Stuck in NY unemployment limbo for 3 months - need help getting a human on the phone

I was in the same situation last month, pending for almost 10 weeks. Calling that number is useless - never got through. What finally worked was using claimyr.com - it's a service that waits on hold for you and calls when they get a rep. Talking to the agent got my pending payments released within 24 hours after they fixed something in my account. Best money I've spent in a while since I was owed thousands in back pay! They've got this YouTube video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

Call exactly at 8:00am right when they open. Like literally be dialing at 7:59. That's how I eventually got through after trying for a month.

OMG 13 WEEKS!!!! Thats horrific. I'm at 8 weeks now and thought that was bad. The whole system is a dumpster fire. I've tried calling over 30 times a day for weeks and can't get anyone. I'm literally selling stuff from my apartment to pay rent.

Contact your state assembly person or state senator. Not kidding. I was pending for 7 weeks, called my assemblyman's office, and they have a staff person who deals with unemployment issues. They reached out to someone at NYSDOL and my claim was fixed within 3 days.

Have you tried the TDD/TTY number? Sometimes that line has fewer people trying to get through. I got through on my 4th attempt. Just FYI though it didn't actually solve my issue, they just told me to keep waiting 🤡

heres what finally worked for me after 9 weeks of NOTHING. I tried: - calling 100+ times: nothing - emailing: nothing - messaging on twitter: nothing - contacting state rep: they tried but nothing Then I used claimyr.com which got me through to an actual rep in about 90 mins. The lady I spoke with literally said "oh there's just a flag on your account that needs to be removed" and fixed it in 5 minutes. Got all my backpay 2 days later. The system is so broken its insane.

Pro tip: call the fraud hotline and tell them you think someone might have tried to use your info fraudulently. They always pick up that line and can often transfer you to someone who can help with claims too.

Wait, you got a message saying your benefits are pending? Consider yourself lucky. I can't even see my status online - the website crashes every time I try to log in. The ny unemployment system is literally from the stone ages.

After dealing with this exact nightmare for months, here's what I learned about NY's unemployment system: 1) Calling repeatedly doesn't work - the system is designed to basically filter out most callers 2) Their social media team doesn't have access to actually fix claims, they just send your info to the same backlogged queue 3) Most pending claims have simple issues that take a rep literally 2-3 minutes to fix, but GETTING to a rep is nearly impossible 4) Using claimyr.com was the only thing that actually worked for me after 11 weeks of nothing. They basically dial for you and wait on hold, then call you when they get a human. The rep I spoke with fixed my issue in under 5 minutes and I got paid all my backpay within 48 hours. 5) If you can't afford that option, try your state rep, but even they have limited capacity to help these days due to volume The system is 100% broken and understaffed by design. Good luck!

not helpful but I just wanna say how disgusting it is that we pay taxes our whole lives, then when we need help accessing benefits WE PAID FOR, we can't even talk to a human being. The whole system is designed to make people give up. There should be a class action lawsuit against NY unemployment.

Yo if your claim says pending but you've been certifying weekly, you should get all the backpay once it's approved. I was pending for 12 weeks and then suddenly got a huge deposit with all the weeks at once. So keep certifying every week!

does anyone know why the system is suddenly so much worse? I got unemployment in 2021 and while it wasn't great, at least I could get through on the phone after a few tries. now it seems literally impossible.

had same issue. used claimyr.com after seeing it mentioned here. Finally got a human on the phone who fixed whatever was wrong with my claim. I got all my backpay two days later. It was worth every penny considering i was owed over $4000 in benefits that I couldn't access.

I know you've probably already done this, but make sure you're calling the right number for your specific issue. The 888-581-5812 number is mainly for PUA claims which aren't even a thing anymore. If you're on regular UI try 888-209-8124 instead. (Though honestly they all suck equally from my experience

check your spam folder for emails from them! this sounds dumb but they sent me THREE emails about missing documents and they all went to spam. my claim was pending for 9 weeks because of this.

I had the same issue and nothing worked until I used claimyr.com - I was super skeptical but it actually connected me to a real person at unemployment. They found a simple issue with my claim that took 2 minutes to fix, and my money was released a day later. After MONTHS of trying on my own. The whole system is ridiculous.

faxing them sometimes works. I know it sounds insane in 2023 but I faxed a letter explaining my situation with my claim ID and contact info and somebody actually called me back 3 days later

sounds like ur claim has an identity verification hold or an eligibility issue. Only way to fix it is to talk to someone. Since the phone lines are impossible, I would either 1) contact ur state rep or 2) use claimyr.com - both worked for people I know

Ok so this is gonna sound weird but you need to call at EXACTLY 8:02am (not 8:00, not 8:05) using the SECOND phone number on the website (not the main one). They have some weird call routing system and this specific time on that line has way less traffic. Worked for me after trying EVERYTHING else.