Question

Hi everyone if anyone could help. My boyfriend applied for unemployment last week and we received a debit card in the mail on Monday. He had to wait until today to certify. Once we got through it says we can’t certify because his PIN has not been used in the last 30 days , and directs us the the main line , so we can reset it, where there are only two options and they say the call volume is too high and then hangs up  this is so frustrating. He had unemployment five years ago and he knows what the pin is but he still needs to reset it because it hasn’t been used in thirty day’s what do I do, has anyone been able to get ahold of anyone at unemployment? We need to speak to an actual person and not the automatic system. Any advice would really help. Thank you!  

Answer 1

I understand how frustrating is that!. I was able to get through after trying for at least 20 to 30 times the other day and was able to certify. Don’t give up just keep trying!  

Answer 2

A few coworkers and I had success yesterday around 11-12 PM. Can’t say this still works, but the prompts we chose were 2-2-5-6. Wait times ranged from 8-60 minutes. I reached a human after 30 minutes of waiting. It was the first time I’ve ever been added to a queue

Comments

@altarpiece omg this gives me hope! Thank you! What # was it that you called? Just to make sure we are calling the number

---

@semitropical the 800 number, not the 312 tele-service one  

---

@altarpiece ok thank you!  

---

@altarpiece thanks for this advice I called like 40 times and finally got a prompt like what you said and dialed 2-2-5-6 and it worked! Thank you so so much!  

Answer 3

As a former customer service manager, I can tell you the busiest call hours are 10:00 am until 2:30 pm. I would try closer to 3:30.  

Comments

@abutting Thank you so much! We will try during that time

---

@semitropical Good Luck! These are stressful times, hoping for the best.  

Answer 4

Call the 312 number it directs you to with the automated system. It should let him reset his pin there

Comments

@halm747 it won’t it says to call the 800 line and hangs up on us. I think we’ll just have to keep calling until it allows us to get through to a person lol  

Answer 5

Did he try certifying online or only through phone? I heard trying to do it through the phone is a problem.  

Comments

@chilcote971 it was online not on the phone  

---

Oh  When I certified I didn’t need a pin, I thought that was just on the phone so I’m not sure. The only thing I can say is keep trying, it may take awhile to get through right now, good luck!  

Answer 6

My husband had issues also and he put his number for a call back and we finally had a call back the next morning at 5:30 am scared the heck out of us but he answered and it was them and had his questions answered! try that!  

Comments

@wacke where did he put his number in for a call back? Online?  

---

@semitropical 866-295-2955

---

@wacke @semitropical I would recommend not using the call back feature if you can avoid it

---

@altarpiece why?  

Answer 7

Curious about the debit card for unemployment. My son applied. Still waiting for an email. But he received a random debit card with no explanation from an ohio bank. Seems like a scam to us, but We have no experience with unemployment. Any info would be appreciated.  

Comments

@tyler164 the debit card is a normal part of the process. It arrives with $0 balance. He only needs to keep this if he did not enroll in direct deposit and doesn’t plan to. He will receive very little communication, but the next thing for him to expect is a letter in the mail (probably a few business days from now if he received the debit card earlier this week) telling him when to certify. Remind him to certify biweekly.  

---

@altarpiece Brenda, he can go ahead and put in his direct deposit info now. When he certifies for the first time it will be deposited in the bank instead of on the card. Much easier.  

---

@milagrosmilam thank you! Where does he go to put in his direct deposit info? Is it on joblink somewhere?  

---

@tyler164 No, the joblink has its own user name and password. It's the Illinois Department of Employment site. IDES. There's a sign in box on the upper right corner. Hit the arrow to drop down to select "enroll/modify direct deposit. "

---

For me, it still showed that payment method was the card, but after the first payment was deposited, then it showed that the payment method was direct deposit.  

---

@milagrosmilam you are awesome! Thank you so much for this helpful info!  

---

@tyler164 Welcome. Glad I could help.  

---

Oh another thing. If the links don't work, keep trying different times of day. It took me two days. I tried round about ways to get in, finally opened up. Now that it's done, I get in on the first try every time.  

Answer 8

Have you tried online. It was giving me an error message when I tried to certify over the phone but worked after a few tries online

Answer 9

If you call unemployment don’t hit the prompts for other questions act like your filing a claim you will have to wait the 40 minutes but eventually speak to a person.  

Answer 10

Search up Facebook groups for IL, they might have ppl who’ve experienced the same thing and can help. Good luck  

Answer 11

When are you supposed to enroll in direct deposit?  

Comments

@photosynthesis I actually got ahold of someone today. She said to do it as soon as possible, you do it online and click on enroll in direct deposit/edit my direct deposit

---

@semitropical thank you is it on the same website you applied?  

---

Yes it is!  

---

@semitropical awesome found it thank you

---

Log back into his account and change it to direct deposit.