Unable to contact EI by phone

[pandora1437]

Thanks for the aritcle.

After dialing "0" and "1" continuously for 3 minutes I was finally put into the queue.

Waited another 20 minutes before I talked to a live person.

The agent I spoke to said an amended ROE should only take 21 business day to process, and it has been over 4 months so she will put a request in for someone to review it. Someone is supposed to contact me within 7 business days. If I do not get a call, then I must call again so they can put in another request.

argggg...

[Brynhilde]

You may have to do that.. but I'm hoping you don't have that long. If you do, eventually someone from the Processing Centre will phone you but that's after a "3rd or 4th level inquiry".

Good luck!

[dreamer1463]

I applied nov 14 and finally got a payment jan 5th..after having to go to the ei office because I couldnt get through on the phone..I understand your frustration..hope things turn around for you soon..

[itsmewhoelse]

My suggestion for anyone who is frustrated in dealing with thier EI Claim is make a complaint to your local MP!

That is the only way this situation will get fixed is if the Ministers keep receiving numerous complaints to handle. They don't want to deal with complaints so complaining will force them to fix the situation.
EI only has so many days to respond to an MP inquiry and they don't want to see a bunch of those on thier desks either.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/compi...spx?Language=E

[canadiantruth]

Fyi,
Nothing has changed.

My partner found a job after being on EI for a few months, and they internet reporting service told her to call a number.
WE have tried over 70! times between the two of us over the last 2 and a half weeks and every single time it says "call volume too high". I will try the "0 and 1" technique today, but wow, my cell phone bill is going to be huge. Probably more than she'll even make on her last ei payment.

The ridiculous thing is that the EI system has been running a net profit for years. If our successive governments didn't skim money off the top for other projects, it could be one of the best systems in the world.

[nancyb99]

I have also been trying to get through for two weeks (Manitoba)..same thing. I work part time and have to claim "other" money every report submission (I do mine online). Problem being is I can't get through, therefore no cheque has been issued since December 12, 2012. My next claim is obviously late late late due to this frustrating issue. I have called every number on the Service Canada website. I was told that the only people that can help me are on the end of the number they provided. I'm thinking of contacting my member of parliament for answers to this very frustrating issue. This is ridiculous. I have tried at least five or six times an hour Monday - Friday for two weeks straight now.

[tjthemanto]

I have also been trying to get through for two weeks (Manitoba)..same thing. I work part time and have to claim "other" money every report submission (I do mine online). Problem being is I can't get through, therefore no cheque has been issued since December 12, 2012. My next claim is obviously late late late due to this frustrating issue. I have called every number on the Service Canada website. I was told that the only people that can help me are on the end of the number they provided. I'm thinking of contacting my member of parliament for answers to this very frustrating issue. This is ridiculous. I have tried at least five or six times an hour Monday - Friday for two weeks straight now.

Looks like nothing has changed at EI

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/a...important?bn=1

Your call is not important

Published on Saturday December 17, 2011

MATHEW SHERWOOD/FOR THE TORONTO

Stuart McCabe with son Dennis and wife Jessica, right, at their Oshawa home.
McCabe applied for his parental leave benefits through his employment insurance and had to wait 46 days to receive the funds. Due to the delay, he failed to make his mortgage, auto insurance, and home insurance payments.


Liam Casey
Staff Reporter

257 Comments

Stuart McCabe waited 46 days for his employment insurance money to arrive. It was supposed to take 28 days. During that time the Oshawa father, who has been on paternal leave since Nov. 1, missed his mortgage, car insurance and hydro payments.
With Christmas looming, McCabe had no money and a $400 slap in the face in the form of nonsufficient fund penalties for those missed payments. So he called Service Canada to find out where his money was — the automated message told him to call back later. So he did. Twenty times.

More than 50 per cent of Service Canada callers in late September also heard that same message.

It’s a familiar scene across the country as massive layoffs at Service Canada have led to delays in employment insurance processing, which leaves people like McCabe frustrated and angry — especially when it is so difficult to get through to a real person at Service Canada.

