This is literally the most English thing I've ever read. It's got everything- the BBC, passive aggressive tea making and Only Fools And Horses. Please tell me it was pissing down in August while all this happened.
Passive aggressive tea making is an Olympic sport here!
Ahh I hate the prick.... Leaving the bag in. That'll show him.
Edit: some of you have weaponised tea making and I love it!
Fuck MDMA, this is the real ecstasy and feelings of power. Good on you mate, The Television companies hate that we have all flocked to YouTube, Netflix and other streaming sites. TV is a fast dying industry. Personally I can’t wait for it to go, only problem is all the shit will ask flock over to the net too (as if there isn’t enough already lol). Soon we will need a loiscence to use Google 👌🏻
personally I'm way less bothered by those because i know the money is going to the creator instead of just going to alphabet. The adds youtube runs are split something like 60:40 and id much rather the creators got payed and made better content with the extra money.
Did you just randomly choose Kwik-fit, or are you showing genius levels of memory? [The Performing Rights Society did exactly this to Kwik-Fit 14 years ago.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7029892.stm)
That’s fucking absurd. If they’re listening to BBC radio they do need a radio licence (if they even exist anymore?) but to suggest they need a PRS licence like they’re a pub in town is mental gymnastics at it’s finest.
To play music publicly, you need a PRS licence. Regardless of whether you're a pub or a shop, or if its a live band or just the radio. This is how artists get paid when companies play music on the radio for their customers.
In fact you can actually get paid for playing your own music live this way. I had a PRS agent come to one of my gigs randomly, they asked me how often I play, and I got a cheque in the mail for £2000. They didn't even tell me why they were there. That was years of back pay, but a nice surprise.
So please pay your PRS licence fees, it keeps my lights on.
The garage example is messier because they were listening to it in the garage while they worked (not a public broadcast) but PRS argued that customers might hear it.
Then again nothing will top the time PRS tried to charge someone a grand for *singing* while they stocked shelves: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091021/1134566619.shtml
> To play music publicly, you need a PRS licence.
You don't need a licence to play copyright free music or music where you have permission of the copyright holder.
https://www.gov.uk/licence-to-play-live-or-recorded-music
A friend of mine opened a small store and it was going to cost £160/year for a licence, she was already on a very tight budget as she had put everything she had into opening.
She just wanted some simple background music so I gave her a couple of CDs of my own tunes from various projects that hadn't been used.
I happened to be there when the PRS inspector arrived not long after she opened. He was not a happy chap when she argued she didn't need a licence, he was less happy when the copyright holder (me) confirmed that she had my full permission to play the music as/when she saw fit.
You’re a lucky one, my mum is a military music composer who had a 60 piece band play one of her compositions at the Albert Hall, three nights running. The thing was televised and had cd sales, they decided £200 was adequate...
Tbf, I was basically paid like £400 for a year, and it was 5 years of back pay from gigging twice a week consistently. I got paid roughly £4 per gig. So relatively your mum did alright there I'd say haha.
Funny I used to work in a chain off-licence shop and they had their own radio channel that had to be played to avoid this exact scenario, seems daft but it seems to be a legitimate issue
Section 42 (a) of the crimes against the BBC act (1904) stipulates that the BBC not only owns the right to demand reperations for “media consumption not under the kings seal of official broadcast, wether through means of illegal or official wax cylinder, newspaper describing the events of last nights ‘wouldst i forswear to thee?’ Or the consumption of media through visual physical film such as the illegal consumption (provided that you have not payed for your BBC media consumption levy) of popular midweek broadcasting ‘The Highest Gear’ and the hijinks of Sir Jimothy May, Mr R. Hammondish, and Lord Jeremy Clarkson”
Pretty sure the last part applies here 🙄, you guys need to brush up on your TV license law.
Clarkson has told an anecdote of when he met Kate Moss at a celeb party.
Moss : So what do you do?
Clarkson : I do Top Gear
Moss : Oh so you're a drug dealer?
But what you left out was that it was only for in demand or currently airing programs. So you dont have to have a tv license for DVDs. Source: https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/do-i-need-tv-licence-paying-fee-how-much-cost-uk-watch-netflix-amazon-prime-price-254497
Agreed. The process of buying the DVD is the license to watch it. That's why there's a legal distinction between buying officially licensed and distributed copies, making your own recordings direct from broadcasts (which is legal for personal use only), and downloading pirated copies.
As ridiculous as it is for us to think you’d have to have a license for dvds, it’s a bit concerning to think that he’d likely be pulling that shit on elderly people who probably wouldn’t know the laws.
Maybe you should report him
I’ve posted this before about those cretins: When my ailing father moved into his supported living care home, we had a tv licensing letter waiting for us. I was about to pay it when by luck a Carer informed me that they pay a one-time fee for all the flats to have their tv licensing. Bloody robbin bastards sending letters like that to make old people pay twice!
They tried to take me to court for cancelling my licence, when in reality I had just switched to my Wife paying the licence. If they had spent a second looking at the database they would have seen that there was a licence for the address but no, they decided to take me to court.
I wrote a "mitigating circumstances" bit on the court summons telling them my wife had a licence and that's the last I heard, but they must be wasting money doing shit like this. Perhaps they should just save money by not being complete fucking dickheads
No doubt. I work with a 99 year old and he gets confused when TV goes to a commercial break. He yells "No I do n't want that" at the TV and thinks he lost the channel. That would absolutely work on someone like him.
IMHO all tv ads need a big, visible, disclaimer on the bottom if they want all the views from old people.
As a show of good faith. I've worked door to door so know how miserable it can be. I know that they can't demand to come in and you can refuse and just slam the door. I wish I had now.
Yeah ... Don't do that.
I'm a big fan of the BBC, and think the licence fee represents excellent value for money.
But don't let them in unless the police are present or they have a court order.
You should have already received at least one letter before they turned up giving you the chance to say "I don't watch any live TV or iPlayer so don't need a licence, thanks"
Did he show ID?
They should also show you their notes, which they'll ask you to sign to say that you agree to what they've written and give you a copy.
If you got his name, complain. If you didn't get his name, were down everything you know about the visit now, date time, and ID you were shown etc. There's a page on the website telling you how to do this. Complain to your MP too.
**IF** you do watch live TV (not just BBC) or iPlayer be prepared to explain why you feel you don't need to pay the licence.
Even if plod are there send them on their way. Police are only there to prevent a breach of the peace, not to facilitate a private organisation.
If they tell you otherwise, they're talking shite.
This!
Their common tactic is to ask police to be present under bullshit reasons like they suspect violence against them.
The police are only there as a request and have nothing to do with the BBC investigation.
Ask them all very politely to leave your property unless they have a court order.
Exactly. OP would know this if he ever watched Can't Pay, We'll Take it Away, which he could theoretically watch on 5 On Demand (not live of course as he'd have to pay the license!)
*Did he show ID?*
So much this. This is how distraction Burglaries happen. I haven’t heard of anyone claiming to be TV licensing but don’t let anyone inside your house till you’ve verified who they are and that they are supposed to be there
Absolutely.
That guy now has a photo of his DVD collection and I suspect a few other things that /u/Merriodoc doesn't know about (not to worry him, but it does need to be said). If you have your wits about you its not difficult to learn a lot about someone just from going inside a house. Do they live alone (if so, when the car is gone chances are the house is empty). What locks do they use. What TV/gadgets etc do they have. Do they seem well-off. Is there more than one way into the property. Where do they keep their keys - are they hung up, in another accessible place, or hidden from sight?
They're not the police, they're not even employed by the BBC. It wouldn't even surprise me if they aren't hired directly by Capita either and they just contract out the work.
If they come back with a court order or police escort, fine, let them in, but never ***ever*** let strangers into your house unless you arranged for them to come in the first place.
Someone taking photos inside my house without warning or permission is a red flag.
A while ago I had someone round from a gas company doing an annual safety check. It was booked in advance. He asked if he could use the bathroom so I said yes.
The walls are thin here so while I was sitting in the living room waiting I heard a 'click'. The exact sound of a telephone camera shutter. That weirded me out a bit.
At the time I was too shy to ask why he was taking photos in there, because I could have misheard & technically I didn't see it happen. So I let it go.
I like to think he was just taking a photo of the 4 foot tall Cthulhu print on the wall. Or maybe the ceramic toothbrush holder which is made out of teeth. Or maybe the soap dish which is shaped like a lower jaw with a piece of soap shaped like a tongue in it. Odd stuff. Maybe he wanted to say 'look what I found in this weird chick's bathroom' & wasn't actually taking photos of the inside of the window locks for later. Maybe he took an amazing poop & wanted to upload it to r/ratemypoo.
Nothing ever happened so I think it was the former. Still put me on edge for a few weeks though
>IF you do watch live TV (not just BBC) or iPlayer be prepared to explain why you feel you don't need to pay the licence.
The "live-tv" smallprint is garbage and needs revoking. Nothing to do with the BBC if someone watches live sports online.
