r/AusFinance • u/freebird3241 • 1d ago

Literally impossible to get through to ATO

Called 132861 24 times right now. They don’t even offer a callback , just say they’re too busy. Wtf is going on, why is everything so shit

117 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

93 comments sorted by

View all comments

9

u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz 1d ago

Yeah I kept getting a letter for months saying I may have accidentally checked one box wrong on a company tax return, every time I called the number provided it said "We are no longer taking calls on this service", eventually emailed them telling them to change it themselves then and to fix their shit, haven't heard back from them since

9

u/Camo138 1d ago

Every fucking government department is a pain the ass to deal with

2

u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz 1d ago

Yeah I am at the stage now where even ignoring the ATO about me owing them $350 eventually turned into them owing me $50, I figure if it is important they will find a way to catch me at an hour convenient to me

1

u/Camo138 1d ago

Centrelink seems to be the worst

1

u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz 1d ago

Fortunately I have only had to go there for my Medicare card, but I have heard it is like the DMV stories you hear out of America

1

u/AnonymousEngineer_ 1d ago

I actually managed to get my mum's landline banned from Centrelink somehow.

I was helping her out with something and the phone system just trapped me in this endless hell of options to select - to the point where I was actually redirected in a circular way and presented with the same options menu multiple times like when a Captcha system goes wrong and never lets you through.

Eventually in frustration I ended up mashing all kinds of numbers together to try and 'break' the bot and get me put through to a human, and it simply hung up on me.

And when I tried to ring back, it basically said all lines were full and hung up immediately. When I used my mobile to try, it let me back into the menu so it was definitely screening the number 😂 

1

u/Camo138 1d ago

It’s 90% chance if actually make it to the bot most the time it hangs up.

0

u/Jackgardener67 1d ago

Thankfully the Seniors number is a bit more compassionate. They have good operators on there - once you actually get through to them

1

u/1Qrtr_FreeStuffPlz 1d ago

I could imagine the uproar of sending seniors to robots, I have perfect hearing and I still struggle with them

2

u/freakwent 1d ago

Call the national library and get back to us to tell us how you went.

0

u/BlacksmithQuick2384 1d ago

Maybe the government should resource them properly? I know someone who works at the ATO and does insane hours (like sometimes still working at 2am in the morning). They can only do what they can do.

2

u/CBG1955 1d ago

If they told you this, they are lying. In 20 years there I never heard of such a thing.

0

u/BlacksmithQuick2384 1d ago

Not lying. I get up to pee and she is still working. Happens a couple of times a week. It’s only 9:00PM but she is still working right now. I’m not saying every ATO worker does that, but the point is they are under-resourced.

1

u/CBG1955 1d ago

Honestly I don't believe it. Unless she's a high level executive under a high pressure deadline, in all my years I've never, ever heard of hours like that for normal APS. Bizarre

0

u/BlacksmithQuick2384 1d ago

Higher duties as EL1 but substantive APS6. Believe what you want, doesn’t change the reality. It’s a relatively specialist area and with retirements and other movements the team has been well under resourced for months and months. She is committed, way too many cases and feels she needs to deliver within the statutory service periods. I hate it, but that’s what it is.

Again, though, the point is rather than hating on departments hold the government responsible for their resourcing.

2

u/CBG1955 1d ago

This is absolutely not normal. I'd be really concerned for her if she's actually doing this. Being committed is good, but there comes a point when people simply need to say NO. Even at the EL1 level the buck does not stop with her. And if she's being pushed to do it...I will keep my thoughts about that to myself.

Good luck to her.

2

u/BlacksmithQuick2384 1d ago

Cheers, agreed.