to join me here so that we can put this never-ending nightmare behind us. My quality of life has dwindled to almost nothing in the last few months, particularly when I began to see people months behind me in line being pushed up to the front. That's when I got "mad as hell and decided I would not take it anymore (our older readers will get the reference)." And I will keep pushing - and helping others push by sharing any information of value that I might have - until she is here. End of story. As Owen, who has probably been abused worse than anyone posting here so eloquently stated - "Make your problem their problem."