Quote:
Originally Posted by Anonymouse
I am heartily sick and tired of those TVL thugs. I've received yet another love letter from them - this one states they're going to "start a full investigation" after the 8th.
What exactly does that mean? They're addressing me as "The Legal Occupier", which is odd because at one point they'd somehow obtained my surname but got the initial wrong - it's K, not C, so as far as I was concerned, even if they knew my first name it was misspelled and therefore they weren't addressing the right person in a legal sense.
I should mention in passing that I do not in fact have a TV or any equipment capable of receiving or recording a live broadcast. But telling them that does no bloody good whatsoever, as they don't believe you. They simply do not believe that 2% (or is it more now?) of the UK population don't watch TV.
I'm almost inclined to just let 'em visit; I've nothing to hide. Besides, I may not even be there much longer; I'm debating moving down to Crewe, nearer to my workplace, so as to cut my travelling expenses from £240 per month (train) to nil (bicycle).
There is no way that a refusal to pay the TV licence should be a criminal offence. Civil, yes, because allegedly it's just another bill, not a tax...or so they say, anyway. The sooner TVL is defanged or even abolished, the better!
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To be fair, the TVL salesman who called on me appeared to be a decent chap. This I undestand is not usually the case, possible due to the nature of their work and the way the company pays them incentives for seling a licence or signing up a direct debit.
I fail to see why TVL are allowed to use sharp practices such as pressure tactics, intimidation and threatening behaviour to attempt to gain payment in instances where the service is not required.
Letter I received Oct 2014 contains:
* 'You are hearby given official notice'
* 'you are committing a criminal offence'
* 'to stop this investigation and avoid penalties for breaking the law please renew your licence immediately'
Letter received Nov 2014:
* 'officers are scheduled to visit from this date'
* 'they will investigate for evidence that you are watching or recording tv'
* 'the reason we are giving you prior warning of the visit is to give you one last chance to by a tv licence'
* 'officers may appy to a court for a d#search warrant if they are unable to gain access to your property'
* 'from 15th December your property is under investigation'
I notice that they now appear to have dropped the references to 'We will be interviewing you under caution', I wonder if they were crossing the line with that one.
I'll see if the visit from the TVL salesman is an end to it. I was pleasant to him and he seemed more than happy, but I will not be so pleasant if I get further threatening letters and another visit.