Erin2019

Ahh, I've read that before. If you're the author of that, I would like to thank you for compiling useful information into one file like that. 

More fear mongering, sob stories without full details, just meant to stir up sadness and dismay and worry.

Oh I feel the exact same way. For a country to be marveled as one of the few providers of technological innovations, it feels almost like a slap in the face that their government websites work nearly as little as you buying the lottery and expecting to win.
Perhaps this is just me being in a bad mood and generalizing, but anyone who gets alerted of their approvals through websites/apps/messages/phone calls feel like outliers to me.
I'm almost positive that I'm not lucky enough for that and expect to be notified through snail mail on God knows whatever date. I just hope I won't be part of the 200+ days club. 

I went out of my way to create online accounts on BOTH the old and new sites.  I also signed myself up for text and email alerts.  It appears it is hit or miss that you get notified electronically... about ANYTHING.
 
How you found out is EXACTLY how I expect to find out.  No heads up.  No fanfare.  Nothing.  It'll come by snail mail.  It'll just appear in my mailbox someday.  Whoomp, there it is.  Hopefully it arrives before I collect my first Social Security check.  And those online accounts I created?  My money says 20 years from now they will be displaying the same messages they are displaying today.
 
What really grinds my gears is, every time you call the customer service number and you are placed on hold , you are fed a steady diet of reminders how you can create an online account and how a customer service person will only tell you what you can already learn from their website.  Yeah... right.  And at the conclusion of every call... WITHOUT FAIL! ... the CSR reads this script about going to the website and creating an online account and offers to assist you in doing this.  The whole thing is a crock.
 
It appears the agent reviewing your petition can involuntarily (or voluntarily) skip the step of updating things.  As a result you get no electronic notifications.  Being an IT guy this sends me up the wall.  Leaving things to human intervention is so 1940s.  Automatic notifications could be designed and programmed in their system and probably for not a whole lot of money and resources.  However, you need to be dealing with intelligent life and government agencies simply do not qualify.  They have always worked with 'bearskins and stone knives' technology.  And the U.S. is ostensibly the lone superpower in the world.
 
Uh huh... if you say so.
 
When my petition was submitted, that form was included requesting electronic notification when they received the petition.  Do you think I got a text or email notification?  Heck, no.  I only knew when I saw my check was cashed and a week later when the NOA1 arrived in the mail.  Wonderful.
 
Yeah, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
 

Oh feel free to vent Erin2019 ! For once we have a place where we all understand each other