What number to call for Washington ESD unemployment - keep getting busy signals

I tried that yesterday and got disconnected after 90 minutes. So frustrating!

Same thing happened to me last month. The system seems to kick people off after a certain time.

I heard Tuesdays and Wednesdays are supposedly less busy but I haven't noticed much difference honestly.

I sent a message 6 days ago and still no response. My claim is stuck and I really need to talk to someone now.

Yeah the messaging is hit or miss. When I had an adjudication issue it took them 2 weeks to respond to my message.

Wait is that legit? How much does it cost?

Yeah it's real, they don't ask for personal info upfront and it was worth it to finally talk to someone at ESD about my claim status.

I'm desperate enough to try anything at this point. Thanks for the tip!

47 times?? That's insane but I believe it. The system is completely overwhelmed.

I feel your pain. I've been calling for 3 weeks about my adjudication and haven't spoken to a human yet.

Do you know how to find department-specific numbers? The main website only lists the general customer service line.

I think they're all routed through the same system now unfortunately. Used to be separate numbers but they consolidated everything.

This actually worked for me too! Had to call at exactly 8am three days in a row but finally connected on day 3.

I'll try this tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed!

Exactly! It's like they designed it to discourage people from getting help.

The system definitely needs improvement but hang in there, you'll eventually get through.

How does it work exactly? Do they just call for you?

Yeah they handle all the calling and waiting, then conference you in when they get through to ESD. Pretty clever actually.

I tried that last week and actually got through in about 20 minutes! Might have been lucky timing though.

Worth trying different times of day for sure. The system seems random sometimes.

Good advice! How long is too long to wait though? I've been on hold for 3+ hours before.

I've waited up to 4 hours before. It sucks but sometimes that's what it takes to finally talk to someone.

LOL that's exactly what I call it too. Such a broken system.

True, when I finally reached someone they sorted out my issue in 10 minutes. All that waiting for a quick fix.

That gives me hope at least. I just need to get past the phone system somehow.

That's exactly my situation too! Identity verification flag and can't reach anyone to resolve it.

You guys should definitely try that Claimyr service I mentioned. Perfect for situations like this where you really need to reach someone.

Interesting theory! Maybe people give up by Friday and call volume drops.

At this point I'll try any day and time. Thanks for the suggestion!

Absolutely. They should have regional offices with separate phone lines.

Budget constraints probably limit staffing unfortunately. The system wasn't designed for this call volume.

Yeah I think I'm going to try both approaches. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions!

Good luck! Hope you get your claim sorted out soon.

That's awesome! I signed up for it too after reading these comments. Waiting for my callback now.

Glad to hear success stories. Gives me hope that there's actually a way to reach these people.

Thanks for the encouragement! It's good to know they'll backdate payments if there are delays on their end.

Awesome! Happy ending stories like this give me hope for my own claim issues.

So glad it worked out for you! That's exactly why I recommend the service - saves so much frustration.