Can't dispute ESD denial - no letter in portal for over 2 months

I had something similar happen last year. The governor's office CAN help but you need to file an official complaint through their website. Go to governor.wa.gov and look for 'Contact' then 'Request Assistance/File Complaint' and specifically mention you're past the appeal deadline through no fault of your own. They typically respond within 10 business days, but in my case they escalated it to someone at ESD headquarters who called me within 3 days. Good luck!

Don't waste time with the governor's office. What you need to do is contact the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) directly at 1-800-366-0955. Explain that you need to file an appeal but the denial letter isn't in your eServices. They can look up your claim and help you file a late appeal with "good cause" since ESD failed to properly provide your determination letter. Make sure to document ALL your attempts to contact ESD as evidence for why your late appeal should be accepted. The statute specifically allows for late appeals when you didn't receive proper notice.

This hapened to me too!! The portal is so glitchy I swear they do it on purpose to stop people from appealing. Try logging in using a different browser, sometimes letters show up in Chrome that don't show up in Edge or vice versa. Also check your spam folder for emails from ESD. Sometimes they send the actual letter by mail even when they say everything is electronic!!

I've worked with several clients having this exact issue recently. Here's what you need to know: 1. ESD is required by law to provide determination notices, but there's been a systemic issue with letters not appearing in eServices since they updated their systems in January 2025. 2. You have 30 days from the date of the determination to file an appeal, BUT you can request a "good cause" exception when the delay is due to ESD's failure to provide proper notice. 3. The most effective approach is two-pronged: - File a complaint with the Governor's Office as mentioned above - Contact the Office of Administrative Hearings directly (1-800-366-0955) 4. When you speak with OAH, specifically request a "good cause hearing" regarding the timeliness of your appeal. This is a separate preliminary hearing where you explain why your appeal is late. 5. Document EVERYTHING - dates/times of call attempts, screenshots showing no letters in your eServices account, copies of emails sent, etc. The process is frustrating but navigable with the right approach.

i was on hold with esd for FOUR HOURS last week and then they hung up on me!! its ridiculous how they treat people. have you tried the trick where you call right when they open at 8am? thats supposed to work better

You should try using Claimyr to get through to ESD. It's the only thing that worked for me after weeks of trying. It basically keeps dialing for you until it gets through, then calls you when an agent is on the line. Saved me tons of time and frustration. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. I was skeptical at first but it actually connected me to an agent within about 45 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own.

Another option is to visit your local WorkSource office in person. They can't fix your claim directly, but they have special contact channels to ESD that the public doesn't. I was stuck in a similar situation last year and the WorkSource staff were able to get an ESD specialist to call me back within 48 hours.

Update: I tried both the governor's complaint form AND calling OAH this morning. OAH was actually really helpful - the person I spoke with said they're seeing this issue a lot lately. They're sending me a paper appeal form and said I should include a written statement explaining why my appeal is late, with all the documentation of my attempts to contact ESD. They said as long as I can show I made reasonable efforts to resolve it with ESD first, they'll likely grant the good cause exception. Feeling a bit more hopeful now!