How to reach a real person at NY unemployment - constant busy signals

The official NYSDOL phone lines are completely swamped right now. There's a few things you can try: 1. Call right when they open at 8:00 AM - like literally be dialing at 7:59 2. Try the alternate claim center number: 888-209-8124 (sometimes less busy) 3. Keep trying multiple times per day - sometimes it takes 20+ attempts 4. Use their online messaging system through your NY.gov account Unfortunately this is happening to a lot of people. The system gets overwhelmed toward the beginning of each month when new claims spike.

omg its impossible to reach them!! i tried calling 36 TIMES yesterday before i finally got put on hold, then waited 2 hours just to be disconnected when i finally reached the front of the queue. the whole system is a joke

After weeks of struggling to reach them through the regular channels, I finally tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) and it actually worked. It's a service that calls NYSDOL for you and then connects you when they get through to an agent. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE I was skeptical at first, but I was desperate after trying for 3 weeks to file my claim. They got me through to an agent in about 45 minutes, which saved me from spending hours redialing. The agent was able to complete my claim and fix an issue that was preventing me from certifying weekly.

I've been through this nightmare multiple times! Calling at exactly 8:00 AM used to work, but now everyone does that so the lines are jammed instantly. What worked for me last time was calling on Wednesday afternoons around 2:30-3:00 PM. For some reason there was a slight dip in call volume then. Also, make sure you're calling from a phone with good reception. If your call drops while you're on hold after waiting for an hour, you'll want to throw your phone across the room (speaking from experience!

The ENTIRE SYSTEM is designed to make it impossible to talk to anyone!!! They WANT us to give up so they don't have to pay benefits!!! I spent TWO WEEKS trying to get through last month. The only thing that worked was sending an email to my state assembly member's office. They have direct contacts at NYSDOL and got someone to call me back within 3 days. Try reaching out to your local rep!

I second the recommendation for Claimyr if you're desperate. I used them last month when I couldn't get through for two weeks straight. The agent told me they were getting over 300,000 calls a day to the unemployment office.

try calling at 8am but not on a monday! mondays are the WORST day ever to call. also if you get into the system but then it says all agents are busy, STAY ON THE LINE even if it tells you to call back later sometimes it will put you in queue anyway

Just a helpful tip for when you do get through: Make sure you have ALL your documentation ready before the call. They'll need your past employer info, dates of employment, reason for separation, etc. Having it all prepared will save you time and prevent you from having to call back if you don't have something they ask for. Also, be prepared to answer security questions about your identity - they've increased verification measures because of fraud.

my sister works for the unemployment office (not in NY but another state) and she said they're all working mandatory overtime and still can't keep up with the call volume. it's not that they're trying to avoid people, they're just overwhelmed. sometimes the computer system goes down too which makes everything worse.

Update on my situation: I finally got my claim processed after speaking with an agent. For those considering Claimyr, here's my experience - I tried calling for days with no luck, then used their service and got connected in about 40 minutes. The agent was able to resolve my issues quickly once I got through. It saved me days of frustration.

Some additional advice: 1. When you do get through, be extremely polite to the agent. They've been dealing with frustrated callers all day and being respectful can make a big difference in how much they're willing to help. 2. Ask for a reference number or confirmation at the end of your call. This way if you need to call back, you can reference your previous conversation. 3. If your claim has any special circumstances (like working out of state or for multiple employers), mention this right away so they can transfer you to a specialized agent if needed. 4. Keep a log of all your call attempts with dates and times. This could be useful if there's ever a dispute about whether you made reasonable efforts to file on time.

Thank you all for the helpful advice! I tried calling right at 8:00 AM this morning and actually got through after about a 45 minute wait! The agent was able to process my claim and explained that they're dealing with a system upgrade that's causing some of the phone issues. For anyone else struggling to get through, calling right when they open really does seem to work better. I'm so relieved to have this taken care of finally.