Tips and Tricks: Getting Through to California’s EDD, Sanity in Tact
Back in January, I posted Thanks to the EDD, I’m Slowly Losing My Mind.
It chronicled my infuriating experience with California’s unemployment office. I shared my frustration at not being sent my first unemployment check two months after filing my claim. I highlighted my disbelief at being told to call a 1-800 number, then spending weeks dialing it in vain.
And I soon came to realize I wasn’t alone.
Comment after comment, readers shared their own stories. They gave tips and tricks for getting past the automated phone system. They laughed at the preposterousness of the situation (and probably cried quietly to themselves). Six months later, the comments section of that post is still alive and kicking.
So if you find yourself jobless, checkless and at the wrong end of an EDD phone call, we’ve got you covered.
Here’s what we’ve learned from our community since the story went live:
- Keep your resume with CalJobs up to date.
- You did know you needed to post your resume on CalJobs, right?
- Make sure you fill out both columns on the right hand side of the form (some people, I’m told, overlook one of the columns; alright fine, it was me, but the lady on the phone assured me it happens a lot)
- Make photocopies of your claim form, in case you make a mistake on one or in case they stop sending them to you.
- Make sure the check boxes are dark. Form is read by computers.
- There is no unemployment office in California, at least no office that allows you to speak to an adviser face-to-face. All contact is by phone, mail and email. But mostly it’s by Scantron sheets from the late 70s.
- If you’re unlucky enough to have to call them (lost form, problem on form, etc), dial 12117 as soon as you hear “welcome”. Our readers swear by it.
- Still can’t get through? Try the Vietnamese line: 1-800-547-2058. It’s got less traffic than the other lines and the person who picks up will be bilingual, and will have to speak to you in English. I know at least two people who this worked for.
- Calling 223 times in one day is not unusual, and no guarantee you will get through.
- Still can’t get through by phone? Go here, and send them a message. You’ll receive a reference number by email. Keep it!
- They don’t have downloadable bi-weekly claim forms online. That would be too efficient. But you can request to have a new one sent to you. Go here. Click on “select category” >Unemployment Insurance Benefits>Select Topic>Claim Form-Need Replacement Form.
- Stay on top of them like “you’re managing a bunch of kindergartners”
Thanks so much to everyone who has chimed in to share tips and support. And if you have any other suggestions or stories, please continue to share them!
Sometimes it’s just a relief to know that other people are going through the same maddening experience. And that if you are losing your mind (as I was), it really is thanks to the EDD.
P.S. For musings not related to unemployment, check out my new blog, Lipstick & Lemonade
Ok Common sense and fear are conflicting here! Any reassurance or reality checks would be appreciated!
CA EDD Website says The current legislation extended the filing deadline for beginning a second, third, or fourth federal extension to Sunday, May 30, 2010. Anyone just completing one level of the extensions and needing to continue on to another level, will be able to do so by this deadline.
Those who exhaust any level of extension after Saturday, May 29, 2010, will not be eligible for any further levels of extensions unless Congress once again changes the filing deadlines.
So I have two checks left.
The one that I should receive this Thursday will pay weeks ending 5/8/2010 and 5/15/2010. That claim form will then have the remaining balance. Assuming I don’t find a job (hope I do) that claim form will pay 5/22/2010 and 5/29/2010. I can mail that claim form on 5/23/2010.
I do not trust EDD phone center because they give such inconsistent information. I know enough from reading forums to not create a new claim because that will just be a hot mess and take weeks to reconcile.
So logically speaking, according to the above info from EDD even though I will likely not have a new claim form in hand upon receipt of my final check I am still eligible for T2 because all monies will technically be exhausted on 5/29/2010.
So I am eligible, right?
I am worried about the potential for EDD shenanigans because I cannot mail that final claim form until 4/30/2010 and thus, will get the final check on 6/4/2010. If I am reading correctly I still qualify for T2 because I exhausted all benefits on the week ending 5/29/2010?
Common sense says yes. EDD sense says um, maybe?
