Saturday, October 24th, 2026, 12:31 am
Manchester City Council Customer Service Issues – Part III – Understaffed Line, Not Even Queue (They Keep Saying Phone Back Later)
Filed under: I tried several times
his is the third part of a short series (see first and second parts). Later today or tomorrow I plan to write a summary based on paper notes I had taken and then summarised.
One issue that in hindsight (not upon arrival) I came to discover was that some services were only offered over the phone. Worse yet, despite them having phones at the Manchester City Council Customer Service (across the pathway, opposite from the “customer” desk), those would go to nobody. Upon dialing 102 they would just say we’re too “busy”, then get off the line now or “try later”. Why no queue? Why no in-person contingency?
I tried this several times, minutes apart. I could replicate this.
Imagine what elderly people would need to go through.
I explained to the staff at the desk they are clearly understaffed (over the telephone). There were far too many people (all women) at the desk, not busy at all, and despite it being anything but rush hour (Thursday afternoon) there was nobody to take the call.
I informed them I’d raise the issue or asked if I could escalate locally (when you use a word like “escalate” you immediately get painted as an enemy; asking to speak to a “boss” or “higher up” is equally ‘rude’).
It sort of saddens me to see how much service at Manchester City Council Customer Service has deteriorated since I last visited (years ago).
I’ll try to revisit next month to check if anything has improved following my written feedback.
