EDD phone number Los Angeles - been calling for 2 weeks straight can't get through

That explains why it's so impossible to get through. Millions of people calling the same number.

Yeah the specialist lines got shut down during COVID and never came back. One number for the whole state now.

Three weeks?! I can't afford to spend another week on this. Missing work just to dial all day.

I totally get it. That's actually why I ended up using Claimyr after week 2. Got through in 23 minutes instead of weeks more calling.

I've been calling at 8am every day for a week. Still just busy signals. Maybe Wednesday is different?

Wednesday afternoons definitely work better. Avoid Mondays completely and don't waste time after 4pm any day.

Wait seriously? They all take lunch at the same time? That's insane but explains some of my wasted hours.

Yep, total dead zone from 12-1:30. I learned that the hard way after calling 50 times during lunch one day.

I do that already but 20 seconds times 80 calls is still over 25 minutes saved. Good tip for others though.

The menu shortcut is 1-wait-1-1-*** but you can start pressing 1 as soon as you hear the first word of the greeting.

What's Claimyr? Is that some kind of calling service?

Yeah it's at claimyr.com - they call for you automatically and patch you through when an agent picks up. Usually takes 20-40 minutes instead of weeks.

I was skeptical about paying for calling help but honestly it saved my sanity. Got through in 35 minutes after 3 weeks of failed manual attempts.

Good to know. I was alternating between them thinking it might help but sounds like I was wasting time.

Yeah they route to the same call center. Stick with whichever one you can dial faster.

Are you kidding me? So even if I get on hold I might get disconnected after waiting hours?

Unfortunately yes. Their phone system is garbage and drops calls constantly. It's soul-crushing when it happens.

That's another reason I went with the calling service. They handle the hold time and call drops so you don't have to deal with it.

I'll try that tomorrow morning. At this point I'm willing to try anything.

Make sure you have coffee ready and your breakfast prepped the night before. You need to be sharp and ready to dial immediately.

Exactly! And by the time I get home from work, it's after 5pm and they're closed. Weekends don't help either.

That's why I eventually had to use an auto-dialer service. Couldn't keep missing work to make phone calls all day.

I keep forgetting that and getting frustrated when nobody answers on weekends. Thanks for the reminder.

Monday mornings are actually the worst time to call though. Everyone's calling after the weekend so lines are super jammed.

847 attempts?! That's insane. How did you even keep track of that many calls?

Spreadsheet with timestamps. I'm probably a little obsessive but I wanted to find patterns. Spoiler alert: there aren't any reliable ones.

This is exactly why services like Claimyr exist. Nobody should have to make 847 calls to reach their own unemployment office.

That makes sense. Probably trying to clear out the queue before the weekend.

Exactly. And if you do get an agent on Friday late, they'll just tell you to call back Monday anyway.

I didn't even think about that. I'm probably close to my limit too with all these calls.

Yeah 100+ calls a day adds up fast. Check your usage before you get hit with overage charges.

I haven't even gotten to hold music yet! Still stuck on busy signals after 2 weeks.

Trust me, the hold music is worse than the busy signal. At least with busy you can try again immediately.

The hold music was one of the best parts about using Claimyr - I never had to listen to it since they handled the waiting.

I thought about trying that too but sounds like it doesn't matter. They're just overwhelmed.

Yeah the problem isn't on our end, it's their system. No amount of phone switching will fix their capacity issues.

17 minutes?! After 4 weeks of nothing? What's the YouTube video?

It's at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 - shows exactly how their system works. I was amazed it actually worked that fast.

I'm definitely checking that out tonight. This manual calling is destroying my life.

2+ hours if the call doesn't drop. This system is completely broken.

Exactly. That's a full time job just to ask a simple question about your claim.

Good to know it's not just me. Misery loves company I guess.

At least we're all in this together. The whole system needs an overhaul but that's not happening anytime soon.

Too late, I've already done that multiple times. Just ends up ruining the whole afternoon.

Same here. Now I pack my lunch and eat while making calls from home. At least I don't go hungry.