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One thing to remember is that banking holidays can affect the timeline too. For example, if Monday is a banking holiday, everything gets pushed back a day. I learned this the hard way during President's Day when I was expecting payment on Wednesday but didn't get it until Thursday.
ppl on here keep saying file online but tbh the phone system never crashes. website is always down for maintenance right when i need to file 🙄
The website maintenance is usually scheduled for late night/early morning hours, but I agree the phone system is more reliable when the site is having issues. Just takes longer to go through all the questions by phone.
have u tried calling ur state representative? thats what i did and they contacted esd for me and fixed everything in like 3 days. look up who ur rep is and call their office
This is actually excellent advice. State representatives' offices often have liaison contacts at ESD who can escalate claims. Just be sure to provide your representative with your claim ID, full name, contact information, and a signed authorization allowing them to inquire about your case.
One more important thing: if you disagree with any of the facts ESD presents during the hearing, make sure to clearly state your objection. The judge can only rule on what's discussed during the hearing. If the ESD rep says something incorrect and you don't challenge it, the judge will assume you agree with that fact. Be polite but firm if you need to correct something.
I had a somewhat similar experience last month but with mixed results. I did get through to the Governor's office right away (called around 9:30am on a Tuesday), and they took all my information and said they'd send an urgent inquiry to ESD. The good news: I did get a call from ESD about a week later. The bad news: The ESD rep who called me said they still couldn't expedite my adjudication because they were handling cases in the order received and there were "thousands" ahead of mine. She said the only cases being expedited were those facing immediate eviction or utility shutoff with formal notices. So while the Governor's office did get ESD to call me, it didn't actually speed up my claim processing. I ended up waiting another 3 weeks before my adjudication was completed (9 weeks total). Just sharing so you have realistic expectations.
Just as an update to everyone following this thread - I called the Governor's office number that OP shared (360-902-4111) this morning and also got through right away. The person I spoke with was very professional and said they'd submit an inquiry about my claim. They gave me a reference number and everything, which already feels more promising than my previous attempts to contact ESD. I'll update here if/when I hear anything back!
cool let us know if anything actually happens. i got a reference # too and still nothing changed lol
Freya Johansen
I hate to say it, but 14 weeks is a long time even by ESD standards. If nobody is giving you a straight answer, you might want to consider filing for an adjudicative hearing. You have the right to appeal the "non-action" on your claim. It sounds extreme, but sometimes filing the appeal paperwork is what finally gets someone to look at your claim. Go to your eServices account, look for the "Submit an Appeal" option, and in your explanation say you're appealing the unreasonable delay in processing your redetermination. Include that it's been 14 weeks, you're facing eviction, and you've made multiple attempts to resolve it through normal channels. This creates a formal legal timeline that ESD has to respond to. I've seen it work when nothing else would.
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NebulaNomad
•I didn't realize I could appeal a delay - I thought appeals were only for denials. This is really helpful! I'm going to try this right away. How long did the appeal process take in the cases you've seen? I'm worried this will just add more waiting time.
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Freya Johansen
•In my experience, just filing the appeal often gets results before you even get to an actual hearing. Once you file it, someone has to review it to prepare for the hearing, which means they finally look at your claim. I've seen claims suddenly get processed within 1-2 weeks after filing an appeal. The system prioritizes appeals because they have legal deadlines attached to them.
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NebulaNomad
UPDATE: I tried calling the main ESD number this morning at exactly 8:00am and asked for a Tier 3 specialist like someone suggested. After being transferred twice, I finally got someone who actually gave me some useful information! Apparently my former employer's final quarterly tax report showed different wages than what I reported on my application. Since the company went out of business, they're having trouble verifying which numbers are correct. The agent put a note in my file flagging it as a hardship case and said a specialist would review it within 5 business days. I'm also going to try the Claimyr service that was mentioned and file that appeal just to cover all bases. Thank you all for the suggestions - this has been the most progress I've made in months!
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Freya Johansen
•That's great news! When there's a wage discrepancy involving a closed business, having it marked as a hardship case can make a big difference. One more tip: if you have any pay stubs, W-2s, or bank statements showing deposits that can verify your wages, upload those to your eServices account right away. That can speed up the verification process.
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Ravi Choudhury
•fingers crossed for you!!! glad you finally got someone who actually HELPED instead of just reading the same useless script!!
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