SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Many people have called California's Economic Development Department (EDD) hundreds of times, days on end. Maybe they were hung up on after waiting on hold for hours.
These stories are all too familiar when reading viewers' experiences dealing with the state unemployment department’s call center.
Before you give up trying to reach a live representative at the EDD, there are a few other ways to get connected.
Contact your lawmaker
If you’ve reached out to ABC10’s Dollars and Sense Team, we likely referred you to contact your lawmaker. This is our first suggestion because state representatives have caseworkers than can people with their EDD claims.
We've heard from many viewers who have shared positive feedback that they were able to successfully schedule a phone appointment with an unemployment representative after contacting their lawmaker’s office.
Try calling your assemblymember and senator’s office directly in addition to emailing them. You can find your legislative representatives HERE.
If you’ve tried calling both your assemblymember and lawmaker and you haven’t heard back, there might be a few other options you can try.
YouTube EDD Support Channels
Navigating unemployment benefits can be confusing and stressful. There are many videos from fellow claimants that provide tips and tricks on a range of topics, including how to resolve pending payments and phone tricks to reach a live EDD representative.
ABC10 featured Ginny Silver, who provides consistent updates and tips related to the unemployment department on her channel.
Avoid calling on Mondays and Tuesdays. These are the highest call volume days and you’re more likely to get through Wednesday or Thursday.
Try calling after 4 p.m.
Try this phone trick:
Dial 833-978-2511
Select “1” for English or “2” for Spanish
When the recording states, “Select from the following,” enter “1-3-4” quickly
This might take many tries, but Silver reports she receives about a 50% success rate in the comments.
Scroll through the comments section on these videos because subscribers will report back with what worked or didn’t work for them. While some of these tips might not be successful for everyone, it’s worth trying every option several times.
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Paid Services
There are companies where third parties will automatically call the EDD for you and call you back when they put you on a hold line. Silver tested out two paid services on one of her videos — Claimyr and Autodial.
Claimyr is a tech company based in San Francisco created by Thomas Maxon after he experienced hardship filing for unemployment in California.
Silver spoke with Maxon on her Youtube channel to discuss concerns subscribers had about legitimacy and privacy. Maxon confirmed they will not send your data and the company does not listen to phone calls.
Some features of Claimyr:
If you don’t get connected, Claimyr offers free callbacks for up to 24 hours.
Call back times depend on the current call volume of the EDD. The website states, “If it's busy, it could take an hour to get connected, sometimes it takes five minutes.”
While you should not have to turn to paid services for a state agency to pay money owed to you, it’s an option that has successfully helped many people speak to an EDD representative.
Reddit Threads
The unofficial subreddit page called California’s Employment Development Department is active with claimants posting about their struggles and successes involving unemployment benefits.
When it comes to getting your unemployment issues resolved, it’s important to remember you’re not alone. There are plenty of online resources where you can connect with claimants dealing with similar issues.
Read more Dollars and Sense stories.
WATCH MORE: How to get a callback from EDD:
