lol remember when everyone was saying how much better ESD had gotten after the pandemic?? still the same old garbage systems and impossible to reach anyone 🙄

Quick update for you - I just helped someone last week with this exact situation. There's a specific form you should fill out called the "Request for Refund of Recouped Benefits" that you can find in your eServices account under "Upload a Document." This isn't well known, but it can start the process without having to call. Still, calling will speed things up considerably once you've submitted the form.

my cousin works for esd (not posting which office lol) and she says this happens ALL THE TIME. the computer system is from like 1985 or something ridiculous. she says the approval letter trumps the online status every time but you gotta call to get someone to manually fix it in the system.

UPDATE: I called ESD this morning (got through after 14 attempts) and spoke with a very helpful agent. She confirmed that my claim is APPROVED despite the online status showing disqualified. She manually removed the disqualification flag and said my backpay for the last 7 weeks should process within 48-72 hours! HUGE relief! Thanks everyone for your advice!

has anyone tried going to the worksource office in person? i heard they can sometimes help with esd issues even though they're separate

UPDATE: I FINALLY got through! Used the 3:15pm timing suggestion and the menu shortcut from @casual_commenter. Was on hold for 47 minutes but finally spoke with someone. Turns out my claim was flagged because I quit my previous job when my husband got transferred. The agent was actually really helpful and explained that I need to provide documentation of my spouse's job offer and our relocation. She put notes on my account and said the adjudicator should review it within 7-10 business days. THANK YOU all for your help!!

After you get through to ESD and fix the restart date, make sure to double-check that you've met the job search requirements for that week too. Even though it was for training, you still need to list 3 job search activities unless he has formal standby status. Just wanting to make sure you don't hit another roadblock after fixing the date issue!

Just to follow up - were you able to reach ESD and get the restart date fixed? Union training weeks can be tricky in the system, but they should be able to resolve this if you explain the situation clearly.

Just curious - is anyone else noticing that ESD seems more willing to waive pandemic overpayments than regular UI overpayments? My cousin and I both had overpayments (mine from regular UI in 2025, hers from PUA in 2020) and she got hers waived easily while I'm still fighting mine.

Update: I submitted my waiver request yesterday with TONS of documentation. I included a very detailed explanation of how I misunderstood the reporting requirements during the pandemic and provided bank statements showing I have less than $500 to my name right now. Fingers crossed! Thanks everyone for the advice and I'll post again when I hear back from ESD.