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
I was supposed to receive a phone interview on September 29 and NO ONE CALLED. I called my local EDD office and they said it was recorded that I was called and was left a message. Obviously, neither of those things happened on MY end. I’ve been trying to contact to reschedule and it’s been HELL. I’m very worried because the exact same thing happened to a coworker friend of mine and they denied her claim because she didn’t answer the call. How the hell are we supposed to answer a call that doesn’t come through??? I’m ready to pull my hair out.
Some of these links no longer work above. What’s more infuriating that that the phone options puts you in an endless loop with some of the options going nowhere! Grrr!!!
These tricks no longer work. They’ve gotten hip to them. If you dial the 12117 or whatever it was, the robot will hang up on you. Still can’t get through. Took TWO HOURS yesterday, and that was a Thursday. They should just let people languish on hold, like they do in Utah. I’d rather wait two hours on the phone than be told that the call volume is too high because I might hit a 10 minute wait. The EDD system in California is a disgrace!
I lived in Utah for a while, and was on unemployment there. Other than having to wait for a while to get a human on Mondays and Tuesdays (unlike supposedly superior Calif0rnia they don’t kick you off and drop the call) their system is all online and is seamless. I filed by phone once and then did all the rest of my paperwork online. Easy.
I move to a state that is supposedly superior to Utah and I have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting through to EDD.
Sonia was correct…
I got through by the “when was my last check sent” option. Listen to the info afterwards and get the option to speak to a representative.
It worked for me the first time!
The rep was actually entertaining and she helped me a great deal.
Outside of that, email is the only other way to go.
After calling close to 100 times over a three day period (with a cringe/stress inducing three day Columbus Day weekend in between) on a Monday at 8:00 am I found your website, tried the Vietnamese number, and immediately got through to a representative who was gracious and infinitely helpful and understanding. Problem solved. Thank you to everyone who has participated and shared their experience here!!
I must add!: Familiarize yourself with the system before you call the Vietnamese line, as you will have to know which numbers to press to get to where you need to be. Assuming you understand Vietnamese as well as I do, which is not at all. My path: 6, 7, 3, social security number, 1, Operator! Good Fortune to you!
Hi Mark Goodall,
This path is not working at all for me — Are you sure these are the digits you pressed on the prompts???
Can someone please get some Vietnamese speaking person to help us out here and post the right prompts??
Thanks!!!!
The 12117 Prompts no longer work and I tried Mark Goodall’s prompts 6,7,3, SS#, 1 and these didn’t work… What am I missing here??
I had been trying for hours and since i’m fluent in spanish decided to try the spanish route and BAM less than a minute later I had a customer sevice rep on. I guess the spanish line has less traffic so try that instead.
Enrique ,
Can you kindly post the # Prompts on the Spanish Line that the rest of us language-challenged types cannot understand?
Many Thanks!
12117 doesnt work, but the Vietnamese line sure does. I just used it successfully and got a human in less than 5 minutes. After 2 months of being disconnected on the English language line due to a high volume of calls.
Nick,
Thank you very much for posting the link. It is exactly what I needed.
If you need a replacement form, follow this link:
https://askedd.edd.ca.gov/asp/frmEDDCOMM.aspx?CategoryID=7
To answer one of your questions, when you file for unemployment you former employer pays into unemployment something like an insurance premium, in other words, they pay but not very much.
THANK YOU THANK YOU Mark!!!!! You are a genius! It worked!
Thx! This helps! I will be reopening my claim and am wondering if this will entail an eligibility interview (again). If so, does anyone know what I should be prepared to ask? And what should I be prepared to deal with? in general?
BTW, I’m having a hard time with the links to the right. Does any of the links have a focus on reopening claims and or eligibility interviews? Thank you!
Mark Goodall – Thank you Sir. The vietnamese line worked like a charm after many attempts via the English line. Many thanks!
