Calling EDD is so hard that there is a paid service called EDDCaller that repeatedly calls EDD on your behalf. It isn’t prohibitively expensive ($10); BUT people are trying to reach EDD because they are on disability or unemployment, so having to use a paid service to talk to a representive is super inequitable.
It took a random Reddit post 1 for me to figure out how to get through to SDI.
- Dial SDI number
- Wait for all the spiel to finish until the PIN entering part
- Enter PIN
- Wait for all the spiel again until options are being presented
- Quickly enter “240”
- You will be asked to enter your social security number and to speak your name
- Then you are in a queue for x minutes (11 minutes for me)
They actually called me back after 20 minutes, but they did unblock the payment to me within 10 minutes. The customer service representative was friendly and helpful. The overall calling system gets negative one hundred stars though.
Note that Paid Family Leave (PFL) is a different number and the tip above didn’t work in getting through to a representative. Guess there are just a lot less agents for PFL? Luckily, my payments didn’t stop, so I didn’t keep trying to call after a week and 50+ unsucessful calls.