The Tax Man Cometh.

HALF of the calls to taxman's helpline don't get answered: HMRC boss admits pick-up rate is well below target.

A couple of months ago, I had to ring this very line to make a tax declaration in my attempts to be an open and honest citizen. After almost an hour and a quarter my call was answered. NO - I kid you not. I wonder how many people would have sworn and said "You can stuff your income tax - I did my best!" This is no way for any large organisation to treat customers. Yesterday, I had to wait 18 and a half minutes for my call to be answered by Extra Energy only to be told "Customer Services might sound like what you want - but you need to ring this other department." I could so easily have gone to another provider. Not having enough active phone lines is a false economy and the problem is rife throughout the UK. Diverting calls to India to people with no understanding of our problems and thick, unfathomable accents, to boot, is counterproductive!