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Lydia Bailey

CONNECT website down? Can't login to check claim status (April 2025)

Anyone else having trouble logging into the CONNECT portal this morning? I've been trying since 7:30am to check on my claim that went into adjudication last week, but keep getting an error message saying 'Service Unavailable' after I enter my credentials. Tried clearing cache and using different browsers but nothing works. Is this happening to everyone or just me? Starting to panic since today's my filing day and I can't afford any delays on my payments right now.

yep its down for me 2... been trying since 6am!! classic deo BS lol

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@Mateo Warren WOW, this stinks! I have been trying all morning, and it logs me into a page where I see many Red messages: Unavailable! Does anyone have thoughts on the reason why this is happening?

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@Charles Nolen It sounds like the system is experiencing a widespread outage. I m'seeing similar reports across social media - the CONNECT portal seems to be down statewide. The red Unavailable "messages" typically appear during scheduled maintenance or when their servers are overloaded. Unfortunately, this tends to happen on high-volume filing days. You might want to try calling the alternative phone claim line at 1-800-681-8102, though wait times are likely long. They usually restore service within a few hours, but if you re'concerned about missing your filing deadline, document your attempts screenshots (of errors as) evidence you tried to comply with filing requirements.

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Thanks for confirming! At least I know it's not just my computer acting up. Did they post anything about scheduled maintenance? I didn't see any notices last time I was able to log in.

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It's happening to everyone. The system is down for

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Oh I didn't think to check their Twitter! Thanks for that info. Really hope they hit that 2pm timeframe because I need to claim my weeks today.

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THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THIS MONTH!!! I am so sick of their system crashing every time we need to file. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. And of course there's no way to reach anyone on the phone to find out what's going on or if this will delay our payments. I've been on hold for 3 hours already and it just disconnects. My rent is due next week and I NEED this money to come through on time!!!!!

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calm down karen lol... it'll probly be back up soon

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I've been on Florida unemployment for about 5 months now, and I've noticed these outages typically happen during the first week of the month when claim volume is highest. Based on past patterns, even if you can't claim on your scheduled day due to system issues, they usually don't penalize you - you can claim as soon as the system is back up. Just take screenshots of the error messages you're getting as proof in case they question why you claimed late. Also, for anyone panicking about contacting DEO by phone, I recently used a service called Claimyr that actually got me through to a live agent in under 25 minutes after I'd been trying for days on my own. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/UzW_hbUy-ss?si=zORd51jeq1GX5Ldj. It was worth it to finally get answers about my claim status.

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That's a relief to hear they don't penalize for system outages. I'll definitely take screenshots. And thanks for the tip about Claimyr - might check that out if I need to speak with someone about my adjudication.

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Just a heads up, I was able to log in just now (12:45pm). Seems like they got it fixed earlier than expected. The system is running super slow though, so be patient if you try to log in. Took me about 10 minutes just to claim my weeks.

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Thank you for the update! Just tried and was able to get in too. You're right about it being slow though - pages are taking forever to load. At least it's working!

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For anyone still having issues even though the system is supposedly back up, try using Microsoft Edge browser in incognito mode. CONNECT has all kinds of compatibility issues with Chrome and Firefox, especially after system maintenance. Also make sure you're going directly to connect.myflorida.com and not through the main DEO website links, which sometimes don't update properly after outages. I work in IT and deal with the CONNECT system regularly through my job at CareerSource. These outages are frustrating but typically don't affect payment schedules as long as you claim within 48 hours of when you were supposed to. The system actually has an internal flag for maintenance periods that automatically extends deadlines.

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This is super helpful, thank you! The Edge browser tip worked for me when Chrome was still giving me errors. And good to know about the deadline extensions - that was stressing me out.

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I was having the same issue this morning but just got in now using my phone instead of my laptop. My claim that was in adjudication for 3 weeks finally shows a determination letter is available! But now I'm nervous to open it lol. Anyone know if determination letters usually contain good news or bad news?

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Determination letters can be either approval or denial. If your claim status changed from

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Same thing happened to me this morning! I've been dealing with unemployment claims for about 2 years now and these CONNECT outages are unfortunately pretty common, especially on Mondays when everyone's trying to file. The good news is that they typically don't penalize you for late filing when it's due to system issues on their end. I always screenshot the error messages just in case, but I've never actually had to use them as proof. Usually the system comes back up within a few hours and you can file then. Try refreshing periodically throughout the day - sometimes it comes back online earlier than their estimated timeframes.

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