Anyone ever been caught by TV licence people?!

[emmma]

getting proper threatening letters now (many levels on from we know your watching telly without a licence), they cant force their way into your house can they?

we are moving out soon but we get nervous when answering the door !

have heard of some people getting done over it

[DJ Nik Laas]

if they come knocking for you, u dont have to let them into your home - if they did that without your consent - they are breaking the law!!

if you're admamant about not paying it, hide your telly and write a letter to the BBC to tell them you do not have a television, therefor you dont need a licence!
:wink:

[cheesemanor]

i think after they catch u, you still get a week to get the liscence
and you can transfer your license to your new house as well

not 100% on this though

[garyfontaine]

Yup Nik Laas is right, they need a warrant to enter your building, so you dont have to let them in.
They will be back with a warrant after the first visit, so you can just cut off the plug. This shows you have no means of watching television and so they can't prosecute!

[garyfontaine]

Oh yeah, me and flatmates lived in fear on Garmoyle Road for ages - not answering the door cos of these cunts.
We were obviously in a moment of weakness when we answered the door and it was a TV license inspector!
Luckily our aerial was playing up that day and when he turned on our set it had no picture. We just said that we only used the TV to watch videos, DVD's and kick the shit out of each other on the playstation.
He was pretty sound, told us they were properly investigating students in Smithdown area, but just scaring us all for time being.
He then sniggered to himself and told us to get a license.

Which we didnt.

He never came back.

[DelBoy]

That was probably me or my friend.

[Notorious C.U.N.T]

Feck the cunts hard :shock:

Get a black and white TV license (tis loads cheaper), that way your registered and they won't bother you.
Even if they do, you can just say that you've only recently bought a colour TV and have sent off for a change of license.

[garyfontaine]

Well I must say that I don't live there now..... :oops:

If it was you Delboy, then cheers ears.
Our room had a haze of splif smoke, that would have chilled the most hardened of idiot box checker.
...this was 2 years ago now... were you a checking then?

Do you stil do it now?

[muz-za]

We got caught watching Sesame St 2 days after we moved in to our house.

There was a big fucker in the car, I assume to get involved if it got heavy. They told us to get a license ASAP, which we did. The normal size fella was sound.

If you're moving out don't worry about it.

Incidently, why do they just assume everybody has a telly?

[Scott Gray]

they dont just assume, it is actually possible now to detect tv signals coming from houses and those vans that they sometimes travel around in are not for show, if your watching the tv theyl know and they already know if you dont have a license as they wouldnt be knocking in the first place...

ive heard of people getting small spells in prison for refusing or "forgetting" to get a license... id rather just pay and get one than spend time in the slammer for watching my tv

[nish]

That was probably me or my friend.

:lol: Thought of you as soon as I seen the thread title :lol:

[muz-za]

They do send nasty letters though, even without sending the van out. Fuckers...
Remember when they had those ads?

22 Glencarn Rd does not have a TV license

They have hand held things too, they even know what channel you're watching :shock:

[Scott Gray]

"big brother" syndrome hey... not even safe watching Neighbours these days

[emmma]

i refuse to pay to watch the telly, theres shite all on! - if you pay for sky you shouldnt have to pay for a bloody licence

im moving to city centre flats so surely they wont be able to single us out if we have about five flats above us and to either side?!

[d.sanchez]

i think they can pinpoint it mate to any house/flat!

[cheesemanor]

there bastards
if there is a lock on your room and a sepearate rent agreemant for each room then you have to pay a license for each room
the tight fuckers,

i agree
if you get sky then you shouldnt have to pay anymore

[Kieran]

i refuse to pay to watch the telly, theres shite all on! - if you pay for sky you shouldnt have to pay for a bloody licence

im moving to city centre flats so surely they wont be able to single us out if we have about five flats above us and to either side?!we'll have to pay, im going to get sky as soon as we move in :D

[Filthy Funk]

Im actually in the process of waiting for a 2nd letter back of these tv people.

see i only use the tv for watching dvds and for that you shouldnt need a licence at all?!
they are pretty cool bout it all, so long as the tv aint plugged into an aerial to recieve terrestrial channels and all that...

tv is shit.

whos watching big brother tonight?

