I want to share my experience and knowledge of brighthouse with the public so people can make an informed choice.

Firstly BRIGHTHOUSE used to be know as CRAZY GEORGES, they basically operated a very shady shall we say business, that used questionable methods of dealing with their customers,

SHOULD THEY BE UNABLE TO PAY.

When they decided to go mainstream the needed to re brand themselves so they became BRIGHTHOUSE, your friendly weekly payment store (so they advertise).

Brighhouse will bleed you dry of every penny you have, they will be ever so friendly when you enter their store, they will encourage you to take out an agreement,,

they will oversell the fact that there are no credit checks, no deposit and their big selling point easy weekly payments.

Well lets address each one of these,

firstly they dont do credit checks or ask for deposits because they know there customers are going to have bad credit,

that is who they TARGET, becasue if you have poor credit you have little and no options to go else where.

As for easy weekly payments,

they highlight this because it LOOKS so affordable compared to the REALITY of what you actually pay!

Here is an example

PAYMENTS

If you by an acer laptop from them they will highlight the £12.99 weekly payment, for some this will seem affordable and acceptable.

Now what they will not mention is how much you actually end up paying, as its not a great sales pitch, the pricing is on the product very small and complicated.

So here is the reality, you will end up paying £1350.96 for a laptop that should only cost around £500! thats £850 over the market value.

How do they do this,

well they have an APR of 29.9% as well as forcing you to take out TWO insurances on top of your weekly payment.

Now exactly why they are being allowed to do this when banks are being made to pay back PPI is any ones guess but they can and they do.

INSURANCE

You do not have to take out their insurances, you can refuse, but then they will refuse to sell to you simple.

They say one insurance is to cover THEIR product from damage, they will sell it to you that should you need a repair you can just call them up and they will fix it, sounds good?

NO, why would you need insurance on a sofa? or a table?

The other is to cover your payments and loss theft etc.

They do this so that that you can return the product to them should you no longer be able to pay,

win win for them because they simply sell on the product as refurbished for a fraction less than what they charge new.

But most importantly to the customer should you suffer a theft of your product or accidental damage

(they will demand you bring the product in, they will attempt to fix it or prove it wasn't accidental so you have to keep paying!) you can claim on your insurance,

however all they do is cancel the rest of your payments, no replacement for you as the customer, you pay all that money and insurance and you are left with nothing!

They instead will attempt to get you to take out another contract, so say you have been paying for a year, tuff luck you have nothing to show for it.

LATE FEES

THIS IS THE REAL DANGER OF BRIGHTHOUSE, this is where they make even more money (greedy, yes they are)

Should you have some financial difficulties and be unable to pay one week they will hit you with late fees,

they set their payment plans from a certain day so say its Wednesday to Wednesday, and if you don't pay till Thursday, your charged £3.50 per item that has gone late.

Now many people have a number of items with them, so it can be quite expensive but here is the real problem,

say your weekly payment is £50 and you have 4 items (this is not unrealistic for brighthouse i know of people paying much more as they are not bothered if you can afford your payments)

and you cant pay that week, so you go in the following week to rectify the issue.

Well they will want £114, should you not be able to afford this they will be unwilling to take a payment plan, they will not offer you any assistance, they will be hostile and demand payment.

If you cant pay the following week you will owe £178! However they will not allow this to continue for longer than a week or two,

as they will send the boys round with a van, to your home address to demand payment or they will take your goods then and there,

so say its a fridge freezer or an oven and will leave you in dire straights? tuff! and they will simply sell on the product win win for them.

IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT THEY ARE SIMPLY LEGALISED LOAN SHARKS PRAYING ON THE VULNERABLE, THEIR SHOPS ONLY APPEAR IN POORER TOWN CENTRES AND THERE MAIN CUSTOMERS ARE ON BENEFITS/LOW INCOMES. THEY DO NOT PRACTICE RESPONSIBLE LENDING AND THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THERE CUSTOMERS PLIGHT IN THESE FINANCIAL TIMES.

Should you find yourself with brighthouse, do not allow them to get you to take out more than you can realistically afford.

Be aware that legally you do not have to have their insurance you can demand they take it off, however they will be very unwilling to do this.

Should you fall behind with payments, ask them for a REWRITE this is little known, but they do do it, they will rewrite your contract,

and put what you have fallen behind with to the end of your payments leaving you to continue to pay your normal weekly payment.

Again they will be very unwilling to do this, you need to give a real good excuse.

If they come to your door, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ALLOW THEM IN! yes the law is on their side they are legally allowed to take the goods,

BUT THEY CANNOT FORCE THERE WAY INTO YOUR PROPERTY, THEY NEED A COURT ORDER TO DO THIS, AND GUESS WHO IS VERY UNWILLING TO GO TO COURT?

YES, YOU GUESSED IT, BRIGHT HOUSE, THEY RARELY TAKE ANYONE TO COURT AS THEY KNOW MAGISTRATES WILL SIDE WITH THE CUSTOMER ON MOST OCCASIONS.

My advice dont answer the door, they will call round at least once a day, they will ring you all day long, and will be most likely quite aggressive, they will state the law to you,

but it works both ways, be aware of your rights!

Seek legal advice from citizens advice or your local law centre, they are well aware of brighthouse and their ways and will assist you in any way they can.

ULTIMATELY IF YOU CANT AFFORD THE ITEM AND YOU HAVEN'T HAD IT LONG GIVE IT BACK, YOU PAY THERE INSURANCE SO THAT YOU CAN DO THIS. iF YOUR THINKING OF GOING WITH THEM DONT, YOU ARE BETTER OFF SAVING UP, THEIR COBTRACTS CAN UP TO 2-3YRS!

I would advise anyone to read round our forums in respect of any of the BAYV companies.. BEFORE entering into an agreement with them.