Been trying to reach someone at unemployment since last Tuesday. Called everyday from Tuesday to Friday, and each time I get the same message saying they're experiencing high call volumes and then it just disconnects me. So frustrating! I've tried different times - early morning at 8:05, mid-morning around 10:30, lunch time, and even late afternoon before they close. Same result every single time with the 888-209-8124 number. I need to speak with an actual claim specialist about my case. Has anyone managed to get through lately? Any special tricks or times that work better? This is driving me crazy.

My cousin got hit with an ID.me verification request from NY unemployment about 3 weeks ago. She did everything they asked - uploaded her documents, took the selfie, completed the video call with the trusted referee. They confirmed her identity was verified successfully. The confirmation page from ID.me clearly showed "and ID.me and" at the top of the screen when she finished the process. She got an email confirmation that her identity was successfully verified through the ID.me system, but now it's been over 2 weeks since she completed the verification, and her payments are still not coming through. The website shows her claim is still active but nothing is being released. When she logs into the NY unemployment portal, it still shows her claim as active with all the correct information, but the payment status remains "pending" with no explanation. The strange thing is that before this ID.me verification request, she was receiving her weekly benefits of $504 without any problems for about 4 months. Anyone know why they randomly selected her for verification or why her payments haven't started again? She's called like 20 times but never gets through to a real person. She's tried calling at different times of day, early morning right when they open at 8am, late afternoon around 4pm, but either gets the "all representatives are busy" message or gets disconnected after waiting on hold for 40+ minutes. She's also sent multiple messages through the portal's messaging system but only gets automated responses saying "your inquiry has been received." Running out of options and rent is due soon. Her landlord is already threatening eviction and she's down to her last $237 in savings.

Yesterday I checked my payment history on the NY unemployment portal and noticed that my maximum benefit amount increased by $1,450. I originally had $11,232 when I first filed in August last year, and now it shows $12,682. My weekly benefit rate is still the same at $504, but they added more to my total. Does anyone know what this means? Is this normal or some kind of error? I don't want to get hit with an overpayment later if I keep claiming. I tried calling but after 2 hours on hold, I got disconnected. Anyone experienced something similar?

Just got a notice that I was overpaid $650 from NY unemployment after my job brought me back part-time in December. Apparently I reported my hours wrong for 2 weeks in January. I want to send the payment back ASAP but I'm paranoid about it getting lost. Has anyone returned money to the unemployment office before? Should I use registered mail or certified mail? I'm worried because my neighbor had a similar situation and sent a check that supposedly never arrived, and they ended up getting their tax return garnished anyway. If no one signs for the mail when it arrives, will they just return it to me? I'd rather just pay it and be done with this nightmare.

Finally got hired at a new place after searching for months. Today I went in just to complete paperwork and fill out tax forms - literally was there for 1 hour and got paid for it. Real work starts next week. Do I report this as 'returned to work' when I certify on Sunday? Or do I just report the 1 hour and say no to the returned to work question? It's been ages since I started UI and I'm confused about how to handle this. Don't want to mess up my remaining benefits before I get my first real paycheck.