DFS Rip Off

Footsie_2

Yesterday my partner and I went to DFS to get a new sofa for our new house, the friendly salesman sat down and told us there were 47 ways to purchase the sofa but the most popular is the buy now pay later plan.

He explained that it's 0% interest free credit for a year, with no deposit and no charge and then in one year we have a choice as to whether we pay the full balance or start monthly installments. We decided that we would pay the full amount. He took some details from us and again stated that we need pay no deposit and in one years time we have to pay the full amount. We then said it would need to go through a credit check in case we didn't pay and we needed to set up payment terms etc. Fine, no problem. We signed the document and away we went.

Today the salesman has phoned up to say we have failed the credit check and now we have to pay the full amount, today! Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? I'm sure there is a 30 day cooling off period etc, I have asked him to fax the details to me so I can read them as the paperwork is at home. Any advice on what I can throw back at them would be appreciated!!

marcus79_2

a credit reference is usally done within the store and usally only takes 5mins to do, just like when you buy electrical goods from any other stores on credit, they do it there and then.
If you have already signed for something and got the documentation im quite sure thats basicly the contract and they have to honour it??

we had similar sort of problem with dixons long time ago when wife bought a laptop, 30 days later they phoned up and said there was a problem with the paperwork that was intially done and we had to cough up the remaining balance, we said no and we have the contract to agree to the terms we did, and they had to honour it no matter what they do or said, and to this day we have paid it all now and the cheek of it was after they phoned up and asked if we was intrested in taking anything else on credit.
lol

if you have the paperwork m8, and it says monthly payments etc etc , stick to your guns as thats a contract.

Footsie_2

Sadly having now read the paperwork, too late I know, I can see that it states "You have no rights to cancel this Agreement under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the Timeshare Act 1992 or the Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004."
Also states on the back that I have no right and they can change anything they like whenever!
Obviously I shouldn't have signed it but now I'm at a bit of a loss because we were not informed of all this and I feel mis-sold.

ms_cat

I used to work for DFS and this sounds quite common practice. They use outside credit agencies, so the credit checks can sometimes take a day or two to come through. Sometimes people are refused as the credit company does not have enough details. It may be worth contacting the credit agency to ask why you were refused,(there will be a number for them on the credit agreement you signed). It may just be a case of providing more ID / address details.
If that is a no go, you still have until the sofa is delivered to pay the full balance, although you would need to pay a deposit now. They cant make you pay the full balance up front today.
You have probably realised by now that the order is not cancellable. They say this as the sofas are made to order. If you definatly cannot get credit and cant pay before delivery (which is usually 7-11 weeks), I would ring them and explain that you have no means of paying, and you need to cancel. Do this ASAP. Argue that as the order was only made yesterday, it cannot have gone into production yet. Be prepared for a fight though. DFS do not like cancelling orders!
Best of luck!

bunnygirl007

Hi

I was in DFS recently and have bought sofas from them in the past. The credit company they use is GE Money - I asked last week and it still is them. Also when i was in the store there was the sofa i wanted at a huge reduction and unfortunately sold - when i asked why that particular one was so much less than the original they said it was reduced because the customer had changed their mind but it had already been made, so it was a one off reduction (about 50% cheaper). So they do accept cancellations.

Debt_Free_Chick

Footsie wrote: »

Sadly having now read the paperwork, too late I know, I can see that it states "You have no rights to cancel this Agreement under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the Timeshare Act 1992 or the Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004."
Also states on the back that I have no right and they can change anything they like whenever!
Obviously I shouldn't have signed it but now I'm at a bit of a loss because we were not informed of all this and I feel mis-sold.

Just to understand what you did .... you agreed to buy the sofa. You were offered finance, but have been declined. Unfortunately, you have still committed to buying the sofa - without the finance, you must pay in full.

Re the finance .... do you have your credit file? Have you checked it? Anything on there?

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Seems to me the company should have done a credit check, before getting you to sign a contract. If you have no way of paying them other than through finance, your both well and truely stuffed. So from where I'm sitting DFS will have no choice but to cancel the contract because of your lack of finance.

AMD

apf666

hi

you should seek further advice asap, either trading standards, consumer direct or cab

seem to recall that if contract is linked, ie, dependent on finance, then if finance fails then obligation to proceed with purchase ends also

further grounds for complaint are timescales involved in making contact to advise that no finance

seriously, get some advice asap

regards

af

kirsty12_2

DFS use HFC Bank or they did with our contract anyway

scotsgirl_3

they also use blackhorse finance quite a lot.

heather_p03

We called in to DFS last Tuesday, 25 March. We live about 70 miles from the nearest store and specifically asked the salesman Scott if they delivered to our town.
'Our boys are up there all the time' was the reply.

My husband, our 2 sons and I all agreed on a 3 seater leather sofa and power chair so we went ahead and ordered the products along with a 5 year leather care plan at £128 extra.
We chose a 36 month 0% finance plan with no deposit. The delivery charge is printed on the form at £25.
On the journey home we had a call from Scott to say that he had made a mistake. Delivery was actually £75 but the care plan was £118 so in effect we owed them £40. He said that we would be able to pay the driver the balance or pay over the phone prior to delivery.

There is nothing on the form to indicate that delivery charges change according to distance so are DFS allowed to do this? Are we obliged to pay them the difference as it is not in writing?
If we have a call-out for the care plan, will we get charged extra mileage?

I would appreciate any comments if this is happening to others.

Our sofa and chair will be delivered in 13 weeks' time!