Watch out for these people.......... Just had an agent around yesterday (Monday 24th) as we are looking to aquire a Laptop. I have recently been made redundant and to try and get back onto the road of recovery, I am looking at starting my own business and a Laptop is urgently required. Very little was said by the agent as they went through the paperwork. Occassionally they asked me a question or two and wrote the answers onto the form. At the end, they asked me to sign the completed paperwork and informed me that an Account Manager would be coming around today to go through the contract and check the evidence I had to provide before signing the account. The agent informed me that the Laptop, a refurbished unit by the way, will be £499.00 on terms. The APR on the item is 52.7%, which I have accepted because obviously it is a high risk hire purchase from the company's point of view (i.e. no credit checks etc). So, the total repayable is £884.52 - so we thought......... The weekly payments required through our box under this contract needs to be £9.35 over 155 weeks, although we were told that we would have to put £10 a week in. The agent left and life went back to normal...... But something niggled at the back of my mind and I could not shake it. So, I went through the contract again and crunched some figures..... The first thing I realised is that £9.35 a week over 155 weeks is nowhere near £884.52 - it is £1,449.25, £564.73 over the goods value (including APR rate) and almost three times the amount than what the item is worth. The next thing I realised, is that the agent has put me down for TWO key financial agreements - a principle agreement (the hire purchase) and a Secondary Agreement (Loan). Hang on.....I do not remember even enquiring about any additional finance on this contract and the agent most definately had not mentioned anything..........time to go deeper. The secondary agreement (loan) apparently is made up of two components. Firstly, a £200.00 WARRANTY element that I was not even asked if I wanted! I was informed that the item would come with a warranty by the agent, but if they had asked me if I wanted to pay £200 for a 3 year extended warranty - which is all I can presume this is, taken from FAQ's on BAYV website: "Do you have an extended warranty scheme? When you buy products from Buy As You View, you have the option to take out extended warranty which gives you protection against the costs of servicing and repairs for 3 years." I would have politely told them what to do!! There was no option given for this at all. Secondly, I have been charged a £78.00 viewing guarentee. What the hell is a viewing guarantee???? The agent has mentioned nothing about this to me at all and yet I am been charged for it in the agreement! I had to look this up in the FAQ section of BAYV website: "What if the TV breaks down? If you have purchased your TV from us and it is within the extended warranty period, we will service it at your home or collect it for repair. Whilst we have the TV, we can provide you with a loan TV. If you have taken out our ‘Viewing Guarantee’ on your existing TV and it is one of our listed brands, we will endeavour to service your TV. In cases where we are unable to service your TV, we can loan you a TV for up to 8 weeks." Why was I not asked if I wanted this and just given it like the warranty? Had I been asked about it, I could have told them that the TV was brand new and already covered by a manufacturers warranty. Surely, there is some sort of regulation or control for this type of thing by the FSA? So, from a £499.00 Laptop with 52.7% APR, we have now got £200.00 warranty and £78.00 viewing guarantee with an extra interest charge of £133.84 (22.30%) added!!!! Oh, and do not forget the £50 arrangement fee as well............ People.......ALWAYS check and double check any contract before signing it. I am now patiently awaiting the arrival of the BAYV Account Manager to have a few select words with him............ Any further information or advise as to action I can take against these people would be appreciated. I have no time for companies that rip customers off for profit and it would also be very interesting to know if agents get a commission on the sale of an extended warranty or viewing guarantee.......