Beware £10 off Next card

[Deleted User]

stringz wrote: »

My girlfriend and I were in Next today and a chap in the store was handing out cards with what seemed like a very good offer, of £10 off our first online purchase. All we had to do was write our email address on a form and we received a card. When we got home my partner dashed to the computer to take advantage and before she realised what she had done she had entered into a credit agreement with Next.
Reading the small print, all became clear. It says "redemption of the £10 incentive involves applying for a Next directory credit account".

We've learnt a valuable lesson, but at the same time we did not expect to be hoodwinked like this. The chap in the store did not mention anything of the sort, he implied it was a simple £10 off online orders. I wrongly presumed it was similar to the offers Tesco or Sainsburys does, where you get money off your first online order.
We also went to debenhams today, where at the sales counter they ask if you are interested in a store card. They don't mask what they are offering.
So why are Next behaving in such an underhand way?

Am I justified in being upset, or should alarm bells have rung straight away ie: was it too good to be true? I don't think so, although we (my girlfriend actually lol) acted too rashly, placing an order before reading the small print.

Grr i'm angry.

I got this recently and tbh the T&Cs were fairly clear

angelsmomma

stringz wrote: »

I understand that, but I did not think it would involve being signed up for store credit in such a covert way, which we will never make use of and would also make us think twice about shopping there again. doesn't seem like very good long term thinking on Next's part.

They will also now send you their catalogue and bill you for it. I think it is around £3.50.
A friend bought a table from them and was furious to find that they sent and billed her for a catalogue a month later.

Mr_Oink

angelsmomma wrote: »

They will also now send you their catalogue and bill you for it. I think it is around £3.50.
A friend bought a table from them and was furious to find that they sent and billed her for a catalogue a month later.

Forgot to mention their catalogues. I kept meaning to return them - has anyone done that? I seem to recall it was the delivery they charged for, not the catalouge, and they don't refund for delivery charges. They were chastised a while ago on Watchdog for breaking some act or the other because of this, exactly what escapes me - but they did hint they would comply with it from this year.

glitter123

When i was in Next yesterday the same thing happened to me. I said specifically "I dont want the Directory" and was told by the "seller" I wouldn't get it as she ticked the box. She also said it wasn't necessary to have a credit account. As it happens I didn't qualify for the £10 because I've already shopped online and have an account number.

I used to get the directory many moons ago but rang and said I didn't want it and haven't had one since.

Catslovelycats

I've got a Next account.
Cancel the catalogue (or you'll be charged £3.95 for it).
Pay it off before the due date and there's no problem.
I was surprised when I first bought online and found I was automatically getting and charged for a catalogue I didn't want. But there's the option to cancel that and still keep the account.
It's the only way you can buy from Next online, unfortunately, but it's never cause me a problem. Besides, my purchases would have only gone onto my credit card anyway

janthemum

I simply phoned up and requested that they no longer send the catalogues as I would at their items on line.

Mr_Oink

janthemum wrote: »

I simply phoned up and requested that they no longer send the catalogues as I would at their items on line.

It's funny you should mention telephones, but a case passed through our office where one of their customer service people - a "Shelley Summers" to be exact (and I use the name having seen the communication first hand) recently terminated a customer account for refusing to provide a valid telephone number. What made it particularly bad is the Next customer concerned was, in fact, deaf and having a landline phone would have been about as much use to her as a chocolate teapot by all accounts.

It's been kicked up to the disability discrimination task force and the last I heard a BBC Watchdog researcher had hold of it.

CpdButWhy

catslovelycats wrote: »

I've got a Next account.
Cancel the catalogue (or you'll be charged £3.95 for it).
Pay it off before the due date and there's no problem.
I was surprised when I first bought online and found I was automatically getting and charged for a catalogue I didn't want. But there's the option to cancel that and still keep the account.
It's the only way you can buy from Next online, unfortunately, but it's never cause me a problem. Besides, my purchases would have only gone onto my credit card anyway

Same for me, it was really unclear and not obvious that they actually create a credit account at registration, and not just storing my name and address for keeping it on file so that I don't need to specify it again.

Actually, one of their phone service representatives claimed to me that it is possible to simply order and pay by card without actually signing up for a credit account, but I never verified that.

As for not causing a problem, they provide a ridiculously large credit limit which may actually reduce your chances of getting credit elsewhere because of having too much available credit. Also, they vary the credit limit possibly every month based on how much time elapsed since your last order from them, which again does not look nice on your credit file.