Leave this information here for me and for others
So I phoned today 3 times, 200+ line up each time, spent one hour for each phone call
1st, 8.30 AM when they open: system down cant help ya, cant check the application status for you
2nd, 11:41 AM: cant check the application status for you, lemme transfer you to another agent to help you, waited over 30 mins then I hung up > basically the same experience as smithy2024
3rd, 13:07: very nice lady and very experienced, answered me a lot of questions including why the 2nd guy cant help me.
So basically the reason is the agent was not trained for this type of application (my reference number begins with 3000, and I applied for new passport. I assume the reference number for all new passport applications begins with 3000), so the agent doesn't have required software/tools to check your applications (imagine you waited for hours only to get connected to an agent that was not qualified to help you because they are not trained for this type of application and you have to hang up then back to the line
)