DON’T %$@ AROUND WITH 800#’s the post that gave me the (909) 383-4661 # IS THE WAY TO GO.
916-683-4400 Number for Sacramento. Perhaps, the best…. one ring and someone answers.
Great article. I just lost my apartment and am moving in my co-worker who had a spare room. I’m afraid to give EDD my new mailing address for fear they will stop payment and ask me why I’m moving, etc. Should I just get a PO Box and have my mail forwarded?
Fred, do the change of address to the P.O. Box that way they will not stop your benefits… If you change your address they might stop your payments to find out how long it took you to move. They will dock for that.
So, i finally figured out how to get through to EDD. There is a code you have to put in to get on a wait time. I got this info from a local unemployment agency. You first call the 800#, when you hear thank you hang up and redial. When you hear the words welcome put in 12117 when you hear goodbye hang up, redial. This process may take a couple of tries but you will get the welcome again and again put in code, you will eventually hear your wait time. It does work, ive tried it today and got through (after a few attempts lol). Best of Luck!
fix this website! it has a virus!
Brilliant!
I had the nasty experience of the EDD making a clerical error on my claim. This resulted in my claim being denied. Once I got it all straight I was out 3 weeks worth of checks. I again got it all straight. The only reason I tell you my tale of woe is….your magic code saved me! I had to make over a dozen calls to get this resolved. Each time I got through! Longest wait time was 4 min.
THANK YOU! you saved my soul…..
The 12117 worked for me after trying to get ahold of them for hours. Also Try (916) 464 3300 for special claims or work share but dont try to get transfered to a regular operator. Even then they have to try the same numbers and same wait times we do.
You can now complete your continued claim form online. But BIG SURPRISE???? They haven’t announced it nor is it easy to find. I only found out because supposedly they never received my claim and I suggested that they need to put the claims process online so that people don’t have to wait for them to mail out new forms, process, etc to correct errors and she said but you can…
After I finished banging my head on the wall, I then had to bang my head on the keyboad to find the form. To save you guys the pain, here’s the link:
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/EDD_Web-Cert.htm
I would like to add to the 12117 Edd trick, i tried it today 07/26/10 i call @ 2:25pm and got the rep @ 2:30, i notice that every time i redial i get the Welcome greetings about five times and they put me on waiting hold line for the rep, so when you keep redialing you get the welcome greetings you should get hold off the Edd rep.
My steps:
1) program my phone to dial ” 1800300561612117 ”
A) WELCOME screen
B) dial ” 12117 ”
2) redial with the same no#
3) waiting game began.
After trying to reopen a claim for 2 weeks i found this article. I did good little unemployed thing and looked in the stupid handbook. All it told me was the claim would start on a sunday. Not even a hint for a number or if i should visit the website.
However, my first time trying the 12117 when you hear welcomed worked! I had a 4 minute wait time then was connected to a very nice lady.
Thank you!
Thank you so much….dialed 12117 and it worked.
I wouldn’t trust that EDD Web-Cert. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen. The antique computers EDD uses are a joke. The computer might see you as being in the system twice. Then you will get flagged for an interview and have to go 6 weeks without a check
I received one check from EDD and they cut me off with no explanation.
How do I get back in the system ?
Thanks, Ron
I had a fresh claim opened in Nov.2009. In March, I took a job as an independent sales rep so I just stopped filling out the forms and such.
That job has now ended.
Is my claim still there, waiting to be used until this fall or do I start the whole process over again?
The Vietnamese number has worked! 18005472058 they talk in Vietnamese on the automated system for 5mins, then you hear music for 5 mins, then a person answers in Vietnamese, but you just start talking in English and they answer in English very clearly and the man who I talked to was very nice, however he kept asking me many questions (I was late on mailing back my form because I moved and had an address change) and he asked me several times exact dates when I got the forms and why I was so late as if t see if my story was straight and matched up. Then he said I will have a phone interview next week (not 6 weeks from now but next week!) which was great, and that new forms will be mailed out t me. The weird thing is that I never had a phone interview in the first place, they just started sending me forms and I wasn’t sure what to do when my first form was late. BUT YEA CALL THE VIETNAMESE LINE FOR SURE!
