Wednesday 15 September 2010

Council send pensioner bill for 1p !



What a waste of a stamp !!!! - I was reading through the news and found an article on Alfred Walker (84 years of age) had received a bill for 1p. First this is disgusting surely the pensioner of Thanet should be respected and well looked after members of the community ? 

Also why the hell where thanet council spending more than the actual value owed. I mean for some council work to print ( maybe even sign) stuff into an envelope and post.

How much did this cost ?? Assuming its a similar cost to the banks who charge you to send a letter  i make the total cost an estimated £20 some £ 19.99 More than was owed.

It would of been highly amusing if TDC had taken the to court ! The one thing that did make me laugh was the quote that i have taken from this article http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/thanet/Council-sends-pensioner-1p/article-2625503-detail/article.html

Thanet council customer services boss Councillor Simon Moores said: "I would like to apologise to Mr Walker for any inconvenience or distress this experience may have caused him and can confirm that the letter was sent out in error. The 1p payment has been written off.

"Very occasionally mistakes like this can and do happen and I would like to reassure our residents that if they receive any reminders for such a small amount to phone the council's help desk immediately so that the matter can be resolved promptly."

Firstly Simon Moores its 1p we are talking about i bet hes grateful the 1p has been written off. Also if he had made a phone call to the councils help desk by my thinking it would probably cost more than the amount owed.

1 Question for Mr Moore - We have you spent tax payers money on this tosh !!!!! Typical TDC !

1 comment:

  1. Let me try and answer this one again for you.

    In an automated world, mistakes can and do happen regularly and I would draw your attention to the Inland Revenue fiasco of recent weeks.

    That's not an excuse, it's simply a fact of life in the modern world and exists both in the private and the public sector, as I'm sure you have noticed.

    Thanet council writes-off small amounts but in this case, yes, a telephone call to 577000 may have cost a little more than 1p but would have given the gentlemen immediate reassurance.

    In fact, if the journalist involved had called the council, he would have heard the same but the elderly gentlemen was invited down to the Gateway for a photo and story opportunity, just because no effort was made to very easily check whether the letter was a mistake or not.

    Indeed, one of his local councillors, if asked, would have happily dealt with the matter on his behalf!

    ReplyDelete