Problem with SS

[ChazInAz]

I've been retired for a year, now. Got out of the workforce a couple of years early, since I could no longer make the sacrifices demanded of me by my employer. It seemed pointless after my wife of 33 years died in 2010.
In preparing for retirement, I inquired at our local Social Security office about survivor's benefits, and was informed that I'd receive them when I retired. At that time, I was not aware that many of the staffers at our office had no idea what they were doing, or had malicious senses of humor. Now I know.
So, I eventually filed for retirement online, and kissed my job goodbye. Payments started arriving, and life was good. Four months later, SS sent me a dunning letter, demanding repayment of survivor's benefits. It seems that one cannot receive BOTH Social Security and survivor's benefits. Nobody told ME. So, I hied me off to our office to see what I should do. After waiting about three hours (The place is always SRO), I got to go to a counter and explain things. There I received the helpful advice that I could just keep the money. That struck me as rather a bad idea. Another clerk told me that the PTB would hound me to the gates of Hell and beyond if I didn't repay it. That sounded more like the typical government procedure, so I decided to repay it. I mailed off the check in October of 2011, clipped tom the necessary paperwork. The department sent me several more threatening letters. By December, they still claimed to have never received the check. Many telephone calls later (With incredible on-hold periods), they still refused to acknowledge receipt of payment, although they sent me a photocopy of the paperwork that I had paperclipped to the check. More trips to our local office, with multi-hour waits. Nobody knew anything. Finally, a bright spark suggested that I put a stop-pay on the check, write them another one there in the office, and they would see that it got to the responsible parties. This sounded wise, and it was done. All was good, and peace finally descended upon my life. In April, they sent me a refund check for the amount that I had payed: some $3500. This was a good thing, for the money was desperately needed. Shortly thereafter, they sent me another dunning letter, demanding repayment.
I started doing some research in my bank account. They had cashed the the second check within days of my writing it. The day after that, they tried to cash the first, blocked, check... that they had continuously denied receiving. Months later, they sent me the refund, then demanded repayment. I have given all this info to my lawyer. My Congressman Ron Barber is investigating, and I am mightily pissed.
Any suggestions on action?