Bright house of horrors

[rory32]

We are trying to collect stories of people's experience with Brighhouse. Eventually we would like to make up a dossier.

Please post your story on this thread.

We would like to know about how staff have treated you, particularly if you have got behind with payments.

We would also like to know if you have been pressurised to take out any insurance or optional service cover (OSC).

Furthermore we would like to know about problems you have had with goods from this company and how Brighthouse have handled repairs or replacements.

Please don't post comments on this thread, just your story.

[morrigan54]

I have simply had a rotten experience with this company.

In March 2006 I purchased a cream leather suite from Brighthouse.

In October 2006 whilst my father was on a life support machine, the last thing on my mind was to go in to Brighthouse on the Saturday and pay my 23.99 weekly payment. As you can appreciate, someone was more important.
However, I telephoned the store on the Monday morning and explained the situation and in return received a somewhat frosty reply.
Due to my personal circumstances at the time, I even asked for someone to pick up the payment from my home as I could not get to the store and the answer was simply NO.
My father passed away and in a blur I was three weeks behind on my payment.
The phone calls I received during my bereavement was inhumane. I felt completely terrorised by the manageress who persistantly echoed the word reposession. My mother and sister received phone calls off the store as I had given their contacts as references. They too were suffering bereavement and I felt completely humiliated.
I wrote a letter of complaint to the manageress who I later found out had passed it around to staff to read. It contained personal information regarding my circumstances. At one point during a telephone conversation that may I add was taped by a close friend of mine, the store manageress called me a thick bitch. ( I still have that conversation stating she is the shop manageress and she was calling from Brighthouse as my friend answered and we were expecting a call.) This may I add was the day before my fathers funeral and I have dates and times to prove it.
Yes I owed them money, no I wasn't refusing to pay them and yes working out my finances, I would have scraped together the full amount in two weeks if they would have agreed to take the money in installments.
However, Brighthouse being Brighthouse would not allow that option so I was thrust in to more debt courtesy of their late payment charges etc.

The phone calls requesting for the full amount didn't stop. I edged my bets and walked in to Brighthouse with my ten year old son and offered them £85.00. After being humiliated in front of my son, in the store, I walked out with the payment still in my hand. They refused to take it off me.

Recent events took a toll on my health and after another abusive phone call, I bit back. I bit back with a vengance, threw the abuse back and ordered them to take me to court.
I was a single parent working as a volunteer with a highly respected charity to better my chances of employment and gain qualifications.
I had been praised by my local MP for my work and featured in various newspaper articles.
Brighthouse telephoned me and asked me to go in their store to sort out my finances. There was no abuse, no threats and no anomosity.
I borrowed the money to pay the amount in full, I more or less threw it at them in disgust and walked out of the store.

I fully well remember that the day I went in to the store and signed for the suite, one of the forms of ID they asked for was a bank statement. I also filled out a form stating the amount of benefit money I received on a weekly basis. They knew my financial circumstances. They had it in black and white.
Brighthouse should they have referred to those documents when I signed, would have fully well known that asking for three weeks arrears in full plus the late payment charges, would have left me and children in complete dire straights. This is a company who give generously to charity, one being a charity that gratefully helps terminally ill children.

I am currently experiencing another problem with Brighthouse but as yet will not know the outcome.
However, the above is a factual story that took place in October 2006.

Kind Regards

Morrigan

[irenep]

Hi, I am replying to your request for stories about BrightHouse. In April 2006 I purchased a televison and stand which, I might add, were pre-owned. I was at that time told that I needed Optional Service Cover and Damage Liability Cover also. I was paying them about £18 per week over 99 weeks and, about 10 months later, also purchased a washing machine. My payment went up tp £27 a week and had no problem paying this until I was off work sick and that was the start of the harassment. The first home visit I had the man said he would take the items back until my payments were up to date but I refused. One day I recieved approx 20 calls, some were at 10pm from the managers mobile! I then came on to this forum and, after taking advice , I wrote a letter asking for OSC and DLC to be removed within 7 days. I went in to see the Manager and advised him that I would no longer accept his bully boy tactics. He removed both the covers from my account and I now pay £15 per week. I wrote to their Head Office asking for the money back that I had paid for OSC and DLC but was refused. I now have only 12 weeks to pay and I will be clear of them. I will never go near BrightHouse again.
Thanks
Irene P

[julie1961]

I for one am so glad I no longer have anything to do with Brighthouse.
I was with them for years, in the beginning the store manager they had was lovely, very friendly & helpful but he left & the new manager that came in had a heart of stone. I got to know the staff well & even they complained about him. I missed 2 payments after having a nervous breakdown, I got phone calls, letters & visits to the house, you would have thought I owed them thousands the way they carried on. thankfully my daughter dealt with them but even though she told them I couldn't speak to them as I was ill they still rang late at night to try & catch me on my own.
I got my payments up to date & never missed then at Christmas they asked if I would like to order a Nintendo DS as one of the staff members knew my grandson had been nattering for one for ages, I reluctantly did & was told it would arrive 2 weeks before Christmas, it didn't then they said it was 100% that I would get it 2 days before but it didn't arrive & when I ran them they said they had ordered me a Nintendo Wii by mistake but would I like that instead. Final straw I returned the goods I had & walked away for good from BH.
I have other stories I could mention but it would take me forever, I would advice anyone thinking of dealing with them to put the payments they would make in a savings account for a few weeks then go pay cash somewhere else. I was paying £20 per week for my suite over 3 yrs, after 12 months I realised how much I had left to pay & had already paid, I sent it back, saved for a few weeks & bought a brand new leather suite off ebay & its better quality.


Julie

[Bigmac versus]

Ok I have a friend who used BH for a gas cooker but was told unless they provided a corgi number for the fitter they would not release the cooker, now you may find this practice ok but when my friend said they didnt know a gas fitter they were very quickly told they could supply a fitter for them. (sales for you as no doubt they would have added this into the costs before adding interest) Now the reason they didnt ask me at the time was he didnt want me knowing he was using BH. The more i think about BH the more I get annoyed as they DONT need to have this practice in place no one else does, they in my opinion are pushing the customer into using their services. This may be only this store but I do intend to visit them and ask why they insist on having these numbers when other retailers dont which will lead to the question if they are profitting from such fitting.

Will update.

[sweetnsexyenglish]

I am happy for my fight with Brighthouse over my laptop to be used which you will find in a previous thread so I will not retell old news, and as for more stories...well now there's a can of worms you've unleashed .

I have been in to make payments and left on the counter for all to see is another customers contract and copy of details with name & address. I wrote the Wolverhampton store a note on their company clip board ((I know I am so naughty ))stating that I didn't think the Customer would be too happy to know their personal details was left in a place for anyone standing at the counter to read.

I have been told and experienced myself, threats to collect goods, goods that legally if they wanted them back they would have to get a court order as the legally stated 1/3 has been paid ((twice may I add)) as they rewrote my contract without my having full knowledge of the implication and without being asked for my consent, using their bullying tactics.

However since my fight with the laptop and the useful information obtained off this website and people like Lefty!! I now am fully armed with my legal rights, and Brighthouse depends on people being desperate and ignorant of the law they can not fight people who know their rights and are prepared to fight!! ((hence my local store hate me ))

They actually came to my home while I was out and was beating down my door, my two children had just got home from school. Because no one answered the door they wrote a note ((which I have kept as evidence)) which stated they had come for the goods. However they did not put it through the door. No whether to cause embarrassment I don't know, but they stuck it (with sticky tape) to my letter box for any nosey neighbour to lift and read.. I called the store fuming and now armed with my rights, they tried to say the people came from a different store, so I had to ask 1.why would they have come from a different store and 2. not been aware of the contract to which they drew up? I then let THEM know that unless they get a court order they must not knock my door otherwise I will be making a case of breach of contract against them, and read to them their section of the clause and gave them the total figure paid.

