Reading these stories is making me so anxious. I just filed my first claim last week and now I'm terrified. This system seems absolutely nightmarish.

Unpopular opinion: sometimes it really is better to take any job and keep looking while employed. Being unemployed for too long creates a gap that makes it even harder to get hired later.

Same thing happened to me last year. Basically once your benefit days are gone, they're gone. But here's what I did - I called the unemployment office relentlessly until someone picked up and they confirmed there was nothing else I could do except wait until my benefit year ended. But at least I knew for sure instead of wondering.

It might be worth double checking if you've actually exhausted ALL your benefits. Sometimes there are additional weeks available through different programs that you have to specifically request. But yeah in most cases once you've used your allotted weeks, that's it until your benefit year ends.

This is going to sound weird but try calling RIGHT when they open and press the Spanish option. The Spanish-speaking agents all speak English too and the wait time is usually WAY shorter. Got through in 15 mins this way after trying the English line for weeks.

If ur getting the "exhausted benefits" message but haven't been paid, it means theres an issue with your BYE date (Benefit Year End). The system thinks your claim is older than it is. You need to talk to someone in the claims processing dept specifically, not just any agent.

has anyone tried going to the actual unemployment office in person? wondering if thats faster than calling?

Make sure you get identity theft protection ASAP! These scammers usually don't stop at just unemployment - they'll try to open credit cards, loans, everything. I recommend LifeLock or similar service. I learned this the hard way after my unemployment was hacked and then suddenly I had 3 new credit cards opened in my name the next month.

Does anyone know if they're sending physical copies automatically or only if you request one? I'd rather just get the digital version tbh.

For what its worth, I just got off the phone with them (used claimyr.com to bypass the hold nightmare). They confirmed ALL 1099Gs will be available online by Jan 30 and mailed by Jan 31. If you don't see yours by Feb 1st online, THEN you should contact them.