Well, when I consider the less than 24 hr turnround for a relatively minor complaint to Sainsbury’s Customer Service dept - yes. 
Their charter suggests similar (for individuals).
Their satisfaction scores are a mixed bag - but note under Telephony, “Call Attempts Handled.”
From personal experience, HMRC claiming the below = baloney:
Most calls hanging up in the initial messages are counted as handled.
And:
Where customers hang up or disconnect in the automated system, these are treated as handled.
For example, as you try to navigate the infuriating voice menu system, the AI agent might say - "I’ve sent you a text on the topic you mentioned, you can now hang up & read the information" or words to that effect.
Don’t get suckered into that - I’m sure a lot of callers do. I’ve got (many times) to holding for initial contact for over 30-40 mins - I bet a large proportion of people hang up. I’m sure it’s feasible to give an estimate of holding time, or, as many commercial outlets do, there is normally as option to leave your 'phone number to receive a call back. That would put the onus on HMRC to be a “customer centric” organisation rather than the other way around.
They state that 67% of callers get through to an agent. That’s still a third who don’t (for whatever the reason) - that is a very poor customer service indicator.
Moreover, from the charter, document, customer surveys 2023, “Ease of dealing with tax issues”
- 52% of individuals agree
That means 48% do not!! Again, an exceptionally poor customer service indicator.
I can’t find set performance requirements, for example your case has been on hold for 3 months = triggers a review / escalation for urgent action. HMRC will penalise an individual / company if the required information isn’t provided within the set timeframe.
From the NAO report, May 2024:
- HMRC has not achieved annual performance targets for telephone and correspondence services and, while its correspondence performance has improved recently, its performance in other areas has become much worse.
(Read that para onwards)
