Bilsdale transmitter down

Cornucopia

I think I must be missing something here - if you can't receive TV broadcasts (and you don't have access to iPlayer) then you cancel your Licence until you can.

Briskly

No quite so easy - TV licencing are still in the dark ages with regard to cancellation. You still get charged for the whole month if you cancel on the 1st day, for example. The transmitter went down on the 10th so everyone will lose 3 weeks payment even if the cancelled on that day. They won't budge on this. Incidentally I have read that it took 18 months to fix a similar transmitter years back. 

giraffe69

Briskly said:

No quite so easy - TV licencing are still in the dark ages with regard to cancellation. 

Not the only ones by the sound of it. There are any number of alternatives. I'm sure you can find an elderly technophobe or two with no internet/mobile etc but I suspect the overwhelming majority will be able to cope.

andian61

southsidergs said:

Briskly said:

Still looking like it will be weeks to fix this for most people affected. At the very least the BBC should offer a 1 month extension of the licence for those in the area. Simple enough. 

Why?? Catchup etc is still available

Why would we not expect some kind of recompense for services not rendered? If we are not getting what we paid for then why just be walked all over and not push to have what is in our contract between us and the supplier? Do you make a purchase usually and say well it doesn’t matter if I get it or not? It’s quite simple really. Not everyone will have catchup especially older people who will also now be expected to pay now..

Cornucopia

andian61 said:

Why would we not expect some kind of recompense for services not rendered? If we are not getting what we paid for then why just be walked all over and not push to have what is in our contract between us and the supplier? Do you make a purchase usually and say well it doesn’t matter if I get it or not? It’s quite simple really. Not everyone will have catchup especially older people who will also now be expected to pay now..

It's not a contractual matter.   

You either need a Licence or you don't.  And the question of what happens if you view without an appropriate Licence is a criminal matter (though only just).

[Deleted User]

Briskly said:

southsidergs said:

Briskly said:

Still looking like it will be weeks to fix this for most people affected. At the very least the BBC should offer a 1 month extension of the licence for those in the area. Simple enough. 

Why?? Catchup etc is still available

Not for the elderly and others without the web

What has age got to do with it?

My parents are 83 years old and have internet, catch up TV, iPad, Laptop, Kindle etc.

Internet has been around for 30 years - the elderly were in their 50's when it became popular and it is even easier to get online and use services than ever has been.

If you want my opinion I think the people affected by it should pay a small additional premium on top of their current TV licence fee to fund the repairs, that would be fair, don't see why us in the North West should be paying to rebuild a transmitter in the North East that we can't use.

andian61

Cornucopia said:

andian61 said:

Why would we not expect some kind of recompense for services not rendered? If we are not getting what we paid for then why just be walked all over and not push to have what is in our contract between us and the supplier? Do you make a purchase usually and say well it doesn’t matter if I get it or not? It’s quite simple really. Not everyone will have catchup especially older people who will also now be expected to pay now..

It's not a contractual matter.   

You either need a Licence or you don't.  And the question of what happens if you view without an appropriate Licence is a criminal matter (though only just).

Cornucopia said:

andian61 said:

Why would we not expect some kind of recompense for services not rendered? If we are not getting what we paid for then why just be walked all over and not push to have what is in our contract between us and the supplier? Do you make a purchase usually and say well it doesn’t matter if I get it or not? It’s quite simple really. Not everyone will have catchup especially older people who will also now be expected to pay now..

It's not a contractual matter.   

You either need a Licence or you don't.  And the question of what happens if you view without an appropriate Licence is a criminal matter (though only just).

Of course it is contractual! You buy a license you expect a service. If you pay something out you expect something in return and in its entirety not part of it. Are licensing a law unto themselves, no! If people are not getting a service they paid for in good faith that is a breach. Btw for the sake of curiosity are those that think we who are being impacted by this outage are complaining unnecessarily also having to go without your usual service? I wouid be interested to know..

