Wednesday, 19 October 2005
They're Not All Like That
As much as I rail on French service (hint: each word is a separate link), I do have good experiences. Yes, I'm far from alone: most French people I know also have bad experiences. But yes, it's also entirely possible to have good ones!
We (as in, Matchbox, my company) have to declare VAT (TVA in French) every nineteenth of the month. We declare sales tax that we've collected (there's a flat tax on all goods and services), and get credit for VAT that that we've paid. But that's hardly fun, or good service, you say. And you'd be right. It's just an inevitability - as sure as death and, um, taxes.
But today's filing reminded my of a nice experience that I had early last December. We'd filed our November VAT declaration, as for any other month. Only as it turns out, I'd forgotten to enclose a check for what we owed that month. How I found out was pretty great: I got a call in the late evening (after 7:00 PM) - hardly the time you'd expect a paper-pushing fonctionnaire to be working.
"Monsieur," my caller said, and approximately words to this effect: "You forgot to enclose a check. I wanted to call you so that you had a chance to pay on time. It'd be a shame if you had to pay penalties."
Huh? A shame? Wow, a government worker who works late and who's looking out for my best interests. This is cool.
Oddly enough, I've had some great experiences with the government and money: While briefly unemployed, the agency workers treated me with respect and that I deserved the money that I would be allocated (which was true, since I'd paid far more in social taxes than I'd ever receive). When I needed a document from the treasury for another branch of the government, the workers were highly apologetic ("a thousand apologies, monsieur!") when the information I needed took two days instead of the expected one.
When Heather and I visited the mayor's office, a worker - totally unrelated to the department who takes care of marriages - took time to explain (and great pride in doing it) the history of the salle de mariage. Not only that, when encouraging us to explore the mairie, he managed to do it in a way that reminded us that we, the taxpayers, were "the owners." And, really, aren't we?
Life's not all sweetness and light, and the government isn't always helpful. But my examples above aren't even all of my positive experiences, just as I don't write about all my bad ones. It's great to know that there are good employees - good people, really.
Even in the government. Even in France.