I have on occasion missed the Saturday payment and they start phoning 1st thing Monday morning, they have been asked several times not to call with a withheld number and constantly ignore my requests. I have sat and had my phone ring 6 times in the space of 3 - 4 mins from Brighthouse. I pointed out if they released their number and I missed the call at least I could return the call but as they choose to bombard my phone instead with withheld calls when I don't answer I decided I had to prove my point. Hence I gave them a lesson in how the phone works. Which is you only get to speak to me when I CHOOSE to answer the phone, so no amount of ringing will help them. I have one item with them at £6.39 a week, there where 5 items in total and 4 were paid off ahead of schedule yet for 1 missed payment I get a load of grief from staff that think the bullying technique works.

1 person can not make a difference but when I hear how the store has treated people I feel like giving out flyer's outside the store advising customers and potential customers of the truth behind brighthouse and directing them to this sight. Friends who have seen what I went through with brighthouse have over heard staff speak rudely to customers who were having problems with faulty goods and they often say they wanted to give them my details in order for me to help them.

And it pains me to see friends still purchase more goods from them even though they have seen the hassle I've been through. I vowed I would not purchase another item, and I am true to my word.

I have a washing machine which developed a fault, their repair man came and took out a part which they said wasn't needed. I am still in shock, I would have thought if Whirlpool put in the part it must be in there for a reason, and to this day have my doubts to the repair mans technique, yes he got it working...but the washing machine is barely two years old and the drum now sounds a little different like metal scrapping slightly.

I have a Goodmans stereo and they were to change the speaker this is two weeks after its initial purchase, the speaker they boxed up and delivered like it was brand knew was filthy, the wood effect was pealing from the top and sides and looked battered.

I have seen downstairs in the Wolverhampton store and the state of items they have there would make you wonder why the hell anyone shopped there. And at one point the majority of items in the store seemed to be returned, repossessed or reconditioned stock.

They do NOT advise customers that the DLC isn't required if you have house insurance, and that the OPTIONAL COVER is in fact OPTIONAL, I have had items delivered and have been hit on by a slimey employee while at my home and also when I have been into the store to make payments he even followed me out of the store making inappropriate comments, in front of my daughter, I have reported him twice the 2nd time being when he used the number meant to confirm delivery arrangements to call up my friend and chat her up on the phone trying to score a date and not once has Brighthouse entered into the discussion of inappropriate behaviour by its employee and what they intended to do with the complaint. Not surprising really since they pride themselves on their lack of customer service skills, and lack of manners, although I will say there are the odd few staff that are there that are pleasant and helpful but they are tarnished by the majority.

[shaneasmith]

hello i am a new customer to brighthouse from yesterday and too be honest the same as everyone else the store is a (EDITED),and yes i was forced to go to take the optional service cover.Maybe because i did not have home insurance which they needed but even though they were forcing me to take this service before i told them i had no home insurance but again it says OPTIONAL so home insurance or not it still says optional.
the staff were freindly apart from they was not acting provesional for example they were play fighting and all sorts.
i havent got anything fromthe store just yet apperently i have to wait 5 days until i cn get something that is if they have it in stock as apprently they couldnt give me the laptop i as after so they offered me a tv which i could buy then said that wasnt in stock either.
this store should be on watchdog or something lol,brighthose can be a very successful store if the service cover was optional and at a adfordable rate.
the store i visited yesterday was in Leigh, Lancashire.

[sweetnsexyenglish]

The other thing I forgot to mention was that a few people I know who have decided to take items from Brighthouse's Wolverhampton store have gone through the process of making applications and even paying the first weeks fee before the item is even available for delivery, and have waited week in week out while still making weekly payments for items that has not been delivered.

The store has also lost applications which fortunately for my friends has served as a red flag and they then proceeded in cancelling the goods.

Customers may find that the rule where you have so many days to cancel the contract, because of how they actually operate means that you either have to cancel the contract before seeing the goods as by the time they do deliver you've already made two weeks payments and have already past the cancellation deadline.

I have also witnessed the delivery of ex display stock delivered as new and under contract as new with a big crack down the glass table. When approached on this matter they claimed it was because they couldn't get the stock in, however they did not offer to discount the ex display or advise the customer until the customer complained after having seen the crack just as the delivery men where leaving.

