TC sends Collection Agency after me

Justwannafly · Post by **Justwannafly** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:44 am

yea I saw the collections agency thing on my medical bill this year....don't remember seeing that B4...I guess they got tired of pilots just waititng for them to take it off of our tax returns....

Crazymax · Post by **Crazymax** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:31 am

Seriously, I don't understand. What's wrong with waiting for it to come off the taxes??? Most of the people do that and I don't see anything wrong with it...

Cod Father · Post by **Cod Father** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:11 am

I strongly suggest people who have issues with this fee contact the Members of Parliament on the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure, and Communities and file your complaint. Thos MPs work for us, not the other way around:

http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/CommitteeLi ... &COM=10462

Merv Tweed - Tweed.M@parl.gc.ca
Don Bell - Bell.D@parl.gc.ca
Mario Laframboise - Laframboise.M@parl.gc.ca
Mauril Belanger - Belanger.M@parl.gc.ca
Ed Fast - Fast.E@parl.gc.ca
Peter Julian - Julian.P@parl.gc.ca
Joseph Volpe - Volpe.J@parl.gc.ca
Paul Zed - Zed.P@parl.gc.ca
Robert Carrier - Carrier.R@parl.gc.ca
Brian Jean - Jean.B@parl.gc.ca
Brian Storseth - Storseth.B@parl.gc.ca
Jeff Watson - Watson.J@parl.gc.ca

LostinRotation · Post by **LostinRotation** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:45 am

Got the collections letter today...expected it off my taxes as well. Jerks :/

-=0=LiR=0=-

trey kule · Post by **trey kule** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:18 pm

First, I didnt have a chance to check, but someone who does know all about this collection stuff gave me this advice.

Tell the collection agency, if they advise in writing, that you are not paying it period. If they phone tell them never to call you again.
Tell them if they really think you owe the money they can sue you and get a judgment. If not, then their claim is in dispute, and if it shows up on your credit rating you will hold them liable.

Collection agencies are not going to spend a lot of time trying to fight you.
They work on comish.

Lastly, he advised that if the only bad credit reference you have on your credit report is this one (which should not be on there), it will not affect you at all.

You can obtain a copy of your credit report for free, but they dont make it that easy. If it shows up on your credit report, write them explaining the above ...sue me or get it off.

xsbank · Post by **xsbank** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:07 pm

Here is my letter - feel free to copy it and send it to as many of the members as you can.

Standing committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
TRAN@parl.gc.ca

Dear Sirs:

I am an Airline Transport Pilot and I have been in the aviation industry all my life.

In order to maintain my livelihood, I am required by law to submit to a medical examination by a private contract doctor, one who is approved by Transport Canada. If I was under 40 years old I would have to be examined every 12 months, at a cost of about $125. As I am now over 40 years old, I am required to be examined every six months.

These examinations cost $125 each.

When I have completed the examination, the paperwork is submitted to Transport Canada who then issue a piece of paper telling me when I need to have the next medical. Transport Canada charges every pilot $55 for this paper or $110 per year.

This is an unfair, arbitrary and exorbitant fee that penalizes workers in the aviation industry and further discriminates against members of that group by age.

I am asking you to abolish this unfair and prejudicial aviation tax.

Sincerely,

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:14 pm

trey kule:

Great advice, it's nice to have this forum to try and help each other out.

When mine comes I'm going to send it to Merlin Preuss and advise him the he and Dave Nowzek can deal with it as they unlawfully denied me my right to work in aviation in Canada.

Of course I shall send a copy to the collection agency with Merlin and Daves TCCA phone numbers on it.

I'll make a copy of the correspondence and post it here.

I am still wondering if that news item claiming that Preuss threatened one of the top pilots in that association really was true.

Weird how these things are just taken for granted.

But be of good cheer gang I am not going to let them off the hook for one second.

rotorfloat · Post by **rotorfloat** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 5:31 pm

xsbank wrote:Here is my letter - feel free to copy it and send it to as many of the members as you can......

Wilco.

My medical is on thursday, and I plan on 'forgetting' to pay the TC fee. Might as well ride this train wreck right to the finish

Collection agencies do not intimidate me.

I haven't paid my 407 ETR tolls since 2001, and every once in a while, my last address in ontario gets an $800 'balance due' bill from the collection agency, along with scary words. I beg them to hold their breath on that one

In that time I've held 2 credit cards with 10k limits, as well as a pre-approved mortgage

This may not stand true today, but a few years ago, a friend worked at mortgage/loan approvals at TD. He said the only thing that concerns them is defaulting on bank loans, major credit cards, public utilities, or other mortgages. Little 'piddley-ass' claims, they pay no mind. So, miss out on a series of credit card payments, your chances of borrowing have plummetted. 'Forgetting' to pay Columbia House or TC or whoever, shouldn't even show up on the radar. I may stand corrected.

