Friday 13th, lucky for some!

[Chancer]

I have gone from pain to gain today in the most bizarre fashion.

Following on from my thread "Taxe d'habitation - Ouch",  today I went to do battle with the Hôtel des impôts and thanks to the power of polite, persistant persuasion coupled with presenting  fonctionaires with a difficult problem explained in French like a petit negre just when they were hoping to get off for the weekend I walked away with an amazing result.

At first it did not look promising and when I totally confused the lady by whipping out my collapsible bosuns chair to demonstrate how I access the so called habition she called in the chef to assist her, he wasnt having any of it to start with, "c'est impossible", "on revisite jamais un dossier" untill it finally dawned on him that I wasnt contesting the taxes foncieres and that there was an easy way to get rid of the problem (me!).

He took my taxe d'habitation to a colleague in a closed office (apparently the other division) and told me she would call me soon.

When she invited me into the office she said "you are here for the cinquieme n'est pas"?, I thought "this cant be true" and she proceeded to tap away on her PC, the end result being I now have to pay €144 instead of the €718 demanded which is €110 less than last year.

I have a copy of the fiche de visite which says under Objet de la demande:

IL FAUT REDUIRE LA VALEUR LOCATIVE DE 4/5

VU AVEC LE CENTRE DES IMPOTS FONCIERES

So as simple as that, he instructs a colleague (presumably of a lower rank) from another division to reduce this blokes tax by four fifths et voila, c'a y est!

I went back and thanked him and the first lady who had suffered my representations in good humour and told them that they must have known today was "La journée mondiale de gentillesse", and would he mind helping me out at the Dentists and builders merchants? [:D]

[Clair]

Good news Chancer!

Vendredi 13 indeed!

[DerekJ]

Result, well done for persisting [B]

[suein56]

[quote user="Chancer"]I have gone from pain to gain today in the most bizarre fashion.[/quote]

Splendid news; well done, full marks for persistence. [:D]

Sue

[5-element]

Wow, that is some good news day! Congratulations, and well done for your persistence and assertiveness Chancer.

It is always so encouraging to others, to see that mountains can be moved.

[KathyF]

[:D] Now that really is a result, Chancer. [:D]  Well done!

[Chancer]

Thank you for all your messages of felicitation [:D]

I am still actually in shock, I am used to long protracted but amicable battles, usually for little or no return but at the end this seemed so ridiculously easy that I still find it hard to believe.

In hindsight I was lucky to have dealt with someone who had not only responsibility but authority even if at first he didn't want to help at all. I suspect most of the time we are faced with people who are responsible but have no authority to make decisions, if they enjoy saying "Non!" or worst still have a boss that dislikes being consulted or forced to make a decision that makes it all the harder.

One interesting positive thing was the very pleasant way the whole place was run, its the second time that I have been there and it is night and day different to any other public body that I have had dealings with in Picardie.

I am sure that it comes from the top in the form of good management and it is like they have a "charter" and take it seriously and to heart rather than just post it on the walls everywhere and only pay lip service to it.

When you arrive you join a queue to a receptionist who decides which department you need to see (actually this went wrong in my case!) and unlike say a UK doctors her role is not to send you away elsewhere or to make a future appointment, you are given a ticket and directed to a very comfortable seating area with magazines, plants etc.

There are many semi-open booths and when your number comes up, which is really quick, you are dealt with, whilst you cant hear the detail of the other conversations you can tell from the tempo that things are being dealt with in a compassionate and understanding way.

Possibly the key to the whole thing is that the staff have both responsibility and authority, I dont know but after 5 years of the usual mentality it is a very welcome experience. I would be saying that even if I did not come away with the result that I did.