Excerpts from my phone "interview" with Washington State Unemployment Dept today:
THEM: "So you heard you could apply for unemployment on what day?"
ME: "Sometime during the first full week of December?"
THEM: "And you didn't apply for them online until December 13th?"
ME: "Yes."
THEM: "So... what day did you hear about it and why didn't you apply until December 13th?"
ME: "I'm not entirely sure exactly which day, uhhh, let's go with December 7th, and I didn't apply that day because I didn't think about it again until the 13th... apparently."
THEM: "And what was the problem when you tried to apply earlier?"
ME: "Earlier than what?"
THEM: "The beginning of December."
ME: "There was no problem, I didn't apply or even try until December 13th."
THEM: "And why did you wait between the 7th and 13th before you applied?"
ME: "Do we have a bad connection? I've answered this question, three times, the same way, even though you've tried to word it differently? The answer is - because I was with a friend when I figured out I could apply for them and was not RIGHT NEXT TO MY COMPUTER and due to LIFE in general, didn't think to do it until the 13th."
THEM: "And who told you you could apply for them?"
ME: "You want their name? No. A friend of mine asked how much unemployment I was getting. I told her that I wasn't claiming it, I didn't know I could under my circumstances. That was on, or around December 7th. I didn't apply until it came to mind again ON December 13th."
THEM: "And what problem did you have on the 13th, applying for the benefits?"
ME: "NONE."
THEM: "You said your last day was September 8th?"
ME: "Yes"
THEM: "But you noted that September 9th would be your last day?"
ME: "Yes. But I was told/asked that if I finished up my notes/projects, to not sit around and twiddle my thumbs. So I finished up that day."
THEM: "And they paid you for Friday?"
ME: "They did not."
THEM: "EWU said they paid you for Friday the 9th."
ME: "I have a paystub, can log in, you can see my supervisor approved it on September 19th. Would you like me to email it to you?"
THEM: "So you did NOT get paid for the 9th?"
ME: "Absolutely." (I did this on purpose by this point... 43 minutes in...
THEM: "Absolutely, they did?"
ME: "No. They did not pay me for the 9th."
THEM: "So they did not pay you on the 9th?"
ME: "Absolutely."
THEM: "Would you say that is correct that they did NOT pay you for the 9th?"
ME: "Right"
THEM: "They noted they paid you for that day."
ME: "They did NOT pay me for the 9th. As I said a few minutes ago, I can log in, take a screen shot and send it to you. I would think it is a GOOD thing they did not pay me, because it means I made that much less to add to my benefit."
THEM: "The paperwork received from EWU states they paid you $20/hour on the 9th. Didn't you say they paid you $28 an hour?"
ME: "Do you have my paperwork in front of you? I know you do, you said so 36 minutes ago. I apologize for being rude, but you're asking questions that you have in front of your face. I answered that question on 6 of the 17 pages you sent to me after I applied for benefits on December 13th, online, which I had no problem with."
THEM: "Right. It says $20 an hour. So not $28 dollars an hour?"
ME: "Absolutely."
It is actually comical how they try to trip you up so they can try to deny benefits. The great thing is, there are no discrepancies in my timeline, wages, contacts, etc... But lord love 'em for trying.
I actually am secretly hoping I get to have another phone conversation with them... I'm working on some new, great, one word, confusing responses.
"Indeed"
THEM: "So you heard you could apply for unemployment on what day?"
ME: "Sometime during the first full week of December?"
THEM: "And you didn't apply for them online until December 13th?"
ME: "Yes."
THEM: "So... what day did you hear about it and why didn't you apply until December 13th?"
ME: "I'm not entirely sure exactly which day, uhhh, let's go with December 7th, and I didn't apply that day because I didn't think about it again until the 13th... apparently."
THEM: "And what was the problem when you tried to apply earlier?"
ME: "Earlier than what?"
THEM: "The beginning of December."
ME: "There was no problem, I didn't apply or even try until December 13th."
THEM: "And why did you wait between the 7th and 13th before you applied?"
ME: "Do we have a bad connection? I've answered this question, three times, the same way, even though you've tried to word it differently? The answer is - because I was with a friend when I figured out I could apply for them and was not RIGHT NEXT TO MY COMPUTER and due to LIFE in general, didn't think to do it until the 13th."
THEM: "And who told you you could apply for them?"
ME: "You want their name? No. A friend of mine asked how much unemployment I was getting. I told her that I wasn't claiming it, I didn't know I could under my circumstances. That was on, or around December 7th. I didn't apply until it came to mind again ON December 13th."
THEM: "And what problem did you have on the 13th, applying for the benefits?"
ME: "NONE."
THEM: "You said your last day was September 8th?"
ME: "Yes"
THEM: "But you noted that September 9th would be your last day?"
ME: "Yes. But I was told/asked that if I finished up my notes/projects, to not sit around and twiddle my thumbs. So I finished up that day."
THEM: "And they paid you for Friday?"
ME: "They did not."
THEM: "EWU said they paid you for Friday the 9th."
ME: "I have a paystub, can log in, you can see my supervisor approved it on September 19th. Would you like me to email it to you?"
THEM: "So you did NOT get paid for the 9th?"
ME: "Absolutely." (I did this on purpose by this point... 43 minutes in...
THEM: "Absolutely, they did?"
ME: "No. They did not pay me for the 9th."
THEM: "So they did not pay you on the 9th?"
ME: "Absolutely."
THEM: "Would you say that is correct that they did NOT pay you for the 9th?"
ME: "Right"
THEM: "They noted they paid you for that day."
ME: "They did NOT pay me for the 9th. As I said a few minutes ago, I can log in, take a screen shot and send it to you. I would think it is a GOOD thing they did not pay me, because it means I made that much less to add to my benefit."
THEM: "The paperwork received from EWU states they paid you $20/hour on the 9th. Didn't you say they paid you $28 an hour?"
ME: "Do you have my paperwork in front of you? I know you do, you said so 36 minutes ago. I apologize for being rude, but you're asking questions that you have in front of your face. I answered that question on 6 of the 17 pages you sent to me after I applied for benefits on December 13th, online, which I had no problem with."
THEM: "Right. It says $20 an hour. So not $28 dollars an hour?"
ME: "Absolutely."
It is actually comical how they try to trip you up so they can try to deny benefits. The great thing is, there are no discrepancies in my timeline, wages, contacts, etc... But lord love 'em for trying.
I actually am secretly hoping I get to have another phone conversation with them... I'm working on some new, great, one word, confusing responses.
"Indeed"
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