Sometime in early 2009 I received a phone call at work, on my mobile. I remember it quite clearly because few people called me and no one had yet called my phone to reach Dave. And in my terrible Swenglish I deduced (it turns out incorrectly) that I was part of a telephone survey.
I don't recall exactly how the conversation went, but I confirmed to the man on the phone that there was a television in our apartment. Then he said something that I translated as " you have to pay for your television" and I said that we already had a TV. I was so surprised, this guy called, asked for my husband, asked me if I had a TV, and then told me that I needed to pay for it. I tried to explain that we had an apartment that we rented and that the landlord supplied the television and paid the cable. Turned out that Dave got the same phone call on his phone, asking for me.
Doing what we customarily do when we haven't a clue what a Swede is saying but we are a little too tired: we smile, nod, sort of agree, and move along. What we moved along into was a mess. Within two days we received bills in the mail, one for each of us, for 519 SEK each (about 70 USD depending on the exchange rate at the time). They were from something that had the name radio in it, and well, we just sort of added it to the pile of Swedish stuff to figure out. It was RadioTjänst.
While sitting to review bills and other things, I found more of them. We had been accumulating these and just putting them aside. So, it was finally time to deal with things. Asking some co-workers about this, I found out that we were required to pay the TV license (one per household) if we had a television. And so I took the most recent bill and paid it.
I did a little internet research as well, because, that's how I roll (for those who don't know me). What I discovered was that some people manage to exist under the radar of this organization for years, despite even having cable. I mean, what is the cable television for if there's no television? Why are the radio-people-who-collect-money-for-television not working more with the cable company?
Well, there are a few interesting reasons why that might not work (at least in the future, aside from the fact that not everyone has cable who has a television). The first being that there is ongoing discussion about whether owning a computer or cell phone may be reason enough to pay the television license (1, 2. Disclosure: These are posts from TheLocal.se, which regular readers may be a little suspicious of.) But even if everyone with a television doesn't have cable, isn't the a good place to start?
I have read loads of posts on message boards and other blogs where people report being tracked (stalked?) by the collectors. The RadioTjänst website confirms it (see picture)Perhaps that explains this sort of ominous entry on their blog (the English version). So, anyone reading this blog from Helsingborg, Avesta, or Sundbyberg...watch out!
Another blogger, The Hairy Swede (I didn't provide this name...it's there on the blog if you think that I'm a big meanie), wrote about his experience. I have heard numerous accounts of people never being contacted, and also people just simply not paying (for instance, this report suggests that Sweden's newly elected or appointed Culture Minister hasn't paid in 16 years). Was she not getting the memo? Was she just tossing them out? Because, well, that approach wouldn't have worked for us.
So, despite paying the bill, more bills came. Again, in both of our names, separately. I spent hours on hold trying to get someone to at least charge us once, rather than charging our household twice. With the help of speaker phone at work, I could patiently sit on hold, do my work, and take care of this. I figured that I had paid my 519 SEK and that they were just bugging us because Dave's bill was unpaid (and, by the way, they forwarded us to collections. Really?!? I mean, why weren't we "properly" inspected and stalked?) Well, turned out that they charge 519 SEK per quarter...AND...and they don't just credit what you paid to your account. They are very specific about which billing period each payment corresponds to. It's not a first-in, first-out situation. It's orderly and also confusing, if you don't know about the system. You don't have a bill that just adds on to your existing balance, you just get a totally separate bill. It seems silly and obvious, but when you don't speak the language, can barely use the online banking system, and haven't ever dealt with stuff like tv licenses before...it's a little confusing.
This is just another reason why we just shouldn't bother with a television.
