Wow... If you have to spend all of your time fighting to get unemployment how the heck do they expect you to find another job?

Is anyone surprised? Your tax dollars at work as usual. These people have the life. Total job security, gold plated health benefits, tax payer funded pension for life and you don't have to lift a finger during the job because "the company" or government is in the business of spending money, not making it.

I have heard the same thing from people filing for Unemployment Insurance in California. Some states allow you to file on line but it appears to be very difficult to get help on the phone. I am willing to bet that a lot of states have this issue.

On the upside, I understand that you can see Major Major when he's in!

So, you're saying the unemployment office may be hiring soon? SCORE

@GoVegan: yea, we can file on line here, but good luck trying to speak to a human. When you do, they are rude and condescending sons a' bitches!

It's impossible to get a live person on the phone. However, on the NY DOL's website it suggested to call Thursday afternoons (that's in a few hours) when there are fewer callers for some reason. I did that and it worked. Just a thought.

@TheFuzz53: It's ok, I used to work for the government and it was ok. That's it the pay was lousy the health plan wasn't bad but not very good, the pension was nice but most people were moving to a 401k because it paid off better in the end on the plus side it's very hard to get fired from a government job. A DUI was the only way I saw.

@TheFuzz53: Jealous much? Or just complain a lot?

Funny, at various times of my life, I've had amazing trouble getting through and talking to a human at some of the biggest and supposedly "best" companies in the world-- Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Canon, Mazda, Hilton.

This is a lack-of-customer-support issue endemic everywhere and particularly apropros right now, not just a convenient opportunity to call all government workers lazy. But you will take that low-hanging fruit anyways.

Again, are you jealous or simply a whiner by nature?

That may be the best, and most appropriate picture I've ever seen for a Consumerist post. Just awesome.

Same problem in California.

You call them, sometimes upwards of 10 times a day... you can even take the shortcut of hitting 0 instead of wading through the options. The result is the same. Everyone is busy, and instead of spending the <$500 it would take to implement an asterisk box with a hold queue, you have to keep calling over and over.

Sending an angry email actually does work here though.

@TheFuzz53: Not necessarily. The State of New York's Employee Retirement System phone line has the same problem right now... and it doesn't have district offices across the state.

@Euglenas: Even more so if it's genuine. Wonder where they got it?

I feel your pain. It was an ongoing saga with me.

I tried calling them at 7:59am and they state that they are closed and that I have to call back during normal business hours, I call back immediately at and get through the generic menu within 8:00am. "Due to a high call volume we cannot assist you at this time, please call back later and try again." CLICK.. dial tone......

You just have to keep trying throughout the day, everyday.
Eventually, you'll get through.

Anyways I did get rejected on my unemployment for close to 3 months until I went to a hearing. It turned out that the forms that I gave them were in color and they didn't show up legible when they faxed it to headquarters. It almost feels like these people get commissions for rejecting applications. Finally I did get my 3 months of back pay, took lots and lots of patience.

@GoVegan: It's the same in MA. My fiance couldn't reach anyone for over a week.

It's the same thing in California. We fought from early August until just last month to get my husband's unemployment. They make you jump through hoops to prove who you are and once you've done that, they then set those hoops on fire and make you do it again.

The only way to get through was to learn the different messages (the one that would cut you off immediately from the one that would let you navigate the maze of options) and sit hitting the redial button until you got the one you needed. Then you maybe had a 10% chance of actually getting a live person and then a 10% chance of that live person not being a total jerk. The nearest office is 45 minutes away.

When we did finally get it all straightened out, they paid us, but they also inexplicably reduced his weekly benefit by nearly a third. Yeah, jolly holidays to you too.

@TheFuzz53: It's funny that we are hearing this type of sentiment on Consumerist when, in other threads, people are demanding government oversight and government regulation and private industry only thinks of money whereas a government agency doing the same thing would do a better job.

Making generalities about ALL government workers based on examples from the Unemployment office or the DMV just isn't fair. Use the post office as an example.

All I see is "Labor Department blah blah blah" because I'm too busy looking at that awesome photo.

