Price cap proposed for rent-to-own firms to protect vulnerable consumers - MSE News

Owain_Moneysaver

boo_star wrote: »

From the article

To combat high base prices, rent-to-own firms would need to calculate the median price of the same product at three other 'mainstream retailers'

But they'll just start using more 'exclusive' products so they can't be price-compared. In reality this means an extra letter on the model number.

Then there's the delivery charges, insurance, breakdown cover, etc which won't be covered by this ruling.

It will still be a lot more expensive than the Toshiba 43" smart TV in Lidl today at £199!

antrobus

Andrew1974 wrote: »

This seems really good. My Ma & Da had no option but to deal with the Provvy. They were terrible. What I note is that Provident Financial donated large sums to the Conservative Government.

I want Provident brought to its Knees.

Are you sure?

The Provident Financial Group PLC made no political donations at all for the year ended 31 December 2017. It's an easy thing to check, political donations have to be disclosed in the accounts.

P.S. I assume you meant Conservative Party. A donation to the Conservative Government would be a gift to the taxpayer and not political at all.

antrobus

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

...
It will still be a lot more expensive than the Toshiba 43" smart TV in Lidl today at £199!

Well yes, but the difference is that Brighthouse customers are the kinda people who don't have £199 or whatever to pay for that TV. And their credit record is such that they can't borrow that £199 either.

Brighthouse will let them have that bright shiny new TV with weekly payments and no deposit, which they can return whenever they want to and terminate the agreement.

Having had a look at their accounts, I'd say that even when Brighthouse was profitable, it's profits don't look excessive; £16m on a £370m turnover. And thanks largely to the FCA's last intervention, 2017 was a faecal year; lost a bundle, was technically insolvent.

It might be that those sub-sub-prime customers, or 'vulnerable' if you prefer, will just have to learn to do without smart TVs or whatever.

breaking_free

antrobus wrote: »

It might be that those sub-sub-prime customers, or 'vulnerable' if you prefer, will just have to learn to do without smart TVs or whatever.

Oh the horror! Next you'll be suggesting they cut down on booze n' fags.

sourcrates

Brighthouse, even though it sells mainstream products from mainstream brands, makes it almost impossible - if not perfectly impossible - for customers to compare prices and decide whether or not they are paying over the odds.



Brighthouse creates its own unique coding system for all manufacturers and models, whether the item is a TV or a washing machine.

Other retailers, by contrast, use standard model codes issued by the manufacturer.

This means Brighthouse customers cannot use Google's Shopping service, or other price comparison services, to readily compare prices.


Then there is the insurance and warranty products they flog you as well, this all adds to the price of the goods, all in all not a very transparent company to do business with.