Wisconsin unemployment phone line dropped 86% of calls

[undeterred]

The voices taunt thousands of Wisconsin's unemployed.

Here's what happens: Unemployed people call a hotline run by the Department of Workforce Development to check on their claims for unemployment benefits or to answer agency questions about their application.

The calm, recorded voice of a woman says: "To speak with the next available claims specialist, press 0." But about 86% of the time, the caller is soon disconnected with a simple "Goodbye" from the calm, recorded voice of a man.

The callers still don't know why their unemployment checks haven't hit their bank account, and they can't ask a live person any questions. "Those checks were my lifeline to pay my bills," said Jeff Sohns, a laid-off wholesale mortgage broker from Wauwatosa, whose unemployment insurance checks were held up for four weeks in August while he waited for the agency to sort out questions about his job search.

The worst part, Sohns said, was he tried to call the inquiry line at least a dozen times but still had no idea why his checks weren't coming or how to fix the situation. "This whole month, it's been a nightmare," said Sohns, who finally received his weekly checks last week after he got through to a claims specialist and discovered information was missing from his file.

Officials with the Department of Workforce Development said the phone system drops calls so people don't sit in a queue for too long. State employees and unemployed workers say frustration levels have been boiling over because of the situation.

Public Investigator reviewed eight months of call center data after hearing that laid-off workers were unable to find out what was happening with their checks. The review shows that on average, about 62,000 calls made to the unemployment inquiry line were dropped during each week of August - more than 86% of all calls that came in. That includes people redialing multiple times after they were disconnected.

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Last month, Steve Hansen considered driving from his Kenosha home to the agency's Madison headquarters to find out why his checks were stopped. Hansen was laid off in July and received two checks soon after. Then the checks stopped, and he tried to call the inquiry line to find out why.

"It's like you're banging your head against the wall," said Hansen, who was stressed out because the end of the month was nearing and his bills were due.

Hansen's plan wouldn't have likely worked. People can't stop in at an actual office to ask about their claims.

The agency did away with local offices in the mid-1990s and is able to handle more cases by using the online system, said Allan Alt, chief of the systems and processing section for the Division of Unemployment Insurance.

Alt acknowledged that the agency's Web site has "very, very basic information online now" but said the agency will be adding to it soon, making some calls unnecessary. Many filers expressed frustration with the way the agency seemed to lead them in circles, suggesting online that they call the hotline and then suggesting on the hotline that they check online.

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/pi/57617432.html

When it works its great, but when it doesn't you can't do a damn thing about it.

[Pharlo]

1. I had to call them one time. Took damn near three hours of

continuous effort to get through to be put on 'hold' (yes, the 'goodbye' message)followed by a 20 minute wait before I was able to talk to a person. Once I spoke to her though, she was very helpful and gave me a direct number to call her back so I wouldn't have to go through the 'system' again. I haven't needed to call back, but I've placed that number in a spot where I won't lose it.

The thing about that message is they should flesh it out a bit so people KNOW why they are being 'dropped'. The first time I got that, I thought I'd done something wrong, or missed a menu option cue or something. It should say something along the lines of 'Due to the amount of phone traffic we are getting at this time, your connection is being terminated. Please try back again.'

[kerryhadden]

2. Don't suppose you'd want to share that number...

Good morning,
I've tried calling the unemployment office 30 times in the last hour. 24 times, I never even got through (busy signal) - the other 6 times, I got to the recording, but it told me there were too many people on hold and that my call would be dropped. I would just love to stop banging my head against the wall and speak to an actual person. Any help would be appreciated, especially a direct number.

Thank you,
Kerry Hadden
[e-mail]

[Jimbo S]

3. I called my State Assembly office

I talked to a staffer and explained calls aren't going through and I had a few questions that I needed answered. He took my number and two days later someone from DWD called me at home direct.

[eqfan592]

4. I had similar issues the couple of times i've had to call.

Thankfully I was able to take care of most of my unemployment paperwork online most of the time and had no issues filing my weekly claim, except for one particular week. When I had to call then, I got the busy signal a couple of times at the end of one day, then I got right there when I called midday the very next day, and spoke to a VERY nice and helpful woman there. I have to admit that I was surprised by her very positive attitude.

So their phone system is garbage, but I have no complaints about the people that work there at least. :)

[ldfdem]

5. It"s getting out of hand

I've tried to all this week, at least 60 times. Not once did I get through. I even called at exactly 7am when it is supposed to open.

[undeterred]

6. A lot of people call on Monday or first thing in the morning.

Pick a midweek midday time and just keep redialing- like around 11am on a Wednesday.

I called over and over 20 times and then I finally got on hold. 30 minutes later I got a live person, and that coversation only took 10 minutes. Since my claim opened I've never had to call again because I could do everything else online.