Need the actual edd state of california phone number that works - tired of wrong numbers online
I'm getting desperate here. I've been searching everywhere for the correct edd state of california phone number and keep finding outdated or wrong numbers that either don't work or connect me to random departments. I need to talk to someone about my claim status but every number I try either gives me a busy signal or transfers me to the wrong place. Does anyone have the current working number? I can't afford to waste more time calling dead numbers.
72 comments


Dmitry Volkov
The main unemployment line is 1-800-300-5616. That's the one I've been using but good luck getting through - I've been trying for 3 days straight.
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Sofia Martinez
•Thank you! Is that the same as the 833 number I keep seeing mentioned?
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Dmitry Volkov
•Yes, 833-978-8753 and 800-300-5616 go to the exact same call center. Don't let anyone tell you one is better than the other.
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Ava Thompson
I feel your pain. I called that 800 number 47 times yesterday alone and only got through to the hold queue twice. Both times the call dropped after 90+ minutes on hold.
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CyberSiren
•That's the worst part - even when you finally get on hold, there's like a 40% chance the call just dies. It's soul crushing.
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Ava Thompson
•Exactly! I've started wondering if there's any other way to reach them without spending my entire day redialing.
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Miguel Alvarez
After 2 weeks of manual calling hell, I broke down and used Claimyr. Got through in 23 minutes and actually talked to an agent. Worth every penny at claimyr.com
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Sofia Martinez
•Is that legit? I'm skeptical of paying for something I should be able to do myself.
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Miguel Alvarez
•I was too, but after wasting 40+ hours calling manually, paying $20 to save my sanity was a no-brainer. There's even a demo video at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10
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Zainab Yusuf
Pro tip: Don't call between 12pm and 1:30pm. The ENTIRE call center takes lunch and nobody answers during that window. I wasted 2 hours yesterday calling during lunch before someone told me.
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Connor O'Reilly
•Are you serious? They all take lunch at the same time? That's insane.
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Zainab Yusuf
•Dead serious. It's like the building empties out. Save yourself the frustration and don't call during lunch.
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Yara Khoury
•This explains why I could never get through around noon! I thought it was just bad luck.
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Keisha Taylor
The menu pattern is: 1 for English, wait about 70 seconds, then 1-1-***. You can start pressing the numbers before the prompts finish to save time on each attempt.
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Sofia Martinez
•Wait, you can press the numbers early? That could save me so much time per call!
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Keisha Taylor
•Yep, once you know the pattern you can blast through the menu in 30 seconds instead of 2+ minutes. Every second counts when you're redialing 50+ times.
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Ava Thompson
•Game changer! I've been sitting through every single prompt like an idiot.
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CyberSiren
Monday mornings are absolutely brutal. I called 73 times last Monday and never even got to the hold queue. Wednesday afternoons seem to be the sweet spot.
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Dmitry Volkov
•Friday afternoons are pointless too. Even if you get through, you're probably not solving anything before the weekend.
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CyberSiren
•True. I learned that the hard way after getting transferred around for 2 hours on a Friday at 4pm.
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Connor O'Reilly
I keep seeing people mention a 'specialist line' - is that still a thing? Someone told me there's a secret number that goes straight to tier 2 agents.
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Zainab Yusuf
•That's old information from the pandemic. There's no specialist line anymore - everyone goes through the same queue now.
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Connor O'Reilly
•Ugh, figured it was too good to be true. Back to the regular number grind I guess.
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Keisha Taylor
•Yeah, don't waste time looking for shortcuts that don't exist. The main number is your only option.
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Yara Khoury
Set your alarm for 7:45am and start calling at 7:55am. I've had better luck getting through when I call before they officially open at 8am.
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Sofia Martinez
•Really? They take calls before 8am? I thought the hours were strict 8-5.
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Yara Khoury
•The system lets you into the queue a few minutes early. Not guaranteed but I've noticed slightly better odds.
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Ava Thompson
•I'm willing to try anything at this point. Coffee at 7:30, dialing at 7:55. Got it.
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StardustSeeker
My phone bill last month was $47 over my usual because of all the EDD calling. My carrier doesn't have unlimited minutes and I burned through 850 minutes just trying to reach them.
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Miguel Alvarez
•That's exactly why services like Claimyr make sense. $20 for a guaranteed callback vs potentially hundreds in overage charges.
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StardustSeeker
•You're probably right. I was being stubborn about not paying for something that should be free, but the phone bill reality check hit hard.
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Paolo Marino
I finally got through yesterday after 127 attempts over 4 days. Called at 2:47pm on a Wednesday, got an agent after 1 hour 52 minutes on hold. Persistence pays off but holy hell it's exhausting.
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CyberSiren
•127 attempts! You're a warrior. I gave up after about 80 and went the Claimyr route.
