Government departments

I think its all companies not just government! trying to get through to a real person is a joke! what really bugs me is when your put on hold for ages and its you thats paying for the call.

Quite.

I am seriously considering going and sitting outside the office until I get to speak to who I need to speak to [only one person in the office can deal with it], it is that bad.

I find the DWP and HMRC difficult to get hold of.

When I have to contact HMRC I just say - I will telephone hell

I agree with you there Anniebach . You typically wait 40-50 minutes to speak to someone who is invariably quite nasty. Also you can never speak to the same robot twice.

Thankfully, in my case, the person concerned deigned to email and sort out the problem yesterday afternoon.

40-50 minutes is awful.

My tip - I ring the payment department of an office, if I am having trouble getting hold of somebody at all. The payment department is always the quickest to answer, nicer I think, and will at least pass on a message to another person or department.