NY unemployment payment missing for 3 weeks - how to actually reach a human agent?

same thing happend to me last month. took me 9 days to get thru. try calling right when they open at 8am and keep hitting 0 or try 2-1-1-2 when the menu starts

This is a common issue, unfortunately. There are a few reasons your payments might be delayed: 1. Identity verification flag - Even for established claims, random verification checks happen 2. Quarterly wage review - June is the end of a quarter, so they often review eligibility 3. Work search audit - They might be reviewing your work search activities 4. System glitch - The NY unemployment system has been notorious for technical issues in 2025 The key is definitely reaching an agent. The best method I've found is calling precisely at 7:58am (their system sometimes lets calls in slightly before official hours), then immediately following the prompt sequence: 1, then 5, then 2, then 1 again. This route tends to have fewer people attempting it. Also, try calling on Wednesday - statistically it has lower call volumes than Monday/Tuesday.

OMG the EXACT thing happened to me!! Three weeks no payment and IMPOSSIBLE to get anyone on the phone. I was pulling my hair out with stress. After trying for days I finally used this service called Claimyr that got me through to a rep in about 40 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks on my own. They basically keep dialing and navigating the phone tree for you until they get a human, then they call you and connect you. Worked perfectly for me. Check their demo video: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE - it shows exactly how it works. Their website is claimyr.com. Saved me so much frustration when I was desperate. Turns out my payments were on hold because they needed additional verification documents that they never actually notified me about! Once I talked to the agent, she helped me submit everything and my missing payments showed up 2 days later.

i wouldnt waste time with any special methods or services. just keep calling. thats what i did. took me like 78 calls but i finally got through on a friday around 10:30. the whole system is DESIGNED to be frustrating so people just give up!!! dont give up!!! what i found out was they randomly selected me for a work search audit but NEVER NOTIFIED ME. the agent was nice and fixed everything when i finally got through.

have you tried emailing ur state representative? thats what i did when i had a similar problem last yr...my assemblywoman has a staff person who deals with unemployment cases and they got back to me in 2 days and fixed everything within a week.

I had a similar issue in January where my payments suddenly stopped for 4 weeks. After multiple failed attempts to reach someone, I tried a combination approach that worked: 1. I called at exactly 8:00 AM using the main number 2. When the system answered, I pressed # immediately (bypasses the intro) 3. Then quickly pressed 1-5-2-1 (specific path to payment issues) 4. If it said "high call volume" I hung up and tried again It took 6 attempts that morning, but I finally got into the queue and spoke to someone after 40 minutes. The issue ended up being that my identity verification had been flagged for review even though I'd been receiving benefits for months already. The agent was able to clear it on the spot and released all my pending payments. Also, check if your NY.gov ID password needs updating - sometimes system password expirations can trigger payment holds (happened to my brother).

update?????? did u get thru to anyone yet?????

Quick update from my earlier post - I just remembered that when I finally talked to an agent, she told me that June 2025 has been CRAZY busy for them because they switched to a new payment processing system earlier this month. She said tons of legitimate payments were getting flagged for extra verification because of the system transition. Maybe that's what happened to yours too?

UPDATE: Finally got through today! I used the Claimyr service that someone recommended above and got connected to an agent in about 35 minutes (after spending weeks trying on my own with no success). Turns out my payments were on hold because of that exact system migration issue someone mentioned! The agent could see all three of my certifications were pending in the system, and she manually released them. She said the funds should be in my account within 2-3 business days and apologized for the stress it caused. Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions! That new system migration apparently affected thousands of people but they didn't communicate it clearly to anyone.