Cancelling a TV licence - are they taking the ****?

[surfymark]

silverthorn2151 said:

As a matter of interest, what exactly do you make a point of watching on iplayer?

Would you consider it appropriate for BBC output to be pay to view on line?

I think I am with you on this. What the BBC produce is pretty good for £12/month (especially if you include the radio).

I feel it is morally wrong to watch anything produced by the BBC on iPlayer or any other means if you are not paying the licence.

It is operating on a trust basis and the more people cancelling their licence, the more rubbish our TV and Radio will become. The BBC is internationally renowned for their standards and I for one am proud of this. They are not exactly awash with cash generally and it is not exactly a huge amount IMO.

Having said that the Capita waste needs to be got rid of but perhaps this is exactly why it is needed. Who would bother having a licence if no-one came to check at all.

Sorry if I come across all high and mighty but as I get older I am getting more and more fed up of a society that seems to be driven by what can we get away with as opposed to what is actually right.

M

[Funk]

I'm going to disagree I'm afraid. I don't feel that the BBC produces anything that I really want to watch any more. I don't listen to the radio, I have my own choice of music in the car. I don't agree with the BBC having an agenda when it should be impartial. I don't feel my licence fee is value for money and I don't want to support their biased views.

If, as it stands, it is legal to watch something on iPlayer and not require a licence fee then I have no issue with that. As I mentioned earlier, there really isn't very much I'll watch anyway.

Phoned today and my licence is now cancelled.

[tank slapper]

You have no obligation to prove or show anything to Capita. You don't have to phone or write to them to confirm anything. You don't have to let them in to see anything, and you don't even have to talk to them. Your only obligation is to buy a TV licence if you watch or record live TV.

[thinfourth2]

Funk said:

I'm going to disagree I'm afraid. I don't feel that the BBC produces anything that I really want to watch any more. I don't listen to the radio, I have my own choice of music in the car. I don't agree with the BBC having an agenda when it should be impartial. I don't feel my licence fee is value for money and I don't want to support their biased views.

If, as it stands, it is legal to watch something on iPlayer and not require a licence fee then I have no issue with that. As I mentioned earlier, there really isn't very much I'll watch anyway.

Phoned today and my licence is now cancelled.

I hope that you informed them why you canceled as its far more effective then screaming on an internet forum

As to the BBC offering nothing might i suggest you try out 6 music as its an excellent station if you like new music try the Tom Robinson podcast.

Oh and you are about to discover the main advantage of having a TV licence

You are going to get more junk mail and nasty letters then you considered possible

[Otispunkmeyer]

ummm dont you still need to have the tv license if you are watching the BBC programs via iPlayer? Or have I got that wrong?

[Funk]

I'll have a word with my postman about TV licence mail if it gets silly, he's pretty good about it already and doesn't deliver junk at my request.

Re. watching iPlayer, no you don't needed a licence; you only need one if you're watching or recording live broadcasts.

Edit: Oh, and despite cancelling over the phone, I still have to send in the form and 'evidence' (whatever that may be) in order to claim back credit I'm owed. They can't process that directly, she said. I'm sure they make that part deliberately awkward. Why can't they just refund me there and then to the account details they have been taking payment from?

I'll keep you posted on whether I get lots of threatening letters. Any suggestions as to what to do with any I do get?

Edited by Funk on Monday 12th December 19:41

[Jasandjules]

Funk said:

I'll keep you posted on whether I get lots of threatening letters. Any suggestions as to what to do with any I do get?

I ignored ours. Nothing ever came of it. Mind, we did have a license, they just kept claiming we didn't and they'd "send someone round to come into our house to check"....... Then I even got a "we've made an appointment to check your TV" and so on. It was a shame, I was hoping someone would turn up so I could introduce them to our dogs........

[thinfourth2]

Funk said:

I'll keep you posted on whether I get lots of threatening letters. Any suggestions as to what to do with any I do get?

Not if but when

We looked at a house to buy that had been abandoned for 2 years

It had no roof, no windows, no power, and a letter through the remains of the front door that they had detected a TV being used in the house and a official was due to visit with an enforcement letter

I suggest you ignore them

[Funk]

It's pretty shocking that an organisation that represents a state-owned entity can behave in such a manner. Wouldn't it be classed as harassment?

[jurbie]

Funk said:

I'll keep you posted on whether I get lots of threatening letters. Any suggestions as to what to do with any I do get?