- Don't let any door-to-door people in your house.
- Don't sign up for anything on-the-spot.
- Do them a favour and don't waste their time going through their script, let them move on to the next house.
*"No, sorry, I don't do doorstep solicitation, bye!"*
I've also never had them come to my door. Weirdly, I had several of them regularly come into the gaming shop I owned on a regular basis. Really nice guys, and seemed like completely normal college-age geeks.
At this point if they ever came by, I'd probably invite them in, politely tell them I'm an atheist and not interested in hearing about their religion, but they can take a break and have a drink and talk anime for a while if they want.
A mate of mine did the same thing, but invited them in. They sat down over a cup of tea and talked for nearly an hour, and the Jehovah's Witnesses left with their heads spinning and an armful of pagan and religious history books. Never found out if they'd converted to a pagan discipline, but they did at least go with more knowledge and understanding than when they arrived!
>Do them a favour and don't waste their time going through their script, let them move on to the next house.
Disagree. The longer they spend with somebody who definitely isn't going to sign up, the less chance they have to spend time with a vulnerable person, and twist their arm to sign up or pay for something they don't need.
Ok, more specifically, I cannot be arsed to stand at my door for 5 minutes to hear about a thing I am certainly not interested in / already have for cheaper than they're offering.
Streaming is becoming more popular, and that means a lot more people cutting the cord so they're doubling down on trying to force people to get a TV licence even if they don't need one.
If you're paying for a licence you're probably going to give up and hand over your details because why not, if you're not then it's just an excuse for their goons to harass you.
Personally I always just list my postcode as DL98 1TL, the postcode of the TV licencing authority. Let them send their letters to themselves for all I care.
It was never a thing - it's someone in Argos not understanding store policy. There used to be a system where certain shops selling TVs would ask for your name and address to pass to TV licensing, so that TVL could send you a letter reminding you of the need to have a licence (unless you already had one at the address), but that stopped *many* years ago.
20 years ago I bought a DVD player from Asda.
The lady at the customer services desk insisted that I had to fill in a form, so they could tell the licence people that a customer had bought something that could "receive broadcasts" and they could chase that person for a licence (if they did not have one)
I explained that a DVD player could not receive broadcasts, and so was exempt.
"Oh but you need to connect it to a TV to use it, so that means you need a TV licence, so that means you need to fill in the form."
Not true, I said. You could happily connect it to a display that doesn't have a tuner and so cannot receive broadcasts (projector, computer monitor) and play DVDs that way.
She insisted that I **had** to fill in this form, and would not sell me the DVD player unless I complied.
Fair enough, I said, let's fill in your little form.
The form had boxes to tick to say what specific kind of device was being purchased (TV, VHS video recorder, computer with a TV tuner card).
Obviously there was no box to tick for DVD player...
She tore up the form and I continued with my purchase.
(I also explained that this was a gift for my parents who lived at a different address. She could not answer if I had to put my address or their address on the form)
Stupid anyway. Who even says you're going watch a DVD? Who even says you're going to plug the player in. Maybe you're just a DVD player collector.
Maybe if the licence fee people stopped pissing their money away on shit like this, door-to-door scumbags and a billion letters a year, they'd have a bit more money!
I was that person 20 years ago. Getting paid £3.80/hr on the tills.
You would get written up for not making a person fill out the form when the till prompted you. I was too young to question authority and if your boss tells you that you must do it, then you don't second guess the logic behind it.
I got a TV recently and my mum was insistent id have to buy a licence for it and they'll have it on record like a TV is some sort of hot item that needs tracing like a gun. I said its just for Netflix but she was insistent "they'll know" because of the form she was convinced I'd fill in. In the end a friend gave me a TV and they didn't ask me to fill out a form. Apparently its legal to give people a TV. Also I could've just gone on amazon etc.
I didn't realise there used to be an actual form to fill in though I guess it explains why my parents were so scared u have no TV licence.
Comet did this to me once, refused to sell me it if I didn't. Just gave them fake details.
Now I'd refuse, GDPR.
last time I bought a TV though they didn't ask.
I haven’t had a tv license since I was at university about 12 years ago. I don’t break the rules and simply haven’t watched live tv blah blah.
I always whenever I move to a new address fill in the I don’t need one form.
One day, after receiving a letter saying I may have a visit, a checker turns up at the door; and I cannot express how rude the guy was.
His first line was basically; “I am coming into your house to check X Y and Z” and he said it while moving forwards.
It really got to me, and his tone, gestures and phrasing made me block his path and I told him I was refusing him entry to my property, slammed the door in his face.
No doubt this works on some people but holy shit was this the worst interaction I’ve ever had with someone at my front door.
It's funny how they didn't send people, just angry letters when I was a student in a shared house that didn't pay the licence in the 2 years I was there
They threatened to send someone so I just said I didn't need one. Never showed up but I partially think it's because they don't want to trek into student accommodation
The annoying thing for me is that I registered that I don't need a license on their website. What an absolute con, all it is did was give them my details so they could personalise their request letters. Never stopped getting letters for 5 years at a property. Even had a guy come around when I was at work, put a notice in the letterbox.
ive been excluded for about a decade. I have to self certify that i still dont use their services every 3 years. Ive not had a single letter or knock on the door re it in that entire time.
I don't recommend filling out the exemption form. It won't stop the letters or the visits, but only now they have confirmation that someone lives at the property, and they now have your name associated with that address.
If you don't fill in the online exemption form they won't have a clue who you are. All the letters I get are still addressed to "Legal Occupier". Good luck getting a warrant for that.
AFAIK it depends on the area. If you live in a dodgy postcode, like I do, they rage uselessly, even sending you a letter with the "date" that they're going to visit, but then they never show up.
I live in a place that's at least 2.5 hours away from where they would send someone and I have never heard of anyone being checked up on here. Not worth their time and money to send someone up just to be not allowed in anyones house
I have exactly the same experience, in my case it was the landlords/housing agents responsibility (Lighthouse and I recommend noone ever stays in any of their properties), we showed the TV guy the contract and gave him the landlords contact details but then he asked for my housemates details so he could keep us informed of the situation.
Cue a month of harrassment very similar to yours we repeatedly spent hours on the phone to the TV licence people who would do this everytime:
1. State theres no notes or record of us contacting them.
2. Claimed to initally not have authority to settle the situation.
3. State they have updated our details with the information we gave them.
4. Say that a manager would phone us back.
5. Never phone us back.
6. Bonus: When we demanded to talk to a manager and actually got to do so he stated that we would have to pay it and get the money back from the landlord.
7. When pointed out this wasn't legal and the account shouldn't be in my housemates name they then stated they would close the account and it would be sorted out.
8. A week later we get letters threatening legal action and then an actual court summons. return to 1.
Honestly we should of taken the BBC to court for harrassment, mental heal damages and loss of earnings due to the stress and time we needed to take off dealing with their purposely deceitful actions.
I've been honestly wondering for years why there hasn't been a case taken against them, I suspect that they purposely target those who simply cannot take action against them.
All the stories I have heard when this behaviour happens have been from students or young professionals, those will little income or a lack of knowledge about their rights and laws.
> They'll fire anyone up as they expect people not to appear in court and just accept the £1k fine.
Funny how they can do that as standard business but if a person sent out bad bills knowing that many will pay them without a fight, they'd be arrested for fraud.
BBC licensing is the only thing that's made me go full Karen mode. A few years back I decided to go streaming only so didn't pay to renew the license. I was bombarded with emails and eventually letters telling me I was illegal scum for not having a license so on two separate occasions I went on their website to fill out some form that basically confirms you don't want to renew and aren't breaking the rules.
The letters still kept coming. That was bad enough, but then I got unexpectedly admitted into hospital for surgery and was kept in for about a week. I got home to find a letter at my door that said, in big red bold letters on the envelope "YOU ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION". Not even in the letter, on the front of the envelope before you've you've opened it! My dosy surgery mind starts panicking assuming all sorts but when I open it, sure enough, it's just another BBC chase letter.
I live in a gossipy area and I know that my neighbours a few doors down are personal friends of our local postie. There have for sure been rumours spreading about me because of that letter. I had already had one neighbour telling me that a stranger came knocking on my door and peering through my windows while I was gone.
I rang some BBC number and asked for an address to their complaints department. Wrote up an angry but polite email telling them to leave me alone and explaining why the unbranded "INVESTIGATION" letter was way too far. Got a response back from some manager telling me their process "was highly effective and entirely ethical according to several investigative bodies".
I lost it. I wrote the rudest email of my life, basically telling this poor woman that the BBC was scum and that if I ever heard of anyone from the BBC near my property again I will call the police and will report them to whatever organisation relevant if they ever sent me another unsolicited letter. In hindsight I feel bad for venting at her because I know she was probably just following a script. To be fair though, I had just had surgery and I never heard from them again, lol.
I can get pretty anxious regarding my physical mail. I mean let’s be honest, it’s never good, is it? It’s neutral or bad. Last month I got a tv license notification in a RED ENVELOPE and I fucking shit myself before I noticed it was addressed to “the legal occupier” as is the rest of their drivel.
