How to talk to someone at EDD - tried everything, need real advice

I tried that Tuesday morning and still couldn't get through after 40 calls. Maybe I need to be even faster with the menu?

Yes! Press 1-wait-1-1-*** as fast as possible. Don't wait for the prompts to finish. Can save you 30 seconds per call.

Seriously? That explains why I was getting busy signals all through lunch yesterday!

Yeah it's ridiculous they don't announce this anywhere. I wasted 3 hours calling during lunch before someone told me.

Never heard of Claimyr - is that legitimate? I'm at the point where I'd pay anything to talk to someone.

Totally legit. Check claimyr.com - they dial for you and call you back when they get an agent. Saved me probably 20+ hours of calling.

My coworker used them too. Said it was the best $20 she ever spent compared to taking days off work to call.

Good to know! I was calling Monday morning thinking it would be better. Will try Wednesday.

Fridays after 3pm are pointless too. They basically stop answering new calls even though they're 'open' until 5.

Thank you! I kept seeing people say try the 833 number but it's literally identical wait times.

Yep, total myth. Same with the supposed 'specialist line' - that doesn't exist anymore since COVID.

You're way more organized than me! I just keep redialing until my phone battery dies.

The data helps. Thursdays and early mornings definitely have better success rates from what I've seen.

That's my worst fear - waiting hours just to get disconnected. How do you stay motivated to keep trying?

Honestly I don't know. I need my benefits so I just keep calling. But I'm considering that Claimyr thing people mentioned.

Wish I knew this before using up all my work breaks calling a dead line.

Same mistake I made. Now I only call early morning or after 2pm when I know they're actually answering.

Have you tried using wifi calling? Might save your minutes.

Good idea! Though at this rate I might need that callback service instead of burning through more minutes.

This gives me hope! What day of the week? And did you do anything different?

It was Thursday morning. I think the key was being patient through the full hold instead of hanging up like I usually do.

I was skeptical about paying for this but honestly after 40+ hours of failed calling, it's worth it.

You convinced me. Going to check out that video and probably sign up. I can't keep taking time off work for this.

Smart choice. Time is money and I was wasting way more in lost work hours than the service costs.

Makes sense - probably wrapping up existing calls instead of taking new ones.

Exactly. Better to call earlier when you actually have a chance.

Same! My family recognizes that awful hold music from across the room now.

At least we're not alone in this nightmare. Solidarity with all the other people stuck in EDD phone hell.

43 calls in one session? How do you maintain the energy for that?

Coffee and desperation mostly. Also had Netflix on in the background to stay sane between redials.

Thank you for saying this! So much misinformation out there about magic shortcuts that don't exist.

Right? The only real shortcut is either getting lucky with timing or using an automated service.

How much did it cost vs all the time you spent calling manually?

Like $20 vs probably 60+ hours of my time over a month. Absolute no-brainer in hindsight.

That settles it for me. Signing up right now rather than waste another week of my life on redial.

@Emma Olsen You re'making the right call! I wasted three weeks doing the manual dialing thing before finally using a callback service. The peace of mind alone is worth it - you can actually focus on other things instead of being chained to your phone all day.

Smart approach. I used to call all day like a zombie which was probably counterproductive.

Exactly. Focused attempts at peak times beat scattered calling all day long.

This explains so much! I thought it was my phone or carrier causing the disconnects.

Nope, it's their system. Super frustrating when you've invested hours into a call just to get dropped.