RICHMOND, VA. – Hundreds of Virginia residents continue to report problems contacting the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) to review the status of their weekly benefits that they say have not arrived.
Keith Mitchell from Richmond is one of those people and has been receiving unemployment benefits since last April.
For almost a year, he said things were going well and he received his payments on time every Thursday. But they stopped on March 17th and he can’t figure out why.
“What’s wrong with my funds?” Asked Mitchell. “Why didn’t I get them?” And why can I reach you? “
The father of two said he received a message via email that he was still unemployed. However, when he goes online to complete his weekly certification, he receives a PIN error.
“I have money available, but I just can’t get it,” said Mitchell. “It’s a huge disappointment. I call customer liaison support every day and nothing happened. I even sent an email and they still haven’t come back with me.”
Mitchell noted that he hadn’t been able to call an agent to help or explain his problem in six weeks.
“Is it a staffing problem?” Asked Mitchell. Because I don’t understand why I can’t. They say all agents are always busy. But that’s all the time all day. So what’s the problem? “
CBS 6 reached out to the VEC about Mitchell’s case and inquired about the agency’s current line-up. We haven’t heard of it yet. The VEC has informed CBS 6 in the past that the agency cannot comment on an individual case.
Meanwhile, Mitchell said he knew he was not alone and that he was finding ways to make ends meet.
But he’s starting to feel hopeless and believing that the funds he owes may never arrive.
“That’s someone’s money right there,” he remarked. “You’re looking forward to it, so what am I doing at this point?”
Mitchell said the most frustrating part of all of this is believing that if he could just talk to someone on the phone, his problem could be solved easily.