:wink:

[absolutemoron]

Buy one you fucking cheapo bastards. It costs something like 35p a day!

If you pay for Sky then you are paying money to SKY!

The TV licence basically pays for the entire BBC - that's their TV, radio, internet etc output. I don't really think anyone can say they never use the BBC to get information or entertainment. By paying a licence fee it means that you don't constantly have to watch or hear shitty ads like the Crazy Frog (Sky have the cheek to charge you to watch their ads!), and that the journalism and programming can generally be more independent and cutting edge than any other media corporation in the world (look at the shit ITV put out to see how commercial stations work, not to mention the atrocity thrat is mainstream US TV). And compare the radio stations - the BBC ones genuinely support new artists, whilst commercial ones HAVE TO keep the playlists to a minimum to keep listening figures high and therefore please their sponsors, the advertisers who put on the most annoying ads every 20 minutes!

Plus the licence fee pays the wages of a few people that you and I know Emma!

[Scott Gray]

exactly, Sky is a seperate private company and if your paying for that its because you want the extra channels available, which are fuckin shite anyway... a tv license, whatever it maybe a year, pays for everything absolutemoron said above, in essence keeping alot of people in alot of jobs and allows the BBC and the government to keep broadcasting... its not as cut and dried as "there's nothing worth watching anyway!" because if u didnt pay, then their really would be nothing to watch.... id rather have the option of shite tv at least...

its 2005 people, they could pin point a your signal in frequencies that are carrying thousands of other signals also, they could probably find ur tv ariel in your house before you could, so its not worth thinking "i live in flats, il b ok" because you'l just get caught and then the threat of prosection is looming, which isnt nice of course..

unfortunately nothings free these days !

[DJ Danny C]

Buy one you fucking cheapo bastards. It costs something like 35p a day!

If you pay for Sky then you are paying money to SKY!

The TV licence basically pays for the entire BBC - that's their TV, radio, internet etc output. I don't really think anyone can say they never use the BBC to get information or entertainment

Yeah, a TV licence is good(ish) value, even if it's a total rip-off that as a person living on my own, I pay exactly the same amount as a family with six tellies.

However, I'm thinking that with certain programmes right now (eg Eastenders) the BBC should pay me to watch them :P

Also, why are there no dance music programmes any more?

[chibuku_sean]

[quote="absolutemoron"]Buy one you fucking cheapo bastards. It costs something like 35p a day!

If you pay for Sky then you are paying money to SKY!

The TV licence basically pays for the entire BBC - that's their TV, radio, internet etc output. I don't really think anyone can say they never use the BBC to get information or entertainment. By paying a licence fee it means that you don't constantly have to watch or hear shitty ads like the Crazy Frog (Sky have the cheek to charge you to watch their ads!), and that the journalism and programming can generally be more independent and cutting edge than any other media corporation in the world (look at the shit ITV put out to see how commercial stations work, not to mention the atrocity thrat is mainstream US TV). And compare the radio stations - the BBC ones genuinely support new artists, whilst commercial ones HAVE TO keep the playlists to a minimum to keep listening figures high and therefore please their sponsors, the advertisers who put on the most annoying ads every 20 minutes!

Plus the licence fee pays the wages of a few people that you and I know Emma![/quote


f***ing right!!

[a black midget gem]

get one, if you share a house its with just one other person its £50 each. you can pay monthly as well now.

[phattannedphil]

Why the fuck is everyone moaning about paying for a license, the BBC uses this money to fund their great service, you would not expect to eat at a restaurant for free... Stop being moaning tight arse student gits and pay your freaking bills...
:roll:

[Psychosomatic]

Kinda agree.

[Kieran]

Buy one you fucking cheapo bastards. It costs something like 35p a day!

If you pay for Sky then you are paying money to SKY!