In California, the phone line will disconnect you so you can't get thru because they are "too busy". The real pisser is that there are about five different phone numbers - each for a different language (English, Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese etc.) When you call the English number you still have to press 1 to hear English. Wonder how much that alone contributed to Ahnold's budget problems?
They bungled sending out my first check. I could not get thru. I had to go to an office (not bad since I live near a lower traffic one). I then could use their phone which supposedly gets thru faster (not much). After five weeks of checks, I now am two weeks late getting the next one. So today I will go back down to the office to find out what's going on.
This is getting uglier by the minute for those of us who are unemployed.

I'm currently unemployed and have a out of state claim.
It's impossible to get in touch with the Claims office (the former state I worked in). You call their "easy call" number and it rings twice and hangs up on you.
The website is utterly useless as there's no "contact us" info at all.

I literally try to ring the "Easy Call" number 30 to 50 times a day. 2 rings and bye bye. I once got through and received the message that due to "excessive call volume nobody can assist you" and , yes I get hung up upon.

My husband was laid off this past Monday, he has spent every day since getting the run around from the unemployment office in Kentucky.

He tried to use the online system and he was unable to get his pin to work, he was told to go to the office, after waiting an hour in the unemployment line he was set in a private room with a phone and was told to dial a number, then the automated system went down and they told everyone the phones were no longer in service. He was then told to use the online system, once home he tried the website again only to find the online system was down too.

He has tried calling for the past four days every hour or so, only once being able to speak to an operator and then she transferred him to a voice mail. This morning he has waited an additional two hours at the unemployment office and still has not been able to register.

It's unbelievably frustrating.

Sounds like our government phone services should be outsourced to India, since unlike most Americans, they have proper manners and aren't growing moss due to inactivity.

@TheFuzz53:
And yet people want the government to run health care.

@nursetim: The government already runs a big old chunk of health care-- it's called Medicare. And they don't do a half-bad job of it.

@formergr: Also the VA. The Walter Reed situation aside, Veterans Health has better outcomes and is more efficient than any private healthcare in the country.

It's the same thing in California. We fought from early August until just last month to get my husband's unemployment. They make you jump through hoops to prove who you are and once you've done that, they then set those hoops on fire and make you do it again.

The only way to get through was to learn the different messages (the one that would cut you off immediately from the one that would let you navigate the maze of options) and sit hitting the redial button until you got the one you needed. Then you maybe had a 10% chance of actually getting a live person and then a 10% chance of that live person not being a total jerk. The nearest office is 45 minutes away.

When we did finally get it all straightened out, they paid us, but they also inexplicably reduced his weekly benefit by nearly a third. Yeah, jolly holidays to you too.

@formergr: That should say "overall private healthcare" in the country, not "any" private healthcare. There are definitely instances of certain hospitals that have better outcomes than the VA, but in aggregate the VA beats private.

@GoVegan: I was unemployed for a while in PA. It was easy to file online and then get the $ direct deposited. Also, I never had a problem getting someone on the telephone.

Perhaps this is why the AP report out this morning (New Claims Drop) is because no one can get through the phone maze to actually make the claim.

Some unemployment offices are very efficient at coming up with discrepancies to disqualify you but very incompetent to fix them. In the meantime people waste time the can use in things like finding a job. It's all so counter productive.

@tsume:
In California it has taken me 3 days of calling and calling before I actually get a live person on the phone. When you finally get somebody they act like you called and asked for their first born child!

@Applekid: Yeah, it's not like they'd have any problem finding workers.

Yup, as noted before, CA is having the same problem. But in the past, you'd press 1,2,1,2,7 to speak to a live person, and sometimes they'd say the queue was too full and hang up on you. Now, the second they pick up, they say they are too busy and to go file online.
The problem is my claim is filed, but I never received the claim form. Seeing as it has extremely sensitive info on it - full SS#, etc. - this is quite a cause for concern, and there's no one I can ask about it.

Here in Oklahoma, they're bogged down but always helpful and are obviously trying hard.

