TV Licence wont refund the whole amount dispite their error

RainbowDrops

Gah! I moved house a couple of months ago, and moved my licence accordingly (there was only a week left, but I figured I'd paid for it!). When that licence expired, my partner purchased a new licence.

However, despite us having a valid licence at our new address, TV licencing sent me a threatening reminder to renew my licence.

In a panic, I renewed online, paying the full amount of £145.50.
I instantly realised that it was an error, and called to cancel it, but was told I needed to complete a refund form, which I quickly filled in and posted.

Yesterday, I received a response, telling me I have been issued a refund of £109.12 - over £36 less than I had originally paid. I called them up, and they said it's their policy to charge the full quarter price for any fraction of a quater used (in my case, 2 days - the time it took for my refund application to reach them).

Considering this was a duplicate licence, and we already had a valid paid for licence at the address, I think it is outrageous that I have been charged for a quarter.

The girl on customer service couldn't offer me much help, other than suggesting I send in another refund form.
It's such a stupid system, I can't understand why they don't have a process set up to allow you to cancel immediately over the phone.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? What are the chances of me getting a full refund?

fluffnutter

Very good, I'd say. Write to them. Explain the situation. I'm sure they're not trying to deliberately force you to pay for something you've already paid for. No doubt it's a clerical error. The two days of uncovered time have probably confused them. They've not taken into consideration that you already had another licence. Perhaps. Or perhaps not. They might just be really stupid.

RainbowDrops

fluffnutter wrote: »

They've not taken into consideration that you already had another licence. Perhaps. Or perhaps not. They might just be really stupid.

A little from column A, a little from column B

I had explained in my first refund application that we already had a licence & provided the number.

This time I also included an additional sepparate letter fully detailing my annoyance.

It's just frustrating that with all the technology available, they still favour using snail mail to process refunds!