I wrote to my local Council 3 years ago to query a bill they sent me. Guess what arrived in the post today? A reply, not dated 3 years ago, but yesterday.............and the funny thing is, they still expect me to pay it ! Any other stories of gross imcompitence and unacceptable delays out there?

My ex boss was suspended for 2 years before they were sacked even though there was clear evidence of of the stuff they were accused of. 2 years wages plus the cost of employing somebody to cover their post more than likely cost around £70.000

Aletter turned up in internal post for a doctor who had long since left. We opened it to see if it needed to be forwarded to him (his instructions not our nosiness!!!) and found the letter was dated from five years previously. Needless to say, it got put in the funny file!

I once got first class mail delivered the day after it was posted :hihi:

I once got first class mail delivered. But the local sorting office soon stamped out that unnatural practice.

Had a letter from the Council the other day telling me I was in arrears for my garage rent. When I called them they worked out that the direct debit date was a week after the letter. Then very recently they sent me a letter apologising for a letter sent in error. But the letter it referred to didn't actually seem to be one concerning garage rent. Most curious. But it's good to know the ludicrous sums we fork out in council tax are being spent wisely.

Further up the road in NE Derbyshire - I amended the names on my CT bill, they sent me copy of the bill they were cancelling and a copy of the new bill - in different envelopes of course.

They then sent me a demand for late payment as they had cancelled the dd when they added my partner to my bill. when I paid by cheque this altered the amount I then owed via the new dd so they sent me a copy of the bill they were cancelling and copy of the new bill followed by letter acknowledging receipt of the cheque which I had handed over the counter to them.

We've just got married.....do I tell them now or wait for the payment break? :suspect:

Originally posted by commuter
Further up the road in NE Derbyshire


Must be a Derbyshire thing commuter...........they seem to specialise in gross maladministration..........can't wait to see what the Ombudsman will have to say about it.............:hihi:

the council took six years to send me a bill then tried taking me to court because i refused to pay wihin seven days

brings to mind the old urban legend:

The Price of Stupidity

What a world? (country NSW)… On Thursday, 24 January 2002, Derek Guille broadcast this story on his afternoon program on ABC radio.

In March, 1999, a man living in Kandos (near Mudgee in NSW) received a bill for his as yet unused gas line stating that he owed $0.00. He ignored it and threw it away. In April he received another bill and threw that one away too.

The following month the gas company sent him a very nasty note stating they were going to cancel his gas line if he didn’t send them $0.00 by return mail. He called them, talked to them, and they said it was a computer error and they would take care of it.

The following month he decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome gas line figuring that if there was usage on the account it would put an end to this ridiculous predicament. However, when he went to use the gas, it had been cut off.

He called the gas company who apologised for the computer error once again and said that they would take care of it. The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue.

Assuming that having spoken to them the previous day the latest bill was yet another mistake, so he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as good as their word and sort the problem out.

The next month he got a bill for $0.00. This bill also stated that he had 10 days to pay his account or the company would have to take steps to recover the debt.

Finally, giving in, he thought he would beat the company at their own game and mailed them a cheque for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the gas company nothing at all.

A week later, the manager of the Mudgee branch of the Westpac Banking Corporation called our hapless friend and asked him what he was doing writing cheque for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank manager replied that the $0.00 cheque had caused their cheque processing software to fail. The bank could therefore not process ANY cheques they had received from ANY of their customers that day because the cheque for $0.00 had caused the computer to crash.

The following month the man received a letter from the gas company claiming that his cheque has bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he sent a cheque by return mail they would take immediate steps to recover the debt. At this point, the man decided to file a debt harassment claim against the gas company.

It took him nearly 2 hours to convince the clerks at the local courthouse that he was not joking. They subsequently assisted him in the drafting of statements which were considered substantive evidence of the aggravation and difficulties he had been forced to endure during this debacle.

The matter was heard in the Magistrate’s Court in Mudgee and the outcome was this:

The gas company was ordered to:
[1] Immediately rectify their computerised accounts system or show cause, within 10 days, why the matter should not be referred to a higher court for consideration under Company Law.

[2] Pay the bank dishonour fees incurred by the man.

[3] Pay the bank dishonour fees incurred by all the Westpac clients whose cheques had been bounced on the day our friend’s had been.

[4] Pay the claimant’s court costs; and

[5] Pay the claimant a total of $1500 per month for the 5 month period March to July inclusive as compensation for the aggravation they had caused their client to suffer.

And all this over $0.00.

Originally posted by cloudybay
Must be a Derbyshire thing commuter...........they seem to specialise in gross maladministration..........can't wait to see what the Ombudsman will have to say about it.............:hihi:

I will be astounded if the Ombudsman says anything other than that the Council did their job properly, there is nothing to be done about matters and they know how disappointed cloudybay will be.
:D

The Council took nearly 6 years to evaluate a consumer credit contract. When I reported matters to the Local Government Ombudsman their intelligent (sic) investigator said Trading Standards investigated the offending IT system in my bedroom upstairs in my flat which for the record is on the Ground Floor. They refused to consider any of the evidence I lodged to prove my claims regarding the Trading Standards at best incompetent conduct and service.

Conveniently (sic) the Assistant Ombudsman, Mr Stay, confirms the file is destroyed and can not investigate their investigation.

:suspect: :suspect: :suspect:

Originally posted by wendygs

The Council took nearly 6 years to evaluate a consumer credit contract. When I reported matters to the Local Government Ombudsman their intelligent (sic) investigator said Trading Standards investigated the offending IT system in my bedroom upstairs in my flat which for the record is on the Ground Floor. They refused to consider any of the evidence I lodged to prove my claims regarding the Trading Standards at best incompetent conduct and service.

I'm not suprised they did nothing I can barely understand the above comment - especially the part about the offending IT system. Were you complaining about a loan you took out to buy your pc?

Statement from Sheffield City Council Spokesman:- (8/10/05)

Please stopped posting nasty things about us forum people, we know we are absolutely rubbish but what are we meant to do about it????
The problem is, if your not an asylum seeker we dont make as much money from the government and we all know its just the money that we need therefore all normal enquiries have to be placed at the back of the Q!
Just stop picking on me cos i cant handle it, ive got a dozen 6 bedroomed houses to sort out for asylum seekers here and it needs to be done by monday or im in trouble! See we cant leave them people waiting, cos they're special!!!!

lol lol lol lol

Just to add to all of this, I know its not an amazinly long time but I just received a letter from the student finance dept at the council; they have offered to pay for some equipment for me while I'm at uni, as well as a support worker for one hour a week ... good eh!!!


My course finished last week!!!!

Good timing Sheffield LEA!!!!!

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: