General EUC Discussion - Ongoing

so I just got off the phone with a not so nice CSR rep. all she kept saying is that I have to wait for programming to be complete and I will be notified by mail. I HATE talking to them. I will wait for Melody to call back and hopefully she will be more helpful

michelle wrote:should I start to worry... I applied Monday afternoon, my account has not updated yet and I still have no weeks to claim.

I would call one of the 3 reps or just leave a msg at the main number, posted above. Your call will be returned.

Just to update you all on my situation. I claimed 2 weeks on Monday 12/7 with my account balance showing $3575, I was just issued a check today for my normal $534 for the 2 weeks and my balance is now $3300. So it appears that they did pay me for one week retroactive.

scrappy367 wrote:well finally some good news, just got a call back. although i could not claim weeks online, he claimed the weeks for me over the phone. took a couple minutes, was simple. so if you get in touch with them, you will be able to claim your weeks. thank god!

Hey Scrappy, Just a word of warning: Last summer when the 3rd tier became available, AWI claimed my weeks over the phone too. Then when everyone was reporting that they had received their money (and many people who had filed weeks after I did) yet I had nothing, I knew something was wrong. Made a few calls to the director's office, finally someone called me back. Investigated it and found the account notes that stated I had claimed my weeks over the phone, but the person processing my application then DELETED it. It was a nightmare. I don't mean to upset you, but I wanted to alert you and suggest that you keep a watchful eye on AWI. I'll keep my fingers crossed you do not have a similar experience to mine!

ok I must be blind what is the number I should call?

michelle wrote:ok I must be blind what is the number I should call?

here ya go:
877-846-8770 - can leave msg.
Melody: X5293

thank you so much!

Hi Guys,

I know this is off-topic, and I apologize, but I'm trying to cast a pretty broad net with this.

I'm looking for folks who may have not gotten a job they applied for because their credit history suffered while they've been laid off. I'm hearing that more employers are reviewing credit reports and using them as part of the evaluation process when looking at a prospective employee.

Of course, with so many folks out of work for so long, this could end up being a real burden to people trying to re-enter the workforce. No job, no way to pay bills and credit history suffers. Bad credit report in turn makes it hard to get that next job. Vicious cycle.

So, if you're in this situation or if you're worried about it hurting your chances later, please let me know.

Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
jstratton@orlandosentinel.com
407-420-5379

Thanks for posting here, Jim, and helping us try to clear up the confusion.

And I am SO glad you are addressing the credit report issue. You probably know that there is pending legislation in Congress about this that the credit reporting agencies are aggressively trying to block. (That's posted in our "Senate bill, etc." section.)

Even people who aren't unemployed are becoming furious about credit card practices and those issues are compounded with the unemployed of course. The forums on Open Congress have had a huge number of comments lately about credit issues.

jim stratton wrote:Hi Guys,

I know this is off-topic, and I apologize, but I'm trying to cast a pretty broad net with this.

I'm looking for folks who may have not gotten a job they applied for because their credit history suffered while they've been laid off. I'm hearing that more employers are reviewing credit reports and using them as part of the evaluation process when looking at a prospective employee.

Of course, with so many folks out of work for so long, this could end up being a real burden to people trying to re-enter the workforce. No job, no way to pay bills and credit history suffers. Bad credit report in turn makes it hard to get that next job. Vicious cycle.

So, if you're in this situation or if you're worried about it hurting your chances later, please let me know.

Jim Stratton
Orlando Sentinel
jstratton@orlandosentinel.com
407-420-5379

I feel I can speak for all of us here Jim, when I say how much we appreciate your dedication and hard work on behalf of Florida's unemployed. I'm sure there are quite a few here that give you an ear full about how their credit rating fiasco has hurt their employment chances. I don't now if you are aware of it or not,but there is or maybe was a bill before the house that would limit the use of credit checks as a standard for becoming employed. It is HR3149 and I'm sad to say I haven't heard diddle about it in quite a long time. It's probably gathering dust on some old desk right next to S155/HR155 which would have made unemployment compensation exempt from federal taxes. Thanks again Jim....I hope you get allot of stories from my fellow P.O.R.'s

[Edited: Gonzo, I took the brazen liberty of editing the quote tags in your post so that your comment wouldn't be lumped in with the quote from Jim. --hope you don't mind! ]

Hi... To anyone who has exhausted benefits the end of November... We were told on the FLUIDNOW website that we would not have to reapply because we exhausted between Nov. 1st and Dec. 26th. Well, I emailed one of the UC contacts and two people replied to me telling me that because I exhausted all benefits I had to reapply. I explained to them how confusing this information was. They say one thing and then you find something else out. So I reapplied today, hopefully I will get some information on my claim within the next couple of days. I was just wondering if anyone else thought they would automatically roll into Tier III and have not done so yet, because I was told to reapply.

