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I have been sent a single justice procedure notice by tv licensing. I was visited by them on 25th May 2016.
I let the gentleman in as I was under the impression I wasnt breaching any laws.
I do not watch tv. I only watch i players as my 14 month old daughter is obsessed with TV characters that can be watched on the BBC i player. I asked them to come in so they could see that the television was playing an episode on the BBC i player, catch up channel.
I explained it was a smart TV and they asked me the brand of television and if it was mine and when bought. I said I had the television two years. They saw I had a you view box and asked why I had it , I explained that my Smart TV only had limited apps and that I could get ITV player and Channel 4 on demand through the box.
I explained that since I had lived at the property I had only broadband service never a television subscription service and only used TV and You View Box for the catch up services. My friend who was visiting me had to leave, and just after this point the two men changed from being quite friendly to very serious.
One of the men started telling me he was cautioning me for having equipment capable of receiving channels. I started getting very anxious at this point as my baby was getting distressed as they were strangers and she didn't understand what was going on I was shaking at this point.
They asked if the television could receive tv channels 1-5 and I said I thought all televisions could. At this point the 1st man nudged the second and he wrote down "admitted channels 1 -5" . I questioned it saying why have you wrote down that and he explained that it was just a formality that they had to explain to every person to make them aware that televisions can receive channels. He then told me to get rid of the You View Box and then I wouldnt be breaching any laws even though I only use it to watch catch up tv. My daughter got really upset at this point so they then left saying to make sure I got rid of box as they would be coming out to check. As soon as they left and I had settled my daughter I rang the TV Licencing Company to complain about the two men as I couldnt understand what I had one to breach anything.
The lady I spoke to advised I had done nothing wrong and that I had not breached anything as I only used catch up TV and I said I wanted to report the two men as they were giving people the wrong information , she asked me to wait while she spoke to her superiors and returned and advised that I was correct I was withing my rights and tat I had done nothing wrong and that she would be updating the system to prevent further visits.
I advised her that I wanted to take it further as I wanted to make sure no other person was given this wrong information and to ensure that future baliffs were trained correctly. I was put through to a specialist team that deal with these matters and was told that in fact the first customer service agent I had spoke to had in act gave me the wrong information.
That the baliffs were correct and that it should have been explained that because I had an ariel then I was in fact breaching the tv licensing law. He advised that to ensure that I wasnt I needed to reset my television to make sure no channels were signalling and that would be perfectly fine. I asked about the you view box and he said if it was connected by ethernet and not aerial then that too was fine. I advised that they needed to sort out their customer service agents and also the baliffs and make sure they armed them with the correct information and train them so they handed out information correctly to every person, he advised that they would look into this and I thought that was the end of the matter.
Today I have received a court summons. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.
I let the gentleman in as I was under the impression I wasnt breaching any laws.
I do not watch tv. I only watch i players as my 14 month old daughter is obsessed with TV characters that can be watched on the BBC i player. I asked them to come in so they could see that the television was playing an episode on the BBC i player, catch up channel.
I explained it was a smart TV and they asked me the brand of television and if it was mine and when bought. I said I had the television two years. They saw I had a you view box and asked why I had it , I explained that my Smart TV only had limited apps and that I could get ITV player and Channel 4 on demand through the box.
I explained that since I had lived at the property I had only broadband service never a television subscription service and only used TV and You View Box for the catch up services. My friend who was visiting me had to leave, and just after this point the two men changed from being quite friendly to very serious.
One of the men started telling me he was cautioning me for having equipment capable of receiving channels. I started getting very anxious at this point as my baby was getting distressed as they were strangers and she didn't understand what was going on I was shaking at this point.
They asked if the television could receive tv channels 1-5 and I said I thought all televisions could. At this point the 1st man nudged the second and he wrote down "admitted channels 1 -5" . I questioned it saying why have you wrote down that and he explained that it was just a formality that they had to explain to every person to make them aware that televisions can receive channels. He then told me to get rid of the You View Box and then I wouldnt be breaching any laws even though I only use it to watch catch up tv. My daughter got really upset at this point so they then left saying to make sure I got rid of box as they would be coming out to check. As soon as they left and I had settled my daughter I rang the TV Licencing Company to complain about the two men as I couldnt understand what I had one to breach anything.
The lady I spoke to advised I had done nothing wrong and that I had not breached anything as I only used catch up TV and I said I wanted to report the two men as they were giving people the wrong information , she asked me to wait while she spoke to her superiors and returned and advised that I was correct I was withing my rights and tat I had done nothing wrong and that she would be updating the system to prevent further visits.
I advised her that I wanted to take it further as I wanted to make sure no other person was given this wrong information and to ensure that future baliffs were trained correctly. I was put through to a specialist team that deal with these matters and was told that in fact the first customer service agent I had spoke to had in act gave me the wrong information.
That the baliffs were correct and that it should have been explained that because I had an ariel then I was in fact breaching the tv licensing law. He advised that to ensure that I wasnt I needed to reset my television to make sure no channels were signalling and that would be perfectly fine. I asked about the you view box and he said if it was connected by ethernet and not aerial then that too was fine. I advised that they needed to sort out their customer service agents and also the baliffs and make sure they armed them with the correct information and train them so they handed out information correctly to every person, he advised that they would look into this and I thought that was the end of the matter.
Today I have received a court summons. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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