Tuesday, March 30, 2010

suicide mission

Armed with a book, a bottle of water, and a pack of Nutter Butter (YES, I brought them back with me from USA because I love them and they are somewhat nutritious since they contain peanut butter), I headed off this morning on a suicide mission: Anagrafe AND Acea in one day! I know, I know, pure craziness but I figured it was best to dive right in and ruin one day instead of two or more.
I hadn't been to the Anagrafe in years, I must say it hasn't changed one bit. Still chaotic, still plagued with bad signage, still slow as fuck. I waited over TWO hours to get my ID renewed. The actually renewal process took all of 60 seconds, the rest of the time was spent waiting in line. Note for all you legal foreigners- we will never be allowed to have the small, plastic ID cards because we weren't born in Italy. As punishment we'll have to haul around a giant scrap of ragged paper, also known as carta d'identità, until the end of time... or until they change the rule.

After that, I scurried to the Acea office hoping I wouldn't have to wait as long. Luckily, I only spent 30 minutes in line. But I left there feeling less than triumphant. See, a few years ago Acea sent me a refund check because they overcharged me by 300+ euro... Yeah, Acea approximates what they think you're consuming in electricity, charges you for it, then comes around once a year to check the meter and ends up sending beefy refund checks. For all you smartypants out there, YES I know I could check the meter every few months and inform Acea of the actual reading, but I'm not always here, it slips my mind, etc etc. Back to the story: I got a nice phat refund check but due to a series of odd/annoying circumstances that I cannot get into now, the check got lost. I filed a police report and was expecting a new check, but 2 years have gone by and nothing has come of it. A few weeks ago, after I returned from USA, I went to the Carabinieri to check up on my case and they flippantly told me to go to Acea because there was nothing they could do. According to them I had filed the report, so now Acea had to reissue the check. Too good to be true of course! Today, I went to Acea and they told me to go back to the Carabinieri. And so I did. I waited for 25 minutes and finally got to speak to the Maresciallo who was actually pleasant (not in a skanky way like most of the men in that office) and helpful. He pulled out my file and told me what I had been waiting to hear for 2 years: the check was cashed by someone who made a fake ID with my name and their picture, then forged the signature and cashed the check. The Carabinieri tried to trace the ID number but of course they couldn't because it was FAKE. Essentially, I've been robbed of 300+ euro and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. I'm still confused as to why the Carabinieri never contacted me when the investigation was over (quite some time ago, as I discovered today) AND why, when I went to the Carabinieri a few weeks ago, they shooed me off telling me to take it up with Acea instead of actually looking at my case, which had long since been closed. Worst thing is, there's no recourse. The Maresciallo himself said the only "option" is going to court, but we both chuckled as soon as those words came out of his mouth. I've already had one experience with the Italian judicial system (don't get me started on that!) and it taught me to steer clear of it. I would end up forking out money and never getting back what is rightfully mine.
Say it with me, "ciao ciao 300+ euro".

5 comments:

J.Doe said...

Can you go to ACEA with the closed police report of the check now that it is no longer lost but stolen and have them reissue it?

Ikabod Grinwud said...

alright I'll say it with you- ciao, ciao 300+ euros. and more, pray that those crooks who got it get to lose more than twice that amount. :)

Romerican said...

J. Doe- that's what I plan to do. Problem is, the Carabinieri wouldn't give me a copy of the closed report, apparently it's "illegal" to do that. They would only give me a copy of the signed check with the fake ID number so I'm going to give it a try! I can attempt to beg the Acea people to get in touch with the Carabinieri if they want the full report. It can't hurt, right?

Ikabod- Exactly! :)

Emmina said...

ow ow ow I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!! We tried to take a guy to court recently and the case was thrown out before it even came up - officially due to a "loophole", although we were told by the maresciallo that the guy's lawyer has "friends in the courthouse"....

Kataroma said...

I feel your pain. Try not to think about the 300 euro - it'll just make you go crazy.

I have to go to the Ufficio Asilo Nido office at the Comune di Roma on Wednesday to try to inscribe my little one for next year. I took a day off work - what a great way to spend a day of my vacation. :(