How to talk to a live person at EDD - spent 6 hours today trying every trick

73 times?! That's insane but honestly makes me feel less crazy about my own attempts.

I've been keeping a log - my record is 89 attempts in one day with zero success getting through to hold.

I tried Wednesday this week but still no luck. Maybe I need to try later in the afternoon?

Yeah avoid mornings completely. And never call after 4pm - they stop taking new calls even though they're officially open until 5.

Is that one of those auto-dialer services? I keep seeing ads but wasn't sure if they actually work.

Yeah it's legit - they dial for you and call you back when they get an agent on the line. Check out claimyr.com, there's even a demo video that shows how it works.

I was skeptical too but it literally saved my sanity. Got through in under 40 minutes vs the days I was spending manually calling.

Wait seriously? They ALL take lunch at the same time? That explains why I could never get through around noon!

Yep, discovered this after wasting hours calling during lunch. They should really post this information but they don't.

I've been waiting for each prompt! That would definitely add up over dozens of calls.

Exactly. When you're making 50+ attempts, those seconds really matter. Also use speaker phone to save your ear from the constant redialing.

You're so lucky it didn't drop! I've been disconnected twice after waiting over an hour on hold.

I was terrified the whole time that it would drop. Had my phone plugged in and didn't move from my desk for 2 hours straight.

Good to know! I was alternating between numbers thinking it might help my odds.

Same here. Wasted probably 2 hours switching back and forth before someone told me they're the same line.

Thank you! I kept seeing old forum posts about specialist lines and couldn't figure out why it never worked.

Yeah those old posts are misleading. The menu system changed completely and there's only one path to reach agents now.

156 attempts?! At what point do we admit the system is broken beyond manual calling?

This is exactly why I switched to using Claimyr. My time is worth more than the service fee, especially when manual calling wasn't working at all.

I've tried the early morning approach but I'm not a morning person. Maybe I need to commit to the 8am routine more seriously.

It's rough but Monday-Wednesday mornings are statistically your best bet for manual calling. Just prepare for still needing 30+ attempts minimum.

This happened to me twice last week. 90+ minutes on hold each time and then just dead silence. So demoralizing.

It's a known system issue they haven't fixed. The phone infrastructure just can't handle the volume they're getting.

How much did it cost? At this point I'm calculating my lost wages from all this calling time.

Way less than the wages I was losing trying to call manually for hours every day. Plus they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 that shows exactly how it works.

This explains why my Monday attempts are always disasters. Tuesday-Thursday seem much more reasonable.

Exactly. And Friday afternoons are pointless too because even if you reach someone, you can't resolve complex issues before the weekend.

That's depressing but helpful data. Really puts into perspective how broken the system is.

Yeah, the success rate is basically zero for manual calling unless you get extremely lucky or have unlimited time to keep trying.

That's really helpful timing info. I was wondering why my late afternoon attempts never worked.

Same with the lunch break from 12-1:30pm. These unofficial policies make manual calling even more difficult than it already is.

I hadn't even thought about phone bill impact. WiFi calling helps but the time cost is still huge.

Right? When you factor in lost wages plus phone costs, paying for a calling service actually saves money in most cases.

I've been guessing on the timing! 70 seconds is very specific - I'll try that exact timing tomorrow.

Yeah the timing is crucial. I tested different intervals and 70 seconds consistently works best for getting through the menu efficiently.

Which service did you use? I'm about ready to give up on doing this manually.

Used Claimyr - they call you back when they get an agent. Honestly wish I had done it weeks ago instead of wasting all that time calling manually.

Thanks for the specific time window! I'll focus my attempts on Wednesday afternoons going forward.

Wednesday worked for me too, though it still took 52 attempts to get through to hold. The timing helps but doesn't solve the volume problem.

That really puts it in perspective. No wonder manual calling feels impossible - it basically is impossible for most people.

Exactly why auto-dialers exist. When the system is mathematically broken, you need tools that can work within those constraints.

@Connor O'Brien I was in your exact situation last month - pending claim for 5 weeks and getting nowhere with manual calling. Finally used Claimyr after reading all the success stories here and got through in 28 minutes. The agent was actually able to resolve my pending issue on the spot - turned out there was just a missing document they needed that I could email right away. Most pending claims are fixable once you actually talk to someone, it's just getting through that's the nightmare. Don't waste more weeks like I did!

@Connor O'Brien I'm dealing with the exact same pending claim nightmare! Been stuck for 3 weeks now and reading everyone's attempts here is both reassuring and terrifying. The statistics people are sharing about call success rates really opened my eyes - I had no idea it was mathematically this broken. I think I'm going to try the Wednesday 2-3pm window that @Zoe Papadopoulos mentioned for maybe one more week, but honestly after seeing @Connor Gallagher s'success story with Claimyr, I m'leaning toward just using the auto-dialer too. My sanity and lost work time are worth more than the stubborn pride of doing it manually at this point.

@Connor O'Brien I totally understand your frustration! I was in a similar situation with a pending claim and felt the same way about whether it would even get resolved once I got through. From what I've seen in this thread and my own experience, most pending claims really are just missing paperwork or simple verification issues that agents can fix quickly once you actually connect. The real challenge is just getting that connection. After reading all these success stories with Claimyr and seeing the math breakdown that @Mei Wong shared about millions of calls vs 500 agents, I think the auto-dialer route makes the most sense. I was stubborn about doing it manually too, but sometimes you have to use the tools available to work within a broken system. Good luck whatever you decide!