Bureaucracy Sucks!
Verily, I am wroth.
Even comics cannot soothe my fevered brow, and if I don't get this off of my chest I will explode.
I received a certified letter from my lovely little town, from the anti-blight division, saying that I had three unregistered vehicles in my yard and that there had been...a complaint. Well, it turns out that TWO of those vehicles have been sold...one two months ago...and the other over a YEAR ago. The third vehicle actually IS registered and insured to boot. But trying to explain this to the department at Town Hall has been quite the experience. I did finally ask how somone could complain about a vehicle that hasn't even been IN my yard for a year, and they couldn't answer me.
My assumption is that they were going through the tax records and trying to drum up some additional cash. Interestingly enough, there is a big sign on the front of Town Hall saying that Taxes are due the 17th of July...except that they actually haven't MAILED them yet.
Gah!
Secondly, my sweet Babboo got a speeding ticket on the Mass pike last month, which I duly paid. Immediately. Then a week and a half later I got a nasty letter from the Mass DOT, saying that I hadn't paid, and that I owed them a penalty on top of the ticket. So, I went to the bank, put a Stop-Payment on the first check and mailed the second check...along with a copy of the Stop-Payment, to show that I actually had issued them a check in the first place. Then I got a letter a week later saying all was forgiven, they had found the first check, and here was my second check back. I immediately ran to the bank to release the Stop-Payment. Now I just got a third letter saying that the original check had bounced, because they tried to cash it before I could release the Stop-Payment, and that they now want to charge me a penalty.
Double Gah!
After spending 20 minutes on hold waiting to talk to someone, I finally got through and was told to call back tomorrow. At least I have a name and number this time, but still...I am just pissed!
This is how the villains can take over the world. Lex Luthor should stop trying to pummel Superman, and he should just go hang out at any of the various agencies that are in charge of our lives.
Do any of you have some good stories?
posted by SallyP @ 11:55 AM
3 Comments:
Fortunately, these now seem to be resolved. Seem to be.
Most of my bureaucracy issues came from trying to fill out paperwork for my current employer. Last year, it was a huge mess because they were supposed to e-mail me a form to fill out to authorize a background check. But they couldn't get my e-mail address right, even when my boss forwarded them my e-mail to her asking where the paperwork was.
So I went to their office and filled it out there, then wrote down my e-mail for them so they could send me the other paperwork once the background check came back. They still got my e-mail wrong. Nice to know people with administrative duties at the largest university in the state are illiterate.
Why is it that getting an e-mail address is so difficult? My co-worker's daughter is in a training program at the local hospital, training to be a nurse, and she missed an orientation because they couldn't seem to get her e-mail address correct. CALLING her, was apparently out of the question.
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