Waiting 18 weeks on my first unemployment payment - 7 months and counting

I was laid off as a retail manager and filed right away, and I have been certifying every week. The page shows my claim as open but no payment date. Has anyone been through this? How long did it take in the end?

When I finally got through, the agent said my employer had responded late. Once that cleared, back pay came in one payment.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 7 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.