UKH

Just had a flyer through the letter box for a set up called BrightHouse. They are offering various good, furniture, TVs etc on weelkly payment terms.

Citing an example; a Corner Sofa and Chair at a basic price of £1039: 156 weekly payments of £14, total payable £2184. I know this sort of thing is targetting people with poor credit ratings but why compound your debts by paying more than twice as much for something(it will probably fall to bits after 3 years) ;o(

Bloody hell, mate, you've been keeping yourself to yourself haven't you? They've been around for years (and subject to the usual Panorama style investigations......).

I also for the first time had one pop through my door.  

Terrible deals that will take advantage of the poorest in society I'm afraid. 

Yes and no.  High interest rates on loans to those of limited means reflect the high credit risk they pose - a good many of the loans will never be fully repaid.

It's more promoting "here's how you could have this nice stuff you can't afford" that's taking advantage.

And hire purchase has been around for decades, with similar markups. Shitehouse is nothing new, or different.

Our local one is a few doors away from a BHF furniture charity shop.  Beggars belief that anyone is stupid enough to go to shitehouse.  In terms of effect on quality of life and mental health I don’t see why it’s any more allowable than a shop selling class A drugs.  

Perhaps I’m I weirdo but I’m 40 soon enough and the only new furniture I’ve bought in my life was an Ikea Poang.  (Replacement mattresses not withstanding).

Also what the flying —— is it with corner sofas?  Does anyone ever use actually use them?  Keeping up with the Joneses pretence.

I dont know have you seen the state of some of society at large.  

I agree.  Totally irresponsible letting shops like this exist.  But then we live in a age where they let you bet 100 pounds stakes every 20 seconds on betting machines.

I figure crack and other hard drugs would be an easier option for some people.

An example of government talking about helping people and doing the opposite .

Madness.  

Corner sofas? These people must have bigger houses than me. I don't have a corner I could fit one in. That goes for most of the furniture found in Big Oak Sofology World warehouses; none of it will fit.

I once went into one of their stores to ask them if I could pay for a washing with cash. They said no which didn't surprise me. I did this just to confirm my suspicions about this company. 

Mmm.. Did you mean washing machine ? Or did you want them to actually wash you ?

Sorry couldn't resist.  

Playing devils advocate, for a moment...

A family on a low wage or benefits may need a washing machine because theirs has broken. Ten pounds per week, or similar, is probably not far off what they would pay at the launderette.

It keeps people out of the hands of loan sharks. They would charge more interest and may get violent, if payments are not met.

It keeps them away from payday lenders and their extortionate interest rates. There was talk of capping the interest on payday loans, this seems to be capped at around 100%.

A more interesting question may be, who else could fill this need for credit? The dole do crisis loans, but they are spectacularly shite at everything. I don't suppose a broken washing machine is high on their list of what counts as a crisis. The church mumbled something about taking over Wonga, or similar. But I've not seen anything.

Of course the above looks a little bit silly, if people are using them to buy 99 inch TV's and an xbox. But, adults may spend their money in ways you don't approve of, for reasons you're not aware of.

(I still think shitehouse are scumbags though)

Your devil’s advocate is a good jumping off point for my perspective...

I once got a used, 8 year old washing machine delivered and installed for £40.  It didn’t take me long to find or arrange.  

If people are prepared to manage their expectations, a credit union perhaps.  £40 for a used washer isn’t much to borrow, and saves a minimum of £250 over brighthouse.  Or forget the loan; 7 weeks of hand washing and not paying shitehouse would save the money to buy it, vs 1-4 more years of repayments.

Then, that £250 saved is enough to get a used dryer, some used furniture, and a throw to go over it, saving another £1200 over brighthouse.  Keep this up for a decade on a minimum wage job up north and you can own your own house and everything in it.

Credit addiction serves one purpose, which is to bleed off every single spare penny from someone without the skill or interest to plan more than a day ahead.  It bleeds off all their spare productive capacity right in to the hands of scum in cheap suits.  It forms a trap that is very hard to get out of, and that will inflict years of pain after the benefits stop.  Unlike class A drugs I’m not sure people get much of an upside from it that they couldn’t get a lot more cheaply.

Shut them down and go after the criminal alternatives.  

Some people are just financially dyslexic, as I refer to it.

I've had folk tell me they discovered they hadn't quite run up to their limit on their credit cards so went out and bought something. I stopped getting angry about this years ago when I realised that some folk just don't understand money. At all. In any way.

I once had a debt client who was prioritising paying Brighthouse over paying her council tax. She wouldn’t hear a word said against them. I explained that she might be best making future purchases elsewhere because of the massive total payments,  but she insisted that it was worth it because she had a special needs kid who was prone to smashing the TVs and games consoles she bought from them, and as long as she kept the payment going they would come and replace broken goods for free. Whereas the council tax, she couldn’t see what she was actually getting for the money and it was easy to ignore and let build up. She said she was resigned to going without stuff for herself, even food, due to her debt problem, but her kids were innocent in the matter, so she would rather go malnourished than see their faces if their entertainment kit get taken away.

I like to think I helped her and set up a budget which might have avoided her going to court, but I am not optimistic.

Money management isn't common sense.  

It should be discuss from a young at home and in schools

Given how poorly many adults manage their money, I'd skip the home part of that suggestion! (Not just those from the lower socio economic bracket! My brother has worked full time since 16, grew up in a home that managed finances very carefully, and has still had to be bailed out by my parents due to debt collectors chasing him for large sums. He was in mid 30s when he got a large bail out from them)

I think schools should do a lot more to teach general life skills. Basic budgeting could easily fit into the maths curriculum. I remember a project in higher maths about interest rates etc, which was a helpful eye opener.

It's about the shape of your house, not the size. We have a long thin living room, and a corner sofa with a few arm chairs works better in the space than normal sofas. Ours is also a sofa bed, so spare double bed with storage under it too. Great bit of furniture in the right space 

I was going to say that. .

Indeed. 
Brighthouse hit the headlines at the beginning of 2018 for some reason, and was an incredibly hot topic both on UKC and in the wider world, it was an odd one because it's not as if the system is in any way new, but somehow it caught the public's imagination. 

There was so much indignation about it, that it became what I call a "Cecil the Lion" news story, i.e. for a week, it's the worst thing that has ever happened in history....until people get bored with shouting about it and move on to the next thing...

Probably loads of entertaining threads on here about it. 

Caught this https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00013kd on Money Box the other Day - Martin Lewis from Money Saving Expert has produced a text book for use in schools about personal financial habits.  

Free .pdf download here: https://www.young-money.org.uk/planning-teaching/your-money-matters-financi...

It appears to be impossible to access that page without signing up to their newsletter. Trying to opt out only has the newsletter sign up page slide across again. There is no way to reject sign up.

Very bad form for something aimed at young people.