This comes as 19,000 Canadians lost their jobs in November, increasing the unemployment rate to 7.4 per cent, which also adds demand for employment insurance.

Call centre data obtained by Rodger Cuzner, Liberal MP for Cape Breton-Canso, through an order paper shows the difficulty getting through to an agent. As of September, only 32 per cent of calls were answered within three minutes. That is down from 42 per cent last year and 53 per cent the year before that.

“I was furious and the agent on the phone told me that there were now four people answering calls when there used to be 17,” McCabe said. “So it’s not their fault.”

So McCabe called Diane Finley, the minister of Human Resources and Skills Development who is responsible for employment insurance.

“I was adamant that I wanted to speak with Diane Finley personally. I wanted her to write me a cheque for all the banking fees I’ve incurred,” McCabe said. “I’ve got a wife and three kids and I thought we were going to be sitting by the fire in the basement for heat.”

Many Canadians live paycheque to paycheque. A poll commissioned by the Canadian Payroll Association a few months ago found that 57 per cent of respondents couldn't deal with a one-week delay in their pay.

In August, Finley announced cuts to Service Canada which included the elimination of 98 employment insurance processing centres. There will be 1,200 fewer Service Canada workers according to John Gordon, president of Public Service Alliance of Canada.

The ministry confirmed the job losses, but wouldn’t reveal how many. Finley maintains that the delays in processing employment insurance claims are seasonal and not related to the job cuts. It’s all part of the government’s strategy to balance the budget with the goal of saving $495 million within Service Canada by 2014.

“With continuous improvements to the way that we do business, such as increased automation, improved online services, and a nationally-managed workload distribution, Service Canada will be able to manage service demands in a more cost-effective and efficient way,” said Alison Queen, Finley’s press secretary.

After McCabe complained to Finley’s office, his payment was processed the next day. He still wants to be reimbursed for his banking fees, but that won’t happen, said NDP human resources critic Jean Crowder.

“Good luck. There isn’t a mechanism for the government to pay you for costs that are incurred because of their delays in claims processing,” Crowder said. “What are you going to do, take them to small claims court?”

Service Canada employees on the other end of the line are also frustrated. And those are the ones who still have jobs. The employment insurance call centre in Glace Bay, N.S., is closing and layoffs at the employment insurance processing facility in Sydney, N.S., will leave little more than a skeleton staff. Furious workers took to the streets in both cities last weekend to protest the cuts.

Finley, in a letter to the editor of The Guardian, a P.E.I. newspaper, said there aren’t any delays in employment insurance processing.

“When it comes to EI, our annual service standard is to process 80 per cent of applications within 28 days,” she wrote. “We are currently averaging 23 days for speed of the first payment. We are actually exceeding our target for the majority of Canadians.”
However, that statistic is misleading, as it accounts for first payments and non-payment notification, which can occur for a variety of reasons, including clerical errors.

That’s what happened with McCabe’s claim. He had a problem with “box 17, ” which deals with vacation pay. His employer input $0. That was wrong. Box 17 should have remained blank. But it took McCabe weeks to find that out because of the clogged telephone service.

Finley says the employment insurance system is being modernized with the goal of expanding automated processing claims to 70 per cent from 44 per cent over three years. McCabe’s claim should have been automated, but a clerical error led to dozens of phone calls and, finally, human intervention.

The minister enraged employment insurance workers in that same letter when she blamed them for the delays.
“Most interesting though is that in the month that we announced we will be overhauling and improving EI processing to better serve Canadians — before any changes were introduced — productivity and performance went from being on par with last year's performance at this time, to the worst in five years,” Finley wrote.

The Canada Employment and Immigration Union, which represents thousands of Service Canada workers, is working on filing a grievance against Finley.

“Finley’s comments have been harmful,” said Don Rogers, president of the union. “Service is worse because there aren’t enough resources. Our workers aren’t lazy, they’re overworked and they’re aren’t enough of them.”

