Activation Lock - Apple Support does not solve the issue.

I work for a company that is ~80% MacBooks for our users. We require users to sign into an apple ID to enable "Find My Mac" to help mitigate theft. A number of users that have moved on from the company did not properly remove their apple ID requested in our off-boarding documents. Apple has a process to clear the activation lock - the link to that is here - https://al-support.apple.com/#/additional-support.

I have had to enter a ticket for this issue 10 or so times. Apple requires me to prove ownership of the device. Once they confirm that I get an email that the computer is ready to be wiped and once it is wiped, activation lock will be removed. They send me this link for steps to wipe a device through disk utility. I make sure to go above and beyond. I completely obliterate any and all data stores that I can within disk utility, often more than once. I then re-install the operating system and begin the provisioning process but just about every time it is STILL activation locked to an Apple ID of a person who no longer works for us. Image below was taken after fully wiping one of the Mac's that is locked.

This process has worked for me in the past, but only 2 or 3 times out of 10+. Are there any other IT admins out there who have had a similar experience? Has anyone been more successful getting activation locks removed from a device by following the steps provided above? This is unbelievably frustrating and is leaving us with more than 5 working macbooks that we cannot re-use or even sell.

The kicker to all of this is that Apple provides a link to "Contact us if you have questions." I have followed this link in the past and asked the support person for more information about my case number(s). They tell me that they do not have visibility into the ticket because these tickets are a specific type that are dealt with via an automated system. So not only does this automated system NOT WORK, there is seemingly nobody at apple that you can contact to get assistance with the issue.

So again, please, does anyone have any advice on how to get this solved? Can anyone identify something that I am doing wrong during this process? Is there anyone from Apple that I can talk to get help and/or help them refine this "automated process" in a matter that... actually works?

Respectfully, and admittedly frustrated,

Trevor