Contacting HMRC

Yes and all I can say is you are in for a very long wait . Also don't be surprised if you finally do get to join the webchat and then get cut off mid conversation.

I had the misfortune of telephoning them a couple of weeks back. Waited over an hour in the queue and was spoken to like a piece of sh*t on the HMRC's shoe (but that's just speaking as the owner of an SME) they may speak to other members of the public with a little more respect .

Good luck .

Thanks gillybob, I remember reading your post.

I phoned and got through straight away last week. However the 'expert' I needed wasn't available and although I was offered a callback, it was within a month!

I stayed online to see if I'd get a webchat slot and nope, at no point did I get connected.

Good luck with the webchat, its a nuisance but at least you're not having to pay for a phone call!

I’ve sat on webchat for a while this morning. Think I will try phoning at 8am, surely can’t be too much queue then?

?‍♀️

Not sure they’re out of bed at 8am (it seems they’re all working from home ) but good luck .

I called on a Friday at about 12.30pm and got through ok. Webchat never connected though.

I did a webchat back in May, and yes, I got on quite quickly at a Friday lunchtime, which I was surprised about.

Have to sych myself up to contact them, it’s all hard work isn’t it?

It is. I've only ever had really nice, helpful people online, but I've clearly just been lucky. Still intimidating though.

Update.

I phoned HMRC at 8 this morning. After usual prompts, put through straightaway.

It’s on DH’s behalf, trying to sort something out. He is hard of hearing, but after identifying himself and giving permission for me to speak, I spent the next half hour with the most helpful, pleasant and efficient lady.

She has hopefully dealt with it all, I await confirmation in the next couple of weeks.

She was working from home, I thanked her for all her help, she was a credit to Her Maj.

????

Me too. I got through on the online chat. He gave me completely the wrong advice. So then I called and was put through to the technical team. He gave me the advice I wanted but I've kept his name and the call date/time in case he was also wrong.

Yes, it’s always wise to get a name etc. I think my queries could have been dealt with over the phone when I last called, but as so often, it’s who you get on the other end of the phone.
I think the previous time I rang,the girl I got then just couldn’t be a...d to do a bit of work.

I am sorry that some of you have had a bad experience when talking to HMRC. I have not worked for them but I have worked for Housing Benefit. Some of my colleagues just did not seem to want to help our customers/clients. I don't know why people do the job if they get no pleasure from a satisfactory conclusion to an enquiry. It can be very satisfying to help someone get what they are entitled to, or to give someone an answer that they accept as fair.
Sometimes the callers can be quite aggressive though, perhaps because they are nervous.