The TV licence basically pays for the entire BBC - that's their TV, radio, internet etc output. I don't really think anyone can say they never use the BBC to get information or entertainment. By paying a licence fee it means that you don't constantly have to watch or hear shitty ads like the Crazy Frog (Sky have the cheek to charge you to watch their ads!), and that the journalism and programming can generally be more independent and cutting edge than any other media corporation in the world (look at the shit ITV put out to see how commercial stations work, not to mention the atrocity thrat is mainstream US TV). And compare the radio stations - the BBC ones genuinely support new artists, whilst commercial ones HAVE TO keep the playlists to a minimum to keep listening figures high and therefore please their sponsors, the advertisers who put on the most annoying ads every 20 minutes!

Plus the licence fee pays the wages of a few people that you and I know Emma!shows how much you know leo.

the license fee believe it or not does not just go to the bbc

[Scott Gray]

Why the **** is everyone moaning about paying for a license, the BBC uses this money to fund their great service, you would not expect to eat at a restaurant for free... Stop being moaning tight arse student gits and pay your freaking bills...
:roll:

pretty much what he said...

it does not matter if the whole fee doesnt go to the BBC, fact is some of it does and its a short term loss for a long term gain

[phattannedphil]

How your licence is spent
Each household's colour TV licence cost £9.67 every month in 2003/2004. On average each month, this was how the BBC spent your money:

BBC One £3.37
BBC Two £1.45
Digital television channels £0.98
Transmission and collection costs £0.98
BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and Five Live £0.99
Digital radio stations £0.08
Nations & English Regions television £0.90
Local radio £0.61
bbc.co.uk £0.31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total £9.67

[Kieran]

Since all I watch/listen to on that list is Radio 5 Live, I reckon I should pay £0.99 / 5

What you also didnt mention though was that they actually collect more money by licenses than the costs of the services, meaning the bbc are making a profit on us...

...not me though :lol:

[MustBeBobby]

My mate used to be a TV license inspector, apparently one of his mates was checking out a scally in the North End of Birkenhead. the fella told him that he didn't have a tv, gibbo said 'yeah, but you've got an aerial to which the scally replies 'I've got a pint of milk in the fridge, it doesn't mean i've got a fuckin cow in the back garden'.

He let him off, quality. Don't get a TV license, claim to be a pensioner.

[emmma]

By paying a licence fee it means that you don't constantly have to watch or hear shitty ads like the Crazy Frog (Sky have the cheek to charge you to watch their ads!), and that the journalism and programming can generally be more independent and cutting edge than any other media corporation in the world !


i get all this by not paying for a licence tho too leo :P

dont even need sky now that E4 is now available on freeview - get in - wall to wall celebrity love island :lol:

[outlar]

I used to get the threatening letters that emma describes on a regular basis, sometimes monthly. I think they've wasted a whole tree by now :lol: They were mostly the same style of "inspectors are in your area and will call round next week" but they never did. That went on for about 5 years. Eventually I did get a visit and I let the guy in... I don't have a TV so it was quite satisfying to let him have a nose about!

I buy TV's for christmas presents and always get the warranties set to my address (which is always passed on to licensing), it really winds them up but these days they just phone me instead of calling round. I wont let them in next time, i think it's a bit much to call round twice!

So threatening letters really mean nothing special. it's a bit more random than that.

[absolutemoron]

What you also didnt mention though was that they actually collect more money by licenses than the costs of the services, meaning the bbc are making a profit on us...

Are the BBC allowed to make a profit?

Anyway, Tesco (or wherever you shop before you get pedantic on my ass Kieran) make a profit on your groceries, is that a reason not to pay for them?

Theoretically you pay for all the other terrestrial channels by buying the products advertised on them. Sky just rape you for their own profit yet you're happy to pay for that.

Kieran, if you don't watch the BBC ever I'd love to know what you do watch. There is fuck all on Sky worth the time of day (let alone a subscription fee) apart from maybe the sports channels, for which they squeeze more money out of you! ITV and Channel 5 are just pure turd, don't tell me your TV never gets taken off Channel 4, although I could see why that'd be the main channel you watch.

