I REFER to the letter headlined, ''Departmental staff unhelpful'' (South China Morning Post, May 21), by V. Wong of Wah Fu Estate, complaining of poor telephone reception by staff in the Social Welfare Department when making an inquiry about his grandfather's application for Special Needs Allowance.

First, we wish to express our regret for the inconvenience which this isolated incident caused to your reader.

Without further information on the location where this incident took place we can only assume that the office referred to by the reader is our Aberdeen Social Security Field Unit. After investigation, we note that the long period of waiting might have been caused by some misunderstanding, or that, simply by accident the complainant's call was lost.

We wish to assure your readers that we have always reminded our staff to provide a service which is courteous, fair, confidential, private, personal and prompt.