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Social Security Customer Service - Good or Bad?

#1
I am not collecting yet, but interacted with them this month. I thought I woudl share the experience.
 
My wife and I had the same issue.  For 2016, we each recieved two W2's with Social Security earnings.  In each case, only one of the two was entered into the social security system record of earnings (Remember to check https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/)

I first called them (1-800-772-1213) early in the month, before the goverment shutdown.  I was not given the chance to speak with anyone.  The recording essentailly said they were too busy and to try again later (later in the week and later in the month are better).

 
I called for myself in the morning one day earlier this week.  I was told the wait time would be about 40 minutes, but that I could leave a number and they would call back.  They did call back and the woman took some time to enter my information into their system.  In the end, I still had to write to the local office to confirm the information.

 
My wife had to call them separately and did so around lunch time the same day.  They said the wait time would be about 55 minutes (it was) and this time they did not give the option to have them call us back.  My wife provided some information to the man with whom she spoke, but we got the sense that he did not enter anything into the system.  Rather, he told her to provide similar - but not exactly the same - information to the local office as I had.

 
(In my case, the corrected information I provided will have no impact on future benefits under current law, as my 2016 earnings were not one of the 35 highest years.  In my wife's case, it probably will make a difference as she did not pay into the social security system for each of 35 years).

 
It all seems a bit inconsistent.  One would think there would be standard processes/procedures/  Just wondering how others' experiences have been?
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#2
If you need help,I would suggest you find the nearest office, and either make an appointment or get there a half an hour early on a mid week day.
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#3
I had a great experience at the Salem, Ma. office. Right on time for the appointment, no waiting. In and out in about 40 min.
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#4
I agree with wtjbatman about going to a Social Security office if you're dealing with anything but a really basic question.

 
Although I have not had the same issue as you (with the missing income information), I had to talk to Social Security in December (or whenever it was that I received the letter telling me of my benefit amount for 2018) because I had a question about why my Medicare Part B premium increased so much (I'm well under the MAGI threshold at which higher premiums start to kick in).  I was on hold for something like 40 minutes before getting through to a human; I just put my phone on speakerphone mode and did various household things, and read the news, etc.  When I finally got to speak to the human, it was very frustrating because the explanation did not make sense.
 
Anyway, I assume that the long wait times and mediocre (at best) service quality are due to the usual governmental incompetence plus, most likely, under staffing in relation to how many people are on Social Security.
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