My car loan and other fiascoes

I am always amazed at how stupid people can be. We got a new car (http://www.subaru.com/shop/overview.jsp?model=IMPREZA&trim=WRX_SPORT_WAGON) and I sent in an automatic payment authorization to the loan institution who will remain unnamed. Nothing happened. I do know that the address, for license/registration reasons, is my in-laws'. Here's the conversation:

me: Hi, I sent in automatic payment authorization in August with my last payment, and no payment was ever deducted from my account.
her: Oh, well, you don't have automatic payment set up on your account. Did you send a voided check?
me: No, I filled out the form on the payment book and sent it in, like it said.
her: You need to send in a voided check.
me: ...Ok. Can I just send the check?
her: No, you need a new form. I can send it to you, but you could expedite the process by going to a local branch.
me: I'd rather just get it in the mail, since I have a whole month before my next payment.
her: Well this would be much faster and you want to do it as soon as possible. But I can mail it to you.
me: Yes, I'd rather it come in the mail.
her: Ok, I can do that. Is it going to Pennsylvania?
me: No, I need to change the address. I sent in the change of address form with my payment yesterday, so I'd better change that before you send the form.
her: I can't send the form until the address is changed.
me: Can't you change the address now?
her: No.
me: Ok, what CAN you do?
her: [laugh] Well the address change is already in the BB&T imprint so I can't change it. You will have to call back after the address is changed to request a new form.
me: [very annoyed] Ok. Bye.

I realize now that she thought I had faxed my change of address request. However, no one ever told me there was a fax number! And how would I FAX my payment in? And I don't even really know where the fax is at my office anyway. So I have to wait for the mail to get there, for them to change the address, and then I have to keep calling until the address is changed so I can request a new form so that I can send them a voided check. What ever happened to customer service?

This reminds me of my hatred for the Social Securituy Office, in particular the one on M street. Those effers! Well, it was just the one woman who really got to me. So, I get married, right? And I buy this checklist of items/forms for name change purposes. It includes the form to change your name with the social security office, which is the first thing you have to do before anything else when changing your name. You need the new SS card to get your new driver's license, and you need the new driver's license to do everything else. The form says you can mail your application in, so I figure that's the best idea, to avoid taking time off work during business hours to sit around in line. So, I dutifully and carefully fill it out and send it in, with my original marriage certificate. I wait 3 or 4 weeks (like it says I should), and then decide to call the office to make sure it got there. But, I can't find a phone number for the office I mailed it to. It's nowhere on the SS website. I call the main line and ask about it. They ask if I mailed the certificate, and I say yes, and they say, well you should be all set. I ask for the office number anyway, and spend several days calling, being put on hold for 2 minutes with horrible music, and then being hung up on; "Have you tried our website at www.socialsecurity.gov?" Blah blah, click. I finally decide to just go there, and take a Friday afternoon off. The situation was starting to get desperate, because I was supposed to travel to a wedding in about a month, under my new name... with no identification to prove it! And no marriage certificate, either, if these clowns lost my application.

I go to the office. The man at the door directs me to sit. A woman at the counter says, "What do you need."
"I sent in my application a few weeks ago and wanted to make sure it made it here."
The woman says, "That's in my mail pile, and I'm NOT going to go look for it right now." Everyone in the waiting area is staring at me, waiting to see what kind of scene is about to take place. The woman at the next desk over gives me an apologetic look.
I ask, "So I can't even find out if it's here?"
The woman says, "Did you send everything in?"
"My original marriage certificate."
"And your driver's license?"
"A copy of it."
"No, your ACTUAL license." (I'm thinking, I'm supposed to SEND you my driver's license?! The application did NOT say that.)
"No."
"You have to send your driver's license. I don't understand why you have to mail it if you could just come here with it like you just did."
I say, "Well, I obviously made a mistake!!"
She looks at me and says, "I probably sent it back already because you didn't send everything in. What did you send it in?"
"A big yellow envelope." The woman gets up and huffs off to her "mail pile" which she apparently hasn't touched in weeks (nor has she answered the phone in that long)! She comes back with my envelope!
"Well, come on." I go up there, license in hand. She opens my envelope.
"What's this?"
"My middle name is going to include my old last name."
"Oh, no. We don't change middle names here. You have to do that through the court system. If you want to do that, you have to amend your passport, then come back here." She starts to give me my application back.
"No! I need this because I'm flying under the new name in a few weeks. Just change the last name." Without looking at me, she starts typing something into her computer. She makes the change and stamps some sort of seal of approval on the receipt. Luckily my new card arrived in a few days and I was able to get my new license in time for the trip. No thanks to anyone else!

I'm going to get REAL good at talking back to people if I continue to be treated like an idiot.