Flash,
If your friend's date sensitive issue is becoming pressing, I would suggest a phone call to the relevant department.
I have never found them to be difficult. In fact, often quite the opposite. I get the impression, however, that they must be swamped with questions that are already published somewhere else and I can see that that would be frustrating for those answering the emails.
Do you know if the question was posed to the right person/department?
Also, if a decision is sought on something out of the ordinary, then they have to be very careful when answering because they may well end up having to defend themselves when it goes wrong. This all takes time.
I'm not defending them, I don't know what your question or your friend's question is/was. All I'm saying is that maybe there is a reason for the delay. In any case, I would call them if a relevant deadline is getting close.