There's a problem at your local social security office and its affecting your service.

We need the social security office in Idaho Falls to change our names, get a new social security card and request benefits for retirement or disability, but when I called to set up an appointment I spent about one hour getting no where.

I made my first attempt to reach our local social security office at 10:30 in the morning, and after 20 minutes of getting a busy signal, I finally got through, not to a person but a recording.

Then I sat on hold for just under ten minutes, and was transferred to an answering machine.

40 minutes later, I got frustrated, and tried the call, hang up, call again immediately trick but fifteen minutes later that hadn't worked either.

It wasn't until after about 20 minutes later that someone answered.

The clerk I was speaking to promised me he would have his supervisor call me as soon as she was free.

Five hours later the supervisor finally called me back, and told me my complaint had been transferred to their regional office, and that she would not be answering my questions.

Two days later Joy Chang from Seattle called me. Chang told me that if I wanted to talk to someone, calling my local office was a bad idea.

"We try to give people alternatives such as calling our national 800 number their primary function is to answer phones," says Chang.

Here's the situation: More people than ever before are able to benefit from an increasing number of social security programs, but at the same time congress is approving budget cuts that's leaving social security offices across the nation under staffed.

"We're just doing the best we can. If you only have a certain number of employees they have to take care of the walk in traffic... The phone calls... You have to deal with the people coming in the door," says Chang.

I did call the social security 800 number and here's the good news I didn't get a busy signal but I wasn't directly transferred to a person either. I was sent to an automated service and then made to wait a little over five minutes.

They do say the 800 number is the best way to go, and if you can do whatever you can online because that is an instant service.