It's a bit much to say they're "less than accomodating" IMHO.
Briefing officers are like pilots I guess - some good, some bad, all human.
I always check NOTAM before flying, (and BTW have been laughed at by others for this reason), and have frequently had to request arfor(s), subFIR and HO over the phone, when no other method available. Generally I find you get what you need fairly painlessly. But beware the BO who wants to "paraphrase" the wx for you, or decide what NOTAM you need, and don't need. PLEASE just read what's there, and I'll sift it!!
Once found myself in the circuit at an ALA, with a PA31. The interesting thing was I never heard a thing from him. So after landing I asked politely what freq. he was on, and the answer was "area mate". Cool, except this ALA was right on the boundary (they put 'em on maps once upon a time
)
Yep, you guessed it, I was on the other freq, and, MULTICOM - which had been in use for about a [U]month.[U]
He'd never heard of it!!
But just to show I'm not perfect either (if there was any doubt!!), I recall the following exchange with ML CEN:
CR: " Centre g'day, no luck with FWatch VHF, request..."
CEN: "Ah, that freq. is NOTAMed US at the moment - go ahead your request..."
D'OH
Cheers,
CR