Do you have any views on rent-to-buy stores such as Brighthouse?

Angry_Bear

topaztiger1983 wrote: »

Myself & my wife use Brighthouse & have done for just over a year, we started with a Washing Machine as ours died, now we have an Acer Laptop, a Tumble Dryer, a PS4, a Samsung S5 & a HTC One M8, also we have just taken out agreements on a Baird 42" FHD TV & a Tibo TV Stand

We pay about £68 per week, but the Washing Machine & Laptop are nearly paid off (20 weeks)

We have never had a problem with them thus far, apart from possibly the high prices, but some people cannot afford to pay for things outright

Hmm ...
Item: BH Elsewhere
Washing Machine: ............. £1404 ...........£400
Acer Laptop: .......................£1456 ...........£300 (couldn't find an Acer, this is based on the only laptop BH have at the moment)
Tumble Dryer: ................... £1404 ...........£490
PS4: ....................................£1300 ...........£400
Samsung S5: .......................£1445 ...........£350
HTC One M8: .....................£1383 ...........£500
Baird 42" FHD TV: .............£1482 ...........£450 (sony equivalent)
Tibo TV Stand: ...................£312 ..............£100

Total: ..................................£10186 ..........£2990

If anything, I've overestimated the "elsewhere" cost (if you chose different models, shopped around and used cashback sites, you could probably almost half that). At £68 per week, you could saved for ALL of it in under 44 weeks. At Brighthouse, it will take almost 150 weeks, and cost you and extra £7k+. I understand the temptation to pay weekly, but long term you're making life very hard for yourself.

sourcrates

Angry_Bear wrote: »

Hmm ...
Item: BH Elsewhere
Washing Machine: ............. £1404 ...........£400
Acer Laptop: .......................£1456 ...........£300 (couldn't find an Acer, this is based on the only laptop BH have at the moment)
Tumble Dryer: ................... £1404 ...........£490
PS4: ....................................£1300 ...........£400
Samsung S5: .......................£1445 ...........£350
HTC One M8: .....................£1383 ...........£500
Baird 42" FHD TV: .............£1482 ...........£450 (sony equivalent)
Tibo TV Stand: ...................£312 ..............£100

Total: ..................................£10186 ..........£2990

If anything, I've overestimated the "elsewhere" cost (if you chose different models, shopped around and used cashback sites, you could probably almost half that). At £68 per week, you could saved for ALL of it in under 44 weeks. At Brighthouse, it will take almost 150 weeks, and cost you and extra £7k+. I understand the temptation to pay weekly, but long term you're making life very hard for yourself.

:eek::eek::eek: Now that is scary !!!!!!!!

patman99

My local Hughes will do a washing machine on credit at 24%. And they start from £199.

suse*

When I finished uni I lived in a shared house in a room so small it just fit a single bed in and had a wardrobe out on the landing. We clubbed together and got a second hand washing machine, but as others have said after delivery etc it was a small fortune and then only lasted a few months, so had to pay for it to be taken away as well.

So I ended up getting a contract with radio rentals for a washing machine. There was no laundrett near us, and I also have health problems which mean I wouldn't have been able to manage the physical nature of handwashing or carrying big bags of washing on busses on my day off. I knew it cost more than one from currys at the time, but my credit wasn't good enough to go somewhere like that.

As for people saying fit it yourself I still wouldn't be able to do something like that then or now, as others have mentioned I wouldn't be able to move something that big.

For people on disabilty benefits with no other income and no way to get credit these sorts of places are a life line really. Not everyone can just handwash, or go to a laundrette and if they were doing these things it would still cost money so it isn't like they can save for a year instead.

Things like tv's, games, laptops will also cause contension but again if you're housebound, with no way to get to a library etc, you can't really expect people to have no quality of life at all. If someone has been on esa etc for years and with no savings and their current tv etc broke if you can get somewhere that delivers and you can pay weekly, that is a life line compared to risking strangers coming to the house from gumtree etc and handing over your last savings with no guarentee what you're getting will still work a few months later.

topaztiger1983

I understand that some thing I have are not essential (e.g. phones, laptop, PS4), but the Washing Machine was, as is the Tumble Dryer (In the winter months anyway), I obviously could not manage without a Washing Machine (as I too do not live near a laundrette), nor could I wait a year to save up for one

Also my money is my money to do what I want with (I work for my money, I am not on benefits), therefore I am not using taxpayers money for what I want, I earn it so I spend it

James_B.

topaztiger1983 wrote: »

Myself & my wife use Brighthouse & have done for just over a year, we started with a Washing Machine as ours died, now we have an Acer Laptop, a Tumble Dryer, a PS4, a Samsung S5 & a HTC One M8, also we have just taken out agreements on a Baird 42" FHD TV & a Tibo TV Stand

We pay about £68 per week, but the Washing Machine & Laptop are nearly paid off (20 weeks)

We have never had a problem with them thus far, apart from possibly the high prices, but some people cannot afford to pay for things outright

Jesus. If you can't afford to pay for a playstation 4 or an S5 outright then how about not buying one?

I genuinely hope that you are joking, and haven't really done this, but you are only a few months into a job at KFC. What on earth happens if you end up unemployed again?

bsms1147

topaztiger1983 wrote: »

I obviously could not manage without a Washing Machine (as I too do not live near a laundrette), nor could I wait a year to save up for one

Also my money is my money to do what I want with (I work for my money, I am not on benefits), therefore I am not using taxpayers money for what I want, I earn it so I spend it

But if you saved now, rather than diverting additional funds to Brighthouse on things you don't need, you could then buy the next appliance outright.

As illustrated above you are paying more than three times as much as you should be for each item. That's a waste. If you saved up and had self-restraint to do so, you could have bought a PS4 outright, and still had enough money for an Xbox One and still had £700 left over, all for the same money you're paying for just the PS4 with Brighthouse.

That's like walking into a shop and for every £10 you spend, you then go out and burn a £20 note.

Yes it's your prerogative to do what you want with your money, but that doesn't stop us calling you out for doing so.

topaztiger1983

If I end up unemployed again then I just return the stuff I can't afford, these people aren't that bad you know, If you can't afford something you can take it back, do you people not know anything

I know this because I used to have 2 laptops when I was on benefits but I could not afford them so I took one back, once you take it back then you do not have to pay for it anymore, its not that hard

Do you research before making me out to be dumb

TattyG

But by returning it you lose all the money you have paid and the item . . . so you are even worse off?? Or am I missing something?

I am horrified by the X-box1 post from Bedsit Bob - £1300? So glad we had the sense to save up and buy my son's outright! Got a fab deal and we know it is his x-box1 and we won't be paying a fortune for the next few years, long after the next system has come out!

topaztiger1983

Yes you lose the money you have paid, but you don't have to pay anymore, so in the long run you will be better off, as you will have say £20-£30 more each week/fortnight