I have been following this thread (and similar ones) for a long while. There was one message a while back that itemized the steps to short circuit the normal automated IRS phone system algorithm to actually get to a human (a specific, not so obvious sequence as I recall). I tried and after literally 20 unique call-in days, it worked. I reached someone that looked over my return in real time and agreed it should have already been processed. She then forwarded me to someone in another department who was surprised the original call handler didn't just go ahead and order the change to my return (zeroing out the Excess APTC repayment, line 2, schedule 2, form 1040). This second person was sympathetic to how many times I had tried to call previously and how long I had been on the phone that very day. She basically said, "enough is enough" and committed to fixing my return right then and there. 30 minutes later, the refund was ordered from the IRS with interest. This was in late August 2022; check rec'd in mid September 2022.
Two things I learned. (1) Keep trying and (2), as she emphatically told me, filing an amended return will only screw things up further, irrespective of how long it has already taken. She could not (or would not) comment as to why this was so messed up, but she was very well versed in the immediate steps to take to resolve my issues. So, the fixers do exist....
