After nearly two months of nothing but frustration with the unemployment system, I finally got through to someone yesterday who actually knew what they were doing. I lost my job in August and filed right away, but my payments got stuck in some weird pending status by mid-September. The online portal showed everything as 'under review' with no explanation. I called the unemployment office every single day for weeks - sometimes 20+ times per day - and either couldn't get through or got disconnected. When I did reach someone, they'd just tell me to 'wait' or they'd 'escalate' my case (which did absolutely nothing). Yesterday I finally connected with an agent who actually listened to my situation, looked into my account thoroughly, and fixed whatever was causing the hold. She said something about a 'system flag' that shouldn't have been there. Within hours my portal updated, and this morning I woke up to all my back payments - $4,750 deposited at once! If you're stuck in limbo, don't give up. Keep calling until you get someone who knows what they're doing.

This is absolutely ridiculous! I started calling ny unemployment right at 7:55am - literally 5 minutes before they officially open. I figured I'd be one of the first callers in the queue. When the system finally connected at 8:02am, I got that stupid automated message saying they're experiencing high call volume and to try again later! How can they be swamped with calls when they literally just opened? I've tried calling back 7 times already and keep getting the same message. Do people have auto-dialers or something? I've been trying to sort out this payment issue for 3 weeks and can never get through. The website is no help because my particular issue needs a human. Is anyone else dealing with this total garbage? Any tricks to actually get through to a human being?

So I had to reapply for unemployment in February after my benefit year ended. The process seemed to go smoothly - I filled everything out online, got a confirmation text that my application was approved, and it said I could start claiming benefits. For the last 3 weeks I've been certifying weekly like normal, but absolutely nothing has been deposited into my account. The system shows my claims as "processed" but there's zero money showing up. I've tried calling about a million times but can't get through to anyone. My rent is due next week and I'm seriously stressing out. Has anyone else dealt with this after reapplying? What am I missing here?

After what seemed like a lifetime of busy signals and dropped calls, I finally managed to complete my unemployment claim today! Started hitting redial at exactly 8am sharp this morning and somehow got through after about 30 attempts. Been trying for nearly two weeks straight - calling at different times, using different phones, everything. For anyone still struggling, early morning definitely worked best for me. Had to wait on hold for almost an hour but the agent who finally helped me was actually really nice and got everything sorted in about 20 minutes. So releived to finally have this done. Thanks to everyone in this group who shared advice - your tips about calling right at opening time made all the difference!

So I just got a notice in the mail yesterday about my 'claim' for unemployment benefits with NY unemployment that I supposedly filed in August. The problem is I never filed for unemployment! I've been working at the same company for the past 3 years and haven't missed a day. This is definitely identity theft and I'm freaking out. The notice says they approved $582 weekly benefits since September. I checked my credit report right away but don't see anything suspicious yet. Already called my bank to put a fraud alert. I tried calling the unemployment office this morning but got stuck in an endless phone tree for 2 hours before giving up. Their online fraud report form keeps crashing when I try to submit it. Has anyone dealt with this before? What else should I do besides continue trying to report this? I'm worried about tax implications and my credit being ruined if I can't get this fixed quickly.