I wrote to Capita about my teacher's pension asking them to pay it into a different account and , of course, gave them all my details and signed the letter. After several weeks, I got a letter back asking for the same details and saying they needed a signature. I pointed out that they were replying to a signed letter which had given all the details requested. After another month, they wrote to confirm that they had received my request and would be paying the pension into the same account which they were already using. I rang to ask why on earth they thought I would bother writing to them to ask them to carry on as usual. Apologies but no explanation.
My daughter has been told that HMRC are sending her a cheque for a rebate, which they will not honour if it paid into a NZ bank. She had put me down as her agent in the UK and given all my bank details. She had explained that they no longer have a UK bank account. This has been going on since I was last there in February. Her NZ bank are willing to cash the cheque, but HMRC won't allow it. Things have obviously gone downhill since I retired - and they got rid of most trained inspectors, to save money.
Movedalot - if you managed to deal with that level of idiocy without losing your temper, you are a saint!