Awesome tips everyone. I’m anxious to try them. After filing my application I recieved a letter a few days later saying that it was accepted and that I would start receiving checks. Then a letter came about a week later for telephone interview. Decision came back, negatory, I am a teacher in a district with declining enrollment, massive budget cuts, etc. I am on appeal, wrote my letter, stated my case and am waiting to hear back. I have read that if I want to apply for back payments I need to be sending in DE 4581 The Continued Claim Certification. Problem is they aren’t sending them to me. Any suggestions? Has anyone fought and won in the appeal process?
Thanks again
I have been out of work since last November. At that time it took me 3 days and literally over 100 attempts to get through to someone at EDD. I was approved for the first Fed extension and received a check on 6/12, but none since. This morning I called EDD and used the 12117 trick and got through on the second try to a lady who was very helpfull, and explaind that my claim form from the 6/12 check had not been received, probably lost in the mail. She is sending a duplicate, and all the forms to catch up my benifits. The 12117 works!!!
OMG. This site is a lifesaver. I called the Sacramento number, got a live person, and was directed to the web certification, while they mail me more forms.
Dialing the 800# and entering 12117 as soon as you hear “Welcome…” worked like a charm for me this morning! Two rings and I was on with a human. THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU, JENN, THE “12117″ CODE DID THE TRICK!!!!!!!!! I GOT A LIVE EDD REP IMMEDIATELY. He was very helpful and assisted me in filing a new claim (in actuality extending my 1 yr. claim which had expired a couple days ago, as I am part way into my Tier 2 federal extension). Thank you, thank you, thank you…Jenn!!!!!!!!!!
To Fred and/or anyone else that has a concern about moving. I too lost my job over a year ago and had a stream of “bad” roommate situations resulting in me having to move 8 times! Each time I moved, I updated it with the new address with EDD. I never once had a problem in receiving my checks. EDD does not care nor is it their business where and why you moved (unless you moved out of state or country). And they don’t dock your pay!
Best of luck to all you!
P.S. In case anyone is wondering…I am a california unemployed resident.
All the phone numbers provided above are great. Since Congress has signed the bill for the 3rd & 4th extension on July 20th, the EDD office has been swamped and behind in getting people claim forms and checks. I’ve been chasing mine for 3 weeks now. I’ve had to call at least three times a week and each time have gotten through. The number I use is (800) 300-5616 and then enter 1243. Works like a charm!
Also, an EPIC FAIL on EDD’s part by not making it publicly known that they now have a program called Webcert where you can fill out your bi-weekly claim forms online. Saves you stamps and time in receiving your checks. When I learned of this program (on Thursday 8/12), I registered and submitted my claim form and EDD immediately processed and a check was mailed out the following day.
Here is the link if anyone is interested:
http://www.edd.ca.gov/unemployment/EDD_Web-Cert.htm
The Web Cert site was fantastic till it collapsed this weekend. It was up for about an hour today, my husband processed his claim. We went back in to check and the status was “Submit Paper Form”. I went to check again and the site is copletely down.
I knew I was right. I don’t trust that Webcert and will never use it. EDD computers are from the 80′s. It can crash and lose your claim information
Has anyone on here filled out section B (the back) of the continued claim form? If so, how do you fill it out given that half of the jobs are on line and are being sent to an anonymous email address? Also, sometimes it’s just a blind add with an email address and I don’t know the company name. I just received my first claim form for my final extension with the X marked for question 3.
Any help is much appreciated.
Kind regards,
Ian
Can anyone tell me if EDD mails the checks out the day the recording says, “Check in the amount of $$$ has been processed on…” Lately I’ve noticed my checks coming a day or two later. Don’t know if it’s EDD or the post office that’s lagging. It’s frustrating when I used to get them on a Friday and now not until a Monday or sometimes Tuesday!!
Thanks Ebony for the link to the online continued claim form!
