BBC service is worth extra £20 the popular view
Thursday 9th February 2012, 10:00AM GMT.
Stockbroker Dale Acton said he still paid VAT on his Sky service and felt there were more important things than pursuing a refund from TV Licensing. (Picture by Jess Stevenson, 1222511)
TV LICENCE payers said yesterday that overpayments were not worth claiming as they received a good service from the BBC.
Those islanders approached by the Guernsey Press in Town said they would not ask for a refund given the hassle involved.
It has emerged that regulations setting licence fee rises in 2005, 2006 and 2010 were never registered in the Royal Court.
It means that if people argued for a refund and their claim was accepted, more than 19,500 colour licence holders could each be due £19.
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A stockbroker who still willingly pays Sky VAT…more money than sense springs to mind!
Anyway…the matter in hand. The BBC provide an excellent service generally and to be fair they are worth every penny of the licence fee…the only issue I have with the BBC’s service is the lack of DAB in Guernsey…the introduction of DAB here and the benefit of being able to receive 6 Music and more importantly 5 Live in decent quality, (with reception that doesn’t go unlistenable as soon as it gets dark!) would more than offset any negative thoughts about overpayments. It’s been available in Jersey for almost a year now and there is no reason, other than money, why it shouldn’t be introduced here. I know it’s all available on $ky, Freeview, Online, etc, but if we are paying the same fee, we should receive the same service, also none of those options are much good when “out and about”, (portable & personal DAB radios are now pretty cheap and available for about £30). Please give us the full service BBC.
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Totally agree David. I for one am getting tired of having to flick between 909 and 693 MW just to find the ‘best’ reception when both are generally bad.
Why we don’t have DAB here is beyond me – your point is quite true, we’re paying for these services through our license fee, surely the extra 20% they’re making on VAT should cover DAB?
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If it’s anywhere near as bad as getting VAT back from Sky then you couldn’t pay me to go through that again!
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You actually got it back?! They just ignored us or put the phone down!
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Sky agreed to deduct VAT for Channel Islanders several years’ ago – I remember the stories in the Press about it.
It seems that over the years they ‘forgot’ about this.
I spotted that I was still paying VAT last year and rang them up. They sorted it out, but it was made clear that this is a ‘special offer’ for Channel Islanders.
That means that it’s unlikely we’ll be able to take advantage of any other special rates they offer (such as movies or sport cheap or free for a limited time), since most of them have the condition that they are ‘not available in conjunction with any other offer’.
Annoying but I’d rather save the money each month.
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The BBC is not good value for me as I don’t want or listen to their radio stations and hardly ever watch their TV.The BBC should be a subscription or part subscription service.With so many TV channels available now and the new technology the forcing of people to pay for it whether its wanted or not can not be justified.
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Already sent my e-mail to TV Licensing to say that I will be witholding my next two monthly instalments to recover the cost….
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Im not bothered about the £20 as its money well spent and the BBC licence is the only thing between us and wall to wall ITV / Channel 5 style programming.
Also, I have a dab radio and it works fine. It came over with us when we moved back to the island last year and one day I accidently hit the wrong button whilst using the FM function and briliant digital Radio 5 came out. I live in town and we got as far as forest road before the signal went (but it came back at random points)plus its only a small portable job so its not specialised gear.
I think its the overlap of the service that Jersey get but its all teh BBC stations.
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Thanks for the info – I have just pressed the DAB button on my radio for the firs time since moving here 2 years ago, and hey presto! I feel a bit silly for not trying sooner! Works perfectly in St Peter Port.
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Perhaps the paper could print a step by step guide on how to reclaim the money? I would apply iven if it were £20 as it’s the principle that counts.
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BBC has not given us the digital TV channels in full (yet) as promised for switch over. Would you pay in full for a service only partly completed?
No!
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Which channels are you on about? All the BBC TV channels that the BBC broadcast are available on Freeview in the Channel Islands as promised. All the other channels that we cannot get are not the BBC’s responsibility, that role lies with Arquiva, who own the Fremont Point TV Transmitter in Jersey. Unless this mast is upgraded then all we are going to receive is 15 TV channels because that’s all the mast has the capacity for.
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Let’s face it applying for a refund is time consuming and it will cost you more in your personal time to get the money back. Not worth it.
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SS, have you tried contacting Trading Standards in the UK about Sky charging you VAT.
If I remember correctly Sky’s office is situated in Dunfries, so it will be the Trading Standards Office for that area you need to contact. Look it up on the net.
They wont ignore or put the phone down on them.
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Pete.
Thanks I will give that a go.
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SS
You really need to contact Sky and push the issue , I have not been paying VAT on my account for over 4 years now , if they fail to make the necessary amends then you ask to be disconnected – they will then put you through to the right department and you “may” get some free months from them, I know people who have …
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Since the money has been taken from us illegally I think the only decent thing is for the BBC to offer each of us the money back. Particularly since they waste a good deal of it on overpaid ‘celebrities’ and vanity projects around the world’ Those of us who are stockbrokers, bankers or squillionaires may choose not to accept it, that should be a personal decision.
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tbuwrr on February 8, 2011 The Best should had a couple of sprit drinks before he started that normally works to wear off the nerves, to bad im a best man on 3rd april, and i dont know what to say LOL
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