France again
not me, a mate who worked there for a bit.

1) His (large, well known) employer promised him that the HR staff in their company HQ in Paris, where he was going to be based, would give all possible help in finding accommodation. They put him up in a hotel for a bit. He approached the HR department and asked for the promised assistance. They arranged for him to see two apartments. One was OK but expensive, the other he didn't like. "Can you arrange for me to view any more?" "No, there are no more to see". He rented the first one.

2) He moved in. The flat had been let before and the electricity company continued to address the bill to the former tenant. It was for the correct amount so my mate paid it, then phoned them a bit later to change the name at the top of the invoice. Bad move. "When did you move in?". He told them. They took umbrage at him paying a bill under an assumed name and cut him off without warning. He was then informed that an engineer had to attend to turn the power back on, that the earliest appointment was in five days, and charged for an 'emergency' reconnection. The waste water from shower and toilet was removed using an electric pump, so he couldn't wash or shit at home.

3) The flip side. After a year, the landlady increased the rent. He mentioned this to a colleague who immediately tutted and phoned the relevant local government office. My mate was given very clear instructions: attend at this office at this time, bring these documents. Because he managed to do so, the official gave him a pro-forma letter to write to the landlady stating that her rent rise was higher than legally permitted, that he intended to pay no more than X amount, and that if this was a problem to her then she should reply by letter. She didn't.

tl:dr French bureaucracy, eh?
(slowly play it cool, Trig, Thu 27 Mar 2014, 23:44, 2 replies)

NOT tl. DID read.
That right there is bureaucracy as it SHOULD be. ALWAYS.
( stuj (^(^;;^)^) GO TEAM SPIDERS!(^(^;;^)^), Fri 28 Mar 2014, 2:57, closed)

This seems to be the correct way of things.

( BraynDedd Natasha Kaplinsky's labia majora, Fri 28 Mar 2014, 13:25, closed)