what are brighthouse playing at???

mumofthree067

hi there, I've noticed over the past couple of weeks that my credit file has been searched by Mackenzie hall i was quite puzzled by this and was thinking whats the best way to find out what its all about without ringing them, but this morning i got a letter from them saying i owe bright house £1414 i have had a sofa from them a few years ago but when it arrived it was suppose to brand new and it wasn't, it had chips in the wood work the leather was scratched and pealing so i asked that i wanted it replaced or for the parts to be replaced as i was paying five pounds extra each week along with my payment for the sofa think it was £25.00 in all, insurance which i HAD to have even though i said i didn't want it at the time. any way after asking every time i went in for them to fix it they kept telling me the parts where being shipped from china!! it should be fixed soon it was about 18 months into payment and i told them i wasn't going to pay anymore, was i in my rights to do this???? and how do i get Mackenzie hall off my back?? I've got a fairly good credit rating but this has made it not very good!! what rights do i have with brighthouse??? sorry bout all the questions its just im very worried, and have got the right to sent the sofa back aftr all these years??

DarkConvict

Under the Sale of Goods act if they are not of satisfactory quality you can refuse the goods.

Did you return the sofa or have you been using it for the last 18 months?

Your best bet here i think is to ring consumer direct in your area, as it is a dispute over goods/services received. They can clarify if you took the right processes before stopping payment - http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/about/how-we-help/

mumofthree067

Hi yes i was using it for 18 months and paying for it weekly, then i told them i was going to stop payment if something wasnt done to fix it, so i did stop payment that is, then i was hounded for weeks via phone, letters and house calls!!! i then moved house, that was 4 years ago now they have reported me to a collection agency!!! can brighthouse come and take the sofa back off me after 4 years because isnt that what they do take the product back if you dont pay. or is it now in the hands of mackenzie hall? and if it is how i dispute it.

DarkConvict

Under sale of goods act if you were unhappy you should reject the goods immediately or give them time to repair it, time depends on the time but no more than 3 months for something like a sofa. This is the point at which you should have put it into dispute and stopping paying, by carry on paying a judge may see that you had accepted the product.

If Brighthouse were to collect the item, the items value will have dropped significantly from the original price so it would not clear the debt. By stopping paying you have breached contract so your credit report is likely to get damaged by this as i 'personally' do not believe you have followed the procedures. This is why i recommended you contact consumer direct (trading standards customer facing side) to actually find out what are your rights and did you exercise them properly.

What they do is going to depend on the contract you signed, was it a loan, was it a secured loan, was it hire purchase, do MH own the debt or are they just acting for bright house. As you were not happy from the start rather than just been a pure debt issue, I do urge you to get some advice from consumer direct to find out what grounds you have to complain, if they state you acted improperly by not disputing it sooner you are going to have no option but to pay.

Worst case scenario is they take out a CCJ in addition to adding a default to your credit file for none payment.

mumofthree067

thanks for your advice dark convict i will contact them to find out about my rights.