An unemployment diary

April 9 – I filed for unemployment. My last day worked was 3/18/2020. I had worked four years as an associate at Kohl’s.

April 20 – Received certification five days late. Certification date was 4/15/2020 and I received it by mail 4/20/2020.

April 22, 23, 24 – Put in eight complaints with Illinois Department of Employment Security and never got a response to one of them. Complaints are that no one was getting back to me on how to set up to certify. There was no email, no one answering the phone. I have already lost certification dates from 3/18 to 4/29 so have not received a check to date.

April 25 – I figured out how to certify. I’m looking for my resume on my computer. I found an old one dated about four years ago.

April 27 – Trying to pull up Microsoft Office on my computer and it’s outdated. I order a new Word version online and I have to wait till it comes in the mail.

May 3 – I have been trying all this time to get into JobLink and all that is stopping me is a reset code. But due to the coronavirus IDES and JobLink do not answer their phones.

May 6 – I requested a reset code and Illinois JobLink reset my password. I try to log on and it doesn’t work. Still waiting on a reset code from JobLink.

May 8 – I still can’t get on JobLink, but I was able to pull three jobs that I am interested in.

May 11 – This morning I drove to purchase Microsoft Word at Office Max or Staples, only to find out Office Max had been closed for two years and Staples recently closed. So I drove to Best Buy and I have to order it online for pick-up. I can no longer wait for the version I ordered through eBay.

May 12 – Going to try to get on JobLink again. At 7:54 a.m. completed JobLink resume training. I learned the reset code phone number is 877-342-7533. I kept calling over and over for one hour and all I get is busy signals. I’m online waiting with America’s JobLink now. My reset code is 63184760. It’s 9:18 p.m. and now it won’t take a pdf file. More problems. Just bought and downloaded Microsoft Office 2019. Resume was added to JobLink. Thank God.

May 13 – Applied for job at UPS in Kankakee. Today is my certification date and I cannot certify and no one at IDES will answer the phone. I never got a pin number to certify and no one will help. I have not received a check since March 18. I called my state representative 100 times. When I do get connected they hang up on me due to high call volume. Applying for a position at Walmart and for one at Lowes.

May 14 – Trying to order a new card. The benefits department had to transfer me to another department to get another mailing of my debit card. I was able to order a new debit card, which should be delivered in 2-3 business days because I paid $14 to expedite it UPS. Applied for a job at AutoZone.

May 15 – Wrote a letter to IDES in Springfield regarding not being able to certify for over two months. I explained that I am in arrears for $2,097 as of May 15, and that I would like it if they would just deposit that amount into my bank account.

May 18 – I took a job at Walmart and this is my first day. I also received my debit card so I activated it and thought I’d call to see if I could certify on a date that’s not my certify date. I got through right away this time. They asked me for my Social Security number and after I entered it the response said my pin number was revoked.

May 20 – I tried to certify today and like every day from day one I get the message “cannot certify at this time.” I wish they would stop saying that my call is important to them because it is not. I called Illinois Times and spoke to Fletcher Farrar. They want to do a story.

May 22 - I just called to certify and got the pin number was revoked recording.

May 26 - I don’t have any way to contact IDES to let them know that I took another job, as of today. IDES owes me $2,181.00 in back unemployment pay. At 9 a.m. I just called KeyBank and was able to reset my pin number through the VIR robot.

May 27- Today is my certification day. I called at 5:20 am to certify and of course I get the message that my pin was revoked again. KeyBank told me that a manager would call me within 24 hours but that never happened. I spent the past two hours trying to get a human being at IDES with no luck. I can’t get anything done so I have decided to reapply. Their system allowed me to reapply.

June 1 - Believe it or not I received today in the mail a new UI Finding report that was almost duplicate to my last one that was mailed on April 9 with the exception of a new certification date of 6/10. All I need now is to receive the debit card from KeyBank. I will call them tomorrow.

George Fehringer, of Manteno, Illinois, has been working for the past three weeks at his new job stocking the dairy shelves at Walmart.