General EUC Discussion - Ongoing

So I just filled out the form this morning for EUC III. I've read thru the comments and some of you mentioned you received a notice that 12/21 was the first week you could claim, correct? I did not receive that. Should I check back with the system once it's updated later in the afternoon? Of course there is no getting thru to anyone at AWI, especially with two little kids needing their mama.

Thanks in advance for any input....

I just got phone with someone and she said that my first date to claim is the 22nd - not the 21st like some of you others are getting. I was concerned because when I did my application online it didn't give me a filing date (unless I missed it), but she said everything looked ok and they received it just fine.

21st or 22nd, you say potato i say pototo, lol. i just hope they will pay us retroactive for these weeks. i just am amazed at the inefficiency of this state to actually do something the correct way. they have kept us waiting over a month and now inform us to wait to more weeks. i hope one day they are in this situation and we can say to them...oh sorry just wait a few weeks and we'll half ass it and let you know then. why doesnt the state hire people who can do their job? like us?

I am totally sure Prez Obama does not know anything about what these people are doing, he probably thinks everything has been solved since he promptly signed for the Bill, there has to be a way of letting him know what's going on, i am sure with all he has in his mind going on he doesn't have a clue of the unnecessary and humongous delay these people have put us thru.

my only HOPE is that when the old claims are updated in the system the "REAL" claim dates will be updated to the correct, this is unreal what they are putting us thru, i am totally in a state of mental dissarray.

Teresa, what phone number did you call? I cannot get ahold of anyone!

I had to put in a change of address and phone number, so the number I called was just the basic number for change of info - 800-204-2418. I was on hold for about 25 minutes though

was always the joke about low wages in Floria now AWI is using the same philosophy...just a few more weeks of sunshine...I just sent sunshine charlie a note about my hunger strike against these practices by AWI...of course this hunger strike is not one of the planned kind...I HATE this F@#$ing state!

I am 1 of the fortunate?? 1 of the ones who are supposed to be automatically transitioned to tier3 as I still had a small balance in my account on 11/07. Yet I was only paid the benefit due under EB for the week ending 11/28 and my account is still not showing any funds for tier3.
I let someone whose benefits were exhausted in July use my computer to file the application for tier3 this morning. She noted that the instructions stated multiple times that the claim would begin as of the date the application was filed. Of course she has not been able to get thru to AWI to confirm but it looks like anyone who has to file a new application will not be paid for the weeks ending 11/14, 11/21, 11/28 or 12/5.
I have come to the conclusion that an old saying totally applies to the AWI - figures don't lie, but liars figure. They have definitely figured out a way to screw their customers. It is going to be a very bleak Christmas.
I am emailing Gov Crist's office and requesting a call back from someone in his office rather than someone at AWI who leaves a voicemail and then is unreachable. I am copying my State Representatives, State Senators, US Congressman and US senator. I want the US Department of Labor to investigate whether Florida is claiming the monies for those weeks under the bill signed 11/06 and not paying it out to the unemployed it was passed to help. I will keep you updated on any new information I receive.

riceckr wrote:WOW says first week to claim is on 12/21, says claim starts on 12/6, I hope that isn't correct because what happened to all that other money in November. I don't want to have to wait until 12/21 to claim for it. I hope they let us catch up after they process our app. Any comments on this?

This tier III is not retroactive, so what they are doing is establishing new claims under the new law. The State of Florida is electing to pay under the Federal tiers III now.. Rather than later (so to speak) when our benefits ran out under EU tier II, which was retro, the new law extending unemployment was not retroactive.
Therefore it is safe to say that the established claim dates of December 6th to December 22nd is for two weeks going forward to include 20 weeks total. So we will not see money from November, just going forward from the date law was enacted. Therefore 20 weeks from December 6th Not the greatest news but it’s better than nothing.

I recently spoke with Cam over on the 4 Pillars site. He has been in touch with an AWI rep(Tom) that told him that when you file on the 21st or 22nd,at that time you will be allowed to input for all the back weeks of benefits. I guess this makes some sense....the 2 week wait I suspect is to verify all the applications...God only knows at this point in time. If that isn't confusing enough,another poster on that site was told by a AWI rep to NOT fill out the application until she received he letter in 1-2 weeks. The rep said the system had to many kinks in it yet.....Good freaking grief....this is just NUTZ!!! Time for some medication and meditation....Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

sc4ram wrote:

MiamiVice wrote:i have mine on hold since there is a question there about "Have you established a new monetarily eligible Unemployment Compensation claim within the last 12 months? and this got me all confused as my original claim started way back in APril 2008, so i have the application on hold, don't know what to put whether yes or no,

I found this confusing as well. Since my claim is not "new", it is a extension , and the only thing I have applied for in the last 12 months is EB (not unemployment compensation UC) , I answered no.

To be sure I would get confirmation from another source.

I found this to be confusing as well, but I answered "Yes" to it. My reasoning is that they simply called it "unemployment compensation" and didn't qualify it as EB or EUC....and I had to reapply for benefits in June so figured that counted as a new claim. You would think that after a month they could have minimized any confusion on the application. I also thought the questions on receiving 401(k) lump sums were intrusive and unnecessary. Like some others, my date to claim weeks is 12/21. While I'm so thankful there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it's appalling that they have taken this long to get the application online and that it will be another 2 weeks before we can claim.