Just spent 45 min on their website trying to find it.
Really well hidden, I must say…
erik.. you send your forms into sacramento, they get processed there and then the check gets mailed from san bernardino(southern california).. it takes three days for a piece of mail to go from southern california to the sf bay area.
i mail my claim form from the east bay to sacramento (1 hour a way) on sunday. they probably receive it tuesday, they then say a check has been paid on wednesday and i receive it saturday.
so.. what this means, is they mail out the checks on the day the check is cut(wednesday).
when you get your check depends on where you live and when you send in the claim form. if you live in southern california you will get yours a day sooner.
it also depends on if you drop your claim form in a blue box, put it in your own mailbox for pickup.. or if you drop it off at the post office.
Always drop it off at the post office, because they process outgoing mail several times a day… and if you want it to go out even faster, take it to the main post office branch.. for me it would be oakland, but that is 30 minutes away
here are my estimates.
city you live in and when you will get your check (if you drop it off sunday at your local post office)
Redding California – receive on Tuesday
San Francisco Bay area – receive on Saturday
Orange County and Los Angeles – receive on Thursday
Inland Empire (san bernardino county) – receive on Wednesday, Thursday Latest
by the way, i dont recommend using the continued claim form online… there is not a clear path linking you to it… this is probably by design… when it is ready, they will put a more available link on the site.
i wouldnt want to trust that yet.. ill stick with the trusty old paper claims and a stamp
i agree with M.R. they wont dock your pay because you change your address..
I live in Ventura County right out-side Los Angeles about an hour away. I mail out my claim for on Sunday and i receive my unemployment check on Saturday.
I just submitted my claim form on-line via WEBCERT for the first time today, i’ll let you all know how it goes and when i receive my check
oh yeah.. my calculations are a bit off… do you send your claims forms to sacramento? if so, then it takes a couple of days for your claim form to get up here, so you get the delay in sending them to get processed.. and since i live in norcal,, i get a delay in getting them sent to me from socal.
yes my claim form is mailed to Sacramento.
today’s a holiday so everyones going to see the delay – so most ppl wont see payment until next Monday if you normally receive it on Saturday
i’ll let you all know how the WEBCERT went and when i receive my check.
thanks thanks thanks for the brilliant tips!
and heres some answers from my experience over the past 2yrs.
my 1st claim was mishandled and I was accused of fraud. This resulted in NO CHECKS for 8 months. I appealed twice and won. Got all the $$. But keep track of what they owe because they underpaid me by a little over $2000. I pointed it out with details (I kept a spreadsheet during the 8 months of appeals). and the $$ was sent without fuss.
Thank G*D for this site- it got me through to a human twice when CA EDD screwed up my claims (1/2010 + 8/2010) and was not responding to my emails.
Another tip- if you get a person who is not helpful. Call back until you get a helpful person. Today I called, got wrong info from the woman on the points I KNEW, so I suspected the other points got bad answers too. I called back and got someone who fixed me in a jiffy, with a smile, AND offered (helpful, good) info I didn’t know to ask for!
Do I understand correctly to think I was just told CA has 3rd + 4th extensions to give BEFORE Fed extensions kick in?!
I was wondering if anyone is experiencing a delay in their check process/delivery this? I sent my claim form out on Tuesday, August 31st. Normally when I send it out on a Tuesday, the check is sent out on Friday and I get it by Monday. This morning I called the automated number for check status and the check has still not been mailed. I’m wondering if maybe they are behind or delayed due to all the extention checks they need to catch up on….?? I understand yesterday was a holiday but it still seems to be late even so.
