Manchester City Council...
...are bastards.

I get a letter from them, asking why I haven't paid a bill of £250. A bill, that, infact, I never recieved an actual letter for.
So, I explain this, and ask if I could be sent an actual bill as a record. Of course, they say, it should be with you in a week.

Except, they send me a summons. With an £80 court charge.

I fume. I call them again. After waiting 20 mins, I state that I want to pay, but I can't afford it in one, would £50 a month suffice?

Again, they say that's fine, send me out the direct debit forms, along with a form for my employer details (why? keep reading) , and I call them three days after posting to see if they've recieved them. Which they had.

So, everything is tickety-boo, right?

Wrong.

A month later, I get a message from the school bursar (I'm a teacher) asking why Manchester City Council are demanding £250 taken directly from my salary as I am a debtor and haven't been able to pay them, and they are about to send the baliffs round if they don't, and also the school will be liable.

Surprised, pissed off and ashamed (how embarrassing is the fact that someone else's fuck-up might get you sacked), I phone the council, asking why this is the case.

Them: "It appears your direct debit wasn't correctly set-up".
Me: "Well why wasn't I informed?"
Them: "That's not part of the policy on debt recovery"
Me: "PARDON?"
Them: "We take it to the next stage, and we're not obliged to inform you"

In other words, if you can afford to pay a debt, and an error in the payment is found, Councils do not have to inform you and can send you directly to court or get a private firm to implement recovery proceedings. And you'll be none the wiser.

Be warned. Councils are bastards.
(scentless_apprentice takes two bottles into the shower!, Sun 26 Nov 2006, 21:06, Reply)