I was assigned a loan officer for my EIDL increase. Let's call him "John." I got an email with his name and contact info. For the next four months, I tried to contact John. I called every other day and left voicemails. I sent polite emails once a week. I heard nothing. Not a single reply.
When I called the main SBA line, every single rep told me the same thing: "I'm sorry sir, I can't help you. Your file has been assigned to a loan officer and only they can access it." I would explain that my loan officer was a ghost, that he didn't exist. They'd just repeat the same robotic line. I felt like I was in a Kafka novel. My case was locked in a phantom's desk drawer and no one had the key.
My application was eventually withdrawn for being "inactive." They said I failed to respond to their requests. The irony is so thick it makes me want to vomit. I lost my business because the SBA hired a ghost to process my file.
We ran a small event venue. When the Restaurant Revitalization Fund was announced, it was a lifeline. We applied on day one. A few weeks later, the impossible happened: we got an approval email. Approved for over $300,000. It was in the portal. It was real. We cried.
Based on that approval, we made promises. We signed a new lease. We called back our old employees and promised them jobs. We booked new acts and paid deposits. We were following the rules, obligating the funds just like they told us to.
The money never came. Weeks turned into a month. Our portal status went from "Approved" back to "Under Review" with no explanation. When we called, they told us the RRF was tied up in lawsuits and all funding was frozen. But we had already spent money we didn't have, based on THEIR legal approval. They knowingly sent out approval letters, let us dig our own graves, and then just shrugged. That approval didn't save us; it was the final nail in our coffin.
I swear my application was a hamster wheel. They needed my 2019 tax transcripts. I uploaded them. A month later, "Action Required: Please upload your 2019 tax transcripts." Okay, maybe a glitch. I uploaded them again. Another month. "Action Required: Your file is unreadable." So I saved it as a different file type, triple checked it, and uploaded it again.
Then they needed a new 4506-T form. Signed it, sent it. Then they said the signature was in the wrong place. Then they said I filled out the wrong year. This went on for eighteen months. Every time I fixed one thing, they found another. It felt intentional. Like their job wasn't to process loans, but to find any excuse, no matter how small, to kick the can down the road until you just give up from sheer exhaustion. I finally did. They didn't deny me. They just wore me down until I ceased to exist.
I applied for an EIDL increase in early 2021 after being told by three separate SBA reps that I was eligible. Submitted all my documents, updated my 4506-T, tax returns, even my birth certificate just to be safe.
After three months of silence, I sent a follow-up email saying it was “urgent” due to my business nearing collapse. A week later, I got a denial letter claiming I was “abusive to staff.” That was the only email I ever sent.
I filed three appeals. Denied. I contacted my Senator. Ignored. The final rejection came with a subject line: "Application Closed. Do Not Respond." I never got funding, and my shop went under.