I was told this morning by AWI that (after I explained to the "Customer Service Rep" what retro meant) the they would not be paying for any weeks before 12/12/09. BUT, I just found out from NELP that the State of Florida does not have a choice but to pay the retro weeks (first payable being week ending 11/14/09). The state is merely the administrator.

GonzoFL wrote:I recently spoke with Cam over on the 4 Pillars site. He has been in touch with an AWI rep(Tom) that told him that when you file on the 21st or 22nd,at that time you will be allowed to input for all the back weeks of benefits. I guess this makes some sense....the 2 week wait I suspect is to verify all the applications...God only knows at this point in time. If that isn't confusing enough,another poster on that site was told by a AWI rep to NOT fill out the application until she received he letter in 1-2 weeks. The rep said the system had to many kinks in it yet.....Good freaking grief....this is just NUTZ!!! Time for some medication and meditation....Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Well said Gonzo.

the state workers at awi just continue to add to our pain. one worker says one thing, another says a different thing. they are screwing with us because they fail to even inform their own employees. wake up florida!

hey guys just spoke with 1-877-846-8770 ext 1493 for Cassandra and she was so nice she said that the reason it says claim 2 weeks is because of the form but said to check account daily and when money is available we should be able to claim back weeks and if i have a problem to call her back .. anyone else here anything?

Let’s see if the AWI deputy director can answer some of our questions 850-245-7137. Last one to call is the rotten egg LOL.

This post came from the unemployed friends website, the AWI employee this guy talked to seems to have a much better answer than I got!!


I finally got in touch with the office and asked about my concerns regarding "not being able to claim weeks until 12/22/09". She informed me that it probably won't take that long and to try on Friday since it takes a couple days to process our applications. She said there is a room full of people just doing these apps. Keep trying everyday after that until it shows money in your account or lets you claim. The first amount you will see in your account is for the one week they added to tier II, then the next day (24 hrs later) they will have added the money for tier III and we can claim that too right then. We are suppose to be able to claim 4 weeks initially. She also said don't worry about the waiting week-we will not have that with the emergency extension-it is just in the application for the regular filers. Lets hope this all works out like she said.

hating politics wrote:Let’s see if the AWI deputy director can answer some of our questions 850-245-7137. Last one to call is the rotten egg LOL.

Been there, done that, way back a time ago with EB. You will get a call back from someone at AWI, but only was able to speak to Barb like once in 3 months :roll

Does anyone know if we have to file a new application because my benefits exhausted on 11/27 and it said the extension would automatically roll over into my extended benefits. I am so confused can someone help me? i do not want to file a application online for tier III if I do not need to because for God sakes I cannot afford to mess up and wait longer for money.....

It seems we are all getting different answers from AWI at this point, I have sent e-mails to AWI and to The Governor's office, at the very least they need to educate their employees on how to answer our questions accurately. A friend of mine got an answers very similar to one posted earlier, just keep checking your account.....

Has anyone gotten the application in the mail? if so what does it say about the "retro" weeks?

Thanks kelly..no have not recieved application, but did just look at fluidnow.com and it says if you exhausted before Nov 1 you have to fill out the application if exhausted after Nov. 1 but before Dec. 26 you will automatically be reenrolled. it also says some people have already been reenrolled, so I guess they are starting at Nov. 1 and working their way down to date. That is what I gathered of the information anyway...

why is it everytime I call those idiots at the unemployment office I get a different answer. Friday when I called they told me they would manually re-issue the stimulus check for 22.00 now today when I called she basically told me I will not receive that money. Look I received it the first time but the stupid post office sent it back so now I am out of that money? Yeah I know it sounds like a trival amount, but when you have 30.00 to your name that 22.00 will help. also one more thing on the question have you applied for unemployment compensation in the last 12 mos? I answered no, but I think I should have answered yes so at the end of the application in that comment box I explained what happened. do you think that will delay my application?

Outside of Katrina, I can't think of too many other bigger examples of state agency incompetence than today's online form. I'm waiting to get someone to call me back right now, but I don't put too much hope that I'll be able to get decent information at this point.

I haven't even filled out this notorious form myself yet, mainly because I saw that so many people were confused by the questions and the dates on the form that didn't make any sense. And if I can't even answer those questions for myself with any confidence I didn't want to even attempt the form for fear of screwing up my account. (I'm not advising anyone else to do the same; this could delay things for me or not, I don't know. And one of the questions was apparently did you work in the last 12 months, and AWI already knows that I've reported several little project jobs--totally contract so they don't affect my benefit year--and so I have no idea how they want me to answer that question without assistance!)

As for the dates given for payable weeks of coverage, those would appear to be dead wrong, and even contradictory to what they've already posted officially online on their site. They don't have the option to just change their minds about federally funded stuff like that at the last minute. As for the next claim date, all I can say is, they've got to be kidding.