Start a website like this bloke?

http://www.bbctvlicence.com/

[Funk]

jurbie said:

Start a website like this bloke?

http://www.bbctvlicence.com/

Bloody hell, that's unbelievable. Surely that constitutes harassment?

Ah well, I guess I have all those to look forward to. All because I don't want to watch TV.

[peterbredde]

surfymark said:

silverthorn2151 said:

As a matter of interest, what exactly do you make a point of watching on iplayer?

Would you consider it appropriate for BBC output to be pay to view on line?

I think I am with you on this. What the BBC produce is pretty good for £12/month (especially if you include the radio).

I feel it is morally wrong to watch anything produced by the BBC on iPlayer or any other means if you are not paying the licence.

It is operating on a trust basis and the more people cancelling their licence, the more rubbish our TV and Radio will become. The BBC is internationally renowned for their standards and I for one am proud of this. They are not exactly awash with cash generally and it is not exactly a huge amount IMO.

Having said that the Capita waste needs to be got rid of but perhaps this is exactly why it is needed. Who would bother having a licence if no-one came to check at all.

Sorry if I come across all high and mighty but as I get older I am getting more and more fed up of a society that seems to be driven by what can we get away with as opposed to what is actually right.

M

Agreed. I live abroad at present where all TV is subscription. And it's all crap, regardless of what package you choose. And I was in the states for some time this year where TV is shockingly crap. My time away from the UK has made me realise just how good value the licence fee in the UK is.

[Funk]

peterbredde said:

surfymark said:

silverthorn2151 said:

As a matter of interest, what exactly do you make a point of watching on iplayer?

Would you consider it appropriate for BBC output to be pay to view on line?

I think I am with you on this. What the BBC produce is pretty good for £12/month (especially if you include the radio).

I feel it is morally wrong to watch anything produced by the BBC on iPlayer or any other means if you are not paying the licence.

It is operating on a trust basis and the more people cancelling their licence, the more rubbish our TV and Radio will become. The BBC is internationally renowned for their standards and I for one am proud of this. They are not exactly awash with cash generally and it is not exactly a huge amount IMO.

Having said that the Capita waste needs to be got rid of but perhaps this is exactly why it is needed. Who would bother having a licence if no-one came to check at all.

Sorry if I come across all high and mighty but as I get older I am getting more and more fed up of a society that seems to be driven by what can we get away with as opposed to what is actually right.

M

Agreed. I live abroad at present where all TV is subscription. And it's all crap, regardless of what package you choose. And I was in the states for some time this year where TV is shockingly crap. My time away from the UK has made me realise just how good value the licence fee in the UK is.

That's all well and good, but I'm not watching any of it, so why should I pay for it? As stated earlier, the BBC makes so little that interests me, I'm happy to go without (or catch up on the odd thing here and there legally via iPlayer later on).

[thinfourth2]

Funk said:

It's pretty shocking that an organisation that represents a state-owned entity can behave in such a manner. Wouldn't it be classed as harassment?

Well seeing the house had no roof, no windows and no power you won't be surprised it had no people either

Quite how you could call it harassment of an empty house i'm not too sure

[peterbredde]

Funk said:

That's all well and good, but I'm not watching any of it, so why should I pay for it? As stated earlier, the BBC makes so little that interests me, I'm happy to go without (or catch up on the odd thing here and there legally via iPlayer later on).

I can see where you're coming from. Still, I find the fact that the output is available on iplayer a surprising bonus. I wouldn't count on it being available free indefinitely. After all, why should it be? One could easily argue that the fact that its available for us to watch whenever we want at the expense of the licence payer (who pay for the website, servers and tech support etc involved in supporting that media) is an extra bonus. Why should the licence payer fund that? I can't watch iplayer online where I live as the bbc have blocked it as they get no revenues from this region in return. Can't say I blame them really.

[Famous Graham]

Funk said:

I'll keep you posted on whether I get lots of threatening letters. Any suggestions as to what to do with any I do get?

Paper swan?

Fire sculpture?

Paper aeroplane competition?

[sinizter]

I would be very happy to not pay the TV Licence if they can make BBC channels, both radio and TV, subscription channels and make the iPlayer website the same.

There is no excuse to force people into a subscription that a lot of people could do just as well without.

If I was living alone, I most certainly would not have a TV Licence and would not allow any of their so-called 'inspectors' in, let alone give them the time of day. Unfortunately, my wife watches live TV on occasion.

