TV Licence refund.....dont bother you wont get it

_Miss__Scarlet_

I have been trying to get a refund on my student sons unused portion of his Tv Licence since the middle of June.....the number on the licence is the recording options saying press 1 for blah blah press 2 for blah blan blah etc well the option for refund says to write in so I did and I included the licence, they wrote back saying a payment is going through via his bank so they cant do anything until its in....I wasnt aware he had paid by quarterly direct debit and couldnt understand what they were talking about (he is backpacking and working his way around Europe during the Summer break) after talking to him i understood. I tried to call the help line and tried each option to get to talk to someone but you cant speak to anyone there is an option to leave you name and number but after they say that bit it states 'this option is not available' and cuts you off. They finally sent me a form to fill in but they want the licence number (they have the licence) they want an offiicial letter from the university stating term dates and for my son (in Europe) to sign it. Also they state that they will only refund in 3 month blocks well he got his 1 Oct so he would be due a refund from 1Jul-30Sep but the form states that they will only refund from the date they receive the form, so he wont get a refund even though the licence was sent to them mid June. Why they cant just send out a refund form as soon as you ask for a refund I just dont know.
Why the Tv Licence people dont trust you enough when you send the licence to them saying you dont require it anymore and the reason why, we are expected to buy one when we need it the onus is on us. The wasted phone calls the wasted time all for the sake of approx £30.00. I am emaling them to keep the licence and we will use the form next year. Oh btw if you dont need a licence because you are dead they want the death certifiate !!

DrFluffy

I got mine easily...

_Miss__Scarlet_

ummmm how? he isnt in the uk to sign the form and I cant find an official letter to include

pavlovs_dog

i had a real battle to get mine - in the end i went via my bank and did a chargeback under the direct debit mandate thingy (tv licensing had taken my money for my final quarter even though i had already cancelled. and despite the fact they had to all intents and purposes 'stolen' my money, they still didnt feel i was entitled to a refund :mad: . the bank felt differently though :beer: )

for those with teenagers off to uni in september, remember that direct debit isnt always better - they charge you more for the pleasure ( they claim its because you pay 'in arrears', personally i think its just a stealth tax). however when they sell the benefits of DD to you at freshers fayre, they conveniently forget to mention it. funny, they 'forget' to tell you how hard it is to get back the money that is rightfully yours as well :rolleyes:

miss scarlet, i feel your pain!

masonic

pavlovs_dog wrote:

for those with teenagers off to uni in september, remember that direct debit isnt always better - they charge you more for the pleasure ( they claim its because you pay 'in arrears', personally i think its just a stealth tax).

When I had a TV license and paid by directy debit, I was always charged in advance. In fact, when I finally decided to ditch my TV altogether last year I had 6 months advanced payments for my next license to claim back from them.

pavlovs_dog

Pay quarterly

1 payment of £34.14 and 3 payments of £34.12 will be collected from your bank or building society account every three months. If you choose this option, your licence will be paid for in arrears; because of this, a small premium of £1.25 per quarter is included in your payment.

Please note: this option is not available to customers living in the Channel Islands.

taken from here

masonic

Clearly, I was paying monthly as it's the cheaper option. I was under the impression that this is the method preferred by TV Licensing - the quarterly one has an equivalent APR of about 6.3% on those arrears by comparison! :eek:

nige

Monthly or a full year from the post office were the cheapest ways, I got mine from the post office, sent them my licence with a signed declaration stating I wouldn't need it before it expired and got my three month refund.

You can still claim after the date you stop needing it and get payments back to that date, you need to include proof of when you stopped needing it like a utility bill, easiest if in halls as you can include that contract and state that you have moved back in with your parents for summer, the date on your contract will be when they date the refund from not the date they receive it.

FOR ALL PEOPLE ABOUT TO GO TO UNIVERSITY:
There is a bit on the TV Licencing website designed to make you lose money, under the section for students is the following statement:

Do I have to pay for a whole year even if I go home for the summer?


If you are going away for summer and you're not going to need your licence again before it expires, you can claim a refund for any completely unused quarter (three consecutive calendar months e.g. July, August, September).

You'll probably need to buy your TV Licence at the beginning of your first term in order to receive a refund, so the earlier you get it, the better chance you have of claiming some money back.

THIS IS NOT TRUE, if like at my University you start BEFORE THE END OF SEPTEMBER, go without a TV until the first of October, since they start the licence from the first of the month buying when you start University would run until the END OF AUGUST, since most people finish their year in June trying to claim back for a complete quarter would be impossible as you would only have two complete months, July and August, if you wait a week or two and get a licence in October then you have the full three months required for a refund. Of course this means no TV for the first week or two of Uni, but then you will probably be exploring and going out a lot and all sorts in your first weeks anyway and won't need a TV.

heymylastnameislewis

i know i will get told off 4 this, but dont have one when at uni, ive lived in houses before and they just knock on the door and u can buy one there and then, tv licenceing is one of the daftest things around, i really would not have a problem with adverts on the bbc! its an unfair charge for the programs on the bbc which i generally never watch, my advice is of course buy one to avoid trouble but also write to your mp and complain about it!

CrispyUK

I had no trouble with my refund from TV licensing. I purchased the licence in January as I didn't take a TV down to uni for the first term.

About a week before I moved out of halls for the summer I wrote them a letter explaining I would no longer need the licence after x date and enclosed the licence - sent off to the address on their site.

Took a few weeks but then a cheque came through for the 6 months unused.

freebie_junkie

i had teh same in my first year when i still lived with my mum and dad so went to stay with them in summer, i finally got the cheque 3 montsh later with my name spelt wrong, teh bank refused to take it and it was another 4 months, theyre awful arent they? it doesnt bother me anymore coz i live in my own place but i suggest students who live with their parents over summer pay weekly with the card you can top up at paypoint outlets so you can just stop paying when you move out of your student accomodation.