Jeanne, My cousin applied FOUR times for a social security number for her son...the first time, the records were "lost". The second and third time the info was incorrect. Finally, when the child was almost 4 years old, they got an actual, correct ss# and birth certificate for him - this year! If my cousin hadn't carefully checked the info when it was sent to her for her signature, it wouldn't have gotten corrected. So these aren't just things that happened long ago, they're still happening today. Karen