give sb. the runaround(to fail to give someone information or help that he or she needs by not answering questions or by not dealing with the problem directly (Merriam-Webster) | to deliberately avoid giving someone a definite answer, especially when they are asking you to do something (Longman) -- о действиях чиновников, бюрократов: Their customer representatives keep giving me the runaround. • Every time we ask the landlord about fixing the roof, he gives us the runaround.ART Vancouver)