No problems for me to get my extension filed here in Oregon thank goodness. I did try to do it online Sunday after I received notice last week that benefits were extended. I did have to call every few minutes Monday morning to get thru but by 9:03am my call had been picked up. I did have to sit on hold for 23 minutes but the woman that answered was wonderful. She admitted that the website was 'off a bit' and then likened it to a temper tantrum lol. Took my info over the phone and thanks to Direct Deposit I got my check yesterday. Christmas is looking a bit brighter now.

I finally did get someone on the phone here in NY after three failed attempts and was told that I would receive an acknowledgment letter of unpaid wages after 10 WEEKS. Action on those unpaid wages are undetermined.

This happened to me, after their website wouldn't let me certify for a week that i was still within the certification period for, and I tried every day to call, and eventually wrote in a letter contesting why I wasn't able to certify and they rejected my claim saying I didn't try in time and had no excuse.

@dwasifar: The picture itself, no idea. The concept for the picture, Ouroboros.

@GastonRalla: Dialing for dollars!!

The answer to the phone problem is pretty easy. Hire some unemployed people to answer the phones. Oh, California is almost bankrupt and can't afford to hire enough people to handle the unemployment calls. Oops. Catch 22.

@NevadaJahoob: If you can document the maze here that might be helpful to others who can learn from your wisdom.

@smythe: If only it were that simple... I wish everyone could live in your dream world.

My roommate is newly unemployed. His last THREE checks have not come in the mail, and he hasn't been able to resolve it either. He spent 7 hours calling for info last week before he got through to someone. 167 calls before he could get through. They said they'll try to help, but he still hasn't received the checks.

I wonder how people are supposed to look for jobs when it takes 7 hours to call about their check...

@TheFuzz53: My mom used to work for the government. She processed order papers for soldiers shipping out to Viet Nam. If she got lazy (and I'm not saying she did) nobody every complained.

I'm just sayin'.

@humphrmi:

Would saying that I am from New Jersey help to explain why I am so jaded?

@dweebster:

Actually, that comment up there is mine. I didn't think I did the guest posting thing correctly so I registered and reposted. I yam a dork.

Anyway, the problem with EDD in CA is that they ask you for proof of ID without telling you what's really acceptable. They won't take a copy of your SS card, for example, but they never seem to mention what *will* work as proof instead. Add to that the time it takes for them to process things (meaning you may not even know there's a problem for a week or more) and difficulties in getting a real person on the phone to answer questions and you've got a recipe for weeks of petty frustration.

My advice:

1. Document EVERYTHING.
Every phone call attempt, every email you send into the void, every piece of paper they send you, every conversation and with whom and what they tell you. Time, date, phase of the moon, EVERYTHING.

2. Know that state agencies DO NOT talk to each other.
DMV still tells you that that they won't give you a new license just because you've moved and to write your address on the back of your old one. This is perfectly legal. EDD, however, doesn't see it that way. If you move, then you should "lose" your old license and go get a new one with the new address.

3. If you didn't get one this year, request and keep on file a copy of your SS Statement. This is what EDD will accept as proof of your SS number.

4. Know where last year's W2s are.
You will need one of these too.

5. KEEP FILING THE CLAIM FORMS THEY SEND YOU.
If you don't, when it's all finally settled, you won't get paid for those weeks.

Understand that you can appeal any decision they hand down, but your hearing won't be scheduled until 8 WEEKS after you do so. That's a long time to go with no money coming in. But if you manage to gather enough proof of who you are before that time, you can ask for a "redetermination". To do that you will be sending copies of every scrap of proof (write your SS# on absolutely everything) and a nice, simple letter explaining what you require to:

EDD ID Unit
P.O. Box 2530
Rancho Cordova, CA 95741

@youbastid:

There are TWO messages. Get yourself a notepad and a cup of coffee and just keep hitting redial until you hear a different one from the "heavy calling activity" message. It will come up eventually.

Same in Rhode Island. My husband has been on the phone literally for hours some days, waiting for his call to be answered. They are going to add 20 more staff in the coming weeks.

A previous co-worker of mine who was recently laid off said she was having the same problem. We're in north texas.