Bright house

charlie2783

Hiya all,

Im new here and was hoping if possible for a bit of advice?!!lol

I was claiming benefits when I went to brighthouse for my sofa,washing machine and tumble drier.
Iam now working!!(yay)
I originally got the sofa on a monday and told them that monday was my best day to pay,no problem.about 3 months later my washing machine broke and with no spair money I returned to brighthouse and got a package of a washing machine and a tumble drier(the drier is a refurb) this was on a saturday ,they have now changed my day to pay to a saturday which really is no good for me.I was making regular payments aswell as being hassled with phonecalls on a daily basis(from my experience this is just what they do!).
The arm of the sofa was broken,I requested a repair(i pay the service cover and damage liability)They took approx 6 weeks so in that time i refused to pay for something that was broken until it was fixed,They seemed ok with this so i continued to pay for the drier and w.machine.I am back paying 31.00 per week.
My hours have been dropped at work therefore my wage has gone down(this is another issue i have,my contracted hours are not being given to me at work.I believe this is a breech of contract?!!!)
So really after all of that my question is I need to lower my payments for bright house as I cannot afford the 31.00 per week.
Does anyone know how i go about this?Also,if I pay say 15.00 per week can they still remove the goods/take me to court etc as i would still be paying..surely thats better than me not paying atall,isnt it???
I want to be sure of where I stand before I contact the branch manager because they are so rude and un helpful,Im not looking forward to it to be honest.
The total amounts are
Sofa £3416.00
W.machine £554
T.drier £400
They wont be exactly that as a few payments have come off since then.
I called CAB and to be honest she wasnt all that helpful so I figured someone on here might be able to point me in the right direction...maybe!lol

Had i have got a tv or something like that then no questions asked i would be returning it,but the items i got we genuinely need(family of 6 = loadsa washing and drying!)

Thanks in advance
Ps sorry i have beaten around the bush a bit but thought some of it may be relevant!
xx

alwaysonthego_2

You should repost this on the debt free board at the top of this forum.

Do you have any other debts?

fluffnutter

You know what p1sses me off the most about opportunistic, hard-nosed, exploitative deals like this? Those who need help the most (i.e. have the least cash to splash) end up paying the most. Three and a half grand for a sofa??? !!!!!!? I paid £600 for mine. Almost a grand for a washing machine and tumble drier??? If you bought new at competitive prices, you'd pay less than £400 for both.

But I don't need to take HP so I can get the pick of the crop. Makes my blood boil. As to practical advice, charlie, you'd going to need to check your contract. But I should imagine that if you've agreed to pay £31 then £31 is what they'll want. Also I think you were on dangerous ground when you stopped paying whilst your sofa was broken. I wouldn't trust someone to say "that's fine" and I'm surprised you got away with this.

How about trying freecycle or something similar if you need other bits in the future. Second-hand stuff for free's better than these exorbitant prices.

glider3560

fluffnutter wrote: »

But I don't need to take HP so I can get the pick of the crop. Makes my blood boil.

No-one should need to take HP if they put money away every month. If you can afford £20/month or whatever for a new sofa, telly or fridge when it is needed, then you could have afforded to save £20/month prior to needing the replacement.

adouglasmhor

glider3560 wrote: »

No-one should need to take HP if they put money away every month. If you can afford £20/month or whatever for a new sofa, telly or fridge when it is needed, then you could have afforded to save £20/month prior to needing the replacement.

How do you know what the OP or anyone else can afford to save or have as income before they start into a deal like this?

glider3560

adouglasmhor wrote: »

How do you know what the OP or anyone else can afford to save or have as income before they start into a deal like this?

If someone can afford to spend £20/month to pay Brighthouse, then they could have afforded to save £20/month.

adouglasmhor

glider3560 wrote: »

If someone can afford to spend £20/month to pay Brighthouse, then they could have afforded to save £20/month.

How do you know they did not get the extra £20 a month until that month, or had other debts they had just finished paying off?

fluffnutter

Indeed, it's multi-faceted and we can't ignore the very valid argument of "If you want something, save for it. That way you won't need HP". But my belief that those who have more money to start off with get better deals is generally sound.

charlie2783

alwaysonthego wrote: »

You should repost this on the debt free board at the top of this forum.

Do you have any other debts?

Thankfully not !

charlie2783

Judas wrote: »

You have a contract with them; If you dont comply with it then they can likely take the goods away,

As much sympathy as I have why on earth should Brighthouse have to supply you a sofa, washing machine etc for free or way below what was agreed too?

They are not a charity.

You need to refer to your contract but I somehow doubt you can just chnage/stop making payments as you see fit even if the stuff does breakdown.

Who said i wanted something for free..that wasnt my question!!!
My hours and wages have been dropped there for my circumstances have changed(financially) hence asking to pay a lower amount..I haven't all of a sudden decided that i dont want to pay anything!!

charlie2783

glider3560 wrote: »

No-one should need to take HP if they put money away every month. If you can afford £20/month or whatever for a new sofa, telly or fridge when it is needed, then you could have afforded to save £20/month prior to needing the replacement.

Well maybe thats because this country is so messed up!! When i took these agreements out I was on benefits and could afford it ...I am now working and cant afford it!!!! I was financially better of on benefits....wheres the sense in that ???????