Another mistake, another threatening letter
Another threatening letter from a Quango arrived this morning, telling us that we were liable for a four-figure fine for not having a TV license. A stern brown envelope, a letter with lots of red ink, nasty words and exclamation marks.
“We know you’ve bought a television,” it said, “and we know you’ve not got a license.”
Quite why the government thinks it’s got the right to demand that TV retailers take our names and addresses when we buy a TV is a mystery, because it’s none of their business. But that argument pales into insignificance against the fact that once again, some government computer somewhere has got this WRONG.
For the second time in two days, I have received a letter calling me a criminal, as a result of government computer cock-ups. This one was resolved after a phone call this morning. It turned out that when we moved and we registered a change of address on the license form, the automated machine on the other end of the phone couldn’t make out what we were saying. Because it wasn’t a human being, it just told us to hang up, and we assumed it had been sorted. Sadly not. And this letter is the result.
Once more the government’s computers and robotic answer machines cause me mild annoyance. If I was old or unsure or frail or vulnerable, letters like this would have caused a lot more stress than that. And the trial of talking to a machine rather than a person would have caused more stress still.
So, again, I say, if the government’s computers and robots can’t get things right all the time, and all of my time, their envelopes, and our money is wasted sorting out the mistakes, can we please return to a society where personal details are mine, people are there to speak to if there are mistakes, and there’s a bit more friendliness and a bit less Orwellian madness in the system? Please.
I never thought it would be true that Matt Lucas and David Walliams would become the greatest satirists of our age, but their “Computer Says No” character is about as nailed on as you can get!
Rick
6 Comments
have your say
You think that’s bad, I once received threatening letters from TV licensing for two years non-stop because they’d incorrectly spelt the street I lived in - so I had a valid license on one address (the correct one) and no license on the second. Despite calling them up two or three times to correct their error (and being assured the second address was now off their system), the letters just kept on coming. We ended up sticking them to our fridge to laugh at the impotence of a body which threatened court action, but never took it further.
PS. Shamed as I am to know this, it was Matt Lucas and David Walliams, in their despicable “comedy” show Little Britain”, who produced the “Computer Says No” sketch - oh the hilarity of these two masters of nothing never starts.
Thanks for that Gavin. Hope you didn’t mind me editing out the swear words! You clearly aren’t a fan of Little Britain! You also aren’t the only person to point out my mistake, so I’ve changed it in the post!
It is shocking (yet not at all surprising) that the government computers are getting so much wrong. We are increasingly at their mercy, and they are increasingly incompetent.
Lol, don’t worry about the swears, it’s your blog after all
“TV Licensing” -which most people think is a separate official body or quango - doesn’t actually exist other than as a brand. For some years, the TV licensing authority has been the BBC itself and the work is outsourced to the usual private sector suspects!
http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/aboutus/index.jsp
“TV Licensing” is a trading name used by companies contracted by the BBC to administer the collection of television licence fees and enforcement of the television licensing system. The majority of administration is contracted to Capita Business Services Ltd, with cash related payment schemes contracted to Revenues Management Services Ltd. Over-the-counter services are contracted to PayPoint Collections Ltd. Marketing and public relations activities are contracted to the AMV Consortium. This consortium is made up of the following four companies: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO Ltd, Fishburn Hedges Boys Williams Ltd, PHD Media Ltd and Proximity London Ltd. The BBC is a public authority in respect of its television licensing functions and retains overall responsibility.
That’s interesting - I must confess that I didn’t know that. Although I do know that Capita are also “partners” to lots of public bodies and carry out numerous administrative functions on their behalf across the country.
I take on board that this isn’t “the government” or a Quango in the true sense of the word, it is still a compulsory interaction with a public authority (via their agent) and is one which is governed by computers getting things wrnog. So I think that the overall point remains - the BBC should ensure that their agents aren’t making silly mistakes, and that the ordeal of doing business with them becomes less of a trial for the consumer who has absolutely no choice.
We’ve had a similar problem. I bought a new Freeview box for the house where we are living temporarily (following flooding) but put my home address down.
We now get a letter every month telling us that we have to send them all sorts of information despite having phoned up and told them the situation.