Thank you all for the helpful information! To make sure I understand correctly: 1. Mark "No" for being available for work during jury duty weeks 2. Explain it's for jury duty in the additional information box 3. Only report the jury duty pay as "other income" during the week I actually receive the check 4. Keep all documentation in case of questions I'll also try contacting EDD before my jury duty starts to get notes added to my account. I really appreciate everyone's help!

I went through this exact situation about 6 months ago and want to share what worked for me. I was selected for a 3-week trial in Orange County. Here's what I did based on advice from an EDD rep I spoke with beforehand: - Weeks 1-3 (serving): Answered "No" to available for work, wrote "Serving mandatory jury duty" in the explanation box - Week 4 (when I got the check): Reported the jury duty payment as "other income" The key thing that saved me headaches was calling EDD BEFORE my service started. I used the technical issues line (1-800-300-5616) early in the morning and got through after about 45 minutes. The rep added notes to my account explaining the jury duty situation, which prevented my claim from getting flagged. Total jury pay was $195 for 3 weeks ($15/day after the first unpaid day), so it barely affected my benefits anyway. The whole process went smoothly because I was proactive about calling ahead. My advice: Don't wait until you're certifying to deal with this. Call now and get those protective notes added to your account!

Just joined this community after stumbling across this thread during my own desperate search for EDD solutions! I'm on day 6 of the endless calling nightmare with absolutely zero success - just that same infuriating "higher than normal call volume" message every single time. My payments have been stuck on "pending" for 2.5 weeks now and the stress is eating me alive. Reading through everyone's experiences here is both heartbreaking and strangely reassuring - at least I know I'm not losing my mind or doing something fundamentally wrong! The system really is just completely broken. I've been calling at random times throughout the day but clearly need to get more strategic about this. Definitely planning to try those Wednesday/Thursday 8:15-8:45am windows that @Mei Chen mentioned, and @Connor O'Neill's tip about waiting through the entire automated recording instead of immediately hanging up and redialing. I feel like such an amateur for not thinking of these timing strategies before! That Claimyr service is also starting to look really appealing after seeing @Jamal Edwards' detailed success story and multiple others confirming it actually works. I normally would never consider paying a third party for what should be a basic government service, but my mental health is deteriorating from this constant rejection cycle. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and find a solution that actually gets results! Thanks everyone for sharing your strategies and experiences - this thread has been more helpful than anything I've found through official EDD channels. Here's to hopefully breaking through this bureaucratic nightmare soon! 🤞

New member here jumping into this EDD nightmare support group! I've been calling for about 10 days now with absolutely zero success - just that same soul-crushing automated message over and over. My claim has been stuck on "pending" for 3+ weeks and I'm honestly starting to lose it. This thread has been incredible though - finally found actual useful strategies instead of just "keep calling" advice! Definitely going to try those Wednesday/Thursday 8:15-8:45am windows that @Mei Chen shared, and @Connor O'Neill's tip about waiting through the entire recording instead of hanging up immediately is genius. I've been doing the hang-up-and-redial approach like a maniac which clearly isn't working. After reading @Jamal Edwards' success story with Claimyr and seeing multiple people confirm it actually works, I'm seriously considering it too. It kills me that we have to pay a third party just to access our own unemployment benefits, but honestly my sanity is worth whatever they charge at this point. The stress of endless redialing is taking a real toll on my mental health. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and keeping each other motivated through this bureaucratic hell. This community is more helpful than anything EDD has provided! Here's hoping we all break through this broken system soon 🤞

One important thing to remember with EDD deadlines - they don't count weekends and holidays in their 10-day calculations for many types of forms and appeals. So if some of those 10 days included weekends, you might actually still be within their official timeframe. It depends on the specific form type though.

Just wanted to add my experience - I had a similar situation last year where I missed an EDD notice for about 2 weeks. When I finally sent it back, I included a signed statement explaining that I never received the original notice due to a mail delivery issue (which was true - my mailbox was broken for several days). EDD accepted my response without any problems. The key things that helped me were: 1) being completely honest about what happened, 2) providing as much detail as possible on the form, and 3) keeping copies of everything I sent. Don't panic too much - while deadlines are important, EDD does consider legitimate circumstances for delays, especially mail-related issues.

Just wanted to chime in as someone who's been dealing with EDD for over a year now - payment delays like this are unfortunately more common than they should be. I've had it happen 3-4 times where everything shows "paid" but the actual deposit takes several extra days. From my experience, it's usually one of three things: 1) Technical glitches in their payment processing system, 2) Bank/card network delays (especially around holidays), or 3) Sometimes they run additional verification checks that aren't visible to us but cause delays. The good news is that if it shows "paid" in your payment history, the money will come through eventually. I know that doesn't help with immediate bills, but I've never had a "paid" status not eventually result in the actual deposit. Hang in there!

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Certified on Sunday, shows "paid" since Monday, but still no deposit on my EDD debit card as of today (Friday). This is my first time experiencing a delay like this in 8 months of collecting benefits. Reading through everyone's experiences here is actually really comforting - sounds like this is just one of those random EDD system hiccups that happens sometimes. I was worried there was an issue with my account specifically, but it seems like multiple people have dealt with similar delays recently. Really appreciate everyone sharing their timelines and solutions. Going to give it the weekend and if nothing shows up by Monday, I'll try that Claimyr service someone mentioned to actually get through to a human at EDD. This whole situation really highlights how much we're at the mercy of their system when we're relying on these benefits to survive!

Hey Ashley! Congrats on your pregnancy! 🎉 I just wanted to add something that helped me tremendously when I filed my SDI claim last year - make sure to keep a detailed log of every interaction you have with both EDD and your doctor's office. Write down dates, times, who you spoke with, and what was discussed. I had to call my doctor's office 4 times because they kept saying they had "submitted" the certification, but it wasn't showing up on EDD's end. Having my log helped me escalate to the office manager and get it resolved quickly. Turns out their billing person was new and had been submitting it incorrectly. Also, just a heads up - if you end up needing to call EDD directly for any reason, try calling right when they open at 8am. The wait times are usually shortest first thing in the morning. You're being so smart to ask these questions upfront! Wishing you a smooth claim process and a healthy delivery! 💕

Hey Ashley! Congrats on your pregnancy! 🎉 Just wanted to add one more helpful tip that saved me when I went through this process - when you file your SDI claim today, make sure you select the correct "reason for claim" option. For maternity leave, you'll want to select something like "pregnancy/childbirth" or "disability due to pregnancy" rather than just general disability. Also, EDD will ask for your "date of disability" - this should be the date you stopped working due to your pregnancy (which sounds like yesterday in your case), not your due date. I initially put my due date and had to call to correct it, which delayed things. One more thing - if you're planning to breastfeed after delivery, that can sometimes extend your disability period beyond the standard 6-8 weeks, especially if you have complications like mastitis. Just something to keep in mind for when you're talking to your doctor about the expected duration of your leave. You've gotten such amazing advice from everyone here! The SDI process seems scary at first but once you get both parts submitted, it's pretty straightforward. Best of luck with everything! 💕