OMG after 2 weeks of calling it worked… Thank you so much!!!!!
I wish ENDLESS happiness and fortune upon you for putting up this Vietnamese trick! I got a vietnamese speaking person, said “Hi, do you speak English?” and now I’m on hold for someone else, after days of trying to call to correct a mistake. This is awesome!
Dial the Vietnamese number posted above, hit 6, 7, 3, dial your Social Security number, then dial 1, and wait
It might help to wait for a voice response between each entry.
Good luck!
My path: 6, 7, 3, social security number, 1, Operator! is working for me well on the Vietnamese line. Sometimes they help me directly simply by asking for assistance politely in English, but other times they’ll transfer me to an English only speaker (probably depends on their comfort level). At least it’s better than being told to call back another time.
What a broken system. I’d play by the rules and call English, but you have to sit through about 5 minutes of button pressing and mandatory listening to messages before you’re told they’re too busy to even take your call. Ridiculous…
The Vietnamese line worked and the female speaker was extremely nice and calm & sounded pretty hot if I may say. lol
Yes use the Vietnamese line….After hours going through our phone system I called the the Vietnamese # and got through within 5 minutes..I dialed 6,7,3 then social, 1…wait to hear the voice everytime you dial the 6,7,3.Very nice people!!!
Yes. Dial any of the foreign language numbers and you will get a live operator also immediately. Don’t need to speak that foreign language to use the foreign numbers since the operators are bilingual and will most likely speak english as well.
Hope this helps.
This worked perfectly! I used 6,7,3,SS,1
Thank you so much Mark! It took under five minutes and they were great! From beginning to end I was finished in ten minutes!!
OMG!!! I GOT THROUGH!! THANK YOU MARK!! YOU’RE A GODSEND…
Nope, the Vietnamese line is not working for me. I was able to use the 6,7,3,SS,1 but after I hit 1 it said something & hung up. Probably the same, we’re to busy crap. I’ve tried some of the other language lines with the same results. This is enough to make me want to move out of state!
637SSN1 doesn’t work for me on Viet line..
I tried Spanish, but what number do you push after selecting “Spanish.” I have no idea what they’re saying…
CA is a joke!
Anyone try the deaf or blind #? (LOL)
Vietnamese line worked great! Even used google translator to ask “for help in english” in Vietnamese and they transfered me without having to strain my vocal chords…quick and easy.
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG Vietnamese one works!!!! Just…kind of guess what they are saying. It took me couple of tries to work through the 6, 7, 3, SS#, 1 sequence.
Ok. Tried the direct connection dial. did the 1-2 then got lost in the automated questions they ask and, wonder of wonders, at the bottom of the list and option to speak to a representative.
After a one minute break (with no music) and then a slightly longer one with Vivaldi, I landed with a woman who listened to a brief outline of my problem and then, without warning, dropped me into another holding pattern. The taped music on this one is starting to go and badly out of pitch.
After a few moments the woman returned and she answered the question promptly and resolution appeared to be in my favor. Now the waiting begins to see if it actually took.
Looks good so far.
Ok, after 8 hours of redialing HELL… I tried the Vietnamese line, got through right away but had no idea what they were saying, just punched 1 , 2 or 3 at each prompt and finally got someone. She DID speak English and was very helpful (I wasn’t trying to open a claim but i had an issue that someone to change on my claim form. SHe was nice and helpful and said that when they aren’t “busy” they do take English speaking calls. Worth a shot. Good luck.
OMG I just called for about two hours and finally decided to call the Vet line and I got through probably after the fifth attempt. The 673 function didn’t work for me but as soon as I dialed the 1800 number I pressed 1 then I put in my social and then 1 again. The first few times it just kept talking and it sounded like it was saying what the english line tells you about having too many callers. But then about the fifth time I called it said something after I pressed 1 and then I heard the hold music and two mins later I was talking to a rep
Thank you so much for this post. I’ve been trying to call for two weeks with no success and after the Thanksgiving holiday we just had it felt like I was never going to get an answer..
