LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
Among the nearly 17,000 Nevadans who filed for unemployment in June of this year was Robert Fread. He recently took to YouTube with his frustrations over attempting to file.
Everyone knows what it's like to be put on hold. Seconds feel like minutes, minutes like hours.
Fread said he felt that pain recently when he dialed the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) concerning his unemployment filing.
"I've been through this before, so I knew what I was in for. Thought I'd film it," Fread said.
He said he ended up on hold for three hours and 45 minutes.
"The average wait time on that day, which was exceptionally long, was 25 minutes," said Frank Woodbeck with DETR.
Woodbeck said that if Fread did wait for hours, it was likely due to a technical glitch. DETR handles the 20,000 calls received on average each week efficiently, according to Woodbeck.
"We get 20,000 calls per week, and we have a system where anyone can be placed on virtual hold, leave their information and we'll call them back," Woodbeck said.
Fread didn't see it that way.
"It's my belief that the unemployment office makes it as difficult as they can for you because a certain percentage of those people will give up. Then they don't have to pay those claims," Fread said.
Fread was trained as a land surveyor and has worked in construction but longs to get into filmmaking and editing.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
