[warescouse]

Originally Posted by Hank

You CAN ask, but they MIGHT (quite likely) decline to answer on the grounds of the commercial impact on the company concerned... So best to "start" with a less specific question perhaps.

Like: How many companies have requested advice... When was the advice requested and what date were answers provided? What advice was given?

You also have to be careful that you don't ask too many questions or difficult to answer questions otherwise they can decline due to the cost of responding fully (which seems fair enough since I pay taxes!!)

That is why I initially asked for the advice regarding the precision of the questions that should be asked