The unusual site banners are to bring attention to the fact that Labour activists in Bexley are manipulating Facebook Groups with fictional posters. They deny it, threaten police action for ‘harassing’ a fictitious character and then demonstrate their willingness to impersonate by creating a false Administrator account in my name. The banner on display is chosen randomly from a selection of three, with a fourth bearing the familiar Bexley Council is Bonkers logo.
27 March (Part 1) - It costs no more to get it right, but they don’t
I
assumed I was alone in being slightly confused by my council tax demand but I
was wrong as yesterday’s mailbag revealed. Twelve totally redundant paying in
slips are apparently widespread. No wonder Bexley’s website says they send out
4.7 tonnes of council tax bills each year.
Nowhere does my bill tell me the sort code of the bank I am to pay. Hidden on the paying
in slip and In the tiniest of print I discovered that Bexley banks with NatWest and their
collection account number is 21101183 but there is no banking information whatsoever on
the bill itself. No sort code and you are stuffed.
Others are confused by the Reference Number and Service Number. I was prepared to guess
which to use but I was then told that if I went on line to pay I would require an Account
Number which might be different yet again. I went on line to check and it’s true so I
thought I’d do everyone a favour by emailing Bexley council for the definitive answer but
their spanking new website failed. See illustration.
The council tax bill is quite unlike the Thames Water bill that comes in at the same time of the
year. That lists all conceivable payment methods and gives precise details for
each. A sort code for Internet or telephone banking from Bexley council? Forget it. I’ve used
the sort code (51-70-14) I used last year and crossed all fingers. Incredible what
management skills you can get by paying the sixth highest salaries in the country?