General EUC Discussion - Ongoing

i spoke to cassandra and she was great. she told me the weeks are retroactive from nov. she also told me that the computers are old and thats why they say this stuff now. she said do not worry and it will get taken care of. she is really helpful. now i am confident i will be able to claim 6 weeks when i claim in 2 weeks...thank god!

michelle wrote:... 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?

This is one of the dumb things on that form that most people are trying to figure out. Apparently California posted a similar form today and the people there are also scratching their heads. I think this is one of those questions that would have an obvious answer to the people working on the "inside," i.e., the people in the AWI bubble who are very familiar with their own specific terms, but to use that bureaucracy-speak and expect the public to be able to read their minds is typical agency nonsense. My guess is they are asking that to see if your claim is more than a year old for benefit year issues, but I really have no idea. Do they exclude the time we applied for EB? Who knows! The fact that you explained at the end might be helpful.

What really bugs me personally is that I can do this kind of technical instructional writing; it's a lot of what I did before this recession hit when I worked in developing online courses. Yet here I am unemployed and they have these idiots design a worse than useless form! #%$@&*^!

I called the Governors Citizen Concern Hotline (850-488-4441) and had to leave a message of course, I explained in the message that every unemployed person I had contact with today got a different answer to the same question (if and when we will be paid for weeks 11/14 through today), we may not like the answers they give us, but if they could all get on the same page it would give us some peace and probably cut their phone calls in half...I requested a call back, when that happens I will pull myself up from the floor post whatever response I get.

nancym wrote:

michelle wrote:... 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?

This is one of the dumb things on that form that most people are trying to figure out. Apparently California posted a similar form today and the people there are also scratching their heads. I think this is one of those questions that would have an obvious answer to the people working on the "inside," i.e., the people in the AWI bubble who are very familiar with their own specific terms, but to use that bureaucracy-speak and expect the public to be able to read their minds is typical agency nonsense. My guess is they are asking that to see if your claim is more than a year old for benefit year issues, but I really have no idea. Do they exclude the time we applied for EB? Who knows! The fact that you explained at the end might be helpful.

What really bugs me personally is that I can do this kind of technical instructional writing; it's a lot of what I did before this recession hit when I worked in developing online courses. Yet here I am unemployed and they have these idiots design a worse than useless form! #%$@&*^!

I feel your pain, I also worked writing training manuals for Customer Service personnell, everyone at every education level understood them!

Also, when I proof read my application I found two problems.......both questions were Yes or No answers, but somehow they had my answers as Florida and my zip code (yet it would have been impossible for me to answer that way)...So be very careful in your proof reading

I just re-read mine and it said florida and zip code for the answers that should have been no. OMG! what is going on? was this a trick question or something? I have this terrible feeling that there stupid application is going to delay my benefits>

So if in fact the earliest we can claim weeks is Dec 21, that probably means half of the alphabet claims on Dec 22 (I think I saw a few say Dec 22, not just Dec 21.) So Dec 22 is a Tuesday, Christmas is on that Friday, many banks would be closed a half day the day before on Thursday. If claims are done on a Tuesday, they wouldn't be processed til Wednesday and it's only an iffy chance that even with DD they would get to the banks on Wednesday. Then there's the weekend.

So unless they really accelerate this whole process, many, many people are looking at no funds at all before the holiday. Merry Christmas from AWI--not!

I suppose we could be North Carolina, last I heard they won't get a penny til January.

michelle wrote:I just re-read mine and it said florida and zip code for the answers that should have been no. OMG! what is going on? was this a trick question or something? I have this terrible feeling that there stupid application is going to delay my benefits>

There was a box at the end of the form for us to point out any errors, if you didn't get your changes in that box call tomorrow (I don't think they can even see our applications til the following day)...get the persons name and try to get some kind of a confirmation number from them for the changes you need to make. I found it amazing that they gave us no opportunity to make changes on the form.....

nancym wrote:So if in fact the earliest we can claim weeks is Dec 21, that probably means half of the alphabet claims on Dec 22 (I think I saw a few say Dec 22, not just Dec 21.) So Dec 22 is a Tuesday, Christmas is on that Friday, many banks would be closed a half day the day before on Thursday. If claims are done on a Tuesday, they wouldn't be processed til Wednesday and it's only an iffy chance that even with DD they would get to the banks on Wednesday. Then there's the weekend.

So unless they really accelerate this whole process, many, many people are looking at no funds at all before the holiday. Merry Christmas from AWI--not!

I suppose we could be North Carolina, last I heard they won't get a penny til January.

Exactly! This is why I'm so pissed off, and it's not for myself. No one at AWI is admitting that this "delay" hits the holidays and impacts thousands who can't make ends meet. But AWI says it's working around the clock (and people in Cunningham's office worked the weekend) to get everyone on track this week, and that includes people like you, who've exhausted EB, and people like me, who just claimed EB/EUC3/whatever-they-are weeks. Again, partial blame falls on that dinosaur computer, but that excuse is getting old.

A few states are in worse shape, but we are near the bottom.

There was a box at the end of the form for us to point out any errors, if you didn't get your changes in that box call tomorrow (I don't think they can even see our applications til the following day)...get the persons name and try to get some kind of a confirmation number from them for the changes you need to make. I found it amazing that they gave us no opportunity to make changes on the form.....






why did the application do that? I know that I checked the correct box. Did this happen to everyone? great another hour on hold tomorrow with AWI!

Robyn--I"m beyond pissed off. I think I'm getting NUMB at this point.

I actually wish all the stories in the news about the unemployed would stop wrapping up with some bit about how somebody couldn't buy gifts for their family. Sure, that's important, especially for kids, but it pales in comparison to those who are losing homes, declaring bankruptcy, not getting enough food, being forced to move, losing credit and being charged fees equalling their benefit checks for god's sake! There's a regular on one of the Open Congress forums right now, a Viet Nam vet, who just had a mild stroke during all this!

I'm not as bad off at this moment as some (though I will be come March most likely), but here I thought I would weather this ok back when my benefits lasted a little bit longer than some back at the end of October, but two months later to now be told it will be another two weeks! I'm speechless. --and I know all of you know what it takes for me to be speechless!

MICHELLE !!!! that problem with the Florida and Zipcode happened to me also, but what i did was in the box at the end where you can write a notation, i explained the Glitch, im sure that's all it is, a glitch.

MiamiVice wrote:that problem with the Florida and Zipcode happened to me also, but what i did was in the box at the end where you can write a notation,

Happened to me as well, 6 times, 3 different browsers. I finally gave up and submitted the form. Such a significant problem to go undetected. It will probably cause everyone's claim to be handled manually...oh joy!
Marc

nancym wrote:Robyn--I"m beyond pissed off. I think I'm getting NUMB at this point.

I actually wish all the stories in the news about the unemployed would stop wrapping up with some bit about how somebody couldn't buy gifts for their family. Sure, that's important, especially for kids, but it pales in comparison to those who are losing homes, declaring bankruptcy, not getting enough food, being forced to move, losing credit and being charged fees equalling their benefit checks for god's sake! There's a regular on one of the Open Congress forums right now, a Viet Nam vet, who just had a mild stroke during all this!

I'm not as bad off at this moment as some (though I will be come March most likely), but here I thought I would weather this ok back when my benefits lasted a little bit longer than some back at the end of October, but two months later to now be told it will be another two weeks! I'm speechless. --and I know all of you know what it takes for me to be speechless!

You don't want to get numb - stay sane and speak loudly! Frustration often results in action, and that's what we need. This state is a mess, and AWI is one example of a typically ineffective FL agency. I guess I expect the misinformation, inconveniences (I've been audited twice and had checks held.), and even obvious lies. The bigger issue is that problems are so deeply rooted that Band-Aid fixes, such as benefits, aren't enough.

But who thought we'd reach the point of living from unemployment check to unemployment check? I no longer listen to Brian Williams' garbage designed to make people like my parents choke on their dinners. I watched 2 more evictions from my development today, and those people are the real stories. Yet reality 24/7 is a killer.

