she kept asking the follow up questions that would require a yes to any prior question in her chain.

That's wild for somebody presumably on a massive paycheck after decades of education in the field... I feel like incompetence generally has spread much more far and wide than we all appreciate... Another reason to be cautious about the systems in place.

Not that I have a solution...

the process doesn't respect anyone's time

I can apply this to the entire British services of any kind, tbh. Waiting 18 months to 2 years for life saving surgery, backlogs in all forms of stuff going back in queues of millions of people... No surprise why people are on the streets protesting right now more than any time I've ever seen