Another small injustice resolved

It’s not often i post a complaint here about the society we live in, but today’s small victory is worthy of a comment or two...

For the past couple of years Lindorff, an Estonian collection agency has been after me for a debt i paid long ago. The problem started when Stockmann, a department store sent my credit card bill to the wrong address. Though i asked them to send bills to my e-mail, they stated that they could only send bills to my postal address. So much for our widely propagated ‘e-Estonia’...

So with my bills going to the wrong address (unknown to me at the time), i became a delinquent client. Of course as soon as i discovered the problem, i visited Stockmann’s customer service team and cleared things up. I paid the bill, my address was corrected, and Stockmann agreed to not charge me any late fees or interest.

Except they failed to keep their promise. The interest charged remained on their books, and without any notice they eventually forwarded the interest debt to this collection agency. Over the past year i’ve responded countless times to the agency stating that should check their records since i have no debt owning to Stockmann. The agency never replied, but just kept sending me threatening letters.

Visiting Stockmann did not produce results either. My initial complaints to them were also ignored. Finally this week, a heated discussion i had with with client services led to the company’s accountant to look at the situation more seriously. The result of which was a phone call from them just an hour ago where with an apology they have reversed the charges and cancelled the debt. Hurraaah!

But this was not the first encounter i’ve had with Estonian institutions trying to collect what they are not entitled to. Especially recently it seems the taxman, banks, building management companies, among many other enterprises are placing undue and unjust pressure on citizens without any consideration for what’s true and right. There is little effort to resolve situations, the main effort is to enslave others with unreasonably high bills, late charges and exorbitant interest rates.

It’s tiring fighting injustice in this land. What does the simple person do? They that have no crafty lawyers to resort to, or lack the strength and will to fight for what’s just are often chewed up by the system. Many give in and pay what they should not pay. Others get crushed unjustly by snowballing debt.

So far i’ve fought and won two significant cases of injustice, but i’ve also fought and unjustly lost at least two more. What i’ve learned is that the system here is corrupt much more than i one dared to believe, and regardless of what image Estonians may portray, many are still fixated on consuming their own. There’s less regard for your neighbors’ wellbeing, than how one can benefit at his expense.

As far as i see it, we have the remnants slave mentality, with many having the goal of becoming a slave keeper rather than a slave. Regrettably, with this mentality engrained in much our society, and thus an Estonian’s favorite dish still remains the same... Is there any chance the menu will ever change?

Perhaps our next generation will learn to be truly free...