Making an appointment at the Birmingham Public Inquiry Office

Has anyone applied for a visa in person at the Birmingham office?  I have been trying to call for two days now and have not been able to get through.  Is there a particular time of day I should be calling?  I need to make an appointment asap, as my current Work Permit will tick past 6 months left in the beginning of April.

At this point, I am wondering if I should just apply by post.

Thanks

I tried making an appointment through them.  When I eventually got through, I was told they will only make appointments for the following week (which was full) and that I needed to try ringing back the following Monday morning to try and get an appointment for the week after.  I tried the ringing the next two Monday mornings - by the time I got through all the appointments had been taken.  I gave up and applied by post 

Thanks for the info.

How long did it take you to get the visa by post?

Sorry for the delay in replying, haven't been on this site in a while!  It took about 4 weeks by post, but that timeframe included that fact that my application had to go to a caseworker for further consideration (it was an UP application, and some of my evidence was a bit weak).