BAYV Horrors - Where do I stand?

FinancialBS

[FONT=&quot]It seems like we’ve been to hell and back with the hire-purchase company Buy As You View over the past few months. I’ve only recently come to the understanding of what the company is actually like; with their alarming interest rates, warranty rates, EPS covers, service covers and more. Seriously, they have consumers tied at all angles it seems. This is why I turn to you guys for assistance in the matter. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I have sitting in front of me, a mass of paper-work that is dated back to 2008—where the recent problems stem from with the company. My mother, as a single-parent of two, believed BAYV to be the best thing since sliced bread; an affordable way to service the wishes of myself and my sister, someone to turn to when no-one else would lend credit, a quick fix to the issues of not having necessary household items. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]My mother has admittedly gotten herself into debt with the company due to non-payments for a plethora of reasons; being hospital-bound, having pay significantly drop, my sister having a baby (whilst being a University student and not claiming money) amongst other things. Everything has piled up and it has become a financial struggle in all aspects of life this year; we struggle to get by. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]As referenced above, this all started when BAYV threw more offers and promises at her in 2008; when we were said to have paid all of the outstanding balances on previous items (been a customer at BAYV for 15 years!). My mother needed a washer and a fridge back in 2008 as hers (as part of a Fridge Freezer) packed in, she decided to opt for a larder fridge rather than a full fridge-freezer as the freezer still worked. Payments were going fine and then about a year later in 2009, we were told that we could have two TVs (which my mother sought to buy as presents for myself and my sister); one 19-inch TV and one 22-inch TV. As always, everything went swimmingly with the company; repayments were affordable and a year later we were told that we could have something else from them with our costs remaining low (in the £10-£15 range) and the BAYV representative suggest she upgrade her main TV to a 37” LCD HD-ready TV. I guess you could call her gullible, but she agreed; citing that she’d only have it if payments didn’t rise too dramatically which we were promised they wouldn’t. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]She has since been paying the TV for over a year (since July 2010) and in April of this year she struggled to keep up the repayments, citing that it was too much at the eight-weekly rate. It was decided that she would be refinanced and that payments would be made via direct debit but still, it got too much. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]A few weeks ago (early October), we had a knock at the door and it was the BAYV representative who sought to remedy the financial issues. He was adamant that the TV should go back as payments were not being made; and couldn’t be made. He also said that the larder fridge should go back and the arrears on the account would all be settled. We were also told that it would be an added drop to the actual amount that we had to pay back seen as though the items were in good condition when they repossessed them. We were then quoted a figure of £1,400 (give or take a few pounds) as the outstanding balance on the account by the BAYV representative, who FYI had full access to our account. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]A few days later, my mother ordered the paper-work from the “main office” and decided to look over the paper-work with a fine tooth comb. What we saw didn’t correspond to what we were told and we figured that we owed even less than suggested. Admittedly, it was a mistake on our part, as each item isn’t broken down and the “account” as a whole is refinanced and new interest rate applied each time an item is purchased. The agreement or “account” we have is stating that we owe £1997.45 (which would be the latest agreement from the 37” that we don’t have anymore). Am I correct in assuming that this wouldn’t be what was owed? Shouldn’t it revert to the older “account” (agreement) of the last item purchased before (that we have in our possession), or am I talking complete balls? [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Anyway, we were quoted the figure of £1997.45 as stated today by the BAYV representative who frankly had no clue and had to ring the office several times to answer even the most basic queries we had about the account. We then asked what we “owned” as such and were told, straight up, that we own absolutely nothing. That’s right, nothing. We’ve been paying interest on top of interest on top of interest. Apparently the item is the last thing you pay for, which is exactly when they strike with the plea of “You’ve paid off this item. Want something else?” – which I find to be complete BS. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]We were told that the account could close if we were willing to give back the goods – which really at this time isn’t a viable option. Not only would it mean no TV (OK, this is something that we could probably do without), but it would mean no washer—which to me and my mother is an absolute necessity. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Anyway, the agreement that we sort of arranged (nothing set in stone yet!) today stated that we would pay a weekly direct debit of £20.84 – which would clear up all the accounts in 91 weeks. I personally find this unjust. We’ve paid over £2,500 and own nothing. We have nothing that is “ours” to show for spending this money. Not only that, but we have to pay another £2,000 for the goods to be ours. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]We did ask what the actual price of each item was and could they give a breakdown of what we owe; they said that’s not possible. We have absolutely no leg to stand on it seems when they seem to have us covered from all angles. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]What are our rights? Where do we stand? Any opt-out clause? Any way to lower the repayments (£20.84 is still something that we'll struggle paying, it seems)?
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[FONT=&quot]P.S. I know - absolutely stupid for getting into something like a hire-purchase agreement in the first place.
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LittleMissSpendALot