I think the powers-that-be at AWI are feeling the pressure to act, and that's good! While there's still some talk of antiquated computers, that issue is being downplayed.

Does anyone know what other states are making their residents wait? I called Florida AWI in November and was told that they had been working on the programming for months and it should be up and running really quick.....they got some big grant to update all the systems, I can only imagine where that money was spent.......

In September the state got $164 million to update technology infrastructure.........

MiamiVice wrote:MICHELLE !!!! that problem with the Florida and Zipcode happened to me also, but what i did was in the box at the end where you can write a notation, i explained the Glitch, im sure that's all it is, a glitch.

well I used the box at the end for the one question have I applied for benefits in the past 12 mos which I put no and then realized It should have been yes. then when I called to check on that... don't want any delays they told me that checking no was alright, but now I have to call again tomorrow and find out about the state and zip glitch. Hopefully everything will work out, but with them who knows?

Marc wrote:

MiamiVice wrote:that problem with the Florida and Zipcode happened to me also, but what i did was in the box at the end where you can write a notation,

Happened to me as well, 6 times, 3 different browsers. I finally gave up and submitted the form. Such a significant problem to go undetected. It will probably cause everyone's claim to be handled manually...oh joy!
Marc

considering it took over a month "to program the computer" you would think there wouldn't be any glitches! I guess we thought wrong!!!

bY THE WAY, where is UIO???????????????????????????///

im starting to think the people who work at the unemployment office and do the programming are the same people who work at Florida DMV. Both suck!

MiamiVice wrote:bY THE WAY, where is UIO???????????????????????????///

over in tallahassee, trying to make those aging computers work!
(sorry. couldn't resist)

Robyn wrote:

MiamiVice wrote:bY THE WAY, where is UIO???????????????????????????///

over in tallahassee, trying to make those aging computers work!
(sorry. couldn't resist)

LMAO. Thanks for lightening the mood. My question is, where are our friendly journalists? The Orlando Sentinel columnist whose name I can't remember and the ask the expert columnist have been able to get some good information in the past but I notice they are both quiet on this fiasco. I hope I am just an old cynic but I am getting extremely bad vibes from all the inconsistencies, not only in the info we are being given from AWI but in the account updates that are being posted by other members. WTFIGO?

grandmom49 wrote:

Robyn wrote:

MiamiVice wrote:bY THE WAY, where is UIO???????????????????????????///

over in tallahassee, trying to make those aging computers work!
(sorry. couldn't resist)

LMAO. Thanks for lightening the mood. My question is, where are our friendly journalists? The Orlando Sentinel columnist whose name I can't remember and the ask the expert columnist have been able to get some good information in the past but I notice they are both quiet on this fiasco. I hope I am just an old cynic but I am getting extremely bad vibes from all the inconsistencies, not only in the info we are being given from AWI but in the account updates that are being posted by other members. WTFIGO?

Here's the latest story from Jim Stratton at the Orlando Sentinel:


http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_blogonomics/2009/12/file-for-latest-unemployment-extension-online-by-mail-and-now-by-phone.html

I'm so thankful that he continues to cover this issue! It helps to know that AWI is accountable to the press.

[quote="grandmom49"]

Robyn wrote:

MiamiVice wrote:bY THE WAY, where is UIO???????????????????????????///

......My question is, where are our friendly journalists? ...

Well, first of all, we're no longer that friendly! It's Christmas, so us non-working ones are pretty darn grouchy. Second, we're right here with you!! We're frantically claiming the crumbs of our old-EB-aka-emerging-T3 accounts as we curse the likes of Cunningham, Dickey and the rest, all of whom must be finding some perverse delight in blocking their phone lines.

But we've all come to the same conclusion: Nothing adds up. This state received how much money to upgrade computers and increase staff? Yet online Tier 3 applications are unclear, many accounts read zero regardless of tier, AWI reps convey conflicting info, and those in positions of authority can't be reached. The letters some of us recently received urged us not to call, that changes would be automatic. Wow. Just wow. This ignorance might be mildly amusing if lives weren't at stake.