NSG666

andian61 said:

Cornucopia said:

andian61 said:

Why would we not expect some kind of recompense for services not rendered? If we are not getting what we paid for then why just be walked all over and not push to have what is in our contract between us and the supplier? Do you make a purchase usually and say well it doesn’t matter if I get it or not? It’s quite simple really. Not everyone will have catchup especially older people who will also now be expected to pay now..

It's not a contractual matter.   

You either need a Licence or you don't.  And the question of what happens if you view without an appropriate Licence is a criminal matter (though only just).

Cornucopia said:

andian61 said:

Why would we not expect some kind of recompense for services not rendered? If we are not getting what we paid for then why just be walked all over and not push to have what is in our contract between us and the supplier? Do you make a purchase usually and say well it doesn’t matter if I get it or not? It’s quite simple really. Not everyone will have catchup especially older people who will also now be expected to pay now..

It's not a contractual matter.   

You either need a Licence or you don't.  And the question of what happens if you view without an appropriate Licence is a criminal matter (though only just).

Of course it is contractual! You buy a license you expect a service. If you pay something out you expect something in return and in its entirety not part of it. Are licensing a law unto themselves, no! If people are not getting a service they paid for in good faith that is a breach. Btw for the sake of curiosity are those that think we who are being impacted by this outage are complaining unnecessarily also having to go without your usual service? I wouid be interested to know..

Correction - You are buy a license not a service and the license is still valid.

No. But surely anyone with the nous and ability to get on here and post can use an alternative means of receiving TV.

For info living in a neighbouring reception area this issue has been all over the local news complete with images of pitchfork wielding crowds - it's just a pity you can't see them.

Neil_Jones

andian61 said:

Cornucopia said:

andian61 said:

Why would we not expect some kind of recompense for services not rendered? If we are not getting what we paid for then why just be walked all over and not push to have what is in our contract between us and the supplier? Do you make a purchase usually and say well it doesn’t matter if I get it or not? It’s quite simple really. Not everyone will have catchup especially older people who will also now be expected to pay now..

It's not a contractual matter.   

You either need a Licence or you don't.  And the question of what happens if you view without an appropriate Licence is a criminal matter (though only just).

Cornucopia said:

andian61 said:

Why would we not expect some kind of recompense for services not rendered? If we are not getting what we paid for then why just be walked all over and not push to have what is in our contract between us and the supplier? Do you make a purchase usually and say well it doesn’t matter if I get it or not? It’s quite simple really. Not everyone will have catchup especially older people who will also now be expected to pay now..

It's not a contractual matter.   

You either need a Licence or you don't.  And the question of what happens if you view without an appropriate Licence is a criminal matter (though only just).

Of course it is contractual! You buy a license you expect a service. If you pay something out you expect something in return and in its entirety not part of it. Are licensing a law unto themselves, no! If people are not getting a service they paid for in good faith that is a breach. Btw for the sake of curiosity are those that think we who are being impacted by this outage are complaining unnecessarily also having to go without your usual service? I wouid be interested to know..

A licence does not guarantee you a service.  All it means is you can watch/record live TV on any suitable device.  The fact a transmitter went up in smoke is unfortunate, but these things happen.   If that turns out to be arson, then go and sue those who started the fire that meant that you can't watch TV on your set (although since you have internet access you'll have access to iPlayer, Hub, All 4 etc).

Cornucopia

andian61 said:
Of course it is contractual! You buy a license you expect a service. If you pay something out you expect something in return and in its entirety not part of it. Are licensing a law unto themselves, no! If people are not getting a service they paid for in good faith that is a breach. Btw for the sake of curiosity are those that think we who are being impacted by this outage are complaining unnecessarily also having to go without your usual service? I wouid be interested to know..

It's not contractual.   The Licence is not governed by contract law.   It is a permit from the State to watch whatever TV broadcasts are available to you.    It even says in the Licence terms that it doesn't guarantee reception.

I've already given my view on the impact - if a household has no TV reception and no means of accessing iPlayer, then they don't need a Licence and they should cancel it.