This is a real issue btw, I think it's globalized but we have it a lot in France. People love abusing any power they have on you, they love telling you no and that you're wrong and they know better.

The other issue is that public service employees tend to be huge slackers, and when you have the misfortune of ending up in a situation that requires multiple people working together, you'll be probably there for a few weeks because they can't go further than their own desk.

When I was coming back from Canada, I had to remake my social security card since it was transferred to Canada (through an official transfer that made me eligible to the Canadian social security). But in France, no one knew how that worked, and I basically spent two months calling them weekly for updates (with various people telling me contradictory things) before someone finally went ahead and made sure all the necessities were taken care of.

I frankly hate dealing with French public services and avoid it like the plague.