Memo to new mothers grappling with Centrelink: you are not alone.
Not that knowing most people trying to register their baby for Medicare or claim paid parental leave, family tax benefits or child care rebates are dealing with the same thing will make the waiting times any shorter.
For the handful of people saying everything went smoothly for them, after AAP reported one experience with the Department of Human Services, hundreds shared tales of lengthy wait times, incorrect advice and being bumped around from online to phone to face-to-face.
"Nightmare" was the most common description.
"When I first met Centrelink so I could claim the childcare rebate, it took seven hours in total (on the phone and in the Centrelink building) to get the CRN so I could start filling in the application," Victoria Crone wrote on Facebook.
"What a nightmare."
Carley Clifford told of starting a parental leave application nearly three months before her baby's due date and still spending five months after the birth with no income before it was approved.
Many people attempted to complete claims online only to be told to visit in person.
This was similar to the AAP experience, where a cumulative four hours was spent online, in the shopfront and on the phone to lodge a single paid parental leave application.
Even then, Centrelink sent form letters saying unspecified supporting documents had to be lodged within two weeks or the application would lapse.
Those documents turned out to be a proof of birth for a child not due to be born for three months.
However, Tanya Neems did have a good news story of helpful staff who fast-tracked an application - after she'd driven 45 minutes to a shopfront.
"Couldn't say anything negative about the experience," she wrote on Facebook.
One person offered this tip: next time you have to visit a shopfront, ask when they're least busy and if possible, attend at that time. Take all the paperwork you could imagine needing.
"When they greet you with `have you tried to do this on myGov?' say `yes I tried that once, a while ago, thank you, but I find turning up in person works best' and smile."
And Anita Hopf suggested reporting website errors to help improve the system.
Labor has accused Human Services Minister Marise Payne of taking her eye off the ball.
Opposition human services spokesman Doug Cameron says complaints persist from Centrelink clients about increasing telephone wait times and the myGov website not being up to scratch.
"Over-reliance on less-than-perfect digital channels is causing distress to many Centrelink clients," he says.
Senator Cameron rejected the department's excuse that complex policies were to blame for poor service.
Department officials told senators recently they hoped an upgraded phone system, expected to be ready by the year's end, will help reduce wait times.
Meanwhile, a common public perception is that the system is deliberately difficult to put people off claiming any payments.
"I so wish the minister for social security would read all of these experiences and take appropriate action," Louise James said.
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