[shaneasmith]

sounds about right i have not got anything from them yet but they did tell me i had to pay up front as wel as that they didnt have much in stock aperently.
SweetSexyEnglish you could do something about this here is a link to watchdog you could sort this out once and for all here is a link.
BBC - Consumer - TV and radio - TV and radio

[N.P]

Hi people,

My girlfriend stupidly purchased a 2 piece suite from Brighthouse without saying anything to me. It ended up something like nearly £3500 over the 3 years.

Anyway, I noticed they had included 2 sorts of Insurance, I`m not sure which was called which but we have cancelled the Optional Service Cover and is already saving £5 a week. They refused to cancel the other insurance, stating they could only do that if we had our own House insurance which we don`t as we live in a Council House.

I was wondering, would this other insurance we are paying be the DLC as it is know as? I`m not sure what it`s called. Can this DLC also be cancelled if we don`t need OR want it?

I`m thinking of dumping the suite outside of their shop and just buying one from another shop for about £2000 cheaper. Does anyone know if we`d still be responsible for paying any outstanding balance?

I realise that this thread is only for peoples stories, but if someone could possibly put me on the right track and maybe move my post to the right thread then that would be fine.

I look forward to hearing from someone.

Regards


N.P

[Lefty]

Originally Posted by N.P

Hi people,

My girlfriend stupidly purchased a 2 piece suite from Brighthouse without saying anything to me. It ended up something like nearly £3500 over the 3 years.

Anyway, I noticed they had included 2 sorts of Insurance, I`m not sure which was called which but we have cancelled the Optional Service Cover and is already saving £5 a week. They refused to cancel the other insurance, stating they could only do that if we had our own House insurance which we don`t as we live in a Council House.

I was wondering, would this other insurance we are paying be the DLC as it is know as? I`m not sure what it`s called. Can this DLC also be cancelled if we don`t need OR want it?

I`m thinking of dumping the suite outside of their shop and just buying one from another shop for about £2000 cheaper. Does anyone know if we`d still be responsible for paying any outstanding balance?

I realise that this thread is only for peoples stories, but if someone could possibly put me on the right track and maybe move my post to the right thread then that would be fine.

I look forward to hearing from someone.

Regards


N.P

Hi N.P.

This could possibly be a very interesting Brighthouse question, but we really want to keep this thread free for "horror" stories. Please start a new thread so you can receive the advice you need. Appreciated.


Cheers
Lefty

[rory32]

I have unapproved a few posts on this thread as they are comments. As per post #1:

Please don't post comments on this thread, just your story.

[Lefty]

Here’s a story from Lefty’s case files…

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE NOT SO OPTIONAL “OPTIONAL” SERVICE COVER

In April 2006 Mrs Jones (disguised name) took the plunge and decided to home school her 12 year old daughter after a prolonged period of bullying at the child’s former school. Mrs Jones had spent most of her working career as a teacher, but due to serious illness (and a very messy divorce) she found herself house bound and somewhat “credit impaired”.

A laptop with internet access was an absolute necessity for her daughter’s home schooling, but unable to purchase one outright she turned to Brighthouse - who happily obliged! (Mrs Jones had already been a Brighthouse customer of good standing, and was just about to finish two earlier agreements for home appliances.)

She signed a two year agreement for a Hewlett Packard Pavilion laptop with an advertised cash price of £896.25. APR of 29.9% (the charge for credit) took the overall price to £1,140.89 but with the addition of Optional Service Cover (applied automatically) at £619.84 and Damage Liability Cover (again, applied automatically) at £265.20 the TOTAL cost was a staggering £2,025.93. The very same model laptop was available on the high street (Dixons, Currys etc) for £649.99, but Mrs Jones simply did not have the ready cash - and “regular” credit facilities were unavailable to her at the time. She decided that, with a little careful budgeting, the £19.48 weekly payment was the only option. Besides, her daughter desperately needed the laptop to continue with her education.

After only two weeks the laptop developed a fault. The DVD-ROM drive failed and would not recognise any discs. Mrs Jones phoned her local Brighthouse store who promptly gave her the contact number for Hewlett Packard to arrange a repair. Of course, this is with blatant disregard for consumer law and, in itself, begs the question, what on earth was she paying £619.84 in service cover for?