Unemployment Insurance Benefits Weeks of Benefits
Initial period of regular Unemployment Insurance claim Up to 26 Weeks
EUC – Tier 1 Up to 20 Weeks
EUC – Tier 2 Up to 14 Weeks
EUC – Tier 3 Up to 13 Weeks
EUC – Tier 4 Up to 6 Weeks
FED-ED (EB) * Up to 20 weeks
it depends on where you live.
the checks have to be mailed to sacramento.. so the closer you are to sac the closer it gets there.. if there is any delay in us mail getting there then it will be delayed.
next.. it is mailed out from san bernardino (inland empire) southern calfiornia.. so the closer you live to there the faster it will be sent to you.. so the delay can happen.. either going to or coming from the edd.. as well as delays while it is sitting in their office waiting to be processed.
i live near oakland california and mail it to sacramento on sunday night.. they probably receive it by tuesday and process it, the check gets “paid” as their automatic system says on wednesday, then i get it (from san bernardino) on saturday
okay so i just got my unemployment check one day earlier than normal i usually get it on Saturday i used WEB-CERT and it works just fine. I think if Monday wasn’t a Holiday i would of received my check yesterday…… i am going to be using WEB-CERT from now on to submit my continued claim form ; it was easy, didn’t have to worry about the EDD receiving my claim form, check came faster and i didn’t have to buy and stamp, now just waiting for direct deposit- then we wont have to worry about the mail at all
Wow this website is great, you know I was trying to search on web to see if anyone ever Sued the Unemployment Development Department for any reason. I was laid off 06/25/10 and hasn’t received a check yet. I been calling but of course I couldn’t get threw, so I email them still no previl, so I started sending complaints threw the email and to our so call governor, congress and the house of representives. Yeah I know but I was desperate, of course people are ignoring me.
I had a telephone interview Sept 4, Saturday and NO ONE CALLED FROM THE EDD so I complain about that threw email.
I just wanted to see if anyone know, if the EDD ever been sued?
But I will use the tip’s
Thank you
Is anyone else having problems receiving claim forms? Its been over a month, and after several e-mail’s back and forth, the 10 day waiting periods in between, plus speaking to an actual person, I was finally told to use web-cert. They basically told me it was my mailman, or my address that were the problem. I’ve not had a problem receiving previous checks and notifications, so why all of a sudden now? Even though I’m on a FED-ED extension they told me to use it. That was on thursday 9/9/10, and other than it stating my forms submitted, there has been no change. I’ll keep you posted if anything changes.
I’ve been able to get through the EDD first thing in the am @ 8:00am on the dot. First ring someone picks up. Don’t wait to call start as soon as they open, you’ll get a person right away.
The Vietnamese line worked! I gave it a shot after calling the English line 10 times at 8:00 am on the dot. Then I called the Vietnamese line and just kept pressing zero until I got someone, AND he answered in English. THANK YOU.
Well well well, there was no change on web-cert other than it stating that my claims were submitted. So I called this morning, btw 12117 worked like a charm, and they told me that my claims were submitted over a month late, so they had to schedule an interview! What kind of people do they have working there? I don’t know if they’re incredibly smart or stupid for giving me the run around for a month and then saying it was my fault so I needed an interview to determine whether to pay me or not. Don’t they think they should have mentioned web-cert the first time I e-mailed, or called?! What sucks is not being able to hold these people accountable for anything. We should be able to say, listen you all made the mistake, so fix it. I’d be happy if they’d give me one of their jobs, I like many people out there, am not looking for a handout, I’d rather work (Gasp!) shocking isn’t it?
THANK YOU. This just saved my butt. That 12177 or whatever got me through right away after two calls where I sat and listened for 5 full minutes before it let me choose 0 to speak with someone and then it disconnected because they were too busy. I was steaming at the ears but then I got to speak to somebody! WONDERFUL!
mrs.law California government is still running without a budget. There is growing discontent with the workers. EDD is understaffed with inexperienced people using antique computers
Has anyone heard of cal-ed or california extended duration? What is it and does it help us california 99′ers in any way? There’s not much out there on the subject and what information there is, is inconsistent or contradictory. Any information or explantion would be very helpful.
this is an ad that was ran to hire edd phone reps and it has the direct lines for the call centers:
http://www.peninsulaworks.org/documents/UISeasonalClerkFlyer.pdf
i just changed my address from dublin to fremont and there was no delay in getting my check, in fact I get it a day sooner now on Friday.