Back on the claims topic, Melody just called me back about a few things to clarify and verify. BTW, she is incredibly busy at the moment, as you all might well guess. If we could all buy her a cake or something, I'm sure you would all pitch in, that is, as soon as we get some funds!

1) She actually read my post earlier, the one with the "orange answers," and said that it was all correct, BUT there was one item that she found out after we spoke that she needed to correct from what she had told me earlier. It's probably a moot point, since I'm sure 99.99% of you have already filled out that application, but in case there's someone out there who hasn't, the correction is this: When they ask if we have worked in the last such and such period of time, we can ignore the broad length of time stated in the application; essentially all AWI wants to know is whether we have worked (including self-employed or part-time or temp work) during any of the weeks since the last week for which we claimed benefits. (This is of course similar to what we are always asked in our bi-weekly claim forms, except that unfortunately they used this "dual-purpose" form that is usually used for brand new claims.)

2) I saw several people here who reported that their accounts were updating to balances that amounted to 13 weeks and began to question what she was told about Tier 2's extra week being paid before the 13 weeks of Tier 3. (I was wondering did they change their minds?!) Melody verified that she was 99 % certain that we are in fact being paid that extra week of Tier 2 FIRST (still not good news for those few ending their Tier2 right at the cutoff date). She explained what she thought was the reason was that within the lengthy process of updating these weeks in our accounts, weeks being claimed, back-dated weeks being claimed, and all that, the amount for Tier 2's extra week was actually paid out by the time the account was viewed (or viewable) the next time. This might also account for some of the variations in the number of weeks we are seeing, and of course those weeks also vary a lot with what each person is allowed based on their work history.

[For anyone thinking it should say 20 weeks, it will never say 20 weeks; the most you will see is 14 weeks; even if you see the 13 weeks, you will get the full 14 weeks if you are normally getting the max number of weeks of previous Tiers. But the other 6 weeks on top of the 14 is from Tier 4, and with the exception of those with normally fewer weeks who qualify for Tier 4 before Dec 31, none of us will get those 6 weeks until Congress passes updated legislation for the entire EUC program. --See my posts in the "Senate bills, etc." section for the bill numbers in the works now.]

As for me personally, my own account is not updated, but I only applied Tuesday, when Melody helped me with some of those puzzling questions. I was told most likely I could claim by Friday or maybe tomorrow.

Still no word on exact dates for the various weeks to be paid out for everybody, or a certain maximum time that we have to wait, but as you can see, everyone's account seems to be on a rather random schedule, most likely as they plow through the stacks of our applications.

Well, at least for me.. I just got off the phone with a rep. who told me that even though I was able to claim my 4 weeks this morning, a check was not processed and that it may be sometime this week or next week because they are still working on programming for EUC III..

lafosl wrote:Hi... To anyone who has exhausted benefits the end of November... We were told on the FLUIDNOW website that we would not have to reapply because we exhausted between Nov. 1st and Dec. 26th. Well, I emailed one of the UC contacts and two people replied to me telling me that because I exhausted all benefits I had to reapply. I explained to them how confusing this information was. They say one thing and then you find something else out. So I reapplied today, hopefully I will get some information on my claim within the next couple of days. I was just wondering if anyone else thought they would automatically roll into Tier III and have not done so yet, because I was told to reapply.

You did not have to re-apply, there are many who are in your same timeframe for exhausting their EB who are also waiting for account updates. This is not because they didn't apply (some did, some didn't), but rather because of the overall combination of the new programming and the rush of new claims and ancient computers and probably overwhelming amounts of work for regular staff at this point.

I never trust those email replies, even though I have tried them. Very often it seems they are handled by the temp CSRs at the call centers. The call center people know next to nothing and even if they try they often take the memos they get out of context and don't really understand the whole process. On the other hand, the regular staff in Tallahassee, especially the contacts we've listed on this site and others who have worked there for some time, are generally accurate to the best of what info they've been given at any particular time, and also really try to help.

HOWEVER, as posted on this board yesterday, the fact that you applied, in theory at least, should NOT screw up your account. When the rep gets to it they should see when you exhausted your EB and your account would be handled that way, not via your application.

Please, anyone else, the info about not applying on the website if you exhausted EB after Nov 1 is correct, even though it appears all extension checks are being held up lately. Applying when you don't have to or more than once if you already got a confirmation number only gives them more to do before they get it all in the system.

lafosl wrote:Hi... To anyone who has exhausted benefits the end of November... We were told on the FLUIDNOW website that we would not have to reapply because we exhausted between Nov. 1st and Dec. 26th. Well, I emailed one of the UC contacts and two people replied to me telling me that because I exhausted all benefits I had to reapply. I explained to them how confusing this information was. They say one thing and then you find something else out. So I reapplied today, hopefully I will get some information on my claim within the next couple of days. I was just wondering if anyone else thought they would automatically roll into Tier III and have not done so yet, because I was told to reapply.