[surfymark]

peterbredde said:

Funk said:

That's all well and good, but I'm not watching any of it, so why should I pay for it? As stated earlier, the BBC makes so little that interests me, I'm happy to go without (or catch up on the odd thing here and there legally via iPlayer later on).

I can see where you're coming from. Still, I find the fact that the output is available on iplayer a surprising bonus. I wouldn't count on it being available free indefinitely. After all, why should it be? One could easily argue that the fact that its available for us to watch whenever we want at the expense of the licence payer (who pay for the website, servers and tech support etc involved in supporting that media) is an extra bonus. Why should the licence payer fund that? I can't watch iplayer online where I live as the bbc have blocked it as they get no revenues from this region in return. Can't say I blame them really.

I agree with this. The TV Licence website says: "You don't need a licence if you don't use any of these devices to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV - for example, if you use your TV only to watch DVDs or play video games, or you only watch ‘catch up’ services like BBC iPlayer or 4oD."

However under the "What does your licence fee pay for?" section, it clearly shows BBC iPlayer.

I guess the reason they don't check is that it would be a nightmare to control.

So basically you are now using the iPlayer while I am paying for it. Is that ok? So when the other hundreds, maybe thousands of people do the same as you, my licence fee goes up. Is that fair?

You say that you are not watching anything the BBC makes, yet you freely admit to using the iPlayer. Obviously, you do like some of the stuff made by the BBC. I believe you should contribute to the cost of making it.

There will always be these arguments for all types of taxation (which is what this is). Very few people get the full benefit of the taxes they pay. If you could legally steal a TV from a TV store, would you?

Having said that there are large groups of people that make it far easier to "steal" things from a moral point of view. Such as the music and film industries that have been massively overcharging us for years. However I don't feel that the BBC sit in that same category given the relatively low price of the licence.

M

[sinizter]

surfymark said:

So basically you are now using the iPlayer while I am paying for it. Is that ok? So when the other hundreds, maybe thousands of people do the same as you, my licence fee goes up. Is that fair?

You say that you are not watching anything the BBC makes, yet you freely admit to using the iPlayer. Obviously, you do like some of the stuff made by the BBC. I believe you should contribute to the cost of making it.

I like the River Cottage series on Channel 4.
I like many other American series aired on other channels.
I like movies on Film 4.
I do not contribute to the cost of making any of them.

Why should I be forced to pay for the production costs of one channel ?

Don't roll out the ad-supported argument - I don't actually watch any ads on any of these programs. And couldn't care less if BBC opted to begin showing ads and not forcing people to pay, in effect, a subscription fee.

[Funk]

sinizter said:

surfymark said:

So basically you are now using the iPlayer while I am paying for it. Is that ok? So when the other hundreds, maybe thousands of people do the same as you, my licence fee goes up. Is that fair?

You say that you are not watching anything the BBC makes, yet you freely admit to using the iPlayer. Obviously, you do like some of the stuff made by the BBC. I believe you should contribute to the cost of making it.

I like the River Cottage series on Channel 4.
I like many other American series aired on other channels.
I like movies on Film 4.
I do not contribute to the cost of making any of them.

Why should I be forced to pay for the production costs of one channel ?

Don't roll out the ad-supported argument - I don't actually watch any ads on any of these programs. And couldn't care less if BBC opted to begin showing ads and not forcing people to pay, in effect, a subscription fee.

I agree. Would surfymark willingly pay £12 a month to subsidise Sky if he didn't watch it? No, of course not. I made the point earlier that I watch so little of the BBC's output that I don't believe I get VFM from it, nor would I miss it if I didn't have it. They can turn iPlayer off for me if they wish, it wouldn't cause me to suddenly decide to pay the licence fee to receive it. I'm not desperate to watch the handful of programmes such as TG and PMQs. I'll quite happily do without.

In a digital world, there's no reason why they can't prevent people from watching certain channels or having access to particular websites. Want to make the BBC only available to licence payers? Fine, I have no problem with that - turn off the channels digitally like Sky did with my Sky box. Don't want me to have access to the iPlayer service because I don't have a licence? No problem, issue a PIN with the licence fee that you must input into iPlayer in order to access it. However, why should the other channels suffer because I choose not to pay the BBC (which is what TVL is)? I would now be illegally watching ITV, Channel 4 etc because I've chosen not to pay a TV tax. I can watch them online, and they make me watch adverts in order to cover their costs.

The TV tax is out-dated and unnecessary; the only reason it hasn't been overhauled is because the BBC knows that the £3.5bn it receives each year would tumble as people - if given the option - would choose to decline to receive those channels.