Flabbergasted!!

Not really a question

Didn't find your answer?

Well this is a new one for me

have been on a call with HMRC claiming some CIS and PAYE refunds for a few clients, all going well until the HMRC employee advises that she is terminating the call as she is due her tea break

I advised that I'd quite like a brew myself, but as we are on the call I'll wait until the call is finished and we've done whats needed, at which point she hung up

lost for words!!

Replies (13)

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RLI
By lionofludesch
18th May 2020 15:31

Complain.

Standards are plummeting.

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the sea otter
By memyself-eye
18th May 2020 15:38

I would complain too, but I'm on my tea brea-------

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RLI
By lionofludesch
18th May 2020 15:43

More likely she'd sussled too much tea and needed another kind of break but was too embarrassed to say.

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By lesley.barnes
18th May 2020 15:56

There's many a time I would like a brew or something stronger when I finally manage to speak to someone at HMRC. These people have no idea what it is like trying to get through on the phone lines to speak to a human.

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Replying to lesley.barnes:
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By Selfemployed
18th May 2020 16:19

True. I spent one hour the other days, 4 phone calls, each 15 min wait. Didnt get through. Then, they sent me a survey link....

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By pauld
18th May 2020 15:58

Are you sure she said 'tea break' and not 'pea break'?

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By Justin Bryant
18th May 2020 16:03

I'm flabbergasted that you were actually able to speak to a human at HMRC.

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Replying to Justin Bryant:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
18th May 2020 18:08

Well, if not a human they would have said they were going for an oil change.

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By Rammstein1
18th May 2020 16:49

Maybe she had worked 6 hours straight and had to have a break. HMRC are the type of place to really enforce this if employees are working from home.

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Red Leader
By Red Leader
18th May 2020 16:49

As mentioned, it could have been a more pressing break that she needed.

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By Cloudcounter
18th May 2020 18:42

Not directly related to your situation - I think that she should have offered to call you back, or get someone else to take over but that might not be permitted. Spare a thought for the people at HMRC who actually answer the phones - they must be in a situation where as soon as they hang up on one call their phone rings again so there's no respite. It's not the individual's fault if HMRC chronically under-resource the system or play you endless pointless message before you get in the queue.

And I dare say that some of their callers are a little less than charming, again for something that's not the fault of the call handler.

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Replying to Cloudcounter:
RLI
By lionofludesch
18th May 2020 18:57

Cloudcounter wrote:

Not directly related to your situation - I think that she should have offered to call you back, or get someone else to take over but that might not be permitted.

She might be operating from her own sofa.

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By Matrix
18th May 2020 19:32

I find the SA helpline will only let me ask about two clients each call and they have to write up their notes in between. It sounds as if this was a different helpline and I think you did well to speak about more than 1 or 2 clients in one call. Especially now when their time is at a premium.

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