[SteMc]

[quote=Kieran]
Kieran, if you don't watch the BBC ever I'd love to know what you do watch. There is **** all on Sky worth the time of day

Watch a few hours of bid up tv and the subscription pays for it self... fine television 8)


:lol:

[emmma]

ki only wants sky for the football, i dont really know why i want it, must be a few decent filums on there :lol:

anyway, get off yer soap box leo, it really isnt worth getting a sweat on about! :wink:

we move into our new flat in town this weekend mate so you and fi will have to come over soon for some caviar and champagne, we can afford that since we dont pay our bills :wink:

[ukcoolat]

They have hand held things too, they even know what channel you're watching Shocked

They can't tell what channel you're watching. The way they detect your TV is that upon receiving a signal for a station (which are all on different frequencies), it re-transmits this signal to itself at a fixed frequency. The reason for this I can't remember exactly, but it's something to do with them making it easier to demodulate the signal and make sense of it (which would be difficult if it were having to demoudulate many different frequencies). Even though this re-transmission only occurs within your TV set, the weak signal can be detected by the TV licencing snoopers.

And yes, if you're TV is off, they cannot detect it, contrary to what some say.

Oh and I've mentioned this before I think but this is the best scam:

If an inspector calls and you have more than one of you present in the house, whoever answers the door needs to say "Sorry, I don't live here, my friend popped down the shop for a minute. Could you come back in half an hour?". They are often well up for this offer. This gives you enough time to stash the TV equipment. We had a basement where we moved the TV, DVD, Video and associated accessories, and covered them with some boxes etc. Then we put a load of books around in the lounge and moved something to where the TV had been. The inspector calls back round and "the mate who was in the shop" (yer right) answers the door. Invite them in for a look about, tell them you read and chat rather than watch TV and you're all sorted. Worked a treat for us.

[MacLeod]

I got caught not long ago, its was just after my land lord had gone away travelling, he had been living there for 2 years without a license so they obviously were going to check it out at some point because there were stacks of license letters, when they came round though they were shouting at me through the letter box!!! But i blagged them by saying i'd just moved in and that my landlord had told me that the (non) existing license covered me for 2 months, so i had to start paying then, but i did receive a letter saying that they are considering taking me to court!! Wanke*s!!!

[Random1]

. By paying a licence fee it means that you don't constantly have to watch or hear shitty ads like the Crazy Frog (Sky have the cheek to charge you to watch their ads!), and that the journalism and programming can generally be more independent and cutting edge than any other media corporation in the world !

i largely agree with the above, but now even the crazy f*ckin b*stard frog is on C4 and ITV - there's no escape :twisted:

[scottyboy]

If an inspector calls and you have more than one of you present in the house, whoever answers the door needs to say "Sorry, I don't live here, my friend popped down the shop for a minute. Could you come back in half an hour?". They are often well up for this offer. This gives you enough time to stash the TV equipment. We had a basement where we moved the TV, DVD, Video and associated accessories, and covered them with some boxes etc. Then we put a load of books around in the lounge and moved something to where the TV had been. The inspector calls back round and "the mate who was in the shop" (yer right) answers the door. Invite them in for a look about, tell them you read and chat rather than watch TV and you're all sorted. Worked a treat for us.[/quote]

Surely thats a lot of hassle for the sake of a tenner a month? What if you're by yourself.
Anyone ever consider the reason why TV licence gets more ecpensive every year? Oh yeah, all the tight b***ards out there that refuse to pay their way meaning the rest of us have to pay more.

[MustBeBobby]

Surely thats a lot of hassle for the sake of a tenner a month? What if you're by yourself.
Anyone ever consider the reason why TV licence gets more ecpensive every year? Oh yeah, all the tight b***ards out there that refuse to pay their way meaning the rest of us have to pay more.

IFair enough it's tight, but when was the last time you heard a funny story about someone buying a TV license?

[nt]

Could everyone stop living up to the student stereotype and just by the sodding thing?

[phattannedphil]

Could everyone stop living up to the student stereotype and just by the sodding thing?

Thats BUY not BY...

[nt]

Could everyone stop living up to the student stereotype and just by the sodding thing?

Thats BUY not BY...

I'm THAT irate.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/images/400/tilldeathusdopart_2.jpg