That info was just updated Monday! I also received a letter Saturday, stating that EB would roll into Tier 3. I'm going to wait to talk to one of the reps I've spoken to in the past 6 or 7 months, bec I just don't trust the rest. My account still shows zero balance, but I need more patience.


EDIT: I have a ton of patience. AWI is the one dropping the ball. I realized that the weeks I supposedly applied for Monday never existed EB had ended, but not my account; and Tier 3 "technically" was implemented. Therefore, I can't expect to see a penny (I sound so greedy!) until AWI decides it wants to roll me over. By then a few weeks might have passed. Lovely.

:bounce:just called ways and means about hr 4183 and the guy mr mccoy said that they will be bringing it up in the next week or so and i said well what about the senate holding it up again and he sain this will be different so everyone should call as well and really push them 202-225-1025

I know the AWI reps are overburdened, but the same applies to people living check to check. AWI hired a lot of people the past year, but most seem inept. And we're in the middle of a crappy recession, with many qualified-plus workers dying for basic jobs. Yet most AWI reps remain incompetent. Something doesn't add up.

Robyn wrote:I know the AWI reps are overburdened, but the same applies to people living check to check. AWI hired a lot of people the past year, but most seem inept. And we're in the middle of a crappy recession, with many qualified-plus workers dying for basic jobs. Yet most AWI reps remain incompetent. Something doesn't add up.

I agree, I'm not making excuses for AWI. If I'm not mistaken, I think all or most of those call-center reps were hired by outsourcing contract to an agency who handles those centers. Makes ya wonder who got a kickback on that little deal, doesn't it! So when these newbies are given crappy training, all the real burden of actually getting the job done falls on the regular staff who've been at AWI for years. They could have hired half the staff, given them better training (and also screening!) at the same or less money and we might have actually had a lot fewer problems.

Add to that management that doesn't seem to be able to cope with online communication, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Well I finally gave up and called Cassandra. She asked me who told me I would automatically transition to tier 3! I said AWI's web site and she said Oh. After looking at my account, she said because of the weeks being claimed the system did not ask for work search information but it just paid out my EB. She has to manually reset my account so my tier 3 detemination amount will load. She says it will show tomorrow and my next day to claim will be Tuesday, 12/15 for weeks ending 12/5 & 12/12. I don't think the reps know anymore about the reprogramming than we do. If I can claim Tuesday and have a payment issued, I will wait a few weeks and question about being paid UB for weeks after 12/6. For now, I will see what tomorrow brings.
2 points of information -
Josh no longer works for AWI. I asked Cassandra to send our best wishes if she hears from him.
I got no more help from Rep. Dwayne Taylor's office than from AWI.

well so much for anyone contacting me back from AWI. I'm going to try and think positive for tonight, remembering that If I don't claim my weeks by a certain time then my check goes out a day later. Well maybe since it was monday afternoon and not morning maybe mine will update tomorrow. I will contain myself tonight on that thought, but if it's not here tomorrow then somebody better tell something!

Sooo..did ANYONE who claimed their weeks have payments process???

I can't even get someone to call me back, so getting my account updated or payments posted is a fantasy!

Teresa wrote:I can't even get someone to call me back, so getting my account updated or payments posted is a fantasy!

your are not alone

I'm shocked and delighted to say that someone actually called me back about 4 hours after leaving a message. This person told me that, YES, I should fill out the application for Tier 3 even though I was told by a regular phone operator days ago that I should not. This person said it should speed up the process quite a bit. I did as I was told and hopefully I'll see some results tomorrow or the next day.

So, for anyone who has exhausted their Tier 2 and never got EB, go fill out the Tier 3 application. I wish the person at the regular call center had just told me that instead of rather rudely insisting that I be patient and wait until they get their computer problems under control. "You'll get all the information you need mailed to you once we've worked the bugs out of the system," she said. I'm pretty sure now that if I had listened to her, i wouldn't even be getting to the weeks-claiming part of the process until 2010.

Thank you so much everyone for the resources you've posted here. I would be lost right now without you.

Robbi314 wrote:Sooo..did ANYONE who claimed their weeks have payments process???

I usually don't cross-post stuff from the OC forums, but today at 2:14 PM "guster3455" posted this:

"florida - fyi - they are paying out the one week, then switching over to tier III (the thirteen weeks)
I was able to claim weeks ending 11-14 and 11-21 on line Monday; the payments processed today and a check for two weeks should be sent Thursday (no direct deposit)
by phone through a cs rep i was able to claim weeks ending 11-28 and 12-5 - will see when those process"

So is there a tiny light at the end of this tunnel? Sure hope so!

And didn't FLarlene post that she had first check processed, or was that just claimed and a verbal assurance?