Phone calls with the Tax office

Many of us will have experienced the problem where we take advice from the Tax office only to later find its wrong and when we call again and speak to someone else they give different and conflicting advice. Often this problem is compounded if the individuals refuse to give their name as you then have no proof of the original call.

Well now, you can quote their own manual to them and insist on a full name:

EXTRACT FROM THE TAXMAN’S INSTRUCTION MANUAL

It is departmental policy to give your first name within the greeting. This is one of a number of measures to make our department more welcoming to our customers and help to remove any perceived barriers around contacting us. It is also best practice across a number of other departments in both public and private sector.

You should always provide your full name (forename[s] and surname) to any caller who requests it, even where the call is of a general nature and it is not necessary to validate the caller’s identity.

Where the caller requests the full name of anyone in the line management chain, from a local line manager up to head of contact centres this should always be given. But where the reason for this is a complaint, the caller must always be referred to a line manager who will attempt to resolve the issue. In particularly problematical cases or where a caller requests the name of a senior regional manager or head of contact centers, where appropriate, the caller should be referred to the customer support manager for contact centers.