Very.co.uk - Be Very afraid!

Annoyed.com · 17 November 2010 at 1:46PM

I will try to keep this short! Last year I ordered some goods from Very and placed them on their Buy Now Pay Later plan (BNPL) which was interest free if the balance was cleared before Oct 2010.

I cleared my balance not long after I purchased the goods, and when my statements were due, it would say that my account was in credit. Imagine my shock when in October I was hit with their high interest charges even though my account was in credit :eek:!!

When I queried it, I was sent a generic email saying that in their terms and conditions, if you wish to make any payment towards your BNPL goods, you must ring them to tell them that this is what the money is for! And yes, it is in their T&C's in the smallest print so in fact I suppose I was in the wrong!

My arguement is, that for a company that prides itself on being an online store, surely they could see my account was in credit, and apply the credit accordingly?? And to make you phone them is ridiculous, as you speak to a Robot for 5 minutes and then are told that "an advisor will be with you in more than 10 minutes"!

I have tried to fight this with Very, but anyone who has contacted Very customer service will know that most of them dont actually care, are very unhelpful and really dont have a clue on how to provide a good service. It seems my money left my bank account last year and then sat in Very's account for the rest of the time, no doubt gaining them some interest while they waited to hit me with their interest charge!

Please tell your friends about this as when I spoke to mine, they too werent aware, that you had to phone them to tell them that if you credited your account it was to be put towards your BNPL plan. One friend had even ordered a fridge and was paying monthly towards her BNPL plan which is due to finish next year. Luckily she now knows to ring them and let them know what these monthly payments are for otherwise she would have been hit by one massive interest charge, even though she would have effectively paid off the fridge.

Additions, Littlewoods, Great Universal etc are all the same!

Dont make the same mistake as me!

lgboots · 17 November 2010 at 3:28PM

I have had problems with Littlewoods over this.

Went through all the proper procedures, phoned & told them that the payment was for BNPL. Paid 3 weeks before the due date & they still slapped the interest on :mad:

Two months later I am still trying to get them to remove it, even though they have admitted they are in the wrong :wall:

fozmcfc · 17 November 2010 at 4:48PM

I was confused as to what to do when my BNPL was due for Very.

See my thread below.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2616511=

I must admit, I thought as my account was in credit, then they would just take the BNPL money from my credit leaving me with a zero balance, but of course it doesn't work like that.

In their defence it does say on the statement you have BNPL offer/s ending soon and you need to telephone to tell them you wish to pay the BPNL

richardvc · 17 November 2010 at 4:54PM

Correct me if I'm wrong but I guess this is set out to purposely catch people out so they can charge fees ! Truly awful !

I hope people vote with their feet.

fozmcfc · 17 November 2010 at 5:00PM

richardvc wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but I guess this is set out to purposely catch people out so they can charge fees ! Truly awful !

I hope people vote with their feet.

As I say to be fair, the statement makes it very clear that you need to telephone them. IIRC it was in bold, capitals on the statement.

In my case I made payments to my account, thinking that come the BNPL finishing they would just look and say ok he has £198 BNPL to pay, his account is £198 in credit so we will take that £198 and pay off the BNPL offer.

Once I saw the telephone bit on the statement, I realised that's not how it works.

The bit I think is cheeky, is that if you don't pay off the BNPL they don't just start charging you interest from that point, but backdate it from the purchase day.

TBH, if you use the BNPL and pay it off in time, it is a very good offer.

Annoyed.com · 17 November 2010 at 5:56PM

It is in their terms and conditions, but I dont recall it being in bold and black on my statement. But then again that could be because I would check my statement online, and the paper ones would just be shredded.....if only I had read them more carefully!

They arent hiding it, but it does seem to catch a few people out. I have voted with my feet and have cancelled my account!

fozmcfc · 17 November 2010 at 6:21PM

Well it's certainly not as straight forward as it could be that's for sure.

There is no point in having your account in credit, if they are just going to let it stay in credit and then start charging interest on the account, when you have enough to cover the outstanding balance.

The direct debit options include paying minimum interest free payment and total balance, but they possibly still don't apply to BNPL deals.

As I said, if you take advantage of the BNPL deal and pay it off before hand it is very good and BNPL deals seem to apply every month as well. But it seems over complicated, quite possible to catch people out.

CG19a · 17 November 2010 at 9:27PM

On the statement, just before they charge the products to your account, they do state that you need to call them and ask them to allocate the money to your buy now pay later products.

Very are a bit like Ryanair, you play by the rules and you get the good deals.

richardvc · 18 November 2010 at 7:17AM

CG19a wrote: »

On the statement, just before they charge the products to your account, they do state that you need to call them and ask them to allocate the money to your buy now pay later products.

Very are a bit like Ryanair, you play by the rules and you get the good deals.

Yes but it's their rules and they are not in the slightest bit like the normal buying and selling rules.

They put a twist in to try and trip you up so you pay them more money by quoting the 'it's in the terms and conditions' bs line.

fozmcfc · 18 November 2010 at 8:00AM

You two above, both have valid points, yes it is in the T&C's and they do tell you beforehand.

But Very do over complicate things by allowing you to build up a credit balance but then they do not automatically take the money for the BNPL deal when it is due even though you have the money to cover it.

As I see it if you have an account in credit and you have a payment due, then the minimum payment should come of the credit automatically. If you have a DD saying minimum payment, minimum interest free or whole balance, then if the money is available in your account it should be taken off the credit balance first, then the rest if necessary from the bank.

Makeandsave · 18 November 2010 at 9:37AM

I have read to many horror threads about very on here, I had a offer were i could get £15 of a £40 spend on a credit account i think i will pass after reading yet another bad very thread. Sorry this has happened to you and thanks for the warning.