First things first : thank Ash for the Legal Guide for Bloggers link she left as a comment in a previous post. I don't know why I get that link now, but it could come in handy for what I'm about to write next :)
More good news : I received my first ebay auction book already. Bought on tuesday the 14th, it arrived today, friday the 17th. Which means the seller was able to verify my payment, wrap and pack the book, drop it off at the post office, and had it sent out of the UK, into Belgium and delivered to my mailbox in under three days. Impressive to say the least, don't you think? Keep that accomplishment in mind as I switch to the next topic.
Remember a few posts back that I received a memo from my employer concerning our 281.10 financial statement? (If not, read here) The exact words of the memo relating to the statement were : "De fiscale fiches zullen allicht verstuurd kunnen worden vanaf 13 juni. Het gebruik van een nieuw systeem vraagt de nodige controles en zorgt uitzonderlijk voor vertraging. Uiteraard kunnen wij de gegevens pas verstrekken als ze volledig juist zijn."
A non-binding translation to english would sound like this : "The fiscal statements can possibly be sent out starting June 13th. The usage of a new system creates the need for extra verification and extraordinary delays. It should be very clear that we can only provide information that is totally correct."
Let's look at the different parts of the memo :
Statements can probably be sent out starting June 13th : Today is friday June 17th. A regular letter doesn't take 3 (or 4) days to travel from Linkebeek to my mailbox. Which leads me to believe that the statements were NOT sent out on the 13th, nor on the 14th, or the 15th. Sure enough - and I admit that - they used the word "allicht" / "probably" in their memo, cutting them some slack, because they couldn't be certain. Mind you... these statements had to arrive - according to various legal resources I checked - on March 1st 2005. Extraordinary delays = 3.5 months?
It should be very clear that we can only provide information that is totally correct." : The correctness remains to be seen, but going by their track record, I've got my doubts even before I lay my hands on the statement. In the last 12 months, I've had 9 corrections happens to pay stubs. Mind you, not 9 corrections in total, but rather 9 times in 12 months. I don't even want to calculate the success rate because it would be too depressing. If I had a success rate that low when I accept and deal with incoming alarms and calls, Belgium would be a nuclear wasteland by now. I admit though that I shouldn't sell the bears fur before I shot it (I don't even know that sounds OK in english, lol) but I have every right to be very sceptical, haven't I?
Now... take a look at the title and feel free to pick whatever word(s) you find most appropriate to go with the content of this post. Hey, I'm not making any statements here, I'm merely using partial lyrics of Thieves by Ministry ;)