Some people calling the Colorado Department of Revenue on Thursday were surprised to get a busy signal.
“I have been trying to call 303-238-7378 and keep getting one ring, then a busy tone,” Lori Babers told Sentinel news partner Denver 7.
Denver 7 checked the Department of Revenue’s website. It says customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m at 303-238-SERV (7378), but calls from the station got the same busy signal Babers got.
Department spokeswoman Lynn Granger told Denver 7 the department is getting thousands of calls each day — more than 22,000 last week.
“The system can only handle so much,” Granger said.
Granger said more than half of the calls are people asking about their refund.
Instead of calling, Granger recommends that you go online to check the status of your refund. Granger warned that some people are seeing a delay of 60 days to get their refund.
“Because of fraud prevention methods, some of our direct deposits are being converted into paper checks,” Granger explained. “In those cases, we’re seeing delays of up to 60 days.”