TC sends Collection Agency after me

[Brewguy]

Here's a suggestion... why not either:
a) just pay the damn fee the same as you pay to get your passport or drivers license renewed; or
b) call yourself a 'freeman' and just issue yourself you own license written on the back of a napkin.

Many professions require a license, which has a fee associated with it. Get over yourselves and stop being a bunch of cheap whining asses. It's only $55.

Why do you think every other (non-flying) tax payer in Canada should foot the bill to have your license issued / renewed? It's what's called 'user pay', and many actually agree with it.

[Hedley]

It's only $55

You lack perspective and knowledge.

The $55 was put in place by Transport to pay
for our AIM paper subscriptions. This is what
Transport said at the time. Are you claiming
that Transport is full of liars?

Anyways, Transport stopped mailing them out.
Why should we then have to continue paying
the $55?

This is not rocket science. If you contract for any other
service or product, and the delivery of that service
or product ceases, would you reasonably think that
you should keep paying for it?

Let's keep this really simple so you can understand
it. If you get a subscription to your local newspaper,
and they stop delivery, should you reasonably continue
to keep paying for it?

Of course not.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

WOW,

So you feel those of us who are getting tired of death by a thousand cuts with the never ending taxes that TC imposes on us to feed their bloated bureaucracy are just cheap whining asses do you Neil?

Here's a suggestion... why not either:
a) just pay the damn fee the same as you pay to get your passport or drivers license renewed; or
b) call yourself a 'freeman' and just issue yourself you own license written on the back of a napkin.

You forgot the other option that we have Neil, let them collect their tax through the taxation department by deducting it from any over payment we may have made to them.

Many professions require a license, which has a fee associated with it. Get over yourselves and stop being a bunch of cheap whining asses. It's only $55.

Which adds up to $100.00 a year for those of us over forty, which is discriminatory.

Why do you think every other (non-flying) tax payer in Canada should foot the bill to have your license issued / renewed? It's what's called 'user pay', and many actually agree with it.

Because some of us can remember when our taxes covered " ALL " of the services that TC are supposed to supply.

Can you explain why we now pay taxes and then get taxed again for every service we are forced to accept from TC?

[Shiny Side Up]

Why do you think every other (non-flying) tax payer in Canada should foot the bill to have your license issued / renewed? It's what's called 'user pay', and many actually agree with it.

You already paid for your licence, an exorbiant $100 for that piece of paper, another $100 if you upgraded it to a commercial, and $35 bucks for each rating you happen to have. So if you happen to have a Commercial Licence with a Multi IFR rating you've already shelled out $305 for your licence, something that up til this year they've been printing on a piece of construction paper at the cost of five cents a sheet.

Most of the provinces long ago have instituted a better licence format in the form of their driver's licences, which costs more to produce (with photo ID and all) and TC has still for some reason only sort of caught up to - yet only charge us between $35 and $55 (depending on your province) for renewing it every five years.

It should be noted too that a passport which is of higher quality production and probably requires more work to process - also costs less to administer than a pilot's licence.

Maybe someone should get TC in line with the rest of the world. If the Provincial transport departments can get it together, surely the federal department can clean up its game.

Now don't get me started on the idea that you can get a new driver's licence issued in minutes, with a new photo to boot, and it takes 90 days (or more sometimes) to issue one from transport. One would expect with the extra money we pay we could at least get some service.

[CD]

Just a reminder of an earlier post on Page 8 containing a history of the fees as they used to be and the groups involved in setting them:

Earlier post...

[Brewguy]

WOW,

So you feel those of us who are getting tired of death by a thousand cuts with the never ending taxes that TC imposes on us to feed their bloated bureaucracy are just cheap whining asses do you Neil?
<snip>
You forgot the other option that we have Neil, let them collect their tax through the taxation department by deducting it from any over payment we may have made to them.

In this particular context ., yes, I do.

As for letting tax collection being done by the tax collection department, that is a bit of an oversimplification. The government is not one big happy family where each department has instant access to the information that every other department has (nor should they).

The concept of "User Pay" is that those using a particular service pay for it. Just how much of our tax dollars are being wasted by having an army of paper-pushers fill in the necessary forms to have Revenue Canada bill you for a Transport Canada fee? Too many. Just pay the damn fee at the time you're billed for it and save everyone a lot of hassle and expense and wasted energy.

Those collecting the fee, and hunting you down to collect it, have no say in what the fee is, or whether its collected. If you're pissed you have to pay it, fine. Write your MP or the Minister (who I assume . & Hedley already have on speed dial).

The civil service is already a bogged down dinosaur of an organization... your 'protest' of not paying this fee up front won't do anything to bring about change, it just creates a mountain of paper and ties up labour which you, I and every other tax payer are paying for ... and the end result? They're likely to raise the fees because administering the damn thing is suddenly costing more. Good job folks!

