Woman spends 11 days on hold with labor department trying to get unemployment benefits

What’s the longest you’ve spent on hold?

Whatever it is, it can’t possibly beat the amount of time Lisa Craig has spent on the phone – 278 hours – with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

And to make matters worse, she’s yet to receive any benefits.

Despite losing her job in May, Craig hasn’t received a cent of the unemployment the state owes her.

“I can’t even imagine a reason that this should be happening,” she said. “Every week nothing happens. And then every week less money is in the bank to pay your bills.”

In all the times she’s contacted CDLE, she’s only been able to speak with a customer service representative five times. When she’s not speaking with someone, she’s been on hold.

Since she started contacting the department she’s calculated she’s been on hold for approximately 11 days.

While it doesn’t offer a reason for the excessive hold times, Craig says she’s been told someone attempted to file a claim in her name three years ago.

Now she’s in a “program integrity hold” and has no idea how to fix it.

“It is absolutely ridiculous,” she said. “At this point it feels like I’ve been doing this a lifetime.”

Philip Spesshardt, the director of Colorado’s Division of Unemployment Insurance, said the agency acknowledges there are 150 low-risk active claims that have taken longer than four weeks to investigate.

Spesshardt did not comment if Craig’s was one of those cases, but did say the agency would look into her case.