I RECEIVED a letter from Brighton and Hove City Council alerting me to the fact that my garden waste subscription had expired.

It continued: “It’s quick and easy to renew your garden waste collection.” Thereafter it directed me to www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ gardenwasteupdate.

So I dutifully visited this site only to find no trace of “garden waste”.

Given that the letter was dated November 26, it was received on Monday, December 3, seven days after issue and said that I had 14 days in which to pay the fee or the council “would take back my brown garden waste bin”.

I realised that I needed find another way of paying my dues.

I hastily took to the phone and dialled the council’s main switchboard and having endured the usual interrogation procedures that we now encounter, I was unable to find an extension that would lead me to “garden waste” – so I gave up.

So I Googled the Hollingdean depot, being the address on the letter, and found another telephone number, which I dialled. I then endured another interrogation and eventually by guile found my way to a human being.

In the event, the lady concerned was able to help me. I mentioned that I had followed the instructions in the council’s letter and much to my surprise was advised that there had been a “glitch” at their end and that it was not possible to visit the website provided.

I paid my dues and was then informed that my next collection would be in January.

Not that long ago, providers of services focused on “customer care”, which extended to speaking to their customers.

Then they started to kid us that they were introducing efficient ways and means of communicating with us.

We were introduced to systems.

whereby we could park our cars using mobile phones – er, always assuming you had a mobile. How many older people have mobiles?

We were introduced to automated systems and subjected to interrogations involving questions that had no bearing on the topic we wished to discuss.

We were shunted off to answering services in far off places where very polite individuals, whose names we could not understand, greeted us and quite honestly we did not understand them.

Welcome to the world of “we don’t care a damn who you are – take it or leave it”.

Neil Kelly, Tredcroft Road, Hove