This number of pages / posts on how to deal with a collection agency! Wow, you sound like a bunch of 'freemen'. Maybe we should invite 'Rob' or Master Monk to come on back to the forum to give you some pointers.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

As for letting tax collection being done by the tax collection department, that is a bit of an oversimplification.

It may be oversimplification to you Neil, but to me it is how TCCA has set up their means of collecting it therefore I am only following their own policy.

( who I assume . & Hedley already have on speed dial).

I can't answer for Hedley but I have only once tried to communicate with either of the above, it was a waste of my time. So you are wrong that I would have them on speed dial.

[Doc]

Requiring pilots over the age of 40 to pay the 55$ twice a year is, pure, and direct age discrimination. Hey TC.....GET STUFFED!! You provide NO service. I use you "Safety Letter" as ass wipe!

[flyincanuck]

Hah...surprised to see this thread still alive.

On a related note..."Account Recovery Corp" still calls me 3 or 4 times a week. I certainly get my use out of call display. And they ain't gettin a dime outta me.

[Strega]

Just thought Id mention..

these losers dont post anything to your equifax credit. confirmed that today

[. ._]

This had better be true.

Has anyone here NOT paid these people and your credit rating is top notch? This is VERY valuable information.

The old ISTP is asking. Please reply.

Information sharing saves everyone's bacon- in all cases.

[shitdisturber]

This had better be true.

Has anyone here NOT paid these people and your credit rating is top notch? This is VERY valuable information.

The old ISTP is asking. Please reply.

Information sharing saves everyone's bacon- in all cases.

They can't touch your credit rating if for no other reason than they can't prove they've ever contacted you unless you were foolish enough to answer them. They just send regular mail and do the phone call route.

[AME 283]

All this over some minor fees !!! We are all over taxed in Canada, but then if you do not like it you do have the option to complain and even move else where (a freedom that a lot do not have). All of us should complain on the the CAIRS system and then we all need to make our votes count.

Others pay more for their licenses and do not get paid as much i.e. nurses

In a few years most pilots will be replaced by a computer chip so enjoy it while it lasts (sorry I could not resist this one)

[fish4life]

All this over some minor fees !!! We are all over taxed in Canada, but then if you do not like it you do have the option to complain and even move else where (a freedom that a lot do not have). All of us should complain on the the CAIRS system and then we all need to make our votes count.

Others pay more for their licenses and do not get paid as much i.e. nurses

In a few years most pilots will be replaced by a computer chip so enjoy it while it lasts (sorry I could not resist this one)

nurses make a lot more than most pilots except the wide body guys pretty much, especially when pilots are just starting out and making next to no money

[Brown Bear]

Just thought Id mention..

these losers dont post anything to your equifax credit. confirmed that today

Your source is full of shit! It's on MY file. But you go ahead and take these maggot's word for it.

[Meatservo]

I kept this going for a while. Transport had somehow forgotten to mail me a certificate, so without mentioning anything (other than just continuously renewing the temporary certificate) I just decided to stop paying fees until I got the certificate I had already payed for. A bit of passive-aggressive shit-disturbing, you might say. Anyway that went on for a couple of years. Nothing happened to my credit rating. The collection guy would call over and over again, give up for a couple of months, try again for a while, etc. I used to pretend I was someone else when he called, like a chinese housekeeper, or a teenage kid. It was fun for a while, but well, I just one day started to feel sorry for the guy. He was always polite, and not really pushy other than phoning all the time, and he always seemed to buy whatever excuse I had for not paying, so eventually I got bored and just paid it. Then I phoned the transport office in Winnipeg and complained about the missing certificate and got it a couple of days later.

Anyway, long story short, no damage to the credit rating.

[KK7]

I kept this going for a while. Transport had somehow forgotten to mail me a certificate, so without mentioning anything (other than just continuously renewing the temporary certificate) I just decided to stop paying fees until I got the certificate I had already payed for. A bit of passive-aggressive shit-disturbing, you might say. Anyway that went on for a couple of years. Nothing happened to my credit rating. The collection guy would call over and over again, give up for a couple of months, try again for a while, etc. I used to pretend I was someone else when he called, like a chinese housekeeper, or a teenage kid. It was fun for a while, but well, I just one day started to feel sorry for the guy. He was always polite, and not really pushy other than phoning all the time, and he always seemed to buy whatever excuse I had for not paying, so eventually I got bored and just paid it. Then I phoned the transport office in Winnipeg and complained about the missing certificate and got it a couple of days later.

Anyway, long story short, no damage to the credit rating.