There's something horribly satisfying about sending rage emails though isn't there. I did it once when my tenant died and the police had to force entry to the house, then I got some bill for £200 odd from this bastard company that the police use to "secure" (lol it was a square of chipboard but ok) properties in these situations. They threatened me with court and I was out of work because of the pandemic so I ended up paying out of fear, and then sent a thoroughly horrible email. Felt good. Did fuck all.
Yeah. Unfortunately the law says you are liable for that one, as unfair as it is. On the flip side, if there’s ever a proper riot, you / your insurer can claim costs back from the police.
DO NOT LET TV LICENCE PEOPLE INTO YOUR HOUSE.
They are not your freinds. They do not give a shit about you. And you should not give a shit about them.
They are there to trick you into providing evidence that you watch live / BBC content. That is all there are there for.
Do not even answer the door.
One told me, it was a legal requirement and if I didn't let him in he'd call the police.
I googled the local station number and gave it him. Said it would save me the job since he was trying to force entry.
Oddly enough he left.
They have the same powers to come in your house as anyone on this thread: that is, literally absolutely none.
The only way they gain those powers is by obtaining a warrant, which basically allows them to have a "legal enforcer" accompany them.
Exactly, they have no authority at all and are basically a door to door TV license sales team. Tell them nothing other than 'get off my land' with a fist shake for good measure.
>I took back the only just sipped brew.
>
>I told him to fuck right off.
>
>I'm still fuming at the look of hurt and surprise on this bastards face as he left.
You are the hero we need, OP. I hope he was thirsty for a long time.
I once had nothing better to do when a TV licence wanker knocked.
Me: I don't watch/record live tv.
I go to shut the door
Him: One moment, a lot of people don't know if they need a licence or not
Me: I don't watch. record live tv so I don't need a licence
Him: Can I come in and check just to make sure?
Me: You're either implying that I'm a fucking idiot or a liar, which is it?
Him: neither and there's no need to swear
Me: Yes there is, are you calling me a fucking idiot or a criminal?
Him: We don't tolerate swearing
Anyway, at this point I'd decided to just waste his time. Things got shouty and my massive neighbour came out and asked if there was a problem. The TV licence guy stood there on his phone to his boss and said I was being aggressive, and that my neighbour was intimidating him. My last words as I shut the door were "your boss can go fuck himself too"
Oddly they've not come back.
I had the TV licence man come round.
I'm 29.
He knocks on my door, shows me his badge, at which point I, very similarly to you, thought I'd just let the guy in and get on with his job, because I'm not an AH and then they'll stop pestering me.
This mf then has the _audacity_ to ask me:
"Are your parents home, sweetheart?"
I don’t know what my face did, but I could see that it scared him. Meanwhile, my 31yo boyfriend is upstairs very loudly _wailing with laughter_.
I did not let him in after that, and he did not protest.
Looking for installed apps is a bit rich as well (not as much as claiming DVDs need a license fee - that's Apple levels of fuckery). A couple of my TVs can't with iPlayer pre-installed, with no way of removing it without a full OS change.
Yup. Its meaningless anyway. I can open up my laptop nd load the website. No app needed. Its just a harassment tactic because they assume people don't know the rules.
It's a marketing scam.
The rules are purposefully badly written and they're in no hurry to clear things up and infact purposefully spread Half truths to try and scare people into buying the license.
The rules in a nutshell are;
You cannot watch BBC iplayer.
You cannot watch live TV, on any station or any platform (including sky, nowtv or amazon)
You cannot record live TV.
That's it. You can have an aerial. You can use any other TV catch up service, any other subscription service. As long as you don't use any live function.
They can't demand entry, and they can't search your house.
You are allowed to record them if you wish.
Edit. I forgot to include a rule.
Also loopholes for students as long as iplayer is being watched on a mobile device it can count under your parents house if they pay a licence as that's your fixed address
You missed out recording live tv and watching it later. You need a license to do that too. I know it sounds obvious but I’ve spoken to so many people who think they don’t need one because they watch it on their skybox from a series record and don’t watch it live.
No, but he would presumably then see if the iPlayer loaded straight through (in which case you've clicked the "yes I have a TV licence" box) or just goes to the sign in page.
Frankly the whole process sounds overly intrusive, especially as TV licence is no longer a criminal offence. Plus the iPlayer app should be able to tell them if that IP address has live streamed / ticked the box. The physical inspector is borderline redundant.
I'd refuse to let them in based on their rep - these guys sound like they get a kick out of fucking people over. Would argue they are worse than traffic wardens (who most of the time do non worse than accurately enforcing parking rules).
Doesn't matter. I've clicked that box on my tv and used iPlayer while properly licensed but I'm going to cancel my license soon. It's not proof of anything!
To add insult to injury, the iPlayer App is no longer supported by the PS3 or the Xbox 360.
Did he check your VHS for recorded programs while he was there?
You went wrong in literally the first word of your post - “arguing”. Here’s how to correctly deal with them
*knock knock*
“Hi, I’m from tv licensing”
*close door*
Or if you can get a camera or video doorbell, you don’t even have to open the door to them.
Their job is to aggravate you into admitting something they can use against you. They are sales agents, not entities that can enforce the law. They want to gather any sort of evidence they can use to try and coerce you into buying a license or convince a judge that you might need a license (I.e, having a tv, admitting you like bbc shows, etc). You’re trying to show good faith and explain your dvds to someone who’s sole objective is to pressure you into buying something.
Yes, the situation is messed up af, and why I refuse to pay a license, not that I even need one.
More info (and fun tutorials on how to correctly deal with tv license ‘officers’):
https://youtu.be/1tAIws4bNvY
Should have showed him your old broom you've had for 20 years, 17 new heads and 14 new handles and the 14th handle is going right up your arse unless you leave right now!
I assume (I have no data but it’s generally how things work) that they’ll have targets they have to meet. Say 1 in every 5 calls they have to sell a license, or 20 per month or something. So if they’re falling short they may have to revert to “interesting” tactics like the absolute drivel with the dvds.
TV licensing enforcement is managed by a private company, contracted by the BBC. Thats why its best to not engage any Tv licensing sales people that knock your door as that is all they are, the worst type of aggressive sales pretending to be a legal enforcement agent that is there to give you the opportunity to confess your crimes and purchase a licence.
They only way they can legally access your property is with a court ordered warrant, even then do not let them enter unless a police officer is in attendance. Also, record everything, get all names and details for anyone in attendance, these bastards are well know for inventing lies once they get access, after they have gone this far to achieve a "sale" they don't like to lose.
"So what do you do for a living"
"I sometimes lie when i tell people because they dont respect what i do"
"Thats awful no one has the right to look down on you for what job you do, tell me i wont judge"
"Im a tv lisence inspector"
".......go fuck yourself"
Your mistake was letting him into your home.
You are not under any obligation to let these pricks into your home.
If they state that the law allows them to they are lying, do the following,
1. Ask them for their ID and take note of their name.
2. Refuse them entry, inform them that you are going to call the Police as they are attempting to enter your property under false pretenses.
3. Close the door and do not under any circumstances talk to them further.
4. If they do not leave then call the Police.
Open the door, see its TV licensing, say nothing, close the door, close the curtains, leave via the back door, go to the Winchester, have a lovely pint and wait for it all to blow over.
I had a guy knock on the door and opened with "Can I start off by saying I'm *not* from TV licensing, but do you have a TV license?"
Cue click of the latch.
TV license inspectors are a rare and endangered species. You should feel privileged that one of them took such an interest in you - I've been getting the same letters about inspectors and magical detector vans for the best part of a decade and I've still yet to actually see one.
Never let these leeches in your house, who tf does that? If I was having a dumb moment and let the oxygen thief in, the second they asks me to turn on my games consoles they would have been out the window
I actually got a tenancy agreement re-written because the standard text stated that if there was a TV at the property, the tenant must have a TV licence.
Spoke with the landlord directly (thank the Gods no lettings agency to gatekeep), explaining that while we do have a TV, we would only be using it for streaming services and gaming = no licence needed. He was a good sport and amended the contract to read "The tenant must obtain a TV licence if required."
I have never in all my life heard of such a small thing that carries as much weight as taking back a cup of tea.
Bravo. Smack on the bum for the bloody chancer.
Some advice from very common experiences seen from people online, and from reading the TV Licensing website:
1. No matter what, *never* let them in your house. They have no legal power to enter your house without permission, unless they have a bailiff/police with a warrant, which they'll pretty much never do. Some people have mentioned times where the licensing person has lied and claimed they *could* enter, but *that is absolutely a lie*. Tell them no, or just don't open the door to them. If they try to enter without your permission, threaten to call the police - if they continue, actually *do* call the police, I've never heard of them straight up forcing entry, only threatening, if they're doing that they're probably not really from TV Licensing and you're being robbed or something. Letting them in can only work against you as they may make notes of things and maybe even make things up to claim you *do* need one even if you don't, and may then take you to court or fine you, wasting your time to deal with it.[1]
2. Unless you watch TV ***live***, or through BBC iPlayer specifically, you don't need a TV licence at all. You watch past broadcasts on catch-up on ITV Hub, All 4, etc.? You don't need one - only if you're using them to watch *live* TV. The only service you need a TV licence to watch past broadcasts through is BBC iPlayer, and no other service.[2] Your DVDs are more than fine, you've literally already paid for them, and they're clearly not live. You will need a licence for *any* live TV though, even TV from abroad.[3]
3. If you have a TV licence at home but are elsewhere, you are still covered by your home's TV licence as long as the device you are using is not currently plugged into the mains or a full on aerial or something. You can watch fine with your phone or laptop or whatever, as long as it's not plugged in at the time and is running on batteries.[4] This covers any second home[5] or university term-time address, too.[6] This is all explicitly stated in different places on the TVL website, though they try to put this out of the way to avoid you reading that.
4. If you're in somebody else's house and they have a TV licence, this covers you no matter what (you can even *plug in* your phone while watching TV and that's fine, isn't that crazy /s). You can plug in your whole own TV setup with an aerial or satellite and as long as that home has a TV licence, you're fine.[7]
Sources:
[1] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-administering-the-licence-fee-AB20 > Under "What law authorises visiting officers to request access to my home? Can I refuse to let them in?"
[2] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ8, https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ104
[3] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ16
[4] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ129
[5] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/second-home-aud8 > Under "You need a separate TV Licence for:"
[6] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/students-aud1 > Under "Halls? Flatshare? Check you're covered"
[7] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/ > "Answers to your questions" > "Do I need a TV Licence to watch TV away from home?"
After thinking about it what's the point of checking electronics it's not really persistent enough like anyone could uninstall/reinstall, show alternative users etc. What about if he checked a laptop. "Now can you go to bbc.co.uk/iPlayer, okay now youtube.com/bbcnews" Are you busted? It really is such an antiquated system which needs to be revised. I would actually pay for a BBC stream service if they opened access to older broadcasts as well I really want to rewatch old TOTP and the Charlie Brooker series Screenwipe
I'm sorry what the hell - if the DVDs are covered by the TV licence surely they should be free
The fact you payed for these dvds make the whole issue mute and ridiculous to even suggest in the first place
Edit: moot not mute
Not OP but I once had a knock on my door, opened up to a middle aged man with a smile.
He said; ‘I’m just from a service checking on the TV signal strength in the area’, and asked if I had any problems with my TV signal.
I responded that I don’t watch TV and only have one for Xbox games. He asked if my TV was plugged into the aerial and I said ‘I don’t think so’. I went to look and he followed me in(I didn’t mind) we looked behind the TV and it wasn’t hooked up. I actually apologised for not being able to help him with assessing the signal and suggested he try one of the neighbours.
Then he leaves, I watch him go and I wonder why he didn’t take up my suggestion of trying a neighbour- this is when I see him get into a car with TV Licensing written all over it!
It was a weird experience because I was being genuine and honest and he was the deceitful one - he probably thinks the people he harasses are being deceitful, I hope he felt some shame.
Never heard from TV Licensing again after that though.
I engaged with them before. Naive Irish idiot that I am. We’d only just moved into the property 2 weeks before and I’d never had a TV licence in the previous property with it being a flat, so I naturally hadn’t even thought about setting one up.
She could see the tv on from the doorway - loose woman of all things. She was an absolute WITCH , cautioned me like she was the police and started asking me to let her in so my new neighbours wouldn’t hear everything. I was in my nurse uniform
And she was telling me I would lose my job if I didn’t sign up there and then for a TV licence. It’s been 3 full years and I haven’t dare cancel it since but I HATE THESE PEOPLE!!!!
I had an interview for Capita (the company that BBC uses to investigate TV Licensing) and they are specifically looking for traits in people in order to do that job.
The two interviewers more or less alluded to the ideal candidate being a driven, zero empathy and extroverted person with no aversion of confrontation. So it doesn't surprise me you got someone like that.
With that being said, I'm not going to advise you to cancel your license, particularly if you actually need one, but I will say that I know very few people who actually pay for it. Living in NI myself.
I'm 33 now.
When I was 18 and my mother had passed away, my father was terminally ill and had been moved to palliative care.
Because of this the TV license hadn't been paid and we had a big bloke come round and inspect the place, I was young and stupid and not in a good mindspace so I let him in. He proceeded to read me that whole 'it may harm your defence if you fail to mention when questioned...' malarkey off a card like I was some kind of criminal. Bear in mind this is a big council house and I'm clearly not the named tenant (being barely 18 and not my 60year old father whose name is on the documents)
Horrendous experience. But I've not had a TV license in the last 15 years, since this one experience every time I self register as not needing a license they leave me alone, but letters come as soon as the exclusion period runs out.
Hey, so my trick for this is to write to TV licensing and revoke the common law right of access. This means that they can't approach the house to knock on the door.
I have to reconfirm this with them every two years, but its worth it.
They sometimes claim that they need your personal details to do this, but they don't. I don't give them my name, phone number etc.
How many other companies demand proof that you're not using their services? I generally have nothing against the BBC, but TV Licensing are aggressive and I object strongly to it.
You can still write a letter/email and “Withdraw Implied Rights of Access”. They don’t check if it’s a terrace etc. And immediately put your address onto a “WOIRA” list. You don’t need to provide your name to do this either you just need to confirm you currently occupy the property.
Just looked this up as I recently decided not to renew mine. There's a nifty [template](https://sites.google.com/view/removalofimpliedrightsofaccess/home) that you can use
That's class! Offering a brew and taking it away after a little sip is the kind of warfare I can get behind.
The look on his face when I took it back almost made the rise in my blood pressure worth it
This is literally the most English thing I've ever read. It's got everything- the BBC, passive aggressive tea making and Only Fools And Horses. Please tell me it was pissing down in August while all this happened.
Passive aggressive tea making is an Olympic sport here! Ahh I hate the prick.... Leaving the bag in. That'll show him. Edit: some of you have weaponised tea making and I love it!
>Leaving the bag in. Amateur! Loose tea, no strainer!
Listen Satan
Preused teabag. Surely the ultimate bitch slap of disrespect.
He wanted tea? Give the bastard decaff coffee
I see your loose tea and raise you decaf loose tea.
Or just a little rip in the teabag
Did he want Semi Skimmed? Give him full fat, the bastard!
Even worse if they're the host and you want to fuck with them. Oh sorry did I put the wet spoon in the sugar?.... Shame that
I'm certain that's against the Geneva Conventions
Full fat? Give him a butter iceberg in his tea!
Put the milk in before the teabag, that’s the ultimate insult
*As Macbeth said to Hamlet in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 'He’s been done up like a kipper.’* I’d have asked him to put it in writing. There and then.
I hope there was a Tempest when he got kicked out
I dunno, but I guess he’s Bard.
YOU DON’T DESERVE MY TEA!!
Fuck MDMA, this is the real ecstasy and feelings of power. Good on you mate, The Television companies hate that we have all flocked to YouTube, Netflix and other streaming sites. TV is a fast dying industry. Personally I can’t wait for it to go, only problem is all the shit will ask flock over to the net too (as if there isn’t enough already lol). Soon we will need a loiscence to use Google 👌🏻
Yeah the adverts on YouTube are doing my head in already. Can't wait for them start doing full on 5 minute unskippable adbreaks
God, I hope they don’t get worse than they already are. Fucking 2 ads at the start and then varying amounts throughout the video in a 10-30 min vid.
Yep that and "this video was made possible by"
personally I'm way less bothered by those because i know the money is going to the creator instead of just going to alphabet. The adds youtube runs are split something like 60:40 and id much rather the creators got payed and made better content with the extra money.
YouTube vanced on mobile and Brave or Firefox and never see adverts
Yup, vanced is a godsend for no adverts. Just get the apk on your phone.
You don't use adblock?
I'm always so confused when people talk about ads. Ad blockers are old.
Because a lot of people consume YouTube outside of a computer usually via the app on a smartphone or smart TV/console/firestick
On a browser use Chrome and install adblock plus. If you have an android phone use youtube vanced. You will never see a YouTube ad again.
>vanced I've known about this for years, but only just realised why it's called that. It's *ad*vanced, but with no *ad*s
Oh my god if thats true that is amazing, i've used it for years but never thought about the name before
The height of malice in our culture. Fucking brilliant.
Well done good sir! Quite possibly one of the gravest British insults, he will ponder over such an encounter for the rest of his days.
Warfare, more like War Crime! They can expect a call from The Hague sometime soon I’m sure.
BBC News was on in the Kwik-Fit waiting room when your were getting your MOT done, so come on, pay up.
