I’m not with UPC but I had this experience first with Databaar and later with Quickline. It can even vary between the gemeindes in the same canton, the pricing is not always transparent.
In many buildings the cable cost is not part of the NK anymore and the tenant has to pay it - or get it blocked.
My impression is that they did that to UPC subscribers (was the case for me, they gave me a letter to send to my landlord), but they probably didn’t proactively reach out to people with the connection activated but no extra abo.
What do you mean by integrated into the price? Integratged on which price?
From what I guether the bills I keep receiving from UPC (35CHF per month sent quarterly) is for TV which I don’t have, never used nor asked for. I have internet with init7 which also has TV but I also don’t really use. My understanding is that this TV fee used to be charged to the landlord which then forwarded the cost to me and now (since July) UPC sends the bills direclty to me and I fell for the trap of paying the first bill so now they act like I signed a contract with them for one year. To warn other people, is there any other thing like that in Switzerland that considers that you are agreeing to a service/contract if you pay for the first bill they send to you? That would be great to know and be aware of.
Coming from abroad, this whole TV situation in Swtizerland is quite confusing and frustrating to me. From what I understand there is no public/free TV so if you want TV you need to get cable TV.
Then they do whatever possible to sneak a TV provider (at least in Zürich seems to be UPC) into your house. Then you still have to pay for this SERAFE thing and is almost impossible/risky to try to avoid it. Very annoying for someone that does not use this and does not understand the system well either.
I guess I can update my warning to:
If you don’t watch TV, make sure there is no TV provider connection in your place or you will end up paying for it even though you did not request or use any service.
FYI I’ve updated the post with your feedback, thanks again.
That’s not how contracts work in Switzerland. If there was no written statement that with paying this invoice you agree to have a contract with them then you’re not obliged to pay anything. If I were you I would send them a registered letter with a statement that you’ve never signed up for the TV services and that they can come and plomb the sockets. And from that point on you can stop paying.
That’s different from the TV connection fees tho and has to be paid by every houshold in Switzerland. I would also prefer to not spend those 400 CHF but I see it like a tax for having some public service TV channels.
Let’s stop calling it a tax for TV.
It is a tax for transmission of data/information. That’s it. Internet, Radio, TV, whatever. Maybe it will make it easier to swallow.
To be honest, I am pretty happy to pay this Serafe money to get more reliable information. I do not want to live with Fox News type of channels (or news channels only covering the breaking news).
If you look at the countries with a high score in liberty of press, they all have this kind of fee as far as I know (Nordic countries, Germany, Switzerland etc.)
A quick story I had about Swiss social life… 5 years in in Switzerland, I was part of a local sport team (U.S Football), and they organized a bbq for the whole team at one of the player’s place.
We exchanged messages on the Whatsapp group and one on the guy offered to bring some drinks.
I knew most of them are young or student, and I was older with a better paying job. Knowing that meat are especially expensive here, I offered to bring the meat. From my social background (African origins growing up in Paris), when you make a bbq you will all eat for 2-3 days with the leftovers.
So I bought a load of meat, enough to feed 12 big football players for a couple of days. But when I arrived, I realized that EVERYONE had bring his own meat… just for themselves… I realized that when they say “bbq gathering” , those Swiss guys means “let’s share a grill but bring your own food” 
Finally I distributed the meat around players for them to eat later… lesson learned!
At least nothing was wasted!
The issue is it was written on the invoice that by paying I accept the service. The problem is it was in German so I did not understand it and I just thought the landlord did not cancel it so I was still liable. I had no idea that paying a bill could be considered as singing up for a service. I am not sure yet if this is legal though, but I did write them so waiting for the results now, wish me luck 
.
I know SERAFE is a different thing but it just feels worse paying for it after having this issue with UPC now. 
Personally I don’t like paying the SERAFE because I don’t use radio nor TV myself, but what I find generally bad design is that people pay the 400 chf per year but still can’t have TV for free because they still need to pay for cable TV. I’ve lived in order countries with TV tax/fee but at least they gave free access to TV. Here it seems like you have to pay twice if you want it.
And insurances:
Hi, I just wanted to report that I received an email from UPC saying they will cancel the latest bill and that they will stop charging me so looks like the letter worked. \o/
Since we had quite a few newcomers to the forum (and I ran out of ideas about what to write). Any other Swiss specific topics you wished you knew about before coming to Switzerland?
How annoying the whole recycling system is, at least in Zurich?
Seriously, it’s overcomplicated.
How do you get rid of an old frying pan (metal)? It doesn’t fit in the tiny metal container slot…
Has anyone not trained in Kindergarten ever mastered the skill of binding their cardbord of all sizes and separated paper with a rope they had to buy only for this one use case, and then remember to put it out exactly on the right day and conforming to their guidelines, otherwise they just let your personal old mail stand in the rain on the curb?
Electronics go back to the store, big stuff must go to a dump and you need a car to get it there yourself, pet goes to a grocery store, plastic bottles are random sometimes stores or garbage, bulky styrofoam package material from a big delivery nobody knows where it goes, make sure you have the offical garbage bag and be aware that it switches garbage bag 3 km further down the road when you change Gemeinde, compost is again separte but not everybody has a green container as they are paid separate. Have fun spending 2-3 hours separating, binding, traveling to all different locations and googling where you can get rid of something or get a fine if you do it wrong…
buy a shredder if you don‘t want to put your personal mail on the curb.
I‘m pretty happy with the system and believe it‘s a rather small price to pay for living in a clean environment.
Same situation in Schaffhausen.
There is a booklet with all this information and even if I recycle almost everything, since I don’t have a car it’s not that easy to go to the recycling center.
It doesn’t make sense that paper isn’t together with the other recycling bins since you get so much of it in the mail but I am learning to adapt to it.
One thing that I wished I knew: Ignore supplementary health insurance from the insurance sales agent. Being 26 and with no health conditions I don’t really need it. Now I am going through the process of cancelling it and switching to the cheapest option (Helsana Telmed) which is being really painful. Hoping that I can get my bill from 300 (w/ complementary) to 230 (just basic insurance).
Note that it might also mean you won’t be able to get it later (that’s kinda the issue with those, you have to decide to get it now on the chance you might use it decades later, because they might refuse coverage).
And how am I supposed to bind the shreddered pieces with the string afterwards? If I’m not going to recycle anyway, I can also just directly chuck it in the garbage bag.
Anyway, that misses the point I was trying to make: systems should have as little friction as possible to work well, and this system requires both many decisions and effort on the side of the person willing to recycle. A clean environment should not require “a price to pay”, as not everyone will be willing to pay that price (even if you personally find it small, if only 1 of 100 disagree and just burn everything, it’s still a loss for all…). But if nothing else, the information could help new people in CH navigate this complexity a bit better with benefits to all, hence why I suggested it as a potential topic…
Disagree (OK the “need” part is arguable; we don’t need many things).
For the price I pay, it’s worth it for the gym and preventive care (e.g. teeth cleaning, massage) 50% refund.
The package costs/costed ~35CHF/month extra for me.
I agree that recycling is a total mess in Switzerland.