And we’re back folks!
Jul 28th 2009
I must apologise for the recent radio silence. I have my reasons though. The first involved moving house, the second is that H and I are now expecting gastrobaby in January. As you can imagine, thinking about, looking at or writing about food for the first three months was a bit of a struggle. But now we’re past that point, my appetite is just about back and I’m looking forward to trying out eateries in our new (temporary – it’s a rental, long story) surroundings of Didsbury. And let’s face it, there’s no shortage of places to eat there! The only irony will be that now I’m pregnant, there’s a whole list of things I’m not supposed to eat (or drink!) – add that to our already existing veggie requirements for H and it could be an interesting experience.
Anyway, in the meantime, I know it’s not food related but hey, how can I pass up the opportunity to highlight the incompetence of my now-ex Council in Macclesfield, now known as Cheshire East. Who knew that it would be so difficult to advise the council that I was moving so they could cancel my council tax?!
Unable to speak to a human on the phone, I found an email address. I sent an email, giving some information, asking for the relevant forms to fill in. No reply.
I found a form online but had a question. I tried to call ‘the team’ as suggested on the website. I descended into voicemail hell. No humans to talk to. Eventually found another number and spoke to a human. I pointed out the voicemail hell / lack of contact details issue. ‘Oh yes, we get told that a lot’. (Er, surely that’s a cue to fix the problem?!).
I completed the form and posted to the requested address.
Today, two weeks after my original email I receive an email reply. There was no ‘Dear xxx’, and no ‘kind regards’ it was straight into ’sorry for the delay’, ‘what has happened with this property, is it sold, to let, empty’? Rude. And too late.
I replied to this email, confirming I had already filled in and returned a form, suggested he speak to his colleagues, and requested a final statement preferably quicker than the two weeks it took to respond to my original email.
My email bounced back. Twice.
I phoned them. Complained to someone, explained I’d sent a form anyway. ‘Oh, there’s no record of us receiving your form’.
Aarrrgggh!!!!
UNACCEPTABLE.
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