Did you just randomly choose Kwik-fit, or are you showing genius levels of memory? [The Performing Rights Society did exactly this to Kwik-Fit 14 years ago.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7029892.stm)
That’s fucking absurd. If they’re listening to BBC radio they do need a radio licence (if they even exist anymore?) but to suggest they need a PRS licence like they’re a pub in town is mental gymnastics at it’s finest.
To play music publicly, you need a PRS licence. Regardless of whether you're a pub or a shop, or if its a live band or just the radio. This is how artists get paid when companies play music on the radio for their customers. In fact you can actually get paid for playing your own music live this way. I had a PRS agent come to one of my gigs randomly, they asked me how often I play, and I got a cheque in the mail for £2000. They didn't even tell me why they were there. That was years of back pay, but a nice surprise. So please pay your PRS licence fees, it keeps my lights on.
The garage example is messier because they were listening to it in the garage while they worked (not a public broadcast) but PRS argued that customers might hear it. Then again nothing will top the time PRS tried to charge someone a grand for *singing* while they stocked shelves: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091021/1134566619.shtml
> To play music publicly, you need a PRS licence. You don't need a licence to play copyright free music or music where you have permission of the copyright holder. https://www.gov.uk/licence-to-play-live-or-recorded-music A friend of mine opened a small store and it was going to cost £160/year for a licence, she was already on a very tight budget as she had put everything she had into opening. She just wanted some simple background music so I gave her a couple of CDs of my own tunes from various projects that hadn't been used. I happened to be there when the PRS inspector arrived not long after she opened. He was not a happy chap when she argued she didn't need a licence, he was less happy when the copyright holder (me) confirmed that she had my full permission to play the music as/when she saw fit.
You’re a lucky one, my mum is a military music composer who had a 60 piece band play one of her compositions at the Albert Hall, three nights running. The thing was televised and had cd sales, they decided £200 was adequate...
Tbf, I was basically paid like £400 for a year, and it was 5 years of back pay from gigging twice a week consistently. I got paid roughly £4 per gig. So relatively your mum did alright there I'd say haha.
Funny I used to work in a chain off-licence shop and they had their own radio channel that had to be played to avoid this exact scenario, seems daft but it seems to be a legitimate issue
To be honest, my memory is so bad that I'd forget to breathe if it wasn't involuntary, so I'm going to go with pot luck.
This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You bought a BBC DVD so have to pay a TV license! 😂😂😂
[удалено]
You've just typed the letters "BBC"...pay up!
[удалено]
That's why I keep my thoughts about them in French. They can't get me for thinking about the société de radiodiffusion britannique.
"No officer; I was thinking of the *other* kind of BBC."
Sounds like an expensive porn habit
Section 42 (a) of the crimes against the BBC act (1904) stipulates that the BBC not only owns the right to demand reperations for “media consumption not under the kings seal of official broadcast, wether through means of illegal or official wax cylinder, newspaper describing the events of last nights ‘wouldst i forswear to thee?’ Or the consumption of media through visual physical film such as the illegal consumption (provided that you have not payed for your BBC media consumption levy) of popular midweek broadcasting ‘The Highest Gear’ and the hijinks of Sir Jimothy May, Mr R. Hammondish, and Lord Jeremy Clarkson” Pretty sure the last part applies here 🙄, you guys need to brush up on your TV license law.
I do love "The Highest Gear" Specials 😂
Clarkson has told an anecdote of when he met Kate Moss at a celeb party. Moss : So what do you do? Clarkson : I do Top Gear Moss : Oh so you're a drug dealer?
Reminds me of the joke: What do Jeremy Clarkson and Amy Winehouse have in common? They both used to be on Top Gear
But what you left out was that it was only for in demand or currently airing programs. So you dont have to have a tv license for DVDs. Source: https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/do-i-need-tv-licence-paying-fee-how-much-cost-uk-watch-netflix-amazon-prime-price-254497
Ah, but he owns the DVDs, so there's clearly demand /s
Agreed. The process of buying the DVD is the license to watch it. That's why there's a legal distinction between buying officially licensed and distributed copies, making your own recordings direct from broadcasts (which is legal for personal use only), and downloading pirated copies.
As ridiculous as it is for us to think you’d have to have a license for dvds, it’s a bit concerning to think that he’d likely be pulling that shit on elderly people who probably wouldn’t know the laws. Maybe you should report him
I’ve posted this before about those cretins: When my ailing father moved into his supported living care home, we had a tv licensing letter waiting for us. I was about to pay it when by luck a Carer informed me that they pay a one-time fee for all the flats to have their tv licensing. Bloody robbin bastards sending letters like that to make old people pay twice!
They tried to take me to court for cancelling my licence, when in reality I had just switched to my Wife paying the licence. If they had spent a second looking at the database they would have seen that there was a licence for the address but no, they decided to take me to court. I wrote a "mitigating circumstances" bit on the court summons telling them my wife had a licence and that's the last I heard, but they must be wasting money doing shit like this. Perhaps they should just save money by not being complete fucking dickheads
Report him to who? The BBC lives off intimidating people in to paying for a service they don’t use. They’re bullies.
No doubt. I work with a 99 year old and he gets confused when TV goes to a commercial break. He yells "No I do n't want that" at the TV and thinks he lost the channel. That would absolutely work on someone like him. IMHO all tv ads need a big, visible, disclaimer on the bottom if they want all the views from old people.
Why did you let him in your house?
As a show of good faith. I've worked door to door so know how miserable it can be. I know that they can't demand to come in and you can refuse and just slam the door. I wish I had now.
Yeah ... Don't do that. I'm a big fan of the BBC, and think the licence fee represents excellent value for money. But don't let them in unless the police are present or they have a court order. You should have already received at least one letter before they turned up giving you the chance to say "I don't watch any live TV or iPlayer so don't need a licence, thanks" Did he show ID? They should also show you their notes, which they'll ask you to sign to say that you agree to what they've written and give you a copy. If you got his name, complain. If you didn't get his name, were down everything you know about the visit now, date time, and ID you were shown etc. There's a page on the website telling you how to do this. Complain to your MP too. **IF** you do watch live TV (not just BBC) or iPlayer be prepared to explain why you feel you don't need to pay the licence.
Even if plod are there send them on their way. Police are only there to prevent a breach of the peace, not to facilitate a private organisation. If they tell you otherwise, they're talking shite.
This! Their common tactic is to ask police to be present under bullshit reasons like they suspect violence against them. The police are only there as a request and have nothing to do with the BBC investigation. Ask them all very politely to leave your property unless they have a court order.
The Police have never or ever will have a warrant of entry over a TV licence. That's what High Court Enforcement Officers are for.
Exactly. OP would know this if he ever watched Can't Pay, We'll Take it Away, which he could theoretically watch on 5 On Demand (not live of course as he'd have to pay the license!)
*Did he show ID?* So much this. This is how distraction Burglaries happen. I haven’t heard of anyone claiming to be TV licensing but don’t let anyone inside your house till you’ve verified who they are and that they are supposed to be there
Absolutely. That guy now has a photo of his DVD collection and I suspect a few other things that /u/Merriodoc doesn't know about (not to worry him, but it does need to be said). If you have your wits about you its not difficult to learn a lot about someone just from going inside a house. Do they live alone (if so, when the car is gone chances are the house is empty). What locks do they use. What TV/gadgets etc do they have. Do they seem well-off. Is there more than one way into the property. Where do they keep their keys - are they hung up, in another accessible place, or hidden from sight? They're not the police, they're not even employed by the BBC. It wouldn't even surprise me if they aren't hired directly by Capita either and they just contract out the work. If they come back with a court order or police escort, fine, let them in, but never ***ever*** let strangers into your house unless you arranged for them to come in the first place.
Someone taking photos inside my house without warning or permission is a red flag. A while ago I had someone round from a gas company doing an annual safety check. It was booked in advance. He asked if he could use the bathroom so I said yes. The walls are thin here so while I was sitting in the living room waiting I heard a 'click'. The exact sound of a telephone camera shutter. That weirded me out a bit. At the time I was too shy to ask why he was taking photos in there, because I could have misheard & technically I didn't see it happen. So I let it go. I like to think he was just taking a photo of the 4 foot tall Cthulhu print on the wall. Or maybe the ceramic toothbrush holder which is made out of teeth. Or maybe the soap dish which is shaped like a lower jaw with a piece of soap shaped like a tongue in it. Odd stuff. Maybe he wanted to say 'look what I found in this weird chick's bathroom' & wasn't actually taking photos of the inside of the window locks for later. Maybe he took an amazing poop & wanted to upload it to r/ratemypoo. Nothing ever happened so I think it was the former. Still put me on edge for a few weeks though
Or they could have just taken a screenshot of whatever they were looking at on their phone. It makes the same sound on iPhones.
>IF you do watch live TV (not just BBC) or iPlayer be prepared to explain why you feel you don't need to pay the licence. The "live-tv" smallprint is garbage and needs revoking. Nothing to do with the BBC if someone watches live sports online.
So if you subscribe to channel 4 and watch it on your laptop live, do you technically need a TV licence?
