The lady at the Alameda County branch canceled my sons survivor benefits despite him still being a…read morestudent. She and her supervisor were biased against him because he homeschooled and did not do the state testing, which by law is not required. Representative Barbara Lee and HSDLA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) advocated for him. It took nearly a year for SS to respond and pay what is my sons benefits by law. This ignorant biased decision by these two SS reps in te Oakland office created unexpected for stress for the last year. Because we didn't plan for this huge loss in our income, we struggled and stressed. Lots of tears: Thank you to Barbara Lee and her intern Lily and HSDLA!

Horrible, rude security guards at the lower level of this office! They are too comfortable being…read morerude and yelling at people coming in. To make this location more inviting, the security guards working at the entrance need to be replaced.

It's understandable that the EDD Office will always be busy, but it's frustrating when you can…read morenever get through by phone; no matter if you call very first thing in the morning, throughout the day or towards the end of the day. You will always hear, "we reached our max number of callers." After striking out every single time, I decided to head down to the nearest office-located at Oakland. When I got there around 11am, a sign was up that they gave out the max number of tickets and no more tickets would be given to ensure they could see everyone. Okay, I probably should've gone first thing in the morning or earlier than opening because a man told me he showed up at 8am and still had not been seen. The security guard also stated try showing up around 7-730am because lines form every day. I was told show up early, the office will start numbers at 8am, but the office isn't open until 9am. I don't know about the hours information I was told, but I appreciated the helpful guidance as this is the first time really going through this whole experience. It would be nice if EDD had a better notification system they could publish so people traveling a ways away would know whether to visit or come a different day. What would also be helpful or something to consider, would be expanding telephone hours. I understand this is a State job, but the public demands are big so finding ways to maximize customer service would be nice; thinking outside the box would be good. It would/could also open up telework opportunities and provide employees with different work shifts that may be a better fit for them-which can boost job satisfaction. With that said, Oakland Office was a bust for me. However, I recalled another review I read about someone's not so good experience and how they left Oakland's Office and went to San Francisco's Office. The people in SF were very nice. You have to sign in when you first get there with security and then take the elevator up to the 3rd Floor. You get your ticket and wait. The office was slightly bigger, no need for security on that floor, the employees all had good customer service (you can hear them when they speak with people) and the average wait time was reasonable-definitely no more than an hour considering the type of service offered. My time there was less than an hour; in & out. I have to mention, I showed up there closer to 2pm and numbers were still being given out-no "we can't service anyone else today." The only downside is parking can be a challenge, but that's SF for you. Pay attention to the street signs to make sure you can park. Other than that, I believe you will have better luck and experience at the SF Office if you can't make it to the Oakland Office pretty early! Also, last tip; remember the email you used from your very first claim-even if it was 10 years ago. Any claims after that and your identity verification will be tied to that email. You will need to go into an office to change it or try your luck to get through Online Support to have it changed. However, once the change request is submitted, switching your email is an easy process, with them doing it on the back end. Once converted they will email you with a link and you may need to reset your password. I must note, I didn't get the opportunity to truly see the customer service from the Oakland Office; I'm sure it would've been fine-they're here to help. I just know it's already challenging to be on unemployment or disability, and I wish you all luck-you will need to stay committed to getting through if you need assistance. Last thought: It would be nice to get an overhaul of the EDD system, just like DMV did many years ago. Learning the needs of the many and how to streamline the system & process would be beneficial. Please note, I'm not knocking it or the Oakland Office, but just sharing my experience with you! If the Oakland location doesn't work out for you, try the SF Office.

I surprisingly find myself applying for CA Disability Insurance. The process was complicated and…read moreconfusing for me. Calling EDD is an exercise in futility. I showed up this morning without an appointment. I simple self-check in, a short wait, and I was helped by a very kind Asian woman. She took her time and researched my claim, explained to me the process, and even told me I would I had a shorter waiting period. Today is a great day!

I have a small business and taxes intimidate me. Hard to reach them by phone. So I made an…read moreappointment to go in. Bruno was out expert. He puzzled out the issue quickly. He explained everything in detail and so I could understand. Even helped with my corporate tax issues. What a relief. Bruno is my new hero. Smart, easy going, efficient. I actually enjoyed my visit and no longer fear dealing with taxes. Thanks Bruno. You Rock!!!

This is the worst location ever. I literally made an appointment over the phone to come in and get…read morehelp in person. Instead of talking to the AI operator. The ladys that Work at this location are all super ghetto and unprofessional. They don't let You Speak at all and they keep cutting me off and Talking over over and over and over Again she wouldn't even Let me explain to her. My situation of What happened to me. She kept telling me to shut up and to not talk over her. I kept letting her talk over me out of respect just to try to fix the solution and she didn't even bother to fix the solution at All. She was super ghetto and unprofessional, keeps smackin her lips, and I'm applying Make up while helping me out. I hope she gets fire and they hire new professional people please stop hiring ghetto workers that don't know What they're doing and that don't have respect for customers. Literally I came to get Help, and I left worse than ever. She had me crying in tears of the way that she yelled at me and just wouldn't allow me to explain the situation of the fraud that happened to me. She said fraud is not true, but I am wrong. When clearly somebody from the IRS called me and it was brought. They claimed they was IRS and it wasn't and they start asking me for money. She just wouldn't help me out at all. If the manager of the Company sees this, just Know You Got some disgusting workers working for your Company.

Friendly workers I was in and out in less than an hour there's free parking everywhereread more

I had an appointment, my service person was astute and very comfortable to work with. It was easy…read moreto find and a comfortable waiting room. I was seen within 7 minutes. Out on 30, what's not to like!

My call got through! I had called several times this past…read moreweek plus left about three phone messages. After 60 calls this day, Miss P answered! I couldn't believe it? I thought don't watch this and accidentally press the wrong button and hang up on her. So I set the phone down and pulled my hands away to make sure not to hang it up. And I was just so in all that I was talking to her. It was around the 45th call that something shifted in my mind and spirit. Instead of thinking, she'll never answer, I thought. "You will answer the phone ... my phone call will be answered." And I became matter-of-fact about it and just continued dialing, it would go to voicemail and so then I would hang up and call again, and sometimes it would go to a busy signal because too many calls were going in at the same time, so I would hang up and call again. She was so nice and helpful! I thought, dear woman probably is given so many peoples cases! After 33 minutes, we finished and confirmed my application! Yay! It's unfortunate they don't have more caseworkers. The solution : speed dial your caseworkers number, get in a comfortable position while you're working on some project of watching the latest episode of My Lunch Break on. YT and just be determined that you will get through.

if you were ever at Hayward services or any other one please stay there these people in Oakland…read moreNEVER answers they kept marking no show when I came but didn't even get up to call my name or check if I was in the lobby

Poor leadership and management. Sandbagging disabled veterans. Extremely slow processing veteran's…read moreclaims, higher level reviews and correcting duty to assist errors.

Getting military documents; always reliable.read more

I work for CPA office next door. This place is a mess and people are treated badly. The applicants…read moresit on the floor or crowd our door so that we can't get in. The rest rooms are a disaster. There is not enough disabled parking so disabled tenants who work in the building often have no place to park. Sometimes the office closes early because they are so overwhelmed by applicants. This office needs to be moved to its own building. It is interfering with the small businesses in the building.

they do not ever have anyone working I've called everyday for two weeks and I've tried calling…read morerepeatedly begining at 7:30 am agin a 8 am and 11 am multiple times and starting at 1:30 pm 2 pm 2:30 pm the phone service will not let a caller even hold for a representitive. And I've sent multiple messages regarding needing to speak to a representative regarding a claim I have filed that still shows processing after 15 days this is a joke

Got there @9:30 & were already 15th in line. The lady at the front was very nice & gave clear…read moreinstructions. Office opens 10am but they let us in @9:50. We were done by 10:15. System was very efficient & everyone were courteous & helpful. The best gov run operation ever

Today 6/30 I went with my mom to get some finger prints and photos taken and the African American…read morelady didn't let me in . Mind you I went to be my mom's translator she said step aside only one person can go in and turns out my mom went inside there and she did need a translator she was lying . I even asked the lady before she went inside there if there was a translator and she said yes. Such a lier and had an attitude. If you don't like your job don't work in places like this . SMH

The second floor has a real attitude problem. The staff here are snarky, rude, and unprofessional…read more I agree with other reviewers when they say they are unfair and incredible unhelpful. For a government building, you are met with ample unprofessionalism. In all fairness, the third floor was pleasant and helpful, but the second floor needs an attitude adjustment. They were pretty condescending when asked a pretty reasonable question about where the payment window was. Not necessary at all.

The building department is a joke. You submit plans to get them reviewed and they pass them through…read morewith no mark ups. You build per the APPROVED PLANS and you get told no you can't do that. Then you have to pay to get the work done twice. Then they tell you that you need to have PSL permit pulled... basically so they get more money from you for nothing... throughout the entire project, the inspection team doesn't agree/communicate with building and plan review. Such a joke. Even if you get plans reviewed and stamped with your permit, you need to review code and regulations independently because they don't do any of it in review and the inspectors will make you change your completed work.

It would be nice to have a female security guard. I didn't like that I have to have a male guard…read morescan me from the back. Why can't I face him?

REVIEWER # 1 I have…read moreto admit that the building itself deserves over 5 stars! OMG! Have you been here before? Like literally the outside and inside? My first time was when I had a meeting with an organization that is inside and I was stunned to see how beautiful it is! This building is over 10 years old and still looks like a brand new spanking building! This is such a beautiful architecture building in downtown Oakland! Very accessible to BART getting on and off at the 12 Street Station. This building is well secured by Security so please be prepared to put all your belongings through a scanner. If you seem to beep for any reason (unfortunately I wear tons of jewelry and I always beep when I go through the metal detectors) so you will be scanned with a handheld detector and asked to turn around and left your arms up. Yes, they are Very secured. There are bathrooms on the first floor on your right hand side once you enter. On the 2nd floor there is a small Cafeteria and they also serve Peet's Coffee that is the café. There are signs to help direct you to where you are going but once you walk in , it does seem like a maze. There are escalators and elevators to help you get from one floor to another. In this building you would find: Department of Rehabilitation (DOR), Department of Real Estate and many other state related organizations and depts. There is garage parking across the street that is open for anyone. It's definitely not the cheapest so I would definitely encourage you to take public transportation. REVIEW 142/196