Neither have I in all my time here (although not quite 30 years).

They all learn high German at school and are perfectly able to use it when required, in fact I’ve rarely encountered Swiss German in this context.

And yet...

Insisting on Swiss German, especially when dealing with bureaucracy, is common out my way.

In my admittedly unrepresentative sample, it sometimes seems as if the willingness to switch to Standard German correlates to the power dynamic in the conversation.

But in most of these situations, responding in High German (or some aproximation thereof) is acceptable. Conversations where one party speaks SG, the other HG, are common.

My experience is that several people have refused to speak in High German with me and have told me that they want to speak in English, however, the same people have not spoken English at a sufficient level to communicate as I wrote earlier. I have been told that this is because people switch automatically on hearing an accent they think is British or American.

Also, the explanation I was given by other colleagues at work is that these people are afraid of making mistakes in High German.

Wait: it gets worse. Ten years ago I had to sue the builders of my new flat, HRS, in Frauenfeld over a “vice caché” although the entire construction project (a large apartment building) was handled out of Crissier. I was allowed to draft my complaint in French (I have a Belgian law degree) but had just one year of German in Uni. In Belgium every jurist has to pass a test in the other national language or English. In Frauenfeld I had to muddle through at ore-trial in my limited German. Even the (large) firm’s CFO, attending in jeans, could not or would not speak either of my languages except sometimes when I struggled for a German word—grammar already having flown out the window. Happily the CFO settled the case for my asking amount, CHF 2’200. Language issues aside he was also friendlier than anyone in Crissier; they probably figured I would take the trouble to jump through the hoops to sue.

My recollection of Billag was they would be informed by the local authority (Gemeinde) when you move house - so any new correspondence is sent to the new address as you will register in the new place. If you leave Switzerland altogether, the local authority tells them to stop sending invoices.

There is a phone number on the website of Serafe you can call. Maybe phone that or get a Swiss German speaking friend to help.

Cheers,
Nick

A couple of weeks ago I got a payment notice from Serafe for CHF 365. I do not know German but I think it is related to television and radio (Radio und Fernsehabgabe). And the CHF 365 is for 1 year (there is starting date and ending date to tell)

I basically never watch TV and radio in my apartment. So my question is if the payment is mandatory. Will there be any consequence for ignoring the payment?

Thanks

Mandatory. You have no choice.

If you have a radio, even a car radio, TV, computer, cell phone, even a kindle you are able to access the subsidised Swiss media.

Seeing as you posted this question you do have a capable device. It doesn’t matter if you access it or not.

You have no choice.

Serafe collects money used to finance the public information system. It's not a pay-per-use fee like Netflix, it's a federal tax.

All the information are here: https://www.serafe.ch/en/

I recently received an annual bill from SERAFE for the time period
May 2019-April 2020.

Up to now, I have already paid for SERAFE for the periods
January 2019-March 2019,
April 2019-March 2020.

So as you see, I have already paid for 11 of the 12 months they are charging me.

I guess all this mess is caused by a change of apartment; I moved to a new one in August 2019. Back then I deregistered from the old Gemeinde and registered to the new one, so I would expect everything to be settled automatically.

However, this didn't happen, and now SERAFE asks me to pay for an already paid period. I tried to contact them by e-mail, but it's been a long time and still I got no response. I also called them multiple times, but no one answers the phone.

Do you have any suggestion or idea on how I could handle this issue? It's a pity to lose around 335CHF, while on their website it is clearly stated that you only have to pay once.

Send them a registered letter.

This. And to make their life easier, write that you need an invoice from April 2020 to March 2021 and where you lived before. So they don't have to search through everything themselves. The communities made their start very difficult, no harm in giving them a hand.

Give them a call.
I ended up overpaying a whole year too once - a complicated issue with moving too. One good person at the other end of the phone, and all the overpayment was sorted out.

you need to de-register with them. it isn't taken care of automatically.

You can't deregister with Serafe.

But one could inform them about address change when moving. Doing that generally avoids problems.

Hi OP, I had a similar issue when I moved cantons last year, and got a SERAFE bill at my new address for a time period which I'd already paid at my old address. I emailed them to let them know and got an automated reply thanking me for my email, but I never heard back from them. I set aside the bill and kind of forgot about it, and a few days ago (about 3 months after my email), I received a new SERAFE bill where they deducted the amount I'd already paid at the old address.

All this to say, I guess those emails do eventually reach someone!

https://www.20min.ch/schweiz/news/st...tiger-25123102


30 CHF reduction so 335 CHF as from 2021 to be paid

Hi guys,

Have any of you tried either a) not paying Serafe or b) filling the application to opt out?

So far, I haven't paid a single bill from Serafe (last year I meant to do it, but I forgot).

Today I have received a bill for more than 800 CHF: more than 300 CHF for this year, and more than 400 CHF from last year (apparently 12 + 3 months).

As all of you, it really pisses me off to pay this humongous amount of money for something I don't use at all: I watch zero Swiss TV. Moreover, I live alone.

I was thinking about not paying the bills - do debts expire at some point in Switzerland?

Is applying for opting out a best option? In case of registry, I have not WiFi at home, and the little connectivity I do is through my company's mobile phone, plus my Internet connection in my mobile.

I know the law-observing person would pay with his eyes closed. I am asking if anyone tried a backdoor to try avoid paying this rip off.

Thanks.

You have to pay.

Get over it.

It's a "tax" which large majority (pretty much any modern electronic devices holders) need to pay.
Your internet connection deems you eligible - so no, you don't have the basis to opt out.
No way around it, unless you want to accumulate debts, and potentially get to court in the end.