Letters from BBC Television Licensing
At the end of 2005, I decided not to renew my television licence. I found that my television viewing consisted almost entirely of tapes of old programmes purchased off Ebay, and that my watching of broadcast television was less than an hour a week.
I have therefore decided to stop watching broadcast television and spend the £139.50 saved from the TV licence fee on video tapes. It was a good decision; I now pay for what I watch, and not for what I don't watch.
The only fly in the ointment has been aggressive letters from TV Licensing (TVL), which collects the licence fee on behalf of the BBC. TVL/BBC sends millions of letters every year to people who do not watch broadcast television, demanding payment. For many people, these letters can be very frightening.
But the letters are a bluff; they are computer-generated. TVL/BBC have none of the powers their letters imply and, with a little knowledge, people can stand up to the bullies. The purpose of this website is to share my TVL/BBC letters as I receive them, and to provide useful information for people who have no time for the BBC.
To view the letters from the beginning, click here for 2006 and here for 2007. Stay on this page for letters in 2008.
January 2008
I enter my third year as an unlicensed person. I have saved £402.50 by not paying TVL/BBC. Today, I receive my 21st letter.
The statement "Action required immediately" is a lie; there is no "requirement" for me to take action; TVL/BBC may request action, and I am entitled to ignore them. The back of the envelope has a bold black flap:
Inside:
Mr Hales says that the TVL/BBC caught "32,336 evaders" last month. I wonder whether this is another bogus figure. If anyone out there has the same figure for a different month, or in another region, I would be interested to hear.
February 2008
This envelope, like the one above, has a black flap on the reverse. There is a message waiting for me when I remove the letter:
The envelope says Notification of Impending Action. This is the third such envelope to say so, the other two being in May and October 2007. Inside:
There is also a leaflet enclosed, which I have received twice before:
March 2008
A similar envelope type as last month, but 9 by 6-inch rather than 9 by 4:
After a long run of the same letter formats, TVL/BBC has come up with something new:
The psychological purpose of parts A and B is to induce the reader into selecting at least one of them. This is a technique commonly used in sales, whereby prospective customers are presented with options A and B with the aim of creating thoughts as to which option is chosen, not whether one of the two options is chosen.
TVL/BBC reduces the option of not using TV (they mean receiving broadcasts) to a footnote, and ties to it the condition that the reader should telephone TVL/BBC and expect a visit. The option that the BBC leaves people alone is not listed.
Here is the return form for option A:
April 2008
The BBC is lying to me again by saying that action is "required" on the front of the envelope.
Inside, I am greeted by TVL/BBC's new logo, which omits the trademark symbol ("TM" in a circle). This gives the impression that TV Licensing is an organisation rather than the brand name it is.
I also note that Mr Hales has changed signatures:
I used to compare signatures on high value cheques in a bank and can state categorically that this pair will fail any comparison test. The new signature is broader and more relaxed; the J starts from a pronounced curve; the top of the J sweeps across; the top of the A is not closed; the L is not looped; the letters are not joined up; and the signature is not underlined. Finally, the new signature is level, whereas the previous signature is written at an angle.
These signatures are not by the same person, and I conclude that "John Hales" is not real. This is the second time the BBC has misled me as to the identity of the person writing to me; click here for "Val Smith".
I am disappointed that despite the exposure of the BBC's bogus phone-in contests, its withholding of charity money and other deceptions, the BBC still regards misleading people and using false information as permissable.
May 2008
Inside:
Enclosed with the letter is the same leaflet as received in February (see above). This is the fourth time I have received this particular leaflet. Since the only difference is the change in payment total and TVL/BBC logo, I will save on visitors' downloading time by not reproducing it.
June 2008
Inside:
Previously, letters were from the London South Enforcement Team; this one indicates London South West. Looking at my previous letters, I see that the letter of May 2006 refers to London South East. I do not see how I can be switched from London South East to London South West; my property has not moved.
July 2008
Inside:
We have switched departments again: the June letter was from the London South Enforcement Team; this one is from the "UK Enforcement Division". Does that mean there are enforcement divisions outside the UK?
Stay tuned for another TVL/BBC letter next month.
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