[mrsfd]

I applied for sickness benefits back in October 2012. I had been off sick since end of August 2012. My doctor told me about these benefits and he filled out the Physicians form.
I have been working for this employer for 17 years. My employer would NOT provide me with a ROE when I asked because he was pissed off that I was sick and not able to work. . Afer getting service canada to contact them they finally provided the ROE to me at the beginning of December 2012. However, they purposefully left blocks on the ROE blank, knowing that it would delay my claim.

Since this time I have tried and tried to get thru to speak to someone at EI....I even went to their office and they said they would be contacting the emolyer that day to get the information to complete the ROE. Needless to say I am STILL WAITING

After reading this thread, I called my MP's office, gave them my information. The MP's office called me back within 5 minutes saying that EI will contact the employer to complete the ROE. I will be getting a call back from them in 2 days. WOW...maybe this will light a fire under their a**es... Will keep you all informed as to what happens..

I have paid thousands of $$ into EI over the years and cannot understand why EI is taking so long. Thank you Harper goverment. My tax dollars at work.....

THANK GOODNESS I HAD AN EMERGENCY FUND...

[tjthemanto]

Maybe they should make EI deductions optional as opposed to mandatory from your paycheque.

It should be like we won't cut any EI from your pay stub ( if you don't want it ) and in return if you lose your job we won't pay you any EI either .

[amandabananda]

I went on maternity leave and had to wait over 2 months before getting anywhere. When I phoned, I was told there was nothing wrong they could see with my file, all documents were submitted (I worked full-time for 3 years so definitely had enough hours and submitted everything the proper way). I was told I have to wait a week to my file for a supervisor. If I heard nothing in another week, I could call back and get another on my file. It was so fustrating!! I had to ask my parents for money to cover until I received the funds.

I finally went to my MP. I phoned in the morning and told them the situation. I was told I might not hear back until the next day, but they will put a call in with their contact at the EI office. Well, I got a call that afternoon that my file was processed and I should be receiving the funds next week (backdated to when I started my mat leave).

Try calling early in the morning, and I remember being on hold for over an hour sometimes.

[SassyAshley]

You never know as it is you maybe paying and will not be able to claim EI. I had to be assessed by EI a few years ago to see if I ever needed EI if I would qualify (knock on wood I never need it). My assessment was processed and was told I would qualify but we have since been told even though I have the letter from the government saying I have been assessed and do qualify I would probably never be able to claim EI and would turned down right away.

The problem is if they tell me I don't qualify they cannot take the deductions from my pay but telling me I qualify even though I will never be able to claim it I still have to pay my dedications. It is pretty much a game to get as much money as they can knowing they will not have to pay out.

Now after typing this out and thinking about it wonder what would happen if I try to claim Mat Leave, may have to look into this.

Maybe they should make EI deductions optional as opposed to mandatory from your paycheque.

It should be like we won't cut any EI from your pay stub ( if you don't want it ) and in return if you lose your job we won't pay you any EI either .

[Brynhilde]

Maybe they should make EI deductions optional as opposed to mandatory from your paycheque.

It should be like we won't cut any EI from your pay stub ( if you don't want it ) and in return if you lose your job we won't pay you any EI either .

My Father said the exact same thing... back in early 2000s, he had an accident and lost the tips of some of his fingers.. He obviously could not work without the use of his hands. He was so shocked and insulted when EI told him that he could only get 37 weeks of pay at a really low rate when he paid into it for over 20 years AND worked with the same employer. He really wished EI premiums had been optional cause he is a good saver.. he would have saved that and took care of himself while he was injured.

Some things never change. Reading all of these stories make me really thankful that I am no longer in this situation. I empathize deeply with those who are dealing with EI right now. Keep your chins up!

[Jackdenial]

I can confirm that the method below works:

1. Call early 8:30am - 9am before they switch on the western provinces
2. Once the automated attendant goes through her speech, dial 0 - when it kicks you back saying they can't take your call, dial 1 right away, wait for the auto speech again and dial 0,0,0,0,0,0 repeatedly and you will get into the queue.

You will hear that often when trying to call EI. I have had to wait over 55 minutes once I finally did get thru... but here is a tip for you to try: