TV Licence Super Thread

Associate
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But the question is, where do Capita get recruits for Enforcement Officers roles, surely new recruits must know they're applying for the most hated job in the world. The turnover of staff must be horrendous.

People that are climbing the ladder on their way to their dream job as a Traffic Warden.
It's one step up from most hated to slightly less hated perhaps...
 
Soldato
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Maybe they get recruited directly from prison, or it's part of their rehabilitation. Who knows.

It's basically a legalised extortion racket so a criminal background is probably preferable, like the mafia :p
 
Soldato
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Well I got a response to my complaint. The short version is they don’t consider the letters as harassment but they have accepted the withdraw of common law rights to approach my property and promised not to send any more letters. That's about as good as I can hope for without wasting time at court.
 
Associate
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How could they not see the letters as harassment, one to two letters a month with threats of court action if you don't comply to their demands! :rolleyes:
 
Associate
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Now it'll be the countdown to where they turn up with a court order to see something you've already proved to them.
Wonder how long it'll take before they appear based on "evidence".
 
Associate
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I got rid of tv ages ago! I got fed up of the majority of programs being re-runs and the fact the bbc love ripping people off with this licence, especially intimidating and threatening people to pay. Oh and they turned a blind eye to child abuse.

I only use subscription services, for the price of the tv licence i can be signed up to 2 or 3 good providers like netflix.

If they come to my door they're welcome in, there's no ariel.
 
Associate
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Middle age travellers site
Capita are intimidating and threatening people to pay sending out goons ....been going on for years with there scare scaremongering tactics disgusting .. as i kid late 70's i use to be frightened by there advent's always thought they where coming for me .....

Never paid never will ...paedophile corporation ...thinking they have the power of the common man/woman make's my blood boil more so with the new powers they have been granted recently...

Even if you do not have a tv or ariel never let them in or any corporation into your house once you do they then have more power under law..the police will not help they will most likely backup the corporations due to being ill informed/uneducated and be there for the breach of peace ....
 
Soldato
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The land of Cows n Grass!
Good old TVL! Such a model of perfection. They doorstepped us during January of this year, we were out and they put a card through the door stating no record of a licence at the property! Scumbags, we have a valid licence and I called them with a mouthful. They apologised but if they can get that wrong, what else have they got wrong lol.
 
Associate
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I know the "truth" behind the detector vans has been discussed already but I read this on the FAQ and had to share - what are peoples thoughts on this (Copied from the TV license FAQ)

"We have a range of detection tools at our disposal in our vans. Some aspects of the equipment have been developed in such secrecy that engineers working on specific detection methods work in isolation - so not even they know how the other detection methods work. This gives us the best chance of catching licence evaders."

Personally I think this is just an absolutely hilarious statement regardless of the truth in it :)
 
Soldato
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It's true.

They also have people who capture encrypted WiFi packets and can decrypt them, put them through a magic algorithm and determine if you've been watching iPlayer. I think they poached them directly from GCHQ.

;)
 
Soldato
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Wasn't there a guy who snuck up on one of the vans, opened the doors and all that was inside was...nothing? :p

I'm pretty sure the video was on youtube for a while.
 
Associate
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what happens if you write return to sender and shove em in a mail box?

does rm actually return them or just bin them?

Don't just RTS, go one better.
Stick several months worth of letters in one huge heavy envelope & send it to the beeb or wherever.
Don't put any postage on the envelope.
Beeb will have to pay >;)
 
Commissario
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Wasn't there a guy who snuck up on one of the vans, opened the doors and all that was inside was...nothing? :p

I'm pretty sure the video was on youtube for a while.

Most of the vans were known to be either dummies, or transport.

There were working detector vans (at least one is being restored by radio enthusiasts), but as they were very expensive to equip and maintain/run back in the days when the necessary equipment required a van (the days of valve circuits, or later on transistors), most of the old Post Office vans were transports.

I think the old GPO TV detector vans also doubled as general radio triangulation vehicles (all they did as "TV detectors" was radio location via triangulation of very specific frequencies), as from memory at one point the Post Office used them to assist other agencies including the police and secret service.
 
Soldato
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Don't just RTS, go one better.
Stick several months worth of letters in one huge heavy envelope & send it to the beeb or wherever.
Don't put any postage on the envelope.
Beeb will have to pay >;)

But we provide BBC's money. BBC don't pay anything. They will use OUR money to pay the postage and next year's licence will cost £10 more.
 
Soldato
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Most of the vans were known to be either dummies, or transport.

There were working detector vans (at least one is being restored by radio enthusiasts), but as they were very expensive to equip and maintain/run back in the days when the necessary equipment required a van (the days of valve circuits, or later on transistors), most of the old Post Office vans were transports.

I think the old GPO TV detector vans also doubled as general radio triangulation vehicles (all they did as "TV detectors" was radio location via triangulation of very specific frequencies), as from memory at one point the Post Office used them to assist other agencies including the police and secret service.

With CRT screens there is tech that can re-create the image from outside the building if you can position yourself in front of it. But current screens are no where near as noisy. It can be done, but not with the equipment that the BBC has access to.
 
Man of Honour
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To the people who asked if I have informed the TVL that I don't need a licence - no I haven't. I really don't see why I should?
Should I tell McDonalds that despite owning a stomach, I don't intend to eat any of their cheeseburgers this year?

It's their approach that gets on my nerves, it's too heavy handed and accusatory. I used to watch TV, so I had a licence. I don't any more, so I don't pay a licence. The only thing I actually miss is the odd international rugby match and to be honest I can live without that anyway.
 
Commissario
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With CRT screens there is tech that can re-create the image from outside the building if you can position yourself in front of it. But current screens are no where near as noisy. It can be done, but not with the equipment that the BBC has access to.
The recreation of the image on the screen came much later*, it's the tuners that give out (and back in the old days an awful lot of) RF noise on frequencies directly related to the channel the TV or radio was tuned to.

Modern sets are much quieter in regards to the RF noise, but at the same time the equipment to pick up radio has improved at least as much as the noise level has dropped thanks to more sensitive receivers, better/tighter frequency tuning, and better filters/computer assistance.


*If you're talking about what I think you are, it required picking up the "noise" from part of the CRT circuit which let you recreate how long the electron beam spent going across the phosphor and thus the rough brightness of each pixel (I think it was demonstrated as a way of seeing what was on computer screens for espionage).
 
Associate
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But we provide BBC's money. BBC don't pay anything. They will use OUR money to pay the postage and next year's licence will cost £10 more.

They are already wasting your money (not mine, I don't have one ;p) by sending dozens of letters to me every year harassing & threatening legal action , despite them having been shown I neither have a tv nor a connection. So this also includes paying capita to go out & about wasting time & even more money ;)

Multiply this by tens or hundreds of thousands or more, chances are that's an insane amount of money to waste.
 
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