Random excerpts & interludes, part I
This past few days have been a trial for me.
I haven't managed to do much. Most of my time has been spent micromanaging to the nth degree.
Which means I don't get my stuff done for doing other peoples' stuff .. which is annoying.
In the past month, I’ve managed to add yet another high-profile scalp to my collection.
The victory was sweet, but at the expense of over fifteen-hundred pounds worth of non-recoverable time and expenses battling Companies House.
When I originally discussed the conflict I have waged on Companies House with my accountant, he expressed concerns that I may be a little out of my league.
Being a governmental organization, they are not in the habit of capitulating to anyone .. and many have tried.
Not only did I defeat them, but I had all of my demands met with.
I demanded a written apology, an exemption from Companies House pursuing me further over the matter, all signed by a member of the management team on letter-headed paper.
When I told my accountant of my triumph, he was astonished.
Never in his entire career had he known of anyone taking on Companies House and defeating them.
Such was his amazement, he asked if he could have a copy of the letter made which they would place in a picture frame in their conference room.
Well, it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it?
How did I defeat them?
I used logic as a tool to bludgeon them with.
I keep notes of nearly all conversations that relate to my business.
I made myself such a colossal fucking nuisance that in the end, admitting defeat must have seemed preferable to hearing my voice yet again.
So I’m in a philosophical mood, and from this, a whimsical thought came into my head:
I’ve found that in depth of knowledge there is often an appreciation for most things, good or bad.
In a cursory examination of detail, there is usually only a wealth of fallacy and an army of questions running from their answers.
But then again, I could be wrong .. it happens...
posted by Wayne Smallman at Thursday, March 31, 2005
4 Comments:
"I used logic as a tool to bludgeon them with."
I pleased it worked for you - it doesn't always work though. I've had battles over the years with the Inland Revenue, and the CSA, and logic doesn't come into it! They want to follow their rules (which aren't always logical or reasonable) and don't care if you've got logic, reason or god on your side [actually I've never tried the god argument but I don't expect it'd work].
They used a variety of ploys to force their point of view, all of which I dismissed, but bizarrely, the one they finally hit upon and stuck with was their insistence that I'd received a bunch of correspondence from them when I quite clearly hadn't.
The idea is, when you file your accounts incorrectly, you get the accounts returned to you.
They bounced four sets of accounts for no valid reason -- by their own admission.
I only received one set in the post, and that's because I phoned them up and had a go at someone.
If you don't send the new accounts within a fortnight, you get a reminder letter. I never got any such letters.
Then another fortnight after that, you get a reminder letter. I never got any such letters.
Then another fortnight after that, you get the threatening final demand. I got all four of those.
There argument was that it was the local post who were loosing my letters.
Which is just bollocks!
Also, even in this scenario, I was still liable for the loss of the correspondence.
Quite.
I simply pointed out to them that for four sets of accounts, four reminders and four nagging letters to all be lost, but for me to receive all four final demands is just so improbable as to be laughable.
There is a distinct pattern to the loss of correspondence which would rely on one of two things; either someone at the postal sorting office is selectively removing the correspondence -- highly unlikely, or that the correspondence isn't being sent in the first place -- highly likely.
Simple logic wins the day...
I love it when someone takes The System to task. There is so much pointless bureaucracy, red tape and general officiousness in this country, I'm surprised the island is still afloat. Well done. I shall raise a victory toast to you tonight!
People always do what is easier for them. You made it harder for them to ignore/fool you, so they did the easier thing possible to get rid of you!
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