Sorry I am being so silent, but we are leaving for the long stay abroad in about one week and between all the stuff to arrange, the work stuff (trying to hire a PhD student. I am terrorised), and catching up with friends and family before leaving, I don’t have much time left for this space.
But I’ll share with you my current adventure with the bailiff. Back in January, I did a routine test at my GP, which was analysed by a clinic’s lab. They sent the bill and all the reminders to the place I was living in over two ears ago. So I never received it. And never paid it. Now I get this very threatening letter from the bailiff (if you don’t pay we’ll send you to court), with expenses and penalties bringing the bill to four times its initial amount.
Now, with my ID number, they can trace my address at any point (ah! The bailiff found me!) but never seemed to check.
So here I am now, calling and writing, and explaining that IT IS NOT MY FAULT! I COULD NOT HAVE KNOWN!
A few interesting detail make this situation a total stereotype of a juridical bureaucratic mess:
-the bailiff does not even have a copy of the bill in question. They’re asking me for money but have no clue what it’s about or whether it was done correctly (it wasn’t). So when I told them I thought there had been a mistake in the address… They had to call the clinic to get a copy! And they’re still waiting for it.
-After that I called the clinic to check and get confirmation that that was the source of the whole thing. They saw in their database that they had two entries for my name, one with the old, one with the new address. That was not enough in their eyes to prove their mistake. They are going to “check with the lab”. Right. The Lab.
-The bailiff did not receive the letter I send directly to explain the thing. What a surprise.
-Currently I actually still cannot pay the bill: at this stage the bailiff has no new information (because of course I am making it all up, don’t you know). So I cannot even just pay the bill (to show my good will).
Makes for good whining conversation and blog gap filling.
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5 comments:
jeez, what a nightmare. Sounds vaguely like my troubles with my employer and two different (French) tax offices. Everyone blames the other and no one responds to the other's inquiries. Arrgh!
It's not too serious because the amount would not ruin me, but still, it's not just the price of a movie (or two). My main concern is that when I get to where we're going next week, where working hours will never match here-working hours, and I will have to rely on a 20-year old cousin to check my mail... Ah well. I didn't do it!
Tax offices. Speak of another stubborn unpleasant bunch of people.
Leave it to the beaurocrats to mess everything up. It's always so pressing to get the money, but never so pressing that they can get information back to you. Sigh.
Incompetence. Argh. Hope this is soon resolved.
"Hello, so you now did get my fax?"
"Yes"
"And did you get the copy of the bill? Cos I did."
"No"
"As I said, I am leaving in one week and won't be able to answer my phone or read my mail"
"Ah! Ma'am, we're waiting for the Clinic. They have to tell us what's to happen now"
"They told me it was now for you to sort"
"Ah no, it's the Clinic of course. We'll let you know"
I'm leaving the country, me.
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