Why are phone-in weekly claims getting paid while online claims delayed by ESD?

same here!! filed online last Thursday morning like always and still nothing showing in my account. my neighbor called hers in Friday afternoon and got paid today wtf???

There's actually a technical reason this is happening. ESD implemented a new payment batching system in October that's causing issues with their online processing queue. Phone claims are being routed through a different server pathway that's not experiencing the same bottleneck. This isn't official information they're sharing publicly, but I spoke with an agent yesterday who explained it. If you need your payment urgently, you should call rather than file online for the next 2-3 weeks until they resolve the database integration issues. The agent told me they're prioritizing fixing this since it's affecting so many claimants.

i called my claim in yesterday and the money hit my account 6am this morning!! first time trying phone instead of online and BOOM 💰 maybe we all need to stop using their glitchy website lol

Unfortunately this isn't the first time ESD has had these processing issues where different methods get different results. Last year during their July system upgrade, people who filed through the app were getting paid faster than web users for about a month. The frustrating thing is that ESD never admits these inconsistencies in their communications to us - they just say generic things like "possible delays" instead of telling us which filing method would work better during these transition periods. The automated phone system is annoying to use (so many prompts to get through), but if it's processing faster right now, might be worth the hassle.

If you're still waiting on your payment and need to speak with someone at ESD about this issue, I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com). I was stuck in a similar situation last month with delayed payments and couldn't get through on the regular ESD line after trying for days. Claimyr helped me get through to an actual agent within about 15 minutes instead of spending hours on hold or getting disconnected. The agent was able to manually release my payment that had been stuck in processing. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3 Just sharing since this helped me resolve my payment delay faster than waiting for the system to fix itself.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I DONT TRUST ESD ANYMORE!!!!! They are ALWAYS changing things without proper notification and then WE suffer with late payments while they figure out their mess. I've been on unemployment since June after the hospital downsized and every single month there's some new problem. First it was the ID verification that took 3 weeks, then it was the adjudication for no reason, now it's this payment processing garbage. Meanwhile they expect us to follow EVERY LITTLE RULE perfectly or we get disqualified. How is that fair?????

I've been working in HR for 15 years and one thing I've learned is that state unemployment systems are unfortunately very outdated in most states, including Washington. These processing delays usually happen when they're trying to update one part of the system while keeping everything else running. For anyone experiencing delays right now, I recommend: 1) Switch to phone filing temporarily (call early in the morning, around 8:05am when lines first open) 2) Document every contact attempt you make with ESD 3) If you're experiencing financial hardship due to the delay, mention that specifically when you reach an agent - they can sometimes flag accounts for expedited processing 4) Keep filing your weekly claims on schedule, even if previous weeks haven't paid out yet The good news is these processing issues usually resolve within 2-3 weeks as they work out the technical bugs.

just got paid finally!! i submitted online last week but called ESD this morning after seeing this post. the lady checked my account and said something was "stuck" and she fixed it manually. money showed up 2 hours later!

Update from ESD: I just spoke with an agent again today, and they confirmed they're aware of the processing discrepancy between phone and online claims. They're working on implementing a fix by next Tuesday that should equalize processing times again. For anyone with urgent payment needs, phone claims are still processing faster for now. But if you can wait, the online system should be back to normal processing speeds by next week.