Well, I had some surprise bills this month.
eVignette
Starting with being pulled over on my way back from Bansko by the Vignette Enforcers for having no vignette. Despite my protestations that I HAVE a vignette, and I'd bought it online at Epay last April, they insisted on handing me a fine (70 lv, just a shade under the annual cost of 87). After I paid it. they also insisted that I go inside the petrol station and buy a new one, otherwise I'd get another fine.
Of course, the machine said I DID have a vignette, and that buying another one today would be OVERLAPPING. I took a photo and went back to the enforcers... but... not my job, mate. I'd paid, and getting a refund was a completely different process, and I'd have go to the bgtoll office. I did try to find it next day, and they sent me a long list of documents that I'd need to send back. It's a very effective way of ensuring that it's way too much aggravation to try to get a refund.
For the technically curious, it was a misread by their automatic camera whereby it saw my H as an M. And that imaginary registration naturally doesn't have a vignette (as it doesn't exist, not that they bother to check that). And the chaps in the enforcement van didn't bother to compare their picture with my plate (helpfully sitting on my car, right in front of them). And... when they wrote out my penalty ticket, his scrawled M looked like an H, so I didn't spot it either.
Also... my bad for not printing out the receipt when I paid online, and putting that with my car paperwork. If you do this, you'll have something to wave around if you get asked about your vignette.
Speeding Tickets
A couple of days later, the driving theme continued, as I got a speeding ticket in the post. The first one that's ever been sent to me, I'm honoured! The speeding was in August last year, but they didn't bother to send it out until 7 months later. This letter usefully had a website, so I was able to check and find I actually had 5 speeding tickets over the last 2 years. All in the same spot, as it seems Pazardzhik (on my route to/from Bansko) has a hidden camera which gets me nearly every time I pass it.
You can check yours here, using your LC number. It's useful, as I suspect they rarely send out notice letters.
The cheapest was 35 lv, most were 70 lv. So I can't say they're massively costly. Plus, the system seems so grateful that you're giving it money online that it extends the maximum discount, regardless of when the offence happened. Even better, there's no mention of any kind of penalty points (I've got a Bulgarian license), when such a spree would probably get me disqualified in the UK.
Water Bill
Finally, I had a lady from the water board call me up yesterday demanding money. Getting a call is a bad sign, as the water company seems pretty laid back about getting paid on time. But, apparently 1,300 lv is enough to cause a panic at the accounts office! This is my biggest water bill since I arrived in Bulgaria, so I was a bit shocked. This must be the big price increases that I've been warned about.
But... after some reflection, I realized it was for a new building where I've never got round to finding out what my water account number is! And it's for 3 apartments... which I've owned for nearly 5 years. So 20 lv per month, per flat, is actually quite affordable. (And shows just how laid-back the water folks can sometimes be.)
