Action News Troubleshooters: Woes continue for those applying for unemployment
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Action News Troubleshooters are still getting call after call about unemployment problems and issues navigating the systems.
People are reporting being left for weeks without benefits. Action News found one woman who placed hundreds of calls before she finally got through, and now she's paying it forward.
Before COVID-19 hit, Patricia DeLuca of Warrington, Pennsylvania was an electrician working on a job site in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
"For the safety of all people and I think the lack of safety supplies, toilet paper and sanitizer cleaning supplies, that they decided was safer to shut the job down," she said.
DeLuca went home and immediately began filing for unemployment.
RELATED: Unemployment amid coronavirus shutdowns hitting women harder than men
"I was able to fill out all the paperwork and hit submit and received the confirmation number," she said.
And that's when the problems began. Over the course of weeks, she logged hundreds of calls trying to get help.
She was already using her phone, her wife's phone and her daughter's phone and still needed more.
"I began calling with four phones that morning using a neighbor's phone and actually did get an agent after call 1,600," she said.
Now she's using her experience to help others on social media.
" I am an active member in Facebook groups for both New Jersey and Pennsylvania trying to teach people what I did to successfully get an agent to help," she said.
Her best advice is to keep calling no matter how long it takes.
"You can't think that 200 calls is enough, 200 calls is not nearly enough, 2,000 calls and you might get lucky, 4,000 calls you have a chance, 6-8-10,000 calls you'll probably get someone. And that's not an overestimation, that's not an exaggeration," she said.
Keep letting us know what problems and struggles you are having with unemployment.
MORE COVID-19 COVERAGE
Nearly 39M have sought US jobless aid since coronavirus hit
CDC offers new guidance on how summer camps can, should operate amid pandemic
Can you catch coronavirus in a public restroom? Here's what experts say
Sisters thank nurse who took care of dying mother during COVID-19 fight
Some New Jersey churches to reopen in defiance of state order
Share your coronavirus story with Action News
For more updates related to the coronavirus, visit 6abc.com/coronavirus.