Just FYI (not that it matters anymore with the licence booklets now), the old certificates when stamped were not temporary, so you were waiting for nothing. They only sent you a new one once the last spot on the certificate was stamped, or there was a major change like upgrading the category of the medical.

Anyways, I had the stupid balance I had with TC go to a collection agency then I paid it, reluctantly. I've seen my credit report and there is no mention of it in there.

[human garbage]

This had better be true.

Has anyone here NOT paid these people and your credit rating is top notch? This is VERY valuable information.

The old ISTP is asking. Please reply.

Information sharing saves everyone's bacon- in all cases.

When ISTP asks, the garbageman replies.

I told them to get bent about two years ago and stopped taking their calls. My credit sheet is still clear. I've been dodging the fee since they stopped mailing the AIM. I don't know how much I 'owe' them but it must be 3-4 bills now. Not that I know really 'cause the invoice goes straight in the garbage...

My experience back up what Strega and other have posted, but that doesn't guarantee anything according to Brown Bear's semi-cryptic reply.

The civil service is already a bogged down dinosaur of an organization... your 'protest' of not paying this fee up front won't do anything to bring about change, it just creates a mountain of paper and ties up labour which you, I and every other tax payer are paying for ... and the end result? They're likely to raise the fees because administering the damn thing is suddenly costing more. Good job folks!

That is a hilarious rational for paying... Help the government un-@#$! itself by opening your wallet. No thanks. They will continue to find ways to blow our cash regardless of what we do. That was a very creative argument though.

Our protest won't do anything to bring about change? You are familiar with the concept of using civil disobedience to right injustices aren't you? By your logic Rosa Parks should have just taken her seat at the back of the bus...

Get over yourselves and stop being a bunch of cheap whining asses. It's only $55.

If you want to grab your ankles and hand them the lube feel free. Don't feel free to denigrate those of us that choose not to. The amount is not the problem, it is the principle. See Doc's post above for the prime reason not to submit. This billing policy discriminates on the basis of age. That goes against the Charter, making this a pretty noble cause in that light.

[Lurch]

I tend to agree with Garbage, I haven't paid mine for the last 4 years or so. I just applied for a mortgage and nothing showed up on my credit report. My credit is perfect, this is the only bill I do not pay and nothing else has been late or missed so maybe that has some bearing, but just because it doesn't hurt my credit doesn't mean it won't hurt somebody else's.

Brewguy why don't you pay my bill for me? It's only $55

Lurch

[Brewguy]

Wow, more than a year later and you guys are still whining about this. What a bunch of friggin dead beats.

Lurch: Sorry, but I'll have to decline. I pay my own bill and that's enough for me.

[human garbage]

Thanks for the confirmation Lurch. After reading what Brown Bear posted above I though I may have been wrong. I hope he/she chimes in to elucidate...

So I'm a friggin' deadbeat for taking a principled stand Brewguy? I think that is an oversimplification but call me whatever you want. I'm still going to keep throwing out the invoices. Especially now that I know it pisses more than just TC off...

As an aside, when TC was doing the collection calls the girl who spoke to me told me they would recover the fee via my tax returns. I told her that I would stop filing taxes then. I just did my taxes this year for the first time in four years. End result was no garnishment just a cheque in full. I guess she was just blowing smoke. Anyone else have them threaten that and actually follow through?

[Meatservo]

Just FYI (not that it matters anymore with the licence booklets now), the old certificates when stamped were not temporary, so you were waiting for nothing. They only sent you a new one once the last spot on the certificate was stamped, or there was a major change like upgrading the category of the medical.

Anyways, I had the stupid balance I had with TC go to a collection agency then I paid it, reluctantly. I've seen my credit report and there is no mention of it in there.

No, this was after the books came out. You get an old-style temporary license good for 90 days then you're supposed to get a sticker in the mail for your book. I didn't pay any fees until I got the damn sticker.

No credit ratings problems.

[KK7]

No, this was after the books came out. You get an old-style temporary license good for 90 days then you're supposed to get a sticker in the mail for your book. I didn't pay any fees until I got the damn sticker.

My bad...
I know this is off topic, but... Unless I still don't understand what you're referring to, you also don't get a new sticker in the book for every medical you do. The doctor stamps it like they used to on the paper medicals, and they keep doing that until the page is full. I'm talking about the medicals, are you talking about additional privileges to the licence portion of the book?

[ahramin]

If a collections agency contacts you about a debt that you are disputing, send them a registered letter stating so and they can no longer call you. I think this would apply to medical processing fees for those who refuse to pay them.

[co-joe]

...or just assign ARC no ringer on your phone like I do. If I look at my history they've called sometimes 5 times a week, sometimes nothing for two weeks, but the phone never rings.