Upon telephoning Hewlett Packard, Mrs Jones was advised to register the laptop with them for service, and was also informed that for a one off charge of £88.95 she could purchase a three year extended warranty direct from them. Compared to the £619.84 Brighthouse was charging (service cover for the two year duration of the agreement) this seemed like extremely good value for money and, with a little help from a friend with a credit card, she purchased it.

She immediately contacted Brighthouse and informed them she no longer required their Optional Service Cover and asked to have it removed from her agreement. She was told categorically that removal of Optional Service Cover was not possible, and once it had been signed for it could not be cancelled. It was very clearly explained to her that the term “optional” meant customers had the option to decline taking service cover when signing the agreement, but once applied it became integral to the agreement and could not be removed.

Unhappy with this response, she took the matter up with the store manager who told her exactly the same thing - in fact adding that head office had issued a memo regarding the very subject. He went into great detail as to how Brighthouse provided excellent value for money with their service cover - providing a full service package and loan equipment if necessary. He explained that Brighthouse actually purchase warranties from the manufacturers and do all their repairs in-house. Standard 12 month guarantees do not apply to items purchased from Brighthouse! (He was, of course, a little stumped when asked why she had to telephone Hewlett Packard to repair her laptop!)

Clearly getting nowhere with the store, she contacted customer services at their head office. She was told a senior manager would call her back within 24 hours. Two days later, and with no call back, she telephoned again and was told the same thing - a senior manager would call her back within 24 hours. This went on for a couple of days, during which time she decided to thoroughly read through the terms and conditions of her agreement. Hidden deep within the miniscule text she found:

“Your Obligations: Optional Service Cover
Section C (b) The service cover premium is renewable each time your regular instalment is due under the agreement. If the premium is not paid Service Cover will lapse.

Section H (3) This policy shall continue in force until you give seven days notice…”

Armed with this information she once again decided to tackle the store manager. Pointing out to him the section within the agreement - and once again stating she wanted Optional Service Cover removed - he still refused to budge insisting he needed authorisation from head office through his regional manager.

The next day, and upon my advice, she presented the store with this letter (copied to head office):

Item Description/Account Number XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dear Sir

I am writing to give the required 7 days notice, as detailed in my agreement that I wish to cancel all "optional" service cover on the above product. To simplify matters, I have today (date) presented a copy of this letter to the store manager of Brighthouse (Branch), which has been duly acknowledged, so 7 days notice shall commence at the date of this letter.

As stated in my agreement:

“Your Obligations: Optional Service Cover
Section C (b) The service cover premium is renewable each time your regular instalment is due under the agreement. If the premium is not paid Service Cover will lapse.

Section H (3) This policy shall continue in force until you give seven days notice…”

I shall be making my next payment on (day) at Brighthouse (branch). This payment will not include "optional" service cover.

I understand that I may be require me to sign a revised agreement. I will only do this if all payments made previously on this agreement are reflected in any revised agreement. I do not waive any of my rights under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 regarding, in particular, “early settlement” and “repossession” as set out in section J of the original agreement.

Kind Regards

Mrs Jones

After three days (and still no call back from a senior manager) she telephoned the store manager once more to confirm her new weekly payment amount. She discovered that head office had contacted him and he had been instructed to remove her Optional Service Cover but, for some reason, had not bothered - or had the common courtesy - to contact her. This, I find, is very typical of Brighthouse head office. I hear this all the time. Nobody EVER calls you back! It is almost like they go out of their way to be as unhelpful and uncooperative as possible - hoping, of course, that you will simply give up and stop making a fuss…

Mrs Jones had her laptop repaired by Hewlett Packard and it is still working fine - no thanks to Brighthouse and their not so optional “optional” service cover. It is now fully paid for and Mrs Jones has been able to rebuild her life and has returned to work as an education professional.

Cheers
Lefty

(More case files coming soon….)

[cady-leigh]

i have been with bright house for 6 years now the first 2 items i had i took out the so called optional service cover cos i was informed