Talk:ARD ZDF Deutschlandradio Beitragsservice

No english spoken

Even though I share the sentiment, especially when considering the deliberate and purposely ignorant and stubborn conduct of GEZ. The fact, how ever regrettable it may be, is that german is the offical language for any correspondence with public authorities (GEZ and others). The GEZ is commonly known for its vileness, the fact that they actually reply to inquiries when they're written in english, comes as a surprise to me. Yet, their unwillingness to provide english information is, most certainly, studiously and driven by the interest to garner more paying "Customers". I suggest that any person who has not mastered the german language seek the aid and advice offered by public sources, as to KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. It's likely that they are eager to help even if their online publications are only in german. You should do so BEFORE getting into contact with GEZ-Freelancers (Note: They are NOT public officials!!!). Some interesting information can be found here: http://www.toytowngermany.com/wiki/GEZ (Note: Also use "site search" to find other helpful information about GEZ) -80.135.164.216 (talk) 12:22, 24 March 2009 (UTC)

I also find the paragraph strange. If you go to another country and do not understand its language, it is up to you to learn the language or pay an interpreter.--Ziko (talk) 18:17, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Maybe in a general sense one should make the effort to learn the local language; however, in Germany today, the television licence is forced upon everyone even if you do not even own a television or any other means of receiving. It is basically a poll tax on every household. There is furthermore double-dipping, since each individual needs to have a licence for his private home, and then every business has to pay a licence depending on the number of employees it hires. Why this is important in the context of language is that the thin justification of forcing people to pay to keep up the system is that even if you don't watch telly, you benefit indirectly by having an informed populace (on the unproven assumption that TV necessarily makes for that - or that we all should even agree that such is important). However, in reality, Germany is a country in which English is not widely spoken as it is in other European countries, allowing for certain exceptions. Thus, TV has certainly not made the populace very well informed at all. (I suppose education can share the blame - another forced institution foisted upon the German populace).

And - at the end of the day - who won the war anyway?2A00:C1A0:489E:9600:99A0:C914:EF15:1D9 (talk) 19:03, 20 October 2018 (UTC)

Translation from German article in progress...

... to be continued as soon as possible! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.230.189.15 (talk) 23:15, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

Neutrality

This article could use a neutrality-oriented cleanup. In its current state, it does not give a neutral overview of the service. Some parts of it were clearly written by someone with an axe to grind against the GEZ.

I made some changes (2022-02-25, and I forgot to log in) to add sources and update facts where possible, but I think there is still work to be done. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nicbou (talk • contribs) 09:04, 25 February 2022 (UTC)