Comments on: Tips and Tricks: Getting Through to California’s EDD, Sanity in Tact

By: tom

tom — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:59:23 +0000

After trying all morning and most of my afternoon to get thru using the god forsaken 800# I searched for the nearest office; which is two hours away. Your site also popped up in that search. I tried the Vietnamese number and got thru first time. I used the same prompts as the english line uses, got put on hold for about 20 seconds and I had an actual person on the line to help me and my claim has been filed!

Thank you for the tip to keep me from going absolutely bonkers!

By: lisa

lisa — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:42:45 +0000

my husband is just starting this very sad process, i googled, “filing california for unemployment tips.” your website showed first!

with the hardship you have experienced and expressed, perhaps it will not be so hard for him –thank you!

i agree, sometimes knowing you are not alone – does help.

thank you for taking the time to help untold numbers of folks, like us, jus starting out on a very scary chapter of our lives – unemployment for the first time.

much happiness and good health to you and those you love,

lisa

By: Arianna

Arianna — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:27:18 +0000

The Vietnamese number worked wonderful. Also Yesterday I called 916-654-7401, left a message someone called me back within 4 hours. When you use the Vietnamese number wait for them to answer press 3, then wait for the recording and enter your Social Security Number, wait for the recording to repeat your social security number (you will be able to tell that is what it is doing) then press 1, wait for recording press 0 or just hold. If there are to many calls it will hang up, but usually you get through with in the first 5 times. Good Luck!!!!!

By: Teri

Teri — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:05:31 +0000

My son had been trying to get thru for days, so this morning I got on the web to find out what the problem was. I told him about the enter “12117″ after “welcome” and he got thru on the second try ! AWSOME! I am so glad I don’t live in that messed up state anymore. May 8 2012

By: Orsina

Orsina — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:02:19 +0000

Has anyone gotten the letter from EDD about how California no longer qualifies for Fed-Ed extensions and they’re going to end after May 12? Still trying to figure if it’s definite that the end has come to my extension.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:52:29 +0000

So, after 6 weeks of this and getting through on the Vietnamese line on 3 different occations, I couldn’t get through on Friday 5/4/12… The vietnamese line is no longer working! I called the 800 # 72 times on friday, from 11:20 to 5pm never got thru! I wasn’t going to call today, but someone told me to go to an EDD Career center and use the phone there… I did, and got thru on the 3rd try! AND the lady, who I originally thought was in a bad mood, back dated my claim to my original date that they claim they never received from 6 weeks ago!!! OMG I can breathe now! After 6 weeks of 1800 hell I finally got thru and they didn’t even ask me to fax the paper they originally wanted!

So here’s the deal… The lady at the EDD Career center said that trying to get through on a cell phone is useless… Landline is faster, and their phone is a more direct line and even faster!

By: Santana

Santana — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:15:22 +0000

This number worked for me (916) 654-7401
It rang for a very long time a lady answered finally but I got through f**k the 1800 number try this it works…automated systems are the worst! Especially the one for EDD! The phone call lasted 17 min total. Phone rang for a very long time! Be patient someone will answer! thanks LOLO your the best!

By: Whitni

Whitni — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:54:04 +0000

I missed my phone interview today I read that it is often a direct bearing on whether or not benefits are received, and I was extremely worried I wouldn’t receive a penny. I tried the 800 number as most of us have. I tried the vietnamese line but became frustrated with the barrier, and the 12117 code. Finally, I tried the 916 number, held for about 2 minutes, and voila! A lady answered, took my message, gave me reference number after I explained to her why I couldn’t answer the original call. She even helped to phrase my response better, so that it would be that much more acceptable. Thank you so much for the tip! the 916 number DEFINATELY works.

By: Andre

Andre — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:01:54 +0000

Here is the drill folks. There are no easy ways around it, it seems. I don’t know what happened to the vietnamese number, but it disconnects after the fourth prompt no matter what you press, 1s, 2s, zeros, whatever. I tried all combinations. I immediately got through to the message line everyone likes so much, where they take your name, number, and give you a case # and then you wait, up to a week. If thats ok with you, its the simplest way. I think its very easy to miss their call, and when you do, you start over. So what i was left with was simply relentless calling. And that is the only way to be sure.
Don’t just call every 10 mins or so. You need to jump in a que when a spot opens. That means you keep calling, without a break about 30 or 40 times. Then take a break for your sanity and do another batch. And keep going. The worst days are monday and friday, and i recall a monday when my power calling failed, and i had to do it the next day, but i got through eventually. i know its time consuming, but hey, you are unemployed, so invest the time. I went for it this monday (4/30/12) and got through sometime between 20 and 30 attempt. IA M SORRY, ITS A B…CH, BUT AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED ITS THE ONLY THING THAT TRULY WORKS. Best of luck to you all.

By: Orsina

Orsina — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:59:55 +0000

To JJR:

Does anyone have any experience with the “Did you look for work?” Section B on the Work Search Record section of the Continued Claim Form?
The forms asks you to fill in lots of information regarding where you sought employment. However, most of the jobs in my field are found on the company’s website. I rarely, if ever, am able to contact an actual person or have any specific phone numbers that I contacted.
How do you complete this form when you submit ONLINE applications that are submitted to a general mailbox with no human interaction? Even if you call the company, they will never let you actually speak to a live person or give you their contact phone numbers.<<

——-JJR, somewhere some letter the EDD sent said that the company website is OK for the company address. So for the address I put "company.com/careers." What I usually do is call one of the contact numbers and ask how to apply to that company. The person usually says to go to the website. I ask their name and put it as "Denise" (or whatever name, in quotes). Then in the result column, I note "submitted online app 4/18/12; no response yet."

So far no one has questioned or faulted me (i.e., withholding benefits) for this kind of response. However, I do suspect that, unless you get in trouble for something else, no one will look at this info, ever. I think the machine that reads your claim form just makes sure that some kind of ink is on the claim form reverse.

ALSO: When you fill out where you looked for work, make sure you put down at least three places for each week of the claim.