NY unemployment payments suddenly stopped for 3 weeks - can't reach anyone
I got laid off in April from my warehouse job and started getting unemployment benefits in May without any problems. Everything was going fine until the beginning of June when my payments just stopped coming. I've been claiming every week like normal, getting the confirmation number and everything, but nothing has hit my account for 3 weeks now. No explanation, no emails, nothing. I've been trying to call the unemployment office every single day but it's IMPOSSIBLE to get through. Either I get disconnected right away or I'm on hold for 2+ hours and then get hung up on. I've tried calling at different times (super early morning, right at lunch, late afternoon) but same result every time. My rent is coming up and I'm getting really desperate. Has anyone else had their payments suddenly stop? How did you actually manage to talk to a real person? I feel like I'm going crazy trying to get this fixed.
35 comments
Mia Green
Same boat here. I've been waiting for 5 weeks with no payment. The system is completely broken. I've called like 80 times and either get hung up on or stuck in that stupid automated loop. Try reaching out to your state assembly person - that's what I'm doing next.
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Sophia Rodriguez
Did contacting your assembly person actually work? I'm desperate enough to try anything at this point.
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Mia Green
Just sent the email yesterday, so not sure yet. I'll update if anything happens. The whole system is such garbage 🤬
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Emma Bianchi
Yo assembly peeps can actually help! My cousin got her issue fixed in like 10 days after being stuck for months. Worth a shot.
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Lucas Kowalski
This happened to me last month - turns out there was a "verification issue" they never bothered to tell me about. I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual agent. Talking to an agent got my payments released within days. Best decision I made after wasting weeks trying to call on my own. Here's a video about how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE
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Olivia Martinez
this sounds sketchy af. another 'miracle solution'... what's the catch? 🙄
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Lucas Kowalski
No catch - they just keep calling for you and alert you when they get through. Beats calling yourself 100 times. It's the only way I finally talked to someone after weeks of trying.
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Charlie Yang
not falling for another unemployment 'hack'... these never work and just waste more time and money
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Lucas Kowalski
I was skeptical too but it actually worked for me. They dont ask for any personal info - they just dial for you and connect when someone picks up. My payments started again 2 days after talking to an agent.
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Grace Patel
wait hold up - does this actually work or is it just the usual BS? i've tried literally everything else
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ApolloJackson
When mine stopped, it was because they flagged my account for "additional review" 🙄 The only way I got it fixed was by sending a message through the online portal AND emailing my state senator. Try both - the more pressure from different directions, the better.
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Isabella Russo
CALL AT EXACTLY 7:58 AM!!!! This is the ONLY way I've been able to get through. The system resets at 8am and if you call right before, you can sometimes get in before the queue fills up. Worked for me twice.
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Rajiv Kumar
This is solid advice. I'd add that Thursdays seem to be less busy than Mondays for some reason.
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Sophia Rodriguez
Thanks! I'll try this tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed 🤞
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Aria Washington
Look for a message in your account inbox. That's where I found out they needed additional documents from me. They never sent an email or txt notification - just silently put a message in the portal inbox and then stopped my payments when I didn't respond to something I didn't know existed.
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Sophia Rodriguez
Just checked my inbox and there's nothing there. It's completely empty. That would have been too easy lol
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Liam O'Reilly
I've been dealing with NY unemployment for way too long and learned some tricks. Here's what actually works: 1. First, check your online account to see if there are any notifications or action items. They're terrible about communicating when they need something. 2. If you need to call, use a service like claimyr.com - it keeps dialing for you and connects when a human answers. Saved me hours of frustration and my payments got fixed same day I talked to someone. 3. Contact your state assembly person AND state senator. Send them a detailed email with your situation, claim number, and contact info. They have direct channels to unemployment office. 4. File a complaint with the Department of Labor ombudsman. 5. Check if your ID.me verification is still valid - sometimes this expires and they don't tell you. The system is completely overwhelmed. Getting a human on the phone is your fastest solution, which is why I recommend Claimyr first. After trying for weeks on my own, I had my issue resolved in one day after speaking with an agent.
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Chloe Delgado
THIS!!! The ID.me thing happened to me too! They never told me it expired.
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Sophia Rodriguez
Thank you for all this detailed info! Just checked and my ID.me seems fine. Think I'm gonna try both the calling service and reaching out to my rep.
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Ava Harris
Had the same issue back in February. Random payment stop with no explanation. Turned out they had a question about my employment history and instead of telling me, they just stopped paying. Classic NY unemployment efficiency 🙄
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Jacob Lee
Try tweeting at NYSDOL too. Sometimes public shaming is the only thing that works lol. I got a DM from them within an hour after tweeting about my issues.
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Emily Thompson
This actually works. I was shocked when they responded on Twitter faster than anywhere else.
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Sophie Hernandez
Social media team is separate from the call center - they're way more responsive cuz it's public
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Daniela Rossi
Do u have 2 factor authentication set up on ur account? There was a system update in May and some ppl got locked out without realizing it. Check if ur phone number is still correct in the system.
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Sophia Rodriguez
Just double checked and my 2FA is working fine. I'm still able to login and certify each week, just not getting paid anymore 😩
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Ryan Kim
Make sure you're answering those work search questions correctly. If you say you didn't look for work or weren't ready and able to work, they'll stop payments without telling you why.
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Zoe Walker
So I had a similar issue and wasted WEEKS trying to get through on the phone. Finally used Claimyr.com after seeing it recommended here and got through to an agent in about 90 mins. Turns out they had flagged my account because I accidentaly entered wrong employer info. The agent fixed it immediately and I got backpay for all missed weeks the next day. Talking to a human is literally the only way to fix these issues.
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Sophia Rodriguez
How does the service work? Do they just keep calling for you?
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Zoe Walker
Yep exactly - they use some system that keeps dialing and then calls your phone when they get a human. Way better than me calling 200 times myself and getting nowhere.
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Elijah Brown
Check if u answered something different when certifying. Even a slight change from previous weeks (like saying u worked when u didnt or vice versa) can trigger a hold. The system is super sensitive to any changes.
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Maria Gonzalez
Have you checked your spam folder for emails? Sounds dumb but my friend missed an important verification email and it was hiding in spam for weeks.
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Sophia Rodriguez
Good suggestion but I've been checking spam daily - nothing from unemployment in there either 😔
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Natalie Chen
anybody else notice these payment stops tend to happen right when rent is due??? seems SUS to me... almost like they intentionally make it hard to reach them 🤔
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Santiago Martinez
OMG YES!!! I swear they do this on purpose every month
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Samantha Johnson
Nah it's not a conspiracy. The system is just trash. Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence 😂
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