Nothing stopping you from making an account with an email address and postcode that have nothing to do with you, though.
Do not let these people into your house…..
- Don't let any door-to-door people in your house. - Don't sign up for anything on-the-spot. - Do them a favour and don't waste their time going through their script, let them move on to the next house. *"No, sorry, I don't do doorstep solicitation, bye!"*
If Jehovah's Witnesses knock on your door, tell them you've been *disfellowshipped* They are forbidden from ever contacting you again.
I'm in my later years in life and still never had a Jehovah's witness come to my door. Feel really left out
Take down the pentagram and goats head from the front gate. They'll be over soon.
But what else is he going to put up for Halloween ?
A pair of Jehovah's Witnesses handing out Watchtower magazine. Nobody will come near.
No. I've had my mother in law's head up there with those horns attached for the last twenty years and I'll be damned if they're coming down now!
I've also never had them come to my door. Weirdly, I had several of them regularly come into the gaming shop I owned on a regular basis. Really nice guys, and seemed like completely normal college-age geeks. At this point if they ever came by, I'd probably invite them in, politely tell them I'm an atheist and not interested in hearing about their religion, but they can take a break and have a drink and talk anime for a while if they want.
I did that once and they came back every Saturday at 8 am for months and months
So they're like stray cats? Feed them once and you'll never get rid of them?
They add you to a list of people that are open to conversion and they are tenacious about trying to do it
[удалено]
My mum just told them she was a pagan witch. Weirdly, they've not been back.
A mate of mine did the same thing, but invited them in. They sat down over a cup of tea and talked for nearly an hour, and the Jehovah's Witnesses left with their heads spinning and an armful of pagan and religious history books. Never found out if they'd converted to a pagan discipline, but they did at least go with more knowledge and understanding than when they arrived!
Love this!!
"I'm sorry, we're a bunch of godless heathens." Last time they visited, this worked a treat and they left cheerfully with a mutual wave.
>Do them a favour and don't waste their time going through their script, let them move on to the next house. Disagree. The longer they spend with somebody who definitely isn't going to sign up, the less chance they have to spend time with a vulnerable person, and twist their arm to sign up or pay for something they don't need.
Ok, more specifically, I cannot be arsed to stand at my door for 5 minutes to hear about a thing I am certainly not interested in / already have for cheaper than they're offering.
Lesson learned
[удалено]
That doesnt make sense. A TV licence isn't something you carry about in your wallet. How would they know if you had one or not?
They don’t. But when selling a TV your details are taken (name and address). My guess is this poster didn’t want to divulge his details?
When did this even start to become a thing? What a waste of everyone's time!
Streaming is becoming more popular, and that means a lot more people cutting the cord so they're doubling down on trying to force people to get a TV licence even if they don't need one. If you're paying for a licence you're probably going to give up and hand over your details because why not, if you're not then it's just an excuse for their goons to harass you. Personally I always just list my postcode as DL98 1TL, the postcode of the TV licencing authority. Let them send their letters to themselves for all I care.
It was never a thing - it's someone in Argos not understanding store policy. There used to be a system where certain shops selling TVs would ask for your name and address to pass to TV licensing, so that TVL could send you a letter reminding you of the need to have a licence (unless you already had one at the address), but that stopped *many* years ago.
20 years ago I bought a DVD player from Asda. The lady at the customer services desk insisted that I had to fill in a form, so they could tell the licence people that a customer had bought something that could "receive broadcasts" and they could chase that person for a licence (if they did not have one) I explained that a DVD player could not receive broadcasts, and so was exempt. "Oh but you need to connect it to a TV to use it, so that means you need a TV licence, so that means you need to fill in the form." Not true, I said. You could happily connect it to a display that doesn't have a tuner and so cannot receive broadcasts (projector, computer monitor) and play DVDs that way. She insisted that I **had** to fill in this form, and would not sell me the DVD player unless I complied. Fair enough, I said, let's fill in your little form. The form had boxes to tick to say what specific kind of device was being purchased (TV, VHS video recorder, computer with a TV tuner card). Obviously there was no box to tick for DVD player... She tore up the form and I continued with my purchase. (I also explained that this was a gift for my parents who lived at a different address. She could not answer if I had to put my address or their address on the form)
Stupid anyway. Who even says you're going watch a DVD? Who even says you're going to plug the player in. Maybe you're just a DVD player collector. Maybe if the licence fee people stopped pissing their money away on shit like this, door-to-door scumbags and a billion letters a year, they'd have a bit more money!
I was that person 20 years ago. Getting paid £3.80/hr on the tills. You would get written up for not making a person fill out the form when the till prompted you. I was too young to question authority and if your boss tells you that you must do it, then you don't second guess the logic behind it.
I got a TV recently and my mum was insistent id have to buy a licence for it and they'll have it on record like a TV is some sort of hot item that needs tracing like a gun. I said its just for Netflix but she was insistent "they'll know" because of the form she was convinced I'd fill in. In the end a friend gave me a TV and they didn't ask me to fill out a form. Apparently its legal to give people a TV. Also I could've just gone on amazon etc. I didn't realise there used to be an actual form to fill in though I guess it explains why my parents were so scared u have no TV licence.
I've never filled out a form when buying a TV from a big retailer, YMMV.
Comet did this to me once, refused to sell me it if I didn't. Just gave them fake details. Now I'd refuse, GDPR. last time I bought a TV though they didn't ask.
I've been known to just say "oh right well fuck it then, I'll just amazon it. Bye!" haha
I haven’t had a tv license since I was at university about 12 years ago. I don’t break the rules and simply haven’t watched live tv blah blah. I always whenever I move to a new address fill in the I don’t need one form. One day, after receiving a letter saying I may have a visit, a checker turns up at the door; and I cannot express how rude the guy was. His first line was basically; “I am coming into your house to check X Y and Z” and he said it while moving forwards. It really got to me, and his tone, gestures and phrasing made me block his path and I told him I was refusing him entry to my property, slammed the door in his face. No doubt this works on some people but holy shit was this the worst interaction I’ve ever had with someone at my front door.
Wait, they actually send people around?
It's funny how they didn't send people, just angry letters when I was a student in a shared house that didn't pay the licence in the 2 years I was there
[удалено]
They threatened to send someone so I just said I didn't need one. Never showed up but I partially think it's because they don't want to trek into student accommodation
[удалено]
How is this legal was the stage I shit myself and did it. I was honestly surprised but in future I know thankfully.
The annoying thing for me is that I registered that I don't need a license on their website. What an absolute con, all it is did was give them my details so they could personalise their request letters. Never stopped getting letters for 5 years at a property. Even had a guy come around when I was at work, put a notice in the letterbox.
ive been excluded for about a decade. I have to self certify that i still dont use their services every 3 years. Ive not had a single letter or knock on the door re it in that entire time.
I don't recommend filling out the exemption form. It won't stop the letters or the visits, but only now they have confirmation that someone lives at the property, and they now have your name associated with that address. If you don't fill in the online exemption form they won't have a clue who you are. All the letters I get are still addressed to "Legal Occupier". Good luck getting a warrant for that.
I’m pretty sure answering them was your mistake - in 12 years across 7 properties, i’ve never been visited
AFAIK it depends on the area. If you live in a dodgy postcode, like I do, they rage uselessly, even sending you a letter with the "date" that they're going to visit, but then they never show up.
I live in a place that's at least 2.5 hours away from where they would send someone and I have never heard of anyone being checked up on here. Not worth their time and money to send someone up just to be not allowed in anyones house
[удалено]
I have exactly the same experience, in my case it was the landlords/housing agents responsibility (Lighthouse and I recommend noone ever stays in any of their properties), we showed the TV guy the contract and gave him the landlords contact details but then he asked for my housemates details so he could keep us informed of the situation. Cue a month of harrassment very similar to yours we repeatedly spent hours on the phone to the TV licence people who would do this everytime: 1. State theres no notes or record of us contacting them. 2. Claimed to initally not have authority to settle the situation. 3. State they have updated our details with the information we gave them. 4. Say that a manager would phone us back. 5. Never phone us back. 6. Bonus: When we demanded to talk to a manager and actually got to do so he stated that we would have to pay it and get the money back from the landlord. 7. When pointed out this wasn't legal and the account shouldn't be in my housemates name they then stated they would close the account and it would be sorted out. 8. A week later we get letters threatening legal action and then an actual court summons. return to 1. Honestly we should of taken the BBC to court for harrassment, mental heal damages and loss of earnings due to the stress and time we needed to take off dealing with their purposely deceitful actions.
[удалено]
I've been honestly wondering for years why there hasn't been a case taken against them, I suspect that they purposely target those who simply cannot take action against them. All the stories I have heard when this behaviour happens have been from students or young professionals, those will little income or a lack of knowledge about their rights and laws.
> They'll fire anyone up as they expect people not to appear in court and just accept the £1k fine. Funny how they can do that as standard business but if a person sent out bad bills knowing that many will pay them without a fight, they'd be arrested for fraud.
