Some Things REALLY make me appreciate Haringey Councll

Sometimes I have cause to thank the heavens for Haringey Council. 

This morning I had a very simple task to resolve with Enfield Council. Our outgoing tenants have left a fridge in the front garden. Knowing how easy this situation is to deal with in Haringey, in my mind I allocated 5 minutes to get it sorted. Not a bit of it; it took over an hour. 

Firstly the council website offers two options. Pay £20.50 to have the Council collect it (it's free in Haringey) or get DHL to collect it for free through a recycling scheme they run. Great, I thought, I'll use the DHL option. So I clicked through....but wait...uh-uh, on DHL's website "The page is not found". Dagnabbit, then I'll ring them. I got through quite quickly to be told that their earliest collection was towards the end of October.

Okay, so it's option B. Back to the Enfield Council website. But uh-uh again, trying to click through to the Enfield collection booking page yielded another "Page not found". Sigh! So, okay I'll call them; no problem.............I thought.

Enfield's phone system is very automated. Getting through to a person is very difficult (in Haringey whilst some automation is used, finding a person never seems that hard). However, after a ten minute wait with Enfield in a pretty standard "particularly busy period" , I did get through to someone and all seemed to be proceeding efficiently......until the time came to take my payment. The staff member told me, "Just one second. I need to change headsets so your bank details aren't recorded." I waited a second then another second and another and another, until the seconds piled up and were replaced by a loud continuous tone.

A deep breath, then I called back, waited another 10 minutes and got through to a second person. This time we managed the headset transition without incident. Payment was taken and an email receipt promised. I repeated my email address and spelt it out to ensure no mistake. (I needed this receipt since I'll need to take the amount from my tenant's deposit and it may be needed for the deposit guarantee scheme administrator).

5 minutes passed and there was no receipt. 10 minutes, 15, 30, 60 and still nothing. I wanted to get this sorted for once and all and not have to come back to it. So I called Enfield Council again. Once again I waited 10 minutes, then that screeching tone again. I gritted my teeth and dialled a fourth time. This time I got through. I asked or a receipt. "Have you got your reference number I was asked. I replied confidently that I did and gave it to her. That's not right, I was told. Can you give me the correct one, I was asked. I explained that the one I gave her was the exact one I was given. The staff member was at a loss to explain. She did manage to find the record, however, and confirmed that the transaction had occurred. She also found why I hadn't received my address. They had the email address wrong. Then, "I don't think I can give you another receipt", she said. "It's an automatic system". I explained that I didn't need an official receipt and that an email from her confirming the main details would do just fine.

Without too much to-do the staff member agreed to send me a confirmation email, but ended with a stern warning. "I'll do this for you as a special favour this time, but I have to warn you that if this happens again you won't be able to get a receipt next time." My response was firm, but polite and I acknowledged her help.

I was very glad to get off the phone and gladder still when the email arrived. 

What a bloody palaver. As I was recounting the tale to my other half, I thought how glad I was to have to deal with Haringey Council rather than Enfield. (Never thought I'd be saying that!).