TV Licensing

[malaise]

This morning I had more mail from the TV Licensing Authority. So far this year, I've had a letter telling me I need a TV Licence to have a tv (like I didn't already know that), then one telling me I didn't have a television and I still needed a tv licence; the next one telling me I was under investigation; then a man did actually show to nose

Comments

[destiny2909]

I know what you mean. Last June I cancelled my tv licence because I wouldn't be using the tv over the summer. They sent letter after letter to my uni address where the licence was registered to. But of course, I wasn't even there!
When I got back in October, it was to the "threatening caution" letter. I renewed my licence and rang them up to tell them off.

At the same time though, I can understand kinda why they take a hard line with students. I know of someone who was a student for 7 years, and never had a tv licence during the whole of that time!

I have one, just so it's one less thing to stress over!

[liss07]

It is unfair of them to stereotype in that way, I'll never forget Gareth panicking because he opened the mail to find that I was being asked to purchase a license (we have one in Gareth's name and I had been and bought a freeview box from Argos so they kindly passed on my info!)... so I rang them and they did sort it out but said not to be surprised if I got more mail about it... gah...

[dandymagrathean]

I got a letter from them in my first year, when I was in halls. All the guff about buying a licence etc etc. At the end, there was a bit to say "If you don't have a TV, please write to us at the following address and let us know...". So, stupidly, I spent the time, effort and money to write to them and let them know that they could stop hassling me. Two weeks later I recieved another letter from them, along the lines of...
"Thanks for getting in touch and letting us know that you don't have a TV, and therefore don't need to buy a licence. Unfortunatley, our records indicate that all students are liars, so we'll be checking up on you anyway."

So if anyone feels like writing to them to tell them that you haven't got a TV, don't bother. Let them waste their own time and resources by sending out someone to check you out, because they will anyway.

[prec1ous_g0llum]

Yes, I remember those lovely letters from my days at uni. I remember being told that people had received letters saying "Dear So and so, one of our officers came to see you today to find out why you have no licence" - this happened at times when people had actually been home and knew full well that nobody had called!
They also wrote to me saying they'd check up on me after being told there was no TV at my address - but I just threw the letter away and they never bothered. Guess they finally got a life.

[grandmasam]

we used to get them all the time last year in opal, it got to a point where i didn't even bother opening the letters and just threw them in the bin, becasue i knew that we had a liscence for a tv in the flat, so at the end of the day annoying as it was to get excited about mail and discover it was junk - they are really only wasting thier own money. actually, its not there money its ours! that is quite annoying that we are paying quite a lot for a liscence and they waste the money on hassling students, its quite ironic really, that the people that do pay are the ones being hassled.