Can't reach California CalFresh? Claimyr connects you to a live DSS agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the DSS
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the DSS drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
Just wanted to update everyone - my emergency allotment just hit my EBT card today (Feb 15th)! Checked my balance this morning and it wasn't there, then checked again after dinner and the extra amount had been added. So for anyone else waiting in LA County, they're processing them now!
thx for update! gonna check mine now
Still nothing on mine yet! My case number ends in 9 so maybe they're going in order? Will check again tomorrow. Thanks for letting us know they started going out!
My sister works for Sacramento County and she told me emergency allotments happen the same days for all counties, it's just that they spread them out over a few days so the system doesn't crash. She said to always count on it being between the 15th-18th every month. The emergency allotments are all done through the same state computer system, not individual counties. Hope that helps!
Oh that makes sense about spreading them out! I was wondering why some people get them on different days. My friend and I both have CalFresh in the same county but almost always get our emergency amounts on different days, even though our regular benefits come on the same day. The system is so confusing sometimes!
Join the conversation
I bet they messed up the semi annual report (SAR7)!!!! They ALWAYS do this!! Did you fill out a SAR7 recently? If anything is missing or unclear on that form they just SLASH your benefits without even trying to contact you first. Happened to my sister last month - they claimed she didn't report some income but she DID, they just lost the paper!!! The whole system is designed to cut people off I swear!
While frustrating, it's important to note that counties are required to attempt contact before reducing benefits for incomplete reporting. They should send a form requesting the missing information with at least 10 days to respond. If OP didn't receive such a notice, that's grounds for appealing the reduction and requesting restored benefits.
Update: I FINALLY got through to a caseworker today! Turns out there were TWO issues - 1) They were calculating my income based on a single high-earning week where I worked overtime rather than averaging my fluctuating income, and 2) They didn't record our rent increase at all because I reported it through the online portal instead of submitting the official 'Change of Address/Rent' form (even though our address didn't change, just the rent amount). The worker said they'll recalculate everything and I should see an increase in next month's benefits. They're also investigating whether we can get supplemental benefits for this month since the error wasn't our fault. Thanks everyone for the advice - especially about requesting the detailed calculation breakdown, that was what finally got them to look deeper into our case!
Join the conversation
my kid's card came with wrong name on it!! they spelled his last name wrong and now i gotta go thru this whole process again smh the system is such a mess
That's awful! Did you have to send the card back or can you just request a new one with the correct spelling? I was really worried about mistakes like that which is why I triple-checked all our info during recertification.
hey did ur kids get the same amount on their cards or different? my caseworker said something about an allotment per person but i didn't really understand how they calculate it
CalFresh benefits are calculated for the entire household, then typically loaded onto the primary cardholder's EBT card. If additional household members have their own cards, they're usually all linked to the same account and share the total household benefit. The calculation is based on household size, income, and eligible deductions. Each person doesn't get a separate "allotment" - instead, the total household benefit is what matters. You can give each person access to whatever portion of the total you want by requesting separate cards, but they all draw from the same monthly benefit amount.
Join the conversation
I made this EXACT mistake last year and it was so embarrassing!!! Was at Denny's with my kids, tried to use my P-EBT card since my regular CalFresh was low, and it got declined. The waitress told me "you can't use WELFARE here" really loud and everyone stared at us. I wanted to tell her actually my REGULAR EBT would work just fine there but I was too mortified. Now I keep the cards in separate wallet sections so I don't mix them up. But yeah, P-EBT = groceries only, regular CalFresh = both groceries AND restaurants (if you qualify for RMP).
Ugh, I'm so sorry that happened to you! That's exactly what I was worried about - the embarrassment factor. Thanks for the tip about keeping the cards separate. I'm going to do that too.
stupid question maybe but why cant they just make the rules the same for both cards?? its confusing when they work different
It's actually because they're funded by different federal programs with different purposes. Regular CalFresh (SNAP) has the Restaurant Meals Program exception that was created specifically for vulnerable populations who might struggle to prepare meals. P-EBT was created under pandemic legislation specifically to replace school meals children would have received, so it follows the standard SNAP rules without exceptions. I agree it would be less confusing if they worked the same way!
Omar Hassan
also make sure ur actually at a store that accepts ebt!! not all grocery stores do and some only accept it for certain items. my first time i tried using it at this small market and they didnt take ebt at all and i was so confused
0 coins
StarSurfer
•It was at Safeway, and they definitely take EBT. The cashier actually ran it as EBT and the machine said insufficient funds, so I know the store accepts it.
0 coins
Chloe Robinson
UPDATE: I just wanted to follow up because I noticed there was a system-wide delay reported for CalFresh benefits deposited on September 5th due to a processing error. Several counties were affected. Benefits should be loaded by midnight tonight according to the CalFresh status page. Here's the direct number for the California EBT Customer Service if you need to check your balance again: 1-877-328-9677. You can also check status updates at www.ebt.ca.gov.
0 coins
StarSurfer
•Thank you so much for this update! I just checked again and my benefits still aren't there, but at least I know there's a system-wide issue and not something wrong with my specific case. I'll check again in the morning. Really appreciate everyone's help!
0 coins