Television License

Andrew_McP · 10 Jan 2008 at 15:59

RandomTom said:
I'd never want rid of the BBC though, or making it advertising based so I contribute.

Agreed. The BBC makes a very easy target, but I'd be happy to pay the licence fee just for Radio4 and the occasional series like Planet Earth. The rest is a bonus.

Obviously no organisation's perfect, but a lot of advertising would shift to the BBC if it lose the licence fee, and that would limit the cash available to independent TV. So you end up with worse TV on the other channels, and adverts on the beeb. Sounds like a lose-lose situation to me!

Andrew McP

Teki187 · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:01

_PD_ said:
I swear that 80% of my license fee goes on the cost of printing out millions of those stupid letters.

Strictly ballroom dancing or that stupid ******* ice dancing show!

mattyfez · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:01

[DW]Muffin;10860924 said:
no-no, I want to bill them!

You could do it, and take them to small claims court if they dont pay, but you will have to be very carfull how much you charge them, because you are only entitled to remburse your own expenses, making a profit will gat your case thrown out.
IIRC the going rate for labour is £9.50 plus recorded delivery, the price of a sheet of paper and a standard envelop, so if it took you about an hour to compose and print the letter then your probably looking at about a £12 charge per letter.

Deadly Ferret · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:04

[DW]Muffin;10860551 said:
On a thread on here a person said that after a while they sent a recorded letter stating that all future contact from the TV Licensing would be subject to a £10 Admin charge. How did you do it, or has anyone else done this?

Eh? Does that mean he would try to charge them £10 each time they sent a letter, or that they would try to charge him? Either way, surely that isn't legally enforceable?!

misterPK said:
Otherwise whats to stop you just hiding the aerial cable when the inspectors come round.

But the onus should be on them to prove usage, not on us to prove a lack thereof! Our jurisprudence is based on innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent like that of various barbarous countries.

RandomTom · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:07

Teki187 said:
Strictly ballroom dancing or that stupid ******* ice dancing show!

Versus Top Gear, Planet Earth, Wimbledon coverage, Nevermind the Buzzcocks, QI, HIGNFY, Mock the Week, Match of the Day and even watching films without any adverts. BBC programming wins, you shouldn't be watching Saturday night TV anyway, it's rubbish!

Muffin` · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:07

Deadly Ferret said:
Eh? Does that mean he would try to charge them £10 each time they sent a letter, or that they would try to charge him? Either way, surely that isn't legally enforceable?!

Re-reading, no it's not very clear. I receive one letter. I inform them in writing by recorded delivery that I do not want a license nor am I watching Television broadcasts, I ask this be the end of all contact from said organization and any future contact will be subject to Admin charges.

Muffin` · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:08

mattyfez said:
You could do it, and take them to small claims court if they dont pay, but you will have to be very carfull how much you charge them, because you are only entitled to remburse your own expenses, making a profit will gat your case thrown out.
IIRC the going rate for labour is £9.50 plus recorded delivery, the price of a sheet of paper and a standard envelop, so if it took you about an hour to compose and print the letter then your probably looking at about a £12 charge per letter.

Thanks, I think I just need enough people to say ...doooo it.

Deadly Ferret · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:08

Have you checked whether or not you have the legal right to make such admin charges? I would be surprised if you can...and either way, I'd be even more surprised if that stopped them sending you their guff...and even more surprised than that if they ever coughed up a tenner!

djohn · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:09

They work from a database of every household and if your address shows as not having a licence you get the letter. They have no way of knowing if you have a TV, they just assume in this day and age everyone has. If they knock on your door then just say you don't have a TV, they have no power of entry and you can only be find or taken to court if you are actually caught watching the TV or admit to watching a program.

Muffin` · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:12

Deadly Ferret said:
Have you checked whether or not you have the legal right to make such admin charges? I would be surprised if you can...and either way, I'd be even more surprised if that stopped them sending you their guff...and even more surprised than that if they ever coughed up a tenner!

Well I did actually once receive a cheque for £27.90 from the TV Licensing, it was just addressed to me about 18 months ago now, I've never had a license. So I'm hoping the stupidity and the pockets will still be there, if I can't get a definite answer I shall see what the CAB says.

Deadly Ferret · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:12

I never answer my door, makes life much simpler, but if I did and it was the telly tax people I'd just slam the door shut without a word. There's no legal obligation to speak with them or even acknowledge their existence on your doorstep.

Muffin` · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:14

Deadly Ferret said:
I never answer my door, makes life much simpler, but if I did and it was the telly tax people I'd just slam the door shut without a word. There's no legal obligation to speak with them or even acknowledge their existence on your doorstep.

Surley it must be a criminal offense them to act as if they are court appointed or non-civilian, when in fact they are not, but there is tax involved I guess.

Deadly Ferret · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:36

In an ideal world it would be, but I don't think they're breaking any laws by pestering us in the numerous ways that they do.

Burnsy2023 · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:39

Deadly Ferret said:
Have you checked whether or not you have the legal right to make such admin charges?

I'm pretty sure you can't

Burnsy

Deadly Ferret · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:41

That's what I reckoned, but if one of the posts above is true/correct, somebody has already managed to enforce it in the small claims court...

Hencore · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:49

I got a letter from them the other day saying "this is the second let we have sent you next time it could be court action"

But after looking at the letter a. it had the wrong address but the right postcode b. it said I bought a TV from Argos which is incorrect and c. we already have a TV license for the house.

I tried to call them but it said it was closed so they can get bent, i'm not wasting my time sorting out their mistakes.

manoz · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:50

Had plenty of letters with red writing on it, one 30 second phone call is all it took

doofer · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:51

I have had no TV for many years and around once a month I get the letters (Some Recorded Delivery), as they do not provide a postage paid reply envelope they go in the bin. I will not bother writing to them to inform them I do not have a TV when they won't supply the postage fee

I get 'You were visited today by TVLicensing Enforcement Officers..' notes occasionally through the door, shame I'm never in when they call, it must have cost them quite a bit of money just chasing me up when you consider the admin fees for the letters and the man-hours for the visits.

Harassed for simply not having a TV! They are a joke.

_PD_ · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:51

Callousness said:
..... it said I bought a TV from Argos which is incorrect......

When you buy TV equipment, they ask for your address.

Someone probably made one up on the spot and it happened to be your postcode, but they messed up the address.

Burnsy2023 · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:54

Callousness said:
I tried to call them but it said it was closed so they can get bent, i'm not wasting my time sorting out their mistakes.

Exactly, if they can't see you are already paying them, then I have very little time to crrect their mistakes.

I paid them via DD for about a year, and then moved. I phoned up to cancel the DD and they said they didn't have me on file :confused:

Seemed to accept the money easy enough though :mad:

Burnsy