3 UNBELIEVABLE PHONE CALLS TO HMRC - how do we complain?

JennyP

My partner is having a lot of grief from HMRC. He had tried to phone over and over again. Today someone from HMRC listened to his complaint (put courteously as ever) and said "Oh f&*%ing hell!" and hung up on him - phone call saga in more detail below!

He is earning virtually nothing at the moment - his company is in the building services industry and times are hard. Most of what he does earn seems to go on tax which I personally can't fathom as it's supposed to be a percentage and that percentage isn't 90%! Not when you earn less than £10K anyway.

Problem 1 : We've heard HMRC are using faulty discs to calculate tax liabilities and these are what have been sent out to customers. So they're asking for too much money from people.

Problem 2 : They are accusing him of not paying some money that he paid during April through online banking. We've now heard that they have changed their sortcodes but not told anyone what these are. So possibly the money was sent to the old account....

Problem 3 : They keep telling him to refer to the tax payment books that he should have. He's been requesting these for 18 months but they've never arrived.

Problem 4: The phone calls ! These are unbelievable.
Firstly, as others have pointed out, you can't get through.
He got through this morning, 4 times.
The first said, "I can't help you, I've just picked up the phone because everyone else is busy."
The second said, "Oh, f&*%ing hell!" and put the phone down. Thanks for your professionalism HMRC.
The third said he owed £200 this month but couldn't explain why it wasn't the usual amount which is about £15, despite the fact he's had virtually no work this month.
The fourth said, "Why are you ringing this number? We can't help!"

We are at our wits end with this. It might almost be better for him to sack off the business and sign on.

kickwhamstunner

Why'd he keep ringing? You'd think he'd have taken the hint after the first two people fobbed him off.

McKneff

WithHMRC do everything in writing, recorded delivery, full sotp..

fengirl_2

Here is the link to how to complain:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/complaints-appeals/how-to-complain.htm

There is no point in sending things by recorded delivery as HMRC egts so much post it doesnt actually sign for things and then it would argue that there is no proof that what you say was in the envelope was actually in the item signed for.

Your experience depresses me so much. This is what happens when front line services get cut. All the experienced, good people that I worked with 10 years ago are now working in M&S to be replaced by semi-trained people who basically work in processing factories.

Sucker_for_sweeties

fengirl wrote: »

Here is the link to how to complain:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/complaints-appeals/how-to-complain.htm

There is no point in sending things by recorded delivery as HMRC egts so much post it doesnt actually sign for things and then it would argue that there is no proof that what you say was in the envelope was actually in the item signed for.

Your experience depresses me so much. This is what happens when front line services get cut. All the experienced, good people that I worked with 10 years ago are now working in M&S to be replaced by semi-trained people who basically work in processing factories.

I'm always delighted to get through to what I'm sure must definately be ex Inland Revenue peeps, helpful and well informed. I dread calling the tax credit 'call-centre', especially since they made an error in 2004 that caused me two years of grief and hassle. Thankfully I had a note of date/time/person I spoke to and call notes.....I stood my ground and wrote a very pedantic letter, which I sent to about a dozen tax offices. Eventually it got sorted out, with a £30 goodwill gesture thrown in for the phone calls. I believe it's all a lot worse now:eek:...probably all the ex inland revenue/C&E peeps are runinng off with early retirement.:(

tealady

Hi
I would ring your MPs office and ask when they have a surgery. If you ask the MP to get involved it may kick a few butts.

JennyP

Thanks for all the suggestions.
We were planning on contacting our local MP - on previous occasions she's been useless though. I sometimes wonder what she's paid for....

Endora_2

There is no point in sending things by recorded delivery as HMRC egts so much post it doesnt actually sign for things and then it would argue that there is no proof that what you say was in the envelope was actually in the item signed for.

My elderly mother who is also a pensioner has recently sent some P60s and other items via recorded delivery to HMRC, don't ask me why they need to see proof of her 3 pensions she receives and has asked to do so for the past 3 years. Anyway when she rang them yesterday to see why she hadn't heard anymore she was told that although the items had been signed for (which I also verified via the Royal Mail website) the documents were not signed for by the intended person and the person who did sign for them did not pass them straight to the intended person so therefore they seem to have gone astray.:(

gemba123

Re: Contacting the tax office
If you write to them they can take several weeks to open their post so don't expect a prompt reply.

Mikeyorks

Endora wrote: »

the documents were not signed for by the intended person and the person who did sign for them did not pass them straight to the intended person

As Royal Mail will deliver to a lot of HMRC offices around 0600hrs ...... I think your expectation is a little unrealistic.

It's generally the case in large offices receiving lots of mail - and HMRC is a case in point - that Royal Mail will provide a sheet(s) detailing all the Special / Recorded items and a single signature will be given for the lot. The mail (the 99% of ordinary as well as the recorded etc) then has to be opened / sifted before it is 'passed on'. And HMRC no longer tend to have an 'intended person' dealing with a case through all its stages. It will - unfortunately - be back in a queue .................... unlikely 'to have gone astray'.

heather8

I am one of those ex HMRC staff members that recently took voluntary redundancy along with over 700 colleagues.

You can make an appointment to go into your local tax office and actually see someone face to face to try and sort it all out. They don't like doing this, as they are trying to push all the taxpayers into using the phone and speaking to the contact centre.

I'm afraid in order to get a face to face appointment though you do have to ring the contact centre first. Tell them you wish to make a formal complaint too. Be nice, as most people who work there want to do their best for you, its either because they are relatively new (and cheap to employ) and haven't got the experience or had the right training or there just aren't enough staff any more and the ones who are left are stressed out. It makes me sad, that someone spoke to you that way on the phone.

Best of luck, I'm so glad I left, its all gone down the pan