DEFPOTEC · Post by **DEFPOTEC** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:12 pm

I got a letter too. I came to the site tonight to see if anyone else got one and to my surprise the thread was already started...
kind of an anti-climatic post...sorry

TC Guy · Post by **TC Guy** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:50 am

Cat Driver wrote:Now God Danm it TC Guy will you go back and read what the fu.k I really said to you and for Christ sake get it through your head that it is not you who I am against....

,,,,here it is again...

Look at your own situation.

TC Guy wrote:
I will tell you what, my friend... although no one in TC knows who "TC Guy" actually is (that I am aware) many of the people I work with think I should lose my job for posting here.

That comment just about confirms everything I am trying to explain.

Why would any person living in a so called Democracy lose their job for posting on Avcanada in an attempt to help their clients out?

As long as you are being truthful and helpful your employer should commend your extra efforts to help your clients....not have you hiding in fear of losing your job.

Unless of course your employer looks on us as some lower form of human garbage who are mere " things " and not human beings.

So that is my position TC Guy, if you want my admiration all you need do is keep helping people even if you are at risk from your employer. "

Okay. Thanks for clearing that up, Cat.

When you get hit with sticks from every direction, you do tend to feel somewhat more "sensitive".

I am here to do a job. I will do that job to the best of my ability. I will do it with the background that I was in industry for nearly 20 years trying to make things work, like most of you. I hope that those that I deal with every day feel they are fairly dealt with.

The collection thing is... not my doing. Heck, I could get a notice too... can't remember if I paid it during my last year in industry.

-Guy

rsandor · Post by **rsandor** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:17 am

Holy phuck guys, it's only $55. It could very well be $200 per year, then you'd have something to harp about!

snaproll20 · Post by **snaproll20** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:22 pm

Hey, rsandor

NO, it is not JUST $55, it is $110 for many of us. (and you too, if you make it to 40.)

Also, check your next medical fee invoice and see if it mentions part of the fee is for something else.

You really should get your info right.

trey kule · Post by **trey kule** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:39 pm

Well arsandor, I have to agee. just pay. it like a good person. after all, if you do that it will never increase, they will never try other "user fees"
Nope. All will be well.

The reason we have these feec cropping up all over the place is the attitude, "just pay it".. "accept It"

the short answer is NO. If enough fees dont get paid, and partiuclarily if the collection agency makes a fair number of wrongful collection attempts.
Fees will go up. Enforcement will become more Draconian....and final, it will all blow up.

If you fine with rolloing over, dont worry, the rest of us will carry you. [/quote]

Crazymax · Post by **Crazymax** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:46 pm

I just talked to TC and the guy told me that they don't take it off the taxes since 2004. So I owe them 165$ and they sent my file to the collection agency. I didn't get the letter yet but I'll call today pay them the money... Bastards...

Max

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:14 pm

" I

didn't get the letter yet but I'll call today pay them the money...

Why????

Bastards...

How can you call them bastards and still have enough admiration for them that you are willing to give them $165.00?

How many hours did you have to work to clear $165.00 after all the taxes you already paid on your earnings?

My guess you have to work at least one full day to net $165.00

You have far more loyalty to TC than I do to submit meekly to that kind of rip off.

cyyz · Post by **cyyz** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:15 pm

TC Guy wrote: I will tell you what, my friend... although no one in TC knows who "TC Guy" actually is (that I am aware) many of the people I work with think I should lose my job for posting here.

Assholes

I hoped to be a positive influance on the community, and give information when needed. That is my only reason for being here.

To bad several of your co-workers don't even want to be a positive influence in their workplace, and we have to get any and all information("public information" as you put it) second hand on this website... But then again, I can see why they'd want you out, I mean, imagine how many extra people and hours of over time it takes to give those 9600 billed "clients" the run-around, when they could just read them off the memo...

Truly sad day...

Nice to have you here TC Guy, and to all of your co-workers who'd want you ousted, many of us on here would wish to see them ousted.

Crazymax · Post by **Crazymax** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:19 pm

Cat Driver wrote:" I
didn't get the letter yet but I'll call today pay them the money...

Why????

Bastards...
How can you call them bastards and still have enough admiration for them that you are willing to give them $165.00?

How many hours did you have to work to clear $165.00 after all the taxes you already paid on your earnings?

