Anyone know an EDD phone number shortcut to get through faster?

Wait seriously? You can interrupt the prompts? I've been sitting through that whole 2 minute speech every single time!

This works! I cut my menu time from 2 minutes down to about 45 seconds. Still takes forever to get through but every second counts.

This! And also don't bother calling after 4pm. They seem to stop taking new calls even though they're supposedly open until 5.

Are you kidding me? They all take lunch at the exact same time? No wonder I couldn't get through yesterday afternoon.

How much does Claimyr cost? I'm spending so much on coffee and stress at this point that paying might actually save money.

It's like $20-40 depending on the line. Worth every penny when you consider I was calling 8 hours a day for 2 weeks straight. Check out claimyr.com

I was skeptical about Claimyr but tried it last week. Got connected to an actual human in 35 minutes. Best money I ever spent on this whole unemployment mess.

Why do you wait 1 minute 10 seconds? I've been waiting for the full prompt every time like an idiot.

That's just the minimum time before you can enter the next part. But experiment with pressing earlier - sometimes you can shave off 20-30 seconds total.

Tuesday mornings work too but you have to start calling right at 8am. I mean have your coffee ready and start dialing at 7:58am.

I've had the most luck Thursday mornings between 10-11am. Seems like people give up by then so less competition.

Thank you! I've been alternating between numbers thinking one was better. That's time I'll never get back.

What about that specialist line everyone talks about? Is that real?

The specialist line got discontinued during COVID. Anyone still mentioning it is giving outdated info.

127 calls?! Dude that's insane. How do you even have time for anything else?

I don't. This is literally my full time job right now. My unemployment ran out and I need to talk to someone about an extension.

This is exactly why I bit the bullet and used a callback service. Life's too short to spend it redialing government phone numbers.

400 times?? How is that even possible? This system is completely broken.

Yeah I kept a spreadsheet. Best day was 67 attempts, worst was 89. The math just doesn't work in your favor with manual calling anymore.

Wait, you called 400 times in 3 weeks? That's like 20 calls per day! I thought I was being excessive at 30 calls yesterday. This really puts into perspective how broken the system is. Thanks for sharing the actual numbers - helps me decide if I should just go straight to a callback service instead of torturing myself for weeks.

Yes! This is the worst part. Getting through the busy signal is hard enough, then you wait forever just to get disconnected.

Their phone system is from like 1995. Probably can't handle the call volume they're getting.

This is exactly why services like Claimyr exist. They handle the redialing AND the hold time for you.

This is depressing but accurate. I called 73 times yesterday and never even got the hold music.

At what point do we just accept that the manual calling approach is dead? Maybe these callback services are the only realistic option now.

Why Wednesday specifically? Is there data on this or just personal experience?

Personal experience plus patterns I've noticed. Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday seem to have shorter hold times when you do get through.

$35 vs weeks of your life seems like a no-brainer when you put it that way. Did they actually solve your issue?

Yep, got my claim sorted in one call. The agent was super helpful too. Here's their demo video if you want to see how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10

It's legit. You can Google them - they're based in San Francisco and have tons of reviews. They don't 'skip the line' - they just automate the calling process for you.

I was skeptical too but they have a money-back guarantee. Used them last month and it worked exactly as advertised.

Exactly. The menu takes 2 minutes, the redialing takes 2 hours. The shortcuts help but don't solve the core problem.

This is why I think the callback services make sense. They handle all the redialing automatically while you do other things.

Do they actually answer calls before 8am or are you just getting ready for when they open?

Just getting ready. But if you're not calling by 8:02am you've already missed the window. Those early minutes are crucial.