E.D.D. Complaint Unemployment Access Unavailable - This Would Be Their Lack Of Service...

My story begins with my filling of a claim for unemployment benefits. I had an open claim already so I reopened it online, a few days later I received my forms and sent them in , when I received my first check they notified me my claim was now over and I would have to file for a new claim . By now (with the lag time of the mail ) a week had passed and by filing online again would have made me loose a week�s pay ,so I opted to call so I could talk to someone and explain that I would like them to retro for that week lag .For the next week I call E.D.D. approx 200 times ( that God I was not using my cell phone) Finally I got through and talked to a woman whom at the time seemed to understand my needs and told me that she would send out two claim forms one for the retro week plus another week and told me to send it in when I got it , and another set of forms for the (now ) current weeks .. I was feeling like I finally hit the lotto =smiles= (seriously). That feeling evaporated with the mail about 5 days later, the claim forms that should have had a total of 4 weeks only had 3, not sure how something so simple could have become so messed up??? So here it is four weeks into this problem and now I am back on the phone, another three days and countless calls to a number that is not remotely accessible. after 50 tries I got through twice each time I was told( by a recorded message ) that the wait time would be 7 minutes ( again lotto fever ) both times after 4-5 minutes I was disconnected . So what are you thinking this has got to be a joke? Trust me anything but....

Some how I guess I got lucky rather soon into the next day�s calling trying once again to find help in sorting this out. by now the send in date has passed on my first claim form. So here I am on the phone again and after half a days dialing I get the good but unreliable message I ll only have a 7 minute wait ,not being all that enthusiastic I hear the voice of a man asking me what he could help me with , with hope in my grasp I gave him my S.S. number and asked him to pull up my screen so he could follow my explanation he proceeded to tell me he could not help me and had to transfer me , ( in thirty two years of off and on filing for unemployment) I have never had to be transferred, I told him he was going to disconnect me , OH no its inner office that won't happen ... You guessed it dial tone. We are not done here (still have the same issue as when I started ...) I am now dumb founded and frankly very pissed off.

So now I decide to make copies of the two claim forms I have and send them in and fight this in the mean time ( my bills couldn't wait any longer) as I am having lunch with my daughter my cell phone rings , understandable I don't answer it , after eating I listen to the message and it is a guy from unemployment stating that we had a phone interview as to why I waited so long to send in my claim form , but being as I didn't answer (and missed ) the interview (which at the time had no idea about)they were going to deny my claim. I thought to myself what are you talking about ( no new number to call nothing, just basically we gave you your one and only opportunity) O by the way this is Saturday 10 am ,later that day I pick up my mail and there it is a letter from the employment office telling me of this interview , are you kidding me it states if you cant make this interview call this number to change day and or time , you guessed it the same number that I have spent hours dialing already .. Even if I got it in time and wanted to change it the chances of that are none existent. So now over 6 weeks into this and I am drowning in incompetent people running our government agencies, a system that is as far as I am concerned BROKEN ( I am sure I am not the only one) I have even wrote to the governor�s office asking for help. Tried to find a walk in office (like in the old days) they are nonexistent they do have a job search office which I talked to a woman whom said she has had many people come to her venting about the system being Broken and she even told me that the upper dept heads came through asking for feedback and she told them that something has to be done about the problems with the system and she quoted them as saying "ITS NOT BROKE" bet they have never filed a claim!!!!

Please not just for me but the (I am sure thousands) of others going through this HELP I would love to hear from you and would humbly accept any help offered ...by the way I am keeping a log of times and dates of attempted phone calls up to 25 today prior to this 1 1/2 hour ( time it took me) letter .. Thank you for your site Robert Hansen

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I've been out of work for almost 2 years. I have applied countless times & always received a letter saying I've been disqualified from receiving benefits. after making what seemed like over 100,000 calls I finally was told, " You haven't made enough money within the last 2 years to qualify" They told me if I wanted to receive benefits I would have to find a job, make 1100.00 dollars then quit then I would be eligible. I still cant figure it out.

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This is happening to me now, I received one check after a one month wait for an interview and now I just thought we were rollin & today I get another notice for an interview at the end of the month. My rep could barely speak english and I had to have him repeat the questions. My kids have to eat, rent has to be paid, where am I suppose to get money from?. If my husband loses his job we are done. Today my rent is 4 days late, now we have to scrape to pay it. This is a game they are playing with our survival!

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Dealing with EDD is a total nightmare. I reported income under $100 on a claim form and got flagged for an interview. I don't mind being interviewed but it is scheduled a month away. In the meantime all benefits stop. I have to suffer financial hardship for a month for being honest. When I called them they claimed I didn't report anything. I think it is wrong for honest recipients to be treated this way. They use falsehoods and stalling techniques to get people to give up on their claims. I wish I didn't have to be on unemployment but I have kids.

This treatment of Americans has got to stop. I have family members who died in wars for this country. The only way to make a difference is to let them know! Write the Governor and Congressman and tell them your EDD nightmare experiences! We pay 30% of our income in Federal and State taxes!

State Representatives

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Senators

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Arnold �Governator� Schwarzenegger

http://gov.ca.gov/interact#contact

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Ridiculous... Shame on CA!

I applied on June 30th for Unemployment. I received 1 check on July 22nd. I have called 26 times this morning (they have been open 24 mins). Is this for real, why the hell, isn't this automated like NYS, it is 2009!!! No one picks up, no center to go to and almost 2 months unemployed and my savings will be done in a month!!! THIS IS MY MONEY! Taken from my paychecks, what the hell is the hold up?? Unbelievable!! Nothing will happen without citizens standing up and fighting for change.

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This is happening to me as well. I thought about writing the government myself. It's a down right tragedy thats going on. I too called hundreds of times trying to get through, I finally got through and was told someone will call me back within 5 days, guess what I'm on my 5th day. I was already due 2 paychecks by today and because they said I filled out my claim form wrong both times I needed to call in. I even e-mailed EDD for someone to call me and still no call. I know what your going through and the sad part is I know now I'm not alone. Also, Hawaii should not be more advanced than us but guess what, you can touch tone your claim form dialing straight from your cell phone. How come California doesn't do that. Instead they put your claim forms through a machine so if there maybe an extra dot picked up they say you filled out your claim form wrong. California needs to think of a way better plan to help the Unemployed...