What is the vietnamese phone number?
Sooo screw the vietnamese line! I cant understand a wooorrrd there saying and its actually really annoying to hear them…. I kept doing my research on tricks to get through and…
with this way i got RIGHT THRU FIRRRRRST TRY!!!!
call the regular english line 18003005616
press 1 for english…
press 1 again to see “when was my last payment made”
wait…
its gonna ask how much was your last payment…
DONT PUSH ANYTHING!
Its gonna do that about 3 times then FINALLY it will give you a prompt to speak to a rep!
FINALLY RELIEF!
Unfortunatly I finally got thru right around 5pm and need to call back tomorrow, so I will update this in the morning if I missed anything or need to make any changes!
GOOOD LUCK!
Hope this helps
I know how stressful getting thru to this can be so…
#@&%%$# *^^$#$%%^ UNEMPLOYMENT!
people the Vietnamese line does work Perfectly(follow MY TRICKS BELOW).i called edd and the first Vietnamese person transferred me to an English speaking person who didn’t really care to look into my claim and why my claim wasn’t active.
Was very frustrated as the last payment i received was in early September.called back again and the Vietnamese person i spoke to this time actually helped reopen my claim,mailed me new forms which i certified for by phone to reduce turn around time.the Vietnamese people are actually more helpful than the English speaking people who are frustrated due to the high call volume.
THE TRICK IS CALL THE VIETNAMESE LINE LISTEN FOR A FEW SEC AND PRESS 3…THAT’S ALL U NEED TO DO…LISTEN AND PRESS 3….ENTER SOCIAL….IT WILL REPEAT IT BACK TO YOU….PRESS 1….THEN LET THE SYSTEM TALK THEN PRESS ZERO AND YOU’LL EITHER GET THRU OR IT WILL HANG UP ON YOU IF CALL VOLUME IS HIGH.BUT YOU’LL GET THRU WAY WAY FASTER THAN THE ENGLISH OPTION.
i got thru in 7-10mins maxx….thanks to whoever started this thread,God bless u.
I’m collecting Ca UI and I’m wondering if I can return my claim form and mark NO – I didn’t look for work for the 2 week period and just not collect the 2 weeks pay, then resume my work search for the next period. Would I just not qualify for those weeks or would my claim come to an end? Anyone?
Thanks in advance!
Looking for work online counts too.otherwise u don’t wanna tell EDD u didn’t look for work.its a requirement.Otherwise your claim will be cancelled.u can look for work thru caljobs while @ home.Good luck.
Wow, the Vietnamese number worked for me also. It hung up on me a couple times, but the third time I pressed 1, then waited a few seconds and pressed 0. Music started playing and a minute later someone picked up. I didn’t ask if they spoke English, I just said I have a question about my claim and they asked for my SSN. Thank you!!
Wow the Vietnamese line worked like a charm 6-7-3-ss-1 heard music was on hold for less that 2 mins….the lady that answered was helpful I just asked politely if she spoke English and then we were off n running….she sympathized bout calling English line repeatedly ….whole call took less that 6mins and that was on a monday
I called the Vietnamese line and got through on the 1st try!! Call 1-800-547-2058 dial 1, enter social security #, then 1 again. I got the hold music right away. The guy that answered asked why I called and I told him I’ve been trying for 2 days straight with no luck on the english line.
Thank you for this tip!! It DOES work!
After calling all day, even trying the TTY option to no avail, I finally stumbled upon this website. Went through the automated option to “check when last payment was sent”. Had to reset my pin, did that, then followed the prompts to check when my last payment was sent. After I got the most recent payment information there was an option to speak to a rep! Automation said wait time was going to be approximately 3 minutes. Waited a few minutes and finally got an operator. Of course, she immediately put me on hold again, different music. A couple of minutes later, she came back, and answered my question. Unf’ingbelievable. Someone’s head should roll over this system.
