Despite being over a year into the pandemic and a recent change in EDD policy to begin paying some pending claims beginning July 23, California’s backlog of unemployment claims is still massive. The recent change in policy is estimated to help 100,000 pending claims get paid. However, there still remains an estimated 800,000 claims stalled in a non-paying status, halting much-needed benefits from reaching eligible claimants causing them financial stress and difficulties. The problem here is that claimants don’t know why their claim has stalled and are no longer paying. EDD does not communicate to claimants why their claim all of a sudden stops paying and what they need to do to fix it. Claimants are left in the dark.
EDD Phone Lines Are Always Busy
In most cases, claimants will have to speak to a representative at EDD to fix their claim and get payments flowing again. However, it’s not so simple as making a phone call or sending an email. The EDD call center receives over 3 million calls per week and answers less than 10% of those calls. https://callingappreviews.org/calling-the-edd-customer-service . This leaves most claimants unable to reach a live person at EDD to resolve their claim issue and get much-needed relief flowing again. Email contact isn’t any better. Claimants have reported sending numerous emails and other than the standard auto-reply message, they never hear from anyone at EDD.
“We’re more than a year from the start of the pandemic. EDD’s website still goes down, almost every single Sunday,” said Congressman Josh Harder of California’s 10th District when interviewed by a local news organization. “I mean, folks are calling 100 times a day and not getting through to a live human being and there are no signs of improvement?”
A Solution to the Rescue
Enterprising entrepreneurs with programming expertise have devised software applications, known as calling apps, to help EDD claimants get through the phone lines to be able to speak with a representative at EDD. For a nominal sum, fifteen to twenty bucks claimants can sign up for an auto-dialing service that takes the drudgery out of manually calling over and over again. These calling apps dial the EDD phone line on behalf of claimants and call them back when they have established a connection and are in the queue for speaking to a representative. Most of them offer a guarantee if your call gets dropped they will replace it at no cost. Reading reviews of claimants that have used the calling apps has been positive and appreciative. Reviews of these auto calling apps and discount links can be found at https://CallingAppReviews.org/.
How They Work
The auto-dialing app will begin auto-dialing the EDD customer service line. The app replicates how a human would dial manually. But, because it’s a computer program it is precise and will respond to the prompts at exactly the right time. Not a millisecond too soon and not a millisecond too late. Because it’s a program, it executes with precision and it can redial at a very rapid pace. The service gets a customer to a hold line so they are in the queue to speak to an EDD representative. The service relieves claimants of the ordeal of dialing over and over again. It typically takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour for the system to get a claimant to a hold line. Claimants that have spoken with an EDD representative have reported good results in getting their claim issue resolved and paying again. EDD representatives can usually manually update the claimant’s information so the system will allow the claim to start paying again.
Conclusion
The pandemic and the waves of unemployment that followed placed extraordinary demands on the EDD and exposed the frailty of this agency. A glitchy website, outdated technology, and clunky systems are in dire need of an overhaul. Much of the human involvement that is currently necessary by both EDD personnel and claimants can be reduced significantly with an overhaul. Until then, claimants will need to be proactive and contact the EDD when they experience a problem.
Ryan Thompson, Calling App Reviews