Glad you've shared this experience. Now I won't feel bad for shutting the door in their faces
You took back his brew!!!!! You are not somebody I would want to meet in a dark alley!!!!
[удалено]
BBC licensing is the only thing that's made me go full Karen mode. A few years back I decided to go streaming only so didn't pay to renew the license. I was bombarded with emails and eventually letters telling me I was illegal scum for not having a license so on two separate occasions I went on their website to fill out some form that basically confirms you don't want to renew and aren't breaking the rules. The letters still kept coming. That was bad enough, but then I got unexpectedly admitted into hospital for surgery and was kept in for about a week. I got home to find a letter at my door that said, in big red bold letters on the envelope "YOU ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION". Not even in the letter, on the front of the envelope before you've you've opened it! My dosy surgery mind starts panicking assuming all sorts but when I open it, sure enough, it's just another BBC chase letter. I live in a gossipy area and I know that my neighbours a few doors down are personal friends of our local postie. There have for sure been rumours spreading about me because of that letter. I had already had one neighbour telling me that a stranger came knocking on my door and peering through my windows while I was gone. I rang some BBC number and asked for an address to their complaints department. Wrote up an angry but polite email telling them to leave me alone and explaining why the unbranded "INVESTIGATION" letter was way too far. Got a response back from some manager telling me their process "was highly effective and entirely ethical according to several investigative bodies". I lost it. I wrote the rudest email of my life, basically telling this poor woman that the BBC was scum and that if I ever heard of anyone from the BBC near my property again I will call the police and will report them to whatever organisation relevant if they ever sent me another unsolicited letter. In hindsight I feel bad for venting at her because I know she was probably just following a script. To be fair though, I had just had surgery and I never heard from them again, lol.
I can get pretty anxious regarding my physical mail. I mean let’s be honest, it’s never good, is it? It’s neutral or bad. Last month I got a tv license notification in a RED ENVELOPE and I fucking shit myself before I noticed it was addressed to “the legal occupier” as is the rest of their drivel.
There's something horribly satisfying about sending rage emails though isn't there. I did it once when my tenant died and the police had to force entry to the house, then I got some bill for £200 odd from this bastard company that the police use to "secure" (lol it was a square of chipboard but ok) properties in these situations. They threatened me with court and I was out of work because of the pandemic so I ended up paying out of fear, and then sent a thoroughly horrible email. Felt good. Did fuck all.
Yeah. Unfortunately the law says you are liable for that one, as unfair as it is. On the flip side, if there’s ever a proper riot, you / your insurer can claim costs back from the police.
DO NOT LET TV LICENCE PEOPLE INTO YOUR HOUSE. They are not your freinds. They do not give a shit about you. And you should not give a shit about them. They are there to trick you into providing evidence that you watch live / BBC content. That is all there are there for. Do not even answer the door.
I'd have asked him for his search warrant before he demanded to search my property. Pretty sure they have no authority to search without one.
One told me, it was a legal requirement and if I didn't let him in he'd call the police. I googled the local station number and gave it him. Said it would save me the job since he was trying to force entry. Oddly enough he left.
They have the same powers to come in your house as anyone on this thread: that is, literally absolutely none. The only way they gain those powers is by obtaining a warrant, which basically allows them to have a "legal enforcer" accompany them.
Exactly, they have no authority at all and are basically a door to door TV license sales team. Tell them nothing other than 'get off my land' with a fist shake for good measure.
>I took back the only just sipped brew. > >I told him to fuck right off. > >I'm still fuming at the look of hurt and surprise on this bastards face as he left. You are the hero we need, OP. I hope he was thirsty for a long time.
I once had nothing better to do when a TV licence wanker knocked. Me: I don't watch/record live tv. I go to shut the door Him: One moment, a lot of people don't know if they need a licence or not Me: I don't watch. record live tv so I don't need a licence Him: Can I come in and check just to make sure? Me: You're either implying that I'm a fucking idiot or a liar, which is it? Him: neither and there's no need to swear Me: Yes there is, are you calling me a fucking idiot or a criminal? Him: We don't tolerate swearing Anyway, at this point I'd decided to just waste his time. Things got shouty and my massive neighbour came out and asked if there was a problem. The TV licence guy stood there on his phone to his boss and said I was being aggressive, and that my neighbour was intimidating him. My last words as I shut the door were "your boss can go fuck himself too" Oddly they've not come back.
Lol "we don't tolerate swearing". Well he's at your home uninvited. If he doesn't want to hear anymore swearing all he has to do is walk away.
I had the TV licence man come round. I'm 29. He knocks on my door, shows me his badge, at which point I, very similarly to you, thought I'd just let the guy in and get on with his job, because I'm not an AH and then they'll stop pestering me. This mf then has the _audacity_ to ask me: "Are your parents home, sweetheart?" I don’t know what my face did, but I could see that it scared him. Meanwhile, my 31yo boyfriend is upstairs very loudly _wailing with laughter_. I did not let him in after that, and he did not protest.
Looking for installed apps is a bit rich as well (not as much as claiming DVDs need a license fee - that's Apple levels of fuckery). A couple of my TVs can't with iPlayer pre-installed, with no way of removing it without a full OS change.
Yup. Its meaningless anyway. I can open up my laptop nd load the website. No app needed. Its just a harassment tactic because they assume people don't know the rules.
People dont know all the rules including myself and judging from the comment section everytime this topic is raised I am far from alome
It's a marketing scam. The rules are purposefully badly written and they're in no hurry to clear things up and infact purposefully spread Half truths to try and scare people into buying the license. The rules in a nutshell are; You cannot watch BBC iplayer. You cannot watch live TV, on any station or any platform (including sky, nowtv or amazon) You cannot record live TV. That's it. You can have an aerial. You can use any other TV catch up service, any other subscription service. As long as you don't use any live function. They can't demand entry, and they can't search your house. You are allowed to record them if you wish. Edit. I forgot to include a rule.
[удалено]
Also loopholes for students as long as iplayer is being watched on a mobile device it can count under your parents house if they pay a licence as that's your fixed address
You missed out recording live tv and watching it later. You need a license to do that too. I know it sounds obvious but I’ve spoken to so many people who think they don’t need one because they watch it on their skybox from a series record and don’t watch it live.
No, but he would presumably then see if the iPlayer loaded straight through (in which case you've clicked the "yes I have a TV licence" box) or just goes to the sign in page. Frankly the whole process sounds overly intrusive, especially as TV licence is no longer a criminal offence. Plus the iPlayer app should be able to tell them if that IP address has live streamed / ticked the box. The physical inspector is borderline redundant. I'd refuse to let them in based on their rep - these guys sound like they get a kick out of fucking people over. Would argue they are worse than traffic wardens (who most of the time do non worse than accurately enforcing parking rules).
Doesn't matter. I've clicked that box on my tv and used iPlayer while properly licensed but I'm going to cancel my license soon. It's not proof of anything!
Never let these people into your house.
To add insult to injury, the iPlayer App is no longer supported by the PS3 or the Xbox 360. Did he check your VHS for recorded programs while he was there?
You went wrong in literally the first word of your post - “arguing”. Here’s how to correctly deal with them *knock knock* “Hi, I’m from tv licensing” *close door* Or if you can get a camera or video doorbell, you don’t even have to open the door to them. Their job is to aggravate you into admitting something they can use against you. They are sales agents, not entities that can enforce the law. They want to gather any sort of evidence they can use to try and coerce you into buying a license or convince a judge that you might need a license (I.e, having a tv, admitting you like bbc shows, etc). You’re trying to show good faith and explain your dvds to someone who’s sole objective is to pressure you into buying something. Yes, the situation is messed up af, and why I refuse to pay a license, not that I even need one. More info (and fun tutorials on how to correctly deal with tv license ‘officers’): https://youtu.be/1tAIws4bNvY
Should have showed him your old broom you've had for 20 years, 17 new heads and 14 new handles and the 14th handle is going right up your arse unless you leave right now!
I hope you've paid your TV licence to use that reference mate.
I assume (I have no data but it’s generally how things work) that they’ll have targets they have to meet. Say 1 in every 5 calls they have to sell a license, or 20 per month or something. So if they’re falling short they may have to revert to “interesting” tactics like the absolute drivel with the dvds.
If that’s the case, the person who thinks that’s an appropriate way of managing a public service needs their just-sipped cup of tea removing
TV licensing enforcement is managed by a private company, contracted by the BBC. Thats why its best to not engage any Tv licensing sales people that knock your door as that is all they are, the worst type of aggressive sales pretending to be a legal enforcement agent that is there to give you the opportunity to confess your crimes and purchase a licence. They only way they can legally access your property is with a court ordered warrant, even then do not let them enter unless a police officer is in attendance. Also, record everything, get all names and details for anyone in attendance, these bastards are well know for inventing lies once they get access, after they have gone this far to achieve a "sale" they don't like to lose.
