Congressman Mike Quigley – Illinois 5th District

Thanks to Rep Quigley and his staffer Maryanne for an assist in getting a passport renewed quickly. The Chicago office didn’t have any appointments open the week before I was to leave for France (France and other countries have a 6 month expiration requirement on passports, mine expired in 5) and the 877 number suggested I take an appointment in Detroit or Minneapolis (stupid, I know). I called Rep Quigley’s office and Maryanne took my info and faxed a letter to Passport agency asking them to help me.
As it turns out, the Chicago office was accepting walk-​in applications that day, so didn’t really need the Congressman’s request, but, it was still nice and very helpful all the same. Maryanne even called back to see how everything turned out (got it in time, yay!). All told, Rep. Quigley’s staff was very helpful and considerate — props to them!

After seeing ads online and elsewhere about how this office was dedicated to senior issues, I decided to explore solutions to one of those issues here. I first went to their office and discussed it with a couple of young ladies-​where to get help for a low-​income senior facing possible eviction. Well after some discussion with no real solutions, they sent me to a senior fair at a local hospital, which was happening that day, in order to speak with a more senior staff member. I did that. There were two other staff members there. I described the issue, was handed some unrelated brochures, and told someone would call me later when they got back to the office. No-​one did. My follow up call was not returned. It was such a good example of that now prevalent school of «Everyone-​is-​nice-​but-​no-​one-​ever-​does-​anything» customer service. So much for public service, eh? What a wast of time on my part.