Didn't want to read and run, and I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along soon but why not give the items back and check your local free cycle for a TV and washer?

Memory_Girl

I second Freecycle or local charity furniture place.

My fridge freezer came from them 2 years ago at £25. Ok its dented but works fine. My chest freezer £40 but has saved me hundreds in food bill. Washer was £80 but practically new. TV's are being sold there at £10 or less. Before I had them I did without - but thankfully not for too long.

I would suggest returning the goods, changing your Mothers bank so they don't have access to the accounts and then repaying what is affordable. If she is on reduced income then I also suggest she talks to one of the free Debt Charities too.

Good on you for helping her through this though - these are not the nicest of people to deal with but can be done eventually.

MG

paulmapp8306

Agree. Interest on interest is horrendous but unfortunately I think your goosed there.

IF they will close the account as fully paid - if you return all the goods then do this. It means no debt and no outgoings.

You can get a TV, Washer, Fridge/freezer from Freecycle or from the charities mentioned.

Lets face it, for £20 pw you can do laundry in an laundrett for a week or 3 until you get sorted, and also that £20 pw will get you a TV/Washer/Fridge (even if no freezer) in 4-6 weeks even if you have to pay for them.

This seems the best option to me and will get that company off your back.

immoral_angeluk

I agree with the above. You can buy a brand new tv washer for around 400 for the both nowadays and if you go through charity shops etc this would be even cheaper. There are also charities that may be able to help you by providing a washing machine as a grant, nip down to your local CAB and they'll be able to tell you who as I don't want to post on here in case they get innundated!

RAS

Hi BAYV have featured in two very confusing and concerning threads in the last month. In neither case could the poster work out at the beginning what they owned or owed.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3501553

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3538551

One case was very much complicated by the fact that payments seem to have been stolen by a rogue collector and there are other threads on other forums related to the the problems peoplek experienced sorting out debts caused by this theft.

Your starting point has to be that hire purchase is just that; you own nothing until you have made every single payment.

I suggest that you consider doing a Subject Access Request, which will require BAYV to send you every single record it has regarding your monther's accounts.

You need to work out what she has paid for in total, what she has paid half the payments towards, which can go back to BAYV without your mother having to pay the rest of the debt and what she has piad less than 50 percent of the payments towards, as they can take the goods back and still make her pay the rest of the money up to the point where she has paid 50% of the cost.

Please get CAB or some other charity involved with this as BAYV seem to favour verbal arrangments that cannot then be verified.

If your mother has paid half the payments, it may well be best if you return those goods so that you can concentrate on payments for the more recent purchases that she will have to pay for whether the goods are in the house or not.

If you need to replace anything electrical like the fridge check out www.freegle.co.uk, freecycle, Emmaneus and the Furniture Recycling Network all of which could produce fee or very low cost items that help you get out of the debt situation.

Get your mother to do a SOA and also suggest that she speaks to one of the debt charities http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=clicks&utm_campaign=resourcebar#help. I suspect that CAP may be more suitable for her as they do home visits.

HappyMJ

I'd go along with everything said so far send the whole lot back save the £21 per week for a few months and get replacements from freecycle, charity shops or friends. I've got spare 28" crt tv (sorry it's not a 37" flatscreen hd ready tv but it works) and washing machine and I'm sure once you start asking around then someone you know will have one somewhere. To have to spend £2,000 more on things that are only worth a fraction of that is madness.