Buy now pay later finance scheme

Davwah

In February 2020 I purchased a new kitchen from a very well known kitchen, bathroom and DIY retailer. I bought it on a buy now pay later finance scheme which, if I pay in full within a year, will be interest free. Due to the Covid situation the kitchen was not fitted until September 2020. Thus far I have only had a pre-authorised contract from the finance company, so I called them at the end of December to find out why I have not received a final contract with instructions on how to pay the full amount in order to take advantage of the 0% credit. They told me that the retailer has not sent them confirmation that the goods were delivered to me, or the work is finished and that I am happy with it. Until they get this, they say cannot process the contract. The work is finished and I am happy, and the retailer knows this. Is it my responsibility to chase this, or is this something the retailer should be doing? Also if I don't do anything, and the date goes by without the retailer informing the finance company that the work is complete, am I in danger of losing my 0% finance option? If the retailer does contact the finance company prior to the end of the 12 month period, am I entitled to request that the 0% period is extended, bearing in mind that the kitchen was not fitted until September? I would be very grateful if anyone has had a similar experience or can advise on what my best course of action is. Many thanks.

finalfantasist

What are the terms of the offer?  Is it 0% for a year from completion of the kitchen or 0% from purchase?  If it's the former then you have a year from whenever they pull their fingers out and provide the required confirmation. If it's the latter then presumably you have the money put to one side to pay it off come February so just do that.

J_J

Per the latter ... if the OP has no details with which to pay off the finance, how will they do it? (OP only has a pre-auth finance contract). That said, the 0% deal will be based on financial contract dates - if there's no financial contract then the clock hasn't started ticking.

Although this does surprise me ... we bought a new kitchen last year from Wren (I know - but all was OK for us) with a similar 0% deal. The finance contract was sorted right at the start so we knew what our payment dates would be. (It was based on scheduled delivery date). If anything had gone wrong then we would still have had S75 protection through the finance - even if we'd paid it all off.

finalfantasist

J_J said:

Per the latter ... if the OP has no details with which to pay off the finance, how will they do it? (OP only has a pre-auth finance contract). That said, the 0% deal will be based on financial contract dates - if there's no financial contract then the clock hasn't started ticking.

Although this does surprise me ... we bought a new kitchen last year from Wren (I know - but all was OK for us) with a similar 0% deal. The finance contract was sorted right at the start so we knew what our payment dates would be. (It was based on scheduled delivery date). If anything had gone wrong then we would still have had S75 protection through the finance - even if we'd paid it all off.

If you want to be pedantic perhaps I could have said "presumably you have the money put to one side to pay it off come February if needs be" but the point was, they have presumably been budgeting for paying it back by a certain date so there shouldn't be any issue with paying it back by that date.  If the finance clock really does stat ticking at the date the whole thing is signed off by the retailer then the OP gets even longer to pay it off.

So I'm not really sure what the issue the OP is having here is.  "Worst" case scenario is they pay it off as per the original agreement which should have been budgeted for already, best case they get an extended interest free loan.

Grumpy_chap

We purchased some furniture in May 2019, but it was not fitted until October and snags not cleared until November.
That was 12 month interest free and pay it all off to avoid the 5-year finance agreement.  From November 2019, they did not set up the finance account until mid-December and we then had 12 months after that date.
I assume the way our agreement worked is "typical" in which case the OP will be able to keep their money for another year from whenever the finance clock starts ticking.