OMG! I’ve tried all sorts of combos with no luck until I tried the “when was my last check sent” option and going through the prompts till it asked if I wanted to speak to a representative
My wait time was 2 minutes!
Mike Litoris and Charity’s suggestion worked for me 3 minutes
I wonder how many people have to call the system for it to be in high call volume mode??
I want to shoot my phone, and by phone I mean EDD! I got my claim for in like 3 days, the phone call 15 minutes before the 3 hour gap they said they would call, everything was going a little well in the beginning. I literally know right then something was going to have to go wrong. I haven’t gotten my last form, my continued form, and my claim started 9 weeks ago. I have done the call every 30 seconds, emails, letters, and nothing. so now i really hope the 12117 thing works.
Hey Morris…have some faith, call the Vietnamese line….that 12117 things is for 2010….system is different for now…call Vietnamese line (forget the English line) and trust me you’ll get someone to answer your questions in less than 30mins…
you may have stopped receiving claim forms because you made an error some where…find out asap or you’ll be as frustrated as i was since September 2011…only started getting my forms again Dec.6th…thank God i have a wonderful girlfriend or I’d be homeless,starving and humiliated or dead from stress…EDD needs to be overhauled…they take the unemployed folks for granted…
Nothing is working for me. The Vietnamese line isn’t working whether i do the “6,7,3,ss,1″ way or the “1,ss,1″ way, it’s still not working. I’ve also tried all your english line suggestions.
Can someone help me?
Am I doing something wrong?
This was there response to my email…
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/392248_307349919296267_100000637832341_1096102_144269413_n.jpg
I emailed them AGAIN and haven’t heard anything back yet.
I don’t know what else to do.
:’(
I’m having the same problem (either the 6,7,3, SS, 1) or the (3, 3, SS, 1) when I call the Vietnamese line and it hangs up everytime I’ve tried. Any suggestions?
Hello to all the frustrated unemployed,
Unsure of the vietnamese strategy, it didn’t work 4 me but I didn’t try very long – I guess I’m impatient, LOL. I would try all of the tricks, it can’t hurt (more luck than the traditional way). but what got me thru was “last payment made on ur claim” option #1, after they ask for ur preferred language and make any announcements. Enter SS # and/or pin, listen to ur payment information, after it provides that, it will then give u more options (to repeat info, go to main menu, etc.) choose “speak to a representative”. It got me thru, Hopefully it works 4 u.
The Vietnamese trick worked, just like Mark said. Spoke with a pleasant woman just now.
Unfortunately did not get good news regarding the extension.
Takes a few turns through the system to get a feel for what they are asking for. 6, 7, 3, social, 1
works. Just give a little pause. No need to press ONE for English, so skip that part. Best of luck.
The Vietnamese lined worked great for me also. Give the voice prompt some time and after they are done speaking enter the prompt. I have been calling straight for 5 days to no evail. Finally used this trick and got thru in 5mins. Thanks peeps.
Thank you for all the advice on the vietnamese line. worked like a charm! the promt described by Mark Goodal worked with the first try. Thanks!
ok this is almost a last ditch effort for me. Not sure what else I can do. Originally from out of state and moved to Ca for a Job(of which I was let go by JPMorgan because I refused to follow illegal and imoral churning of products. I sued and won the case and its appeal). However because I have wages outside of Ca as well I couldnt file through web site. Took 617 calls to get through the first time to finally set up an interview for 3 weeks later. Day came and was never called. 823 calls later got back ahold of interview team and was told a Manager would call me no later than weeks end(2 weeks ago). Now I am on my 750ish calls and cant get through to save my life. I have tried all of the tips here, I have sent 22 emails(none returned), tried every language line, with no luck at all. Not sure what to do, this has been a 2+ month ordeal now, no money left, rent do in 5 days…. Need someone… Anyone to help with advice…