FAFSA customer service improved? Getting better response times than last year

Consider yourself LUCKY!! I called yesterday about a verification issue and waited 2.5 hours before giving up. Still haven't resolved it and now I'm worried about missing my school's priority deadline. The system is just as broken as ever from my experience.

I've definitely noticed improvements too. I think they finally hired more people to handle the call volume. I've had to call twice in the last month - once about dependency status documentation and once about parent contribution questions. Both times I was connected in less than 45 minutes, which is a huge improvement from last year when I literally couldn't get through at all. The representatives also seemed better trained on handling complex situations.

After trying for THREE DAYS last week to get through on the phone (kept getting the "call volume too high" message and disconnected), I finally found a service called Claimyr that got me connected to a FAFSA agent in about 20 minutes! I was super skeptical at first but it actually worked. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ and the website is claimyr.com. Saved me so much frustration with my verification issue.

The customer service quality is completely inconsistent in my experience. I've called about my Parent PLUS loan application three times in the past month. First call: waited 15 minutes, talked to someone who had no idea how to help. Second call: waited 2+ hours, got disconnected. Third call: waited 40 minutes, got someone amazing who fixed everything in 5 minutes. I think they've added more staff but haven't trained them all properly. It's like rolling the dice every time you call - you might get someone great or someone clueless. Also seems to depend on time of day and which department you're trying to reach.

My theory on why it seems better: fewer people are applying through FAFSA because of all the problems they had when they launched the new system last year. I read somewhere that FAFSA applications are down like 15% this year because people just gave up or found other ways to pay for college. Sad but probably why wait times are sometimes better.

I STILL can't get my dad's contributor status to work right on the FAFSA!!! Three attempts, three different representatives, and somehow they all tell me different things about how to fix it. One said to make a new account for him, another said to use his existing FSA ID but reset the password, and the third said there was some kind of linking issue that could only be fixed by submitting a help request through the portal. HOW IS THIS SYSTEM STILL SO BROKEN?!?!

I work in a financial aid office, and here's some insider perspective: FSA actually did implement some system changes after last year's disastrous rollout. They added more customer service reps and improved some of the training. However, they're still understaffed for the volume they handle, especially during peak periods. The best times to call are typically Tuesday-Thursday, either early morning (8-9am) or later afternoon (4-5pm). Avoid Mondays and Fridays at all costs - wait times are often double. Also, if you're calling about a technical issue rather than a policy question, specifically request a technical specialist when prompted about your issue.

i dont think its better...just random luck. waited 3 hrs yesterday and gave up. my school deadline is next week and still cant get my sai score to show up correctly. system says "calculation in progress" for 2 weeks now. does anyone know if schools will accept pending fafsa or do they need the complete processed version??