Dear LPG,

Have you noticed that whenever you need to telephone the council you get passed from one department to another and that is after you have spent ages actually getting past the recording which reminds you how important your call is to them. 

I eventually asked the same question after having endured this waiting and transference process twice, after which I received two conflicting answers.  it appears to me that, quite often, different departments will offer different answers to the same question.  

When I finally do get the answer to this particular question, I believe that it will make an interesting letter in itself but, at the moment, it’s how to get a definitive answer which is my focus.    

I decided to test my newly-acquired skills on the computer to see if the council’s response would be any quicker.  It took time, but I emailed them and ended my communication with a request that they email me back with an acknowledgement of receipt, but a week went past, and I could see no response.

So I picked up the telephone again and used a new approach when I finally made it through to an actual person.  I was able to focus on if they had received my email, to which their answer could only be ‘yes’ or ‘no’.    They did admit to having done so and, as usual, it was left to the advisor who answered my telephone call to offer a somewhat insincere apology for their delay in replying, but after that there was the promise that someone from one of their other departments would reply. 

The real surprise is that he did the very next day which, even though I am sure that it will not always work, gives me the encouragement to realise that your articles do inspire.  While I am not saying that this method is fool proof, I have to thank JW (►►►) for the article which inspired me to put ‘finger to keypad’

KY, Catford