Review Time
I have had a horrible experience like many others. Paid for a music licence in 2023 (at the time not knowing it was needed til I received an underhanded call from them. That expired and I ceased playing music in the shop. 2 years later I receive communication saying I owe for 2 years as I did not notify of cancellation. £1200 for a small business in crippling times!!?? Many many calls/emails etc, them adding surcharges and debt collector letters, I write to the ombudsmen and infom PPL PRS of this. Eventually get to speak to a manager and they have finally written it off after 3 months of fighting it because they did not send a reminder invoice in 2024. They use bully tactics and underhand methods to try and catch you out, do not respond to emails and online contact forms until you take it further.
I have had a horrible experience like many others. Paid for a music licence in 2023 (at the time not knowing it was needed til I received an underhanded call from them. That expired and I ceased playing music in the shop. 2 years later I receive communication saying I owe for 2 years as I did not notify of cancellation. £1200 for a small business in crippling times!!?? Many many calls/emails etc, them adding surcharges and debt collector letters, I write to the ombudsmen and infom PPL PRS of this. Eventually get to speak to a manager and they have finally written it off after 3 months of fighting it because they did not send a reminder invoice in 2024. They use bully tactics and underhand methods to try and catch you out, do not respond to emails and online contact forms until you take it further.
Was approached via email and telephone on a fishing expedition with a scripted bunch of presumptuous questions. I thought the aim of the conversation was to get a quote to play music and be compliant. It turns out the quote came with a bill for 2025 plus 2026. I have tried by email and telephone to resolve this situation. However the call handler Gemma will not help and has told me if I do not pay 2025 and 2026 Quote/retrospective Bill they will start proceeding against me. I am so upset and beside myself. Even when I said I can’t afford a licence for 2026 so please don’t bill me as I’m NOT playing music. She responded the bill is for 12 months and this stands. My business can not afford this. ** Update Thanks for your below response but this proves my point! How can I have an account with you? I’m not playing music to the public**
Truly the most disgusting company I have ever seen, I will never understand how you can still exist and government is not doing anything to dissolve you. I guess money talks! And no, I will not contact via email to discuss the issues because for what? Tried many times! and you don't care. I will try to sort out your nonsense through ombudsman.
Oscar was absolutely amazing, probably the best customer service call I have ever had. He took time to thoroughly explain to me what I did not understand and was happy to repeat himself if necessary. He had so much patience and passion for his job role it was so lovely to experience. Especially after some call handlers not giving you time of day or patience to help you, Oscar was a breath of fresh air and made me feel very comfortable and heard. He couldn’t have done enough for me. I wanted to write this review to praise Oscar as he deserves the recognition of being such a lovely person :)
Wish I could give them 0 star. When starting my business I made it clear I wanted a quote but I felt like they tricked me into a contract. I explained my business didn't start for another 2 months but they wanted their payment there and then. I explained this is a misunderstanding but still no sympathy to working with me. I asked for the recordings of our phone call they said they would send it. I asked 3 times and still nothing. Just a money grabbing business.
Just had my final email from PPLPRS who have stated that yes I did end my license and yes they do admit that they “forgot” to end my licence in their system but it’s my fault as I should have contacted them AGAIN when they issued further invoices (of which I received a total of zero!) to claim the licence I told them I didn’t want and inform them AGAIN I didn’t want the licence as my business had closed. Despite them enlisting a debt collection agency (after sending untraceable, paper invoices and not contacting me in any other way despite having my home address, email and phone number) they insist this hasn’t impacted my credit scoring.So, off to the ombudsman I go! Quite a few others are complaining as well as this company seriously needs looking into. Request a subject access request for all of your details (of which they have 31 days to reply) then send it all off to the ombudsman.Apparently financial compensation for the stress and harassment they shower down on licence holders plus impact to credit scores is “not in their policy” as any spare money goes to their members. Lucky them hey!Well this is going to cost them a lot more now….
I made the mistake of making a casual enquiry to PPL PRS regarding a business my wife was opening in our village the second week in January.The first thing you notice , with this organisation is they don't advertise pricing. Even though they give links online for pricing, there is no pricing. Also, many of the links lead you back to the page you are on, or they simply don't work. The only way you can get pricing is to provide them with all your details. It became abundantly clear that the reason for this approach is so that they can aggressively bully and harass you into buying a license. Multiple calls and emails made on assumption that you are already publicly playing music and in breach of copyright.My wife's business premises are approximately 20 square metres, she is a sole trader with no employees. We were quoted £541 per year to play streamed music from her phone to a portable speaker! It seems they are purposely and aggressively targeting small businesses with bullying and harassment tactics. emails titled "ACTION REQUIRED" (yes, in capitals). Another shady practice they employ is that you cant reply to their emails. so you have to either go online and pay, or speak to one of their agents.My wife has now invested in a nice pair of Sony wireless headphones to listen to her music.There are a huge amounts of complaints online about this organisation, not just on Trustpilot. Surely there needs to be some kind of investigation into their dubious practices. I cant wait for the stock standard PPL PRS response to this review telling me how sorry they are about my experience, and to let them investigate further.....Begone!!
I'm sorry to read all the dreadful comments about this company from the point of view of those wishing to licence music - but my problem is trying to register new music in their system. The website barely functions at all and any support tickets raised are never answered. Something is seriously wrong with this company.
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PPL PRS is the UK's music licensing company formed as part of a joint venture between PPL and PRS for Music, bringing UK music licensing services together. Find out more about PPL PRS, TheMusicLicence and public music licences for businesses.
