Hell hath no fury...

[ShadowDog]

I'm going to tell you a tale about the experience my wife has just been thrust into. It involves a letter she received from Revenue Canada that states:

...notice is to inform you that Canada Revenue Agency may withhold income tax refunds... to recover debts owed to a provincial or territorial government. ...you have an outstanding debt under the following legislation or program:

Fines Enforcement - Traffic

Jurisdiction: Alberta

She was given a contact for the apparent debt, so she called to discover that there was an unpaid photo radar speeding violation from 2001 under her name for $123 that was delivered to her address in Alberta where she wasn't even residing at that time for over a year. They said it was the last known address and no payment was issued. SO, I then learn of this situation as my wife called me at work, spewing more profanities over the phone than a dirty hooker. It was apparent that my wife was about to go on a head-hunting mission at this point.

The facts were that she sold the last car that was ever registered to her in the year 2000. She wasn't even driving during the time this photo radar violation was issued. She had her address changed from the location the violation was sent no less than a month after she moved back home for the short time before she moved to her friend's place no less than a month later before moving again to my place in B.C. in May of 2001, all this, a full three months before the ticket was even issued.

I advised her to call my sister in B.C., working as an insurance adjuster, formerly performing auto insurance duties. We lived in my home town of B.C. from May of 2001 to Sept 2003, so my wife's history was checked from, both her Alberta and B.C. licenses, and no photo radar speeding violation came up; however, B.C. has done away with their photo radar program, so they don't track previously issued photo radar infractions due to their laws that required all photo radar violations to be personally served to the registered owner of the vehicle. At this point, her record was still clean, but she still was at a dead end.

She called the court house back, and upon challenging the debt based on the fact that nothing shows on her past or current record, and no ticket was ever delivered to my wife, the lady at the court house told my wife that it wasn't in her records that anything was ever done about the payment of the ticket, and that she required a receipt as proof that my wife's record was clear. Yeah... how does one provide a receipt for a traffic violation they never received? Apparently, the lady at the court house didn't seem to understand the nature of the paradox she was reciting into the telephone.

My wife then called me back to tell me what she was left with, virtually stunned and emotionally drained due to the kind of intimidating nature all of the people she'd spoken with were producing to her. Considering options, we decided to call her friend in Alberta, also working at an insurance agency, who might be able to check her previous license records. I was soon receiving an interesting fax at work that detailed transactions for my wife to suggest that a journal voucher for a ticket was issued on August 21st, 2001. The first glaring piece of information was that she was told by the court house clerk, you know, the one operating in the twilight zone, that the violation was delivered to the address in December. So, it took four months for a ticket to be sent in the mail? ...whatever. Anyway, the second piece of information was even more interesting; that, on August 15th, 2006 there was a journal voucher credit issued as an adjustment to my wife's license. Whether this meant that somebody paid the violation, or the mistake was found and adjusted seems irrelevant, because the company going after her by wanting the Government of Canada to withhold her rebate didn't have the correct information, and now it was up to my wife to prove that there are just far too many stupid people in the world without the intelligence to operate in positions of authority.

Ain't that the way it goes? The government is going after somebody for something they weren't even responsible for. I told my wife that if she wasn't up to the task, I'd absolutely love to handle this one, even going so far as to enjoy threatening legal action. Sure, it's only $123, but isn't this just one of those moments that has "Priceless" written all over it?

Edited January 10, 2007 by ShadowDog

[76ChevyTrucker]

Wow, that's just...wow. some people in this world are more brain damaged than should be allowed. So they issued her a ticket, it took four months to get to you, then it was credited back? And, on top of all that, she has to provide proof (which she never got) that all this happened so that she can recieve her tax refund? Oy, that's bloody rich!

[capriceman]

Wow, that's just...wow. some people in this world are more brain damaged than should be allowed.

:rotflmao:

but yeah thats really messed up.

[Intrepidation]

Oh Canada...you SUCK!

Ah, but every government has it's morons...look who runs our country?

[aaaantoine]

Only $123 dollars?

...Oh, right. Canadian money.

[ShadowDog]

Update:

My wife's mother produced receipts from the sale of the car, and the return of the plates to the insurance bureau. It appears as though these plates 'somehow' found their way back onto the street, since they should have been removed from circulation and destroyed once they were returned. That's why my wife got a ticket for a photo radar violation, as they were attached to a vehicle they weren't registered with.

Even after all of the information I mentioned earlier, it took the receipts showing the sale of the car, the refund for the plate return and cancellation of insurance, her previous license number and transaction history of insurance and this odd-ball violation payment history to prove her innocence.

The next kicker? While we submitted these documents through a fax, she was told that she still may have to produce this in court to have the violation thrown out. Edmonton is practically a seven-eight hour drive from here. I said to her that I would first like to get my satisfaction by bitching out anybody who answers my telephone call before paying the $123, rather than wasting the same amount of money driving there just to clear a violation from a license number and a plate that hasn't been attached to the vehicle my wife hasn't owned for over five years.

We haven't received a call back since the documents were faxed, so hopefully we're in the clear, finally.

[76ChevyTrucker]

That's still one too many steps that had to be taken for them to get their head out of their ass.

[daves87rs]

Holy s***....

That's just crazy, just wow...

[FAPTurbo]

Only $123 dollars?

...Oh, right. Canadian money.

That's a whole years wage for most of us... You can't even freeze a decent igloo with $123 a year...

[ocnblu]

Dude, just pee on it. When it's 10 below, it should freeze pretty quick.

Shadow, glacial bureaucracies are a problem all over, even down here. It's a bitch you and your wife had to go through all that crap, though. I hope it's over for you.

Edited January 14, 2007 by ocnblu