AN AIRBUS A319 CAPTAIN REPORTS ON HIS COMPANY'S MAINT DEPARTMENT'S ATTITUDE OF LYING TO HIM; PENCIL WHIPPING AND TELLING PILOTS THEY HAVE TO REFUSE ACFT BEFORE ANYTHING WILL BE FIXED.

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FLT WAS ASSIGNED ACFT X INITIALLY. BY THE TIME I REACHED THE ARPT; IT WAS ACFT Y CHKING THE INBOUND LOG; THERE WERE 4 OPEN ITEMS (2 COSMETIC AND 2 SAFETY OF FLT). I CALLED DISPATCH TO ASK ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE OPEN ITEMS BEFORE RELEASING THE ACFT AND WAS TOLD THAT HE DID NOT KNOW. I CALLED MAINT CTL WHO SAID IT WAS A LCL ISSUE. I CALLED LINE MAINT AND WAS TOLD THAT IF I WANTED THE ENG 2 HIGH PRESSURE VALVE FAULT ADDRESSED I NEEDED TO REFUSE THE ACFT. I DID. THE FLT WAS INTO KNOWN ICING CONDITIONS ON AN ARR THAT IS A STEEP DSCNT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. THIS IS THE EXACT REASON FOR THE HIGH PRESSURE VALVE TO OPEN AND PROVIDE THE NEEDED HOT AIR FOR ANTI-ICING. WITHIN MINS OF REFUSING THE ACFT; I WAS PAGED BY FLT OPS. STATION MAINT WAS CALLING TO TELL ME THE GATE LEAD MECH HAD ALREADY FIXED AND SIGNED OFF THE LOG ITEM. UPON QUESTIONING; I WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAD FIXED THE PROB AND RUN THE ENG WITH NO ISSUES. I RELEASED THE ACFT AND WENT TO THE GATE. I CHKED THE MAINT RELEASE AND SAW THAT THEY HAD CLRED ALL LOG ITEMS. DUE TO THE LATE DEP; I DID MY FLOWS AND BRIEFINGS AND WE GOT UNDERWAY. DURING THE FLT I ASKED THE FO WHAT HE HAD SEEN LINE MAINT DO AND HE SAID THEY HAD RETRIEVED SOME INFO FROM THE BOX (FMGC) AND LEFT. I ASKED HIM ABOUT THE ENG RUN AND HE SAID HE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF ANY ENG RUN-UP. ON DSCNT INTO ZZZ; IN ICING CONDITIONS; WE GOT THE ECAM FOR THE ENG #2 HIGH PRESSURE VALVE AND COMPLETED THE PROC. ON THE GND; I WENT INTO OPS; CALLED DISPATCH; AND SPOKE TO MAINT CTL REGARDING THE ENTIRE INCIDENT. IT IS CLR I WAS LIED TO IN ORDER TO EXPEDITE A DEP; TO AN OUTSTATION WITH NO MAINT; 'AFTER' I HAD REFUSED TO DEFER IT DUE TO SAFETY OF FLT. AS AN AIRLINE CAPT; I HAVE BECOME USED TO THE PENCIL WHIPPING OF MAINT ITEMS FOR EXPEDITIOUS MOVEMENT OF ACFT. I HAVE SEEN FIRST HAND THE 'SHOPPING' OF BROKEN ACFT TO WHICHEVER CAPT WILL FLY IT. I HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED THE NORMAL 'WE WILL NOT FIX ANYTHING UNTIL YOU REFUSE THE ACFT' ROUTINE MANY; MANY TIMES. HOWEVER THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE BEEN OPENLY AND BRAZENLY LIED TO IN ORDER TO TAKE AN ACFT I HAVE REFUSED DUE TO A SAFETY OF FLT ISSUE. THIS NONSENSE HAS TO BE STOPPED AND IT IS CLR THAT ONLY THE FAA CAN DO IT! CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: REPORTER STATED THIS ISSUE OF HAVING TO REFUSE ACFT BECAUSE OF SAFETY OF FLIGHT ISSUES; JUST TO GET MAINT TO FIX AN ITEM; PLACES UNDUE PRESSURE ON FLIGHT CREWS. BEING LIED TO WHEN; IN THIS CASE; GOING INTO A KNOWN ICING CONDITIONS WITH THE #2 ENGINE HIGH PRESSURE BLEED VALVE NOT FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY AND MAINT IN ESSENCE; PENCIL WHIPPING THE WRITE-UP TO GET THE PLANE OUT; IS ANOTHER INDICATION OF HIS COMPANY'S UNSAFE MAINT PRACTICES.