See how long it takes you all to get through to the Council Tax department.

I've been trying them since 2pm this afternoon with no luck.

I'm currently on hold again, 14 mins and 45 secs and counting....

Apperently the busiest times are Mondays and early mornings!!! Can't imagine how long you have to wait then. Think I'm going to give up!

Let us know when you give up 'cos 3000+ potential callers may further deteriorate their response time.

If, that's a big if, any of us get through what should we ask them?

YIPEEEEEEE I finally managed get through!!!!

All I wanted was a state of my account but unfortunatly I didn't have a ref number on me so it's taken me nearly 10 minutes to get them to tell me. They wouldn't accept my name my and details, address, the amount I pay per month etc...For security reasons??? Why on earth someone would falsly ring up and pretend to be me so they can find out how much CT I owe is beyond me.

I nearly swore at them but I overcame it and kept calm. Wish I'd never phoned now though, I owe two months! :D

If I ever feel like sending myself insane I think I may trying calling them at their busiest times!

Wait until they outscource it to India.

:thumbsup:

Oh the joy mikey! I can't wait for that.

I always try and be pleasant to people over the phone or face to face but when they mess you around like this it's hard to be polite, I know it isn't personally their fault but by god I could have swung for the woman when she declined to give me the information.

In the end I think she gave in because I she knew I was soooo angry.

Do you know, this kind of thing really gets me way angry!!

It's true: it isn't the other person's fault on the other end of the line, but by the time they speak to you, you've gone way beyond being reasonable.

I hate making those kind of phone calls because I just know what is going to happen.

I prefer to write or e mail if I can.

Don't think writing is going to help!!

My auntie moved into sheltered housing in October 2001 and has just got her housing and council tax benefits sorted and they've had to refund her over £2k!!

I tend to email them when it's not urgent and get a response generally within 2-3 days. Very helpful this way. If urgent though.....erm.....not so good.

I hate phoning anything that involves trying to get to talk to people, whether it's the council, internet tech support lines, booking lines for stuff....

All you get is "press 1 for such and such. press 2 to be completely ignored by someone else. press 3 for same".... and so on and so forth, and I'm like WTF?! Lemme speak to a HUMAN for chuff sake!

But then again, as people often tell me, I have little to no patience, so waiting 20 minutes for some muppet to tell me something I already know (in the case of when I used to phone internet support lines on a regular basis) would usually send me into a violent rage not unlike Bruce Banner after being exposed to radiation (minus the turning green and ripping my shirt off obviously).

Trying to get through to council tax / housing benefits people is a nightmare. It's worse when after 20 minutes they just cut you off!

I'm having such stresses with them at the moment... argh!

What I find so funny about calling the council, is they have no option to take you through to payments. This means you have to sit in the general queue with everyone else. They even have an option for people claiming benefits - but not for those who actually want to give the council their hard earned money!

Although I know it's far too easy to 'have a go' at the council, surely in situations like this, even their most die-hard supporters must find it rather amusing? Or can the council do no wrong?

They never answer the phone because they are too busy printing out summons's to all us c.tax payers who pay on time!Ive had 3 so far and i pay up on time!
What i dont understand is how can someone who is on benefits manage to get into a thousand pounds worth of rent arrears,when i have NO rent arrears but get a phoncall from my housing office if im a day late with my payment?Their rent money should be stopped from their benefits if you ask me its usually no more than a tenner or so isnt it??????????
PROPER WINDS ME UP!!

Originally posted by jenhoppy
They never answer the phone because they are too busy printing out summons's to all us c.tax payers who pay on time!Ive had 3 so far and i pay up on time!
What i dont understand is how can someone who is on benefits manage to get into a thousand pounds worth of rent arrears,when i have NO rent arrears but get a phoncall from my housing office if im a day late with my payment?Their rent money should be stopped from their benefits if you ask me its usually no more than a tenner or so isnt it??????????
PROPER WINDS ME UP!!

Oh yeah!
Plus the sad thing is you can get blacklisted for that, so if you want a loan or something it shows up against your house or name (this is through experience):mad:

Originally posted by Geoff
can the council do no wrong?

Lets phone up and ask them:rolleyes:

I work for the council an i was discusted with the holding times i was waiting 17 mins how bads that!!!

Sorry to buck the trend but got through to the council tax people within about 30 seconds when I needed to call a couple of weeks ago. Guess I got lucky.

But when I was trying to sort out my mortgage with Woolwich it was a nightmare the longest I had to wait was 23 mins I would say average about 15. They are definately the worst i have ever dealt with.