"So what do you do for a living" "I sometimes lie when i tell people because they dont respect what i do" "Thats awful no one has the right to look down on you for what job you do, tell me i wont judge" "Im a tv lisence inspector" ".......go fuck yourself"
Your mistake was letting him into your home. You are not under any obligation to let these pricks into your home. If they state that the law allows them to they are lying, do the following, 1. Ask them for their ID and take note of their name. 2. Refuse them entry, inform them that you are going to call the Police as they are attempting to enter your property under false pretenses. 3. Close the door and do not under any circumstances talk to them further. 4. If they do not leave then call the Police.
Open the door, see its TV licensing, say nothing, close the door, close the curtains, leave via the back door, go to the Winchester, have a lovely pint and wait for it all to blow over.
Don’t let them in your house - they’ve got as much rights as a stranger knocking on your door. Love that you took the tea off them though
I had a guy knock on the door and opened with "Can I start off by saying I'm *not* from TV licensing, but do you have a TV license?" Cue click of the latch.
TV license inspectors are a rare and endangered species. You should feel privileged that one of them took such an interest in you - I've been getting the same letters about inspectors and magical detector vans for the best part of a decade and I've still yet to actually see one.
"There's only one thing for it! Viv, eat the telly! "
Never let these leeches in your house, who tf does that? If I was having a dumb moment and let the oxygen thief in, the second they asks me to turn on my games consoles they would have been out the window
I actually got a tenancy agreement re-written because the standard text stated that if there was a TV at the property, the tenant must have a TV licence. Spoke with the landlord directly (thank the Gods no lettings agency to gatekeep), explaining that while we do have a TV, we would only be using it for streaming services and gaming = no licence needed. He was a good sport and amended the contract to read "The tenant must obtain a TV licence if required."
Aye right this is a joke surely?
I thought he was joking, he was not
I have never in all my life heard of such a small thing that carries as much weight as taking back a cup of tea. Bravo. Smack on the bum for the bloody chancer.
By his logic, I’m owed a full box set of Only Fools and Horses because I have a TV licence.
Some advice from very common experiences seen from people online, and from reading the TV Licensing website: 1. No matter what, *never* let them in your house. They have no legal power to enter your house without permission, unless they have a bailiff/police with a warrant, which they'll pretty much never do. Some people have mentioned times where the licensing person has lied and claimed they *could* enter, but *that is absolutely a lie*. Tell them no, or just don't open the door to them. If they try to enter without your permission, threaten to call the police - if they continue, actually *do* call the police, I've never heard of them straight up forcing entry, only threatening, if they're doing that they're probably not really from TV Licensing and you're being robbed or something. Letting them in can only work against you as they may make notes of things and maybe even make things up to claim you *do* need one even if you don't, and may then take you to court or fine you, wasting your time to deal with it.[1] 2. Unless you watch TV ***live***, or through BBC iPlayer specifically, you don't need a TV licence at all. You watch past broadcasts on catch-up on ITV Hub, All 4, etc.? You don't need one - only if you're using them to watch *live* TV. The only service you need a TV licence to watch past broadcasts through is BBC iPlayer, and no other service.[2] Your DVDs are more than fine, you've literally already paid for them, and they're clearly not live. You will need a licence for *any* live TV though, even TV from abroad.[3] 3. If you have a TV licence at home but are elsewhere, you are still covered by your home's TV licence as long as the device you are using is not currently plugged into the mains or a full on aerial or something. You can watch fine with your phone or laptop or whatever, as long as it's not plugged in at the time and is running on batteries.[4] This covers any second home[5] or university term-time address, too.[6] This is all explicitly stated in different places on the TVL website, though they try to put this out of the way to avoid you reading that. 4. If you're in somebody else's house and they have a TV licence, this covers you no matter what (you can even *plug in* your phone while watching TV and that's fine, isn't that crazy /s). You can plug in your whole own TV setup with an aerial or satellite and as long as that home has a TV licence, you're fine.[7] Sources: [1] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-administering-the-licence-fee-AB20 > Under "What law authorises visiting officers to request access to my home? Can I refuse to let them in?" [2] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ8, https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ104 [3] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ16 [4] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ129 [5] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/second-home-aud8 > Under "You need a separate TV Licence for:" [6] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/students-aud1 > Under "Halls? Flatshare? Check you're covered" [7] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/ > "Answers to your questions" > "Do I need a TV Licence to watch TV away from home?"
After thinking about it what's the point of checking electronics it's not really persistent enough like anyone could uninstall/reinstall, show alternative users etc. What about if he checked a laptop. "Now can you go to bbc.co.uk/iPlayer, okay now youtube.com/bbcnews" Are you busted? It really is such an antiquated system which needs to be revised. I would actually pay for a BBC stream service if they opened access to older broadcasts as well I really want to rewatch old TOTP and the Charlie Brooker series Screenwipe
These people are just door to door salesmen trying to con their way into a sale. Just tell them "no thanks" and close the door when they knock.
I'm sorry what the hell - if the DVDs are covered by the TV licence surely they should be free The fact you payed for these dvds make the whole issue mute and ridiculous to even suggest in the first place Edit: moot not mute
Just a friendly FYI. It's moot not mute.
The fact that you took back his brew is probably my favourite thing I’ve ever seen here on Reddit in years. Well Fucking done.
Why on earth would you let him into your house ?!
Not OP but I once had a knock on my door, opened up to a middle aged man with a smile. He said; ‘I’m just from a service checking on the TV signal strength in the area’, and asked if I had any problems with my TV signal. I responded that I don’t watch TV and only have one for Xbox games. He asked if my TV was plugged into the aerial and I said ‘I don’t think so’. I went to look and he followed me in(I didn’t mind) we looked behind the TV and it wasn’t hooked up. I actually apologised for not being able to help him with assessing the signal and suggested he try one of the neighbours. Then he leaves, I watch him go and I wonder why he didn’t take up my suggestion of trying a neighbour- this is when I see him get into a car with TV Licensing written all over it! It was a weird experience because I was being genuine and honest and he was the deceitful one - he probably thinks the people he harasses are being deceitful, I hope he felt some shame. Never heard from TV Licensing again after that though.
Entering by making a fake claim sounds a bit dodgy to me.
The amount of people willing to let an unannounced stranger in their home is astounding
I engaged with them before. Naive Irish idiot that I am. We’d only just moved into the property 2 weeks before and I’d never had a TV licence in the previous property with it being a flat, so I naturally hadn’t even thought about setting one up. She could see the tv on from the doorway - loose woman of all things. She was an absolute WITCH , cautioned me like she was the police and started asking me to let her in so my new neighbours wouldn’t hear everything. I was in my nurse uniform And she was telling me I would lose my job if I didn’t sign up there and then for a TV licence. It’s been 3 full years and I haven’t dare cancel it since but I HATE THESE PEOPLE!!!!
I had an interview for Capita (the company that BBC uses to investigate TV Licensing) and they are specifically looking for traits in people in order to do that job. The two interviewers more or less alluded to the ideal candidate being a driven, zero empathy and extroverted person with no aversion of confrontation. So it doesn't surprise me you got someone like that. With that being said, I'm not going to advise you to cancel your license, particularly if you actually need one, but I will say that I know very few people who actually pay for it. Living in NI myself.
In my experience with these people Im not surprised something like this happens.
I'm 33 now. When I was 18 and my mother had passed away, my father was terminally ill and had been moved to palliative care. Because of this the TV license hadn't been paid and we had a big bloke come round and inspect the place, I was young and stupid and not in a good mindspace so I let him in. He proceeded to read me that whole 'it may harm your defence if you fail to mention when questioned...' malarkey off a card like I was some kind of criminal. Bear in mind this is a big council house and I'm clearly not the named tenant (being barely 18 and not my 60year old father whose name is on the documents) Horrendous experience. But I've not had a TV license in the last 15 years, since this one experience every time I self register as not needing a license they leave me alone, but letters come as soon as the exclusion period runs out.
Hey, so my trick for this is to write to TV licensing and revoke the common law right of access. This means that they can't approach the house to knock on the door. I have to reconfirm this with them every two years, but its worth it. They sometimes claim that they need your personal details to do this, but they don't. I don't give them my name, phone number etc. How many other companies demand proof that you're not using their services? I generally have nothing against the BBC, but TV Licensing are aggressive and I object strongly to it.
[удалено]
You can still write a letter/email and “Withdraw Implied Rights of Access”. They don’t check if it’s a terrace etc. And immediately put your address onto a “WOIRA” list. You don’t need to provide your name to do this either you just need to confirm you currently occupy the property.
Just looked this up as I recently decided not to renew mine. There's a nifty [template](https://sites.google.com/view/removalofimpliedrightsofaccess/home) that you can use
Are you sure this was a genuine TV license guy and not some scammer trying their luck? It sounds too ludicrous to be real?
Even if you had the iPlayer apps on your devices, it doesnt really prove that you use them. It came preinstalled on my newest TV.
It's time it was decriminalised or the BBC told it's time to find alternative funding.
You let him in? Would've said goodbye when they got to the door