Lucy I feel desperately sorry for you and any other Brighthouse customers. To be honest I was slightly annoyed with my daughter for getting into such a complete mess but the more I read the more I think the mess was not entirely of her making and more the result of pressure sales and bad business practice aimed at people who can least afford it. I notice other threads relating to Brighthouse where people have claimed that they have been subject to high interest, late payment charges and harassement. If you do a websearch it doesn't take too long to discover other complaints in addition to those listed on Consumer Action Group site. My daughter is a single parent, with two children and a part time job. She lives in privately rented accomodation and because she works part time irregular hours she has had difficulties with the weekly benefit adjustments. I can hardly blame her for taking up what sounded like a wonderful offer to have her old collapsed sofa replaced. Brighthouse seem to actively encourage people to take on debt which they don't stand a chance of paying off within any reasonable timescale, then subject them to harrassment, threats and unreasonable charges when they default. If anyone is aware of any way that we can make Brighthouse clean up their act I'd love to hear from them. The problem seems to be they operate just within the law. My daughter has suffered the embarressment of having the collector shouting through her letterbox but what can we do? At the end of the day she owes the money so it makes it difficult to claim harrassment. The more I read people's stories, the more I hate Brighthouse. Unfortunately because they prey on the some of the poorest people in our society they are bound to run a thriving business. So on that note if the collector that is dealing with my daughter's case ever reads this I'd just like to answer his comment. He told me he's been working with Brighthouse for 15 years and they are a great company. I'd like to say if he's got an ounce of decency he should look for another job.

These contributions relate to Nov. 2006 but I just thought I'd let everyone know that Brighthouse are still up to their old tricks. My daughter is a single parent and bought a sofa from Brighthouse. She couldn't keep up the payments. She phoned me in tears last week to say that the collector from Brighthouse had been banging on her door, peering through the windows and shouting through the letter box. She owes £70 in arrears. I contacted Brighthouse and offered to pay her arrears. I live some distance away so any payment had to be by post or phone. Brighthouse refused to accept my credit card and insisted that I pay by debit card. I have been advised by my bank previously that any shopping or money transactions that I make by phone or internet should never be by debit card. Giving someone your debit card details is a bit like giving them direct access to your bank account. I offered to pay by cheque which they accepted. But yesterday I had a phone call from the collector to say they won't accept my cheque unless I write my debit card details on the back of the cheque. What the hell sort of company is this? They claim to be a reputable company but they will only deal in cash or debit cards. After a quick web search I have found numerous people who claim to have been threatened and abused by Brighthouse staff. I have to say I didn't find any of their staff helpful and a lesson in manners wouldn't go amiss. I asked for the head office number to complain. Like so many others they refused to give it to me. They seem to prey on people who can least afford it. They give ridiculous amounts of credit to people who stand very little chance of making the repayments. I'd be pleased to hear if anyone has any success in tackling Brighthouse in their unethical business approach.