My rights- HELP

emilyjsullivan91 · 13 September 2017 at 4:31PM

Hi all,
I wondered if it is possible to get some advice.

In November (21st to be exact) myself and my partner bought a hoover from Curry's and chose the buy now pay in 6 months option. In March this year we went in to the store to pay the item off and were told by the store that they had on their records that it had already been settled and there is nothing to pay. We said we weren't sure how this could be possible and rang the company that offered the credit and they said that it had been cancelled on January 20th.
We were in store for a while and relayed the message to the employee who then checked with the manager who checked again and said there was nothing to pay and in his words it was "our lucky day".
Fast forward to today and I have received a letter saying that because of a technical error the credit had not been added to my account and that they have "rectified it" and now added it back on so we now have to pay the £398.99 in 6 months. Needless to say that the money that we had saved to pay off the item was spent on other things and it's not something that we readily have available.
My main gripe though is it feels very wrong. How, when it was their error and we were told we had nothing to pay, can they suddenly load us onto a finance agreement without further consent and now demand that we pay?

Have I got a leg to stand on if I refuse to pay?

Please help!

[Deleted User] · 13 September 2017 at 4:46PM

No. It's an error that needs rectifying.

Think of it as an extra generous interest free loan.

amfan · 13 September 2017 at 5:10PM

emilyjsullivan91 wrote: »

Fast forward to today and I have received a letter saying that because of a technical error the credit had not been added to my account and that they have "rectified it" and now added it back on so we now have to pay the £398.99 in 6 months.

You chose the buy now and pay in 6 months option, you used that 6 months to save and then attempted to pay with the money you had saved over that 6 months?

So if they are now saying they have realised their mistake, and are giving you a further 6 months before you have to pay, why can you not use the new 6 months to save up again as you did last time?

Forgive me if I am misunderstanding the timescale of the demand for repayment.

emilyjsullivan91 · 13 September 2017 at 5:32PM

No you're not misunderstanding the time scale. However our circumstances have changed and i'm now self employed so that kind of money isn't very easy for me to save especially as we have a wedding to pay for.

I guess it's just a bit annoying as we had the money to pay for it, then were told that we wouldn't have to pay despite us offering and now they've gone back on it again. They've also done the 6 months from the 21st of July and only just let us know about it so they're only really giving us 4 months to pay...

National_Debtline · 13 September 2017 at 6:20PM

Hi there,

In a situation like this, I must agree with the other posters in terms of liability to pay, but as you have received bad service you can also complain. You can highlight what happened and try and include any proof you may have (although it doesn't sound as though they are denying the error at this stage). You can outline how you want the matter resolved (you can request them to write off/ discount the debt, but they are not obligated to do this and the money is still owed). If they do not resolve it to your satisfaction then you can take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Good luck,

Laura
@natdebtline

System · 13 September 2017 at 6:42PM

emilyjsullivan91 wrote: »

No you're not misunderstanding the time scale. However our circumstances have changed and i'm now self employed so that kind of money isn't very easy for me to save especially as we have a wedding to pay for.

The mistake is yours in assuming you could just spend the money instead of sticking it to one side "just in case" something like this happened. When anything like this happens you should always assume that at some point in the future they may come wanting their money, at least for the following year.

jonesMUFCforever · 13 September 2017 at 9:01PM

You borrowed money to pay for a hoover - you know the debt would not just go away and you must have known this despite benig told that it was paid off.
IMO they have done more to resolve it by giving you another 6 months interest free - go for it - the above advice about going to the ombudsman could be a double edged sword - he could agree that the offer is very fair.

Mutton_Geoff · 13 September 2017 at 9:57PM

I'm just curious how someone could spend £400 on a vacuum cleaner. I've bought a couple of Miele ones from them that are really good quality items and they were about a third of that.

poppasmurf_bewdley · 13 September 2017 at 10:34PM

You knew you owed the £398 yet you spent the money on other things. Now you're annoyed that they want their money.

I'm sure that when they told you the debt had been paid, deep down you knew that it hadn't and they'd come back to you for it. But you hoped you'd get away with it, and unfortunately it's come back to bite you on the bum.

It does amaze me that someone who hasn't got the money can believe spending £400 on a vacuum is a good idea in the first place. You can't afford to pay this off yet you are planning on spending £x thousand on a wedding.

Economics of the madhouse.

emilyjsullivan91 · 14 September 2017 at 6:49AM

We asked specifically if they would come back to us on this and they assured us more than once that it had been paid. You go by what you're told and funnily enough I hadn't been in this type of situation before.
The whole cost was actually for a hoover and a fridge freezer and as I said I was employed at the time working at a massive corporate company as an account executive so I could afford it. I have since decided to pursue a self employed career, so obviously trying to start a business is slow at first. I never buy anything on finance unless I know that I can pay it off and have never had any problems in the past, in fact my credit score is the highest it can be. It's not so much that we won't be able to pay it off as my partner has since assured me it will be fine in terms of cost but more the principle of it.

Thank you for those who have offered constructive advice although I am quite frankly disappointed by the tone of those who have responded in quite a scathing and negative way l am purely asking for advice, you don't know me or my situation so please don't jump down my throat. There's no need for it and if you aren't going to be helpful perhaps don't post.

Richey_ · 14 September 2017 at 7:43AM

Your credit score is not the highest it can be.
Your credit score is a made up number, marketing gimmick.
Go bankrupt or be 18 years old and it will also be maximum score.
No lender uses your credit agency score, they make decisions based on your history, wages, other commitments etc and make their own individual lending decision.

My rights- HELP

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