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Paolo Marino
•I probably should have done that sooner. The time and stress wasn't worth the 'principle' of doing it myself.
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Sofia Martinez
•Wow, that's dedication. Did they actually help you once you got through?
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Paolo Marino
•Yes, thankfully. Got my issue resolved in about 15 minutes. The actual help was fast - it's just getting to a human that's impossible.
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Amina Bah
Don't bother calling after 4pm any day of the week. They seem to stop taking new calls even though they're supposedly open until 5pm.
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Zainab Yusuf
•I noticed this too! It's like they have an unofficial cutoff for new calls.
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Amina Bah
•Right? I spent an entire evening calling after 4:30pm and got nothing but busy signals. Complete waste of time.
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Oliver Becker
The call drop rate is insane. I've been tracking my attempts and roughly 35% of my calls that make it to hold get disconnected. It's not my phone - it's their system.
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Keisha Taylor
•I've seen estimates that 30-50% of calls drop. It's a known issue they apparently can't or won't fix.
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Oliver Becker
•So frustrating knowing that even if I get on hold, there's a coin flip chance I'll have to start over.
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Dmitry Volkov
•This is why I finally caved and used an auto-dialer service. At least when their calls drop, they redial automatically.
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Natasha Petrova
I tried using Google Voice to make the calls thinking it might have better connection stability. Nope - still got the same busy signals and dropped calls. The problem is definitely on EDD's end.
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Ava Thompson
•I tried Skype thinking the same thing. No difference whatsoever.
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Natasha Petrova
•Yeah, it's not about our phone service. Their system is just overwhelmed and outdated.
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Javier Hernandez
For anyone still manually calling - make sure you have nothing else planned for the day. I blocked out 6 hours yesterday and used every minute of it just to get a 20-minute conversation with an agent.
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Sofia Martinez
•6 hours?! I don't have that kind of time with work and kids. There has to be a better way.
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Miguel Alvarez
•That's exactly why Claimyr exists. I had the same time constraints and couldn't afford to burn entire days calling.
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Javier Hernandez
•Honestly, if I had to do it again, I'd probably pay for the callback service. The time cost is just too high.
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Emma Davis
Keep a tally of your attempts. I'm at 156 calls over the past week and have gotten on hold exactly 3 times. All 3 calls dropped. This system is broken.
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Oliver Becker
•156 calls! That's dedication. I would have lost my mind after 50.
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Emma Davis
•I'm pretty close to losing it. This shouldn't be this hard to get help with my own benefits.
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Amina Bah
•At what point do we just accept that manual calling isn't realistic anymore?
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LunarLegend
I was skeptical about paying for calling services, but after burning 3 vacation days trying to reach EDD myself, I tried Claimyr. Got connected in 31 minutes. Best $19 I ever spent.
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Sofia Martinez
•3 vacation days? Oh man, I can't afford to use my PTO for this. Maybe I should look into that service.
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LunarLegend
•That was my breaking point. Realized I was literally paying to waste my time off calling EDD instead of doing something I actually wanted to do.
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StardustSeeker
•Same logic as my phone bill situation. Sometimes paying a little upfront saves you way more in the long run.
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Malik Jackson
Make sure you have your SSN, claim number, and any relevant dates ready before you start calling. Nothing worse than finally getting through and not having your info ready.
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Paolo Marino
•Great advice. I had everything written down and saved probably 5 minutes once I got connected.
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Malik Jackson
•Every second counts when you've spent hours just getting to that point!
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Isabella Oliveira
The hours are Monday-Friday 8am-5pm Pacific Time. Don't waste time calling on weekends - the system just gives you a message about being closed.
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Sofia Martinez
•Good to know. I was wondering if weekend calling was worth trying.
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Isabella Oliveira
•Nope, complete dead end on weekends. Focus your energy on weekdays only.
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Ravi Patel
If you're going to keep trying manually, at least use speakerphone and do other things while redialing. Don't just sit there holding your phone for hours - that's torture.
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Javier Hernandez
•Yes! I learned to put it on speaker and do housework between attempts. Made the time slightly less awful.
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Ravi Patel
•Exactly. If you're going to be stuck in the calling loop, might as well be productive with the rest of your time.
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Ava Thompson
•Good tip. I was just sitting there getting more frustrated with each busy signal.
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Freya Andersen
Final update: After reading this thread, I signed up for Claimyr this morning and got my callback 37 minutes later. Problem solved, claim fixed. Should have done this weeks ago instead of the manual calling nightmare.
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Sofia Martinez
•That's it - I'm convinced. Going to try it myself rather than lose more days to this calling madness.
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Freya Andersen
•Do it. The relief of knowing you don't have to spend another day redialing is worth the cost alone.
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Miguel Alvarez
•Welcome to the club! It's amazing how much stress disappears when you're not constantly hitting redial.
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