I don't have admiration... I just don't want bad credit. Right now my credit is perfect, I don't want it to be less than that... I might need it one day.. If I have to pay 55$ for this "admin fee" then so be it... I won't die at the end of the road... However, what I think is wrong is the fact that they never told us anything about the collection agency thing and they stopped collecting this fee off the taxes 3 years ago... A simple letter saying that "if you don't pay this, you will have to deal with a collection agency" seems to be fair play....

Max

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:33 pm

Max, we are all in the same boat but some of us are willing to at least put up a fight, I would really be suprised if this cozy little deal TC made outside of a government agency is really all that smart...

..I'm betting that the chance of conflict of intrest is real enough that they might just have to abandon this Mafia style of hiring collectors...

TCCA will only get more and more bold as they get away with more and more of these back door taxes..

I say fu.k em let them take me to court.

However I can understand that others feel they can not afford to take such a chance.

By the way please retract that bit about calling them " bastards " that is being far to generous.

Four1oh · Post by **Four1oh** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:38 pm

I can see it all now... "I Am Bird DOG, The Bounty Hunter"! :p

I can see it all now, on showcase, right after Trailer Park Boys!

lilfssister · Post by **lilfssister** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:46 pm

Cat Driver wrote:Sis....

How about the hundreds or thousands of pilots who do not have an employer to pay for it?

If it is a condition of your employment, mandated by law, then it should be a tax deductible operating expense for your employer. If you are self-employed (Cat

) then it should be a tax deductible expense for you. For people who don't earn money from "piloting", they should pay it themselves.

Raybanman · Post by **Raybanman** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:49 pm

Crazymax wrote:I just talked to TC and the guy told me that they don't take it off the taxes since 2004. So I owe them 165$ and they sent my file to the collection agency. I didn't get the letter yet but I'll call today pay them the money... Bastards...

Max

Who ever told you that out and out lied. I am at this very moment looking at my Notice of Assessment for the 2005 tax year (dated March 23, 2006) where they deduct 220.00 dollars that I owed to transport up to that year inclusive.

I received my medical invoice today and noticed the following statement at the bottom: "Any overdue accounts may be sent to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for set-off or to Collectcorp, a private collection agency." How do they decide where it goes? Big debts to Collectcorp and small ones to CRA ?

Cheers,
PP

Crazymax · Post by **Crazymax** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:53 pm

Thanks for this information. I don't understand why they didn't deduct it from my taxes then.... I had a return every year!

Max

mellow_pilot · Post by **mellow_pilot** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:42 pm

Yeah, I just got a notice from Revenue Canada saying that TC is putting a lein on my taxes for fees they are owed THIS YEAR!!!! I think this might be a fraud people. Think about it. Some guy figures out that every pilot owes TC money... steals some TC files with the help of a 13 yr old computer whiz... makes up a phoney collection agency, and puts the screws to all of us...

I'd want some serious validation, even if you don't intend on joining the @#$! TC fees bandwagon.

rsandor · Post by **rsandor** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:28 pm

Guys, I'm not encouraging you all to "bend over" , but what I am saying is that you should go ahead and pay the fees, simply to avoid the headaches that would ensue if you don't, and if you have a real issue with said fees, go ahead and DO something meaningful about it. (Not paying them is NOT going to make them go away!)

If you have a problem with the fees, talk to transport, or the attorney general, and figure it out through the proper course of action. Get something on the docket. Pass a bill. Start a petition...

If you think you are making a point by not paying, you are only screwing yourself!!

Besides, if you can't afford $55 or $110 or even $200 a year towards your profession, it's time to go look for a new job!

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:17 pm

"Besides, if you can't afford $55 or $110 or even $200 a year towards your profession, it's time to go look for a new job! "

rsandor:

Affording the money is not the issue, paying it is the issue.

TC themselves admit they have had to go to outside strong arm tactics to collect a fee that is not only in place under false pretenses but punitive due to the uneven way it is targeted.

So if everyone just refused to pony up with the money and forced them into taking legal action against every one of us it would implode on them..

Remember they already have 9600 accounts in arrears by their own admission according to the blurb we got from TC Guy.

So fu.k e'm if they are going to get it make e'm work for it.

I'm betting that more people will "not" pay up, not less.

Think of it this way, you seem to believe that being a pilot means you are a notch above a labourer so why not show a little backbone and refuse to be treated like a dumb sheep?

These people are not smart, they are arrogant, there is a big difference.

"If you have a problem with the fees, talk to transport, or the attorney general, and figure it out through the proper course of action. Get something on the docket. Pass a bill. Start a petition..."

You obviously have never tried talking to Transoprt...any idea of how many thousands of people you can be bounced back and forth between as they stonewall and laugh at you?

That requires effort and will only result in 100% guaranteed failure.

Not paying requires doing nothing.