Tens of thousands of customers of rent-to-own firm PerfectHome will share a £2.1 million compensation pot for unfair treatment. Under a deal agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority watchdog, the firm will refund customers in the form of cash payments and balance write-offs. The FCA ruled that at least 2,000 customers were given loans they could not afford. In total, about 37,000 people will benefit from some level of financial redress, the FCA said. https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/rent-firm-perfecthome-pay-repay-millions-37000-customers-130642019.html

High Street retailer PerfectHome has been fined for making some customers hand over their house keys before it delivered their purchases. PerfectHome is a rent-to-own business and has 67 stores across the UK. Hull magistrates court convicted the company of aggressive and misleading trading practices after more than 50 sets of house keys were found at the firm's store in the city. PerfectHome said it disagreed with the verdict and planned to appeal. It blamed a previous store manager for a "rogue practice" that was not company policy. Misled customers Under the rent-to-own model, customers take out an agreement to buy a product, and then pay weekly instalments until they own it - similar to hire purchase agreements. Hull city council's trading standards team launched an investigation into PerfectHome after a customer complained that she had been pressured into giving her house key to them before they delivered her television. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31440752

Hello, I have been a customer of "PerfectHome" for about a year now. I have just missed 2 weeks payments due to being out of work and now have them knocking at my door. I have buried my head in the sand and avoided them as they have put a note though the door saying that they are going to contact the police as the goods still belong to them. Are they allowed to do this and what rights do they have? Thank you in advance

Hi everyone. Just after some advice about how to reclaim the OSC on a TV I've got from Perfect Home. I took the agreement out in January 2010. I requested an up to date statement of my account which arrived in the post on Saturday, and immediately noticed that I have been paying OSC for the last 3 years, despite the fact that I clearly asked for it to be removed. When I spoke to the staff at PH, they said that because I've paid the OSC for the last 3 years without question, I don't have a leg to stand on. Where do I go from here?

Heya, I'm new here so sorry if I'm doing this wrong I've been with perfect home for just over 3 years now, the sofa i originally had from them became unfit so after 6 months of phone calls etc i ended up with a different refurb set. Which i was happy with as the money i paid from the first sofa was carried over to the new contract for the refurbs, meaning i'd finish paying them just over a year quicker than i originally would have. Fast forward 1 year to 5 weeks ago. I managed to get into 3 weeks arrears as i'd been severely ill, having a 3 year old to make arrangements for etc meant PH were low on my priority list. I'd only ever missed 1 payment before, which i quickly settled when i realised the mistake. I went to visit the store to explain and ask if they would do some sort of re-write like brighthouse do. I was told i couldn't do that and i had to pay £77 immediately. After a bit of a discussion the manager decided to drop the charges and told me to pay £54ish. I then asked how much it would be to completely settle with them, the manager replied with £134. (with hindsight i know i should of got this in writing but i can be VERY naive) I must of reiterated it to him 3 times, each time saying 'if i come in on Friday and put £134 on the counter, we are all settled, no more debt?' He solidly agreed that there would be no problems with that. So, come Friday i went to the store with my £134 and asked for the manager so i could pay it off. I was first told that i had to pay arrears before i could settle up so they would do it in 2 separate payments, the first being £77. ( i never registered at the time that this payment was including the charges that were previously knocked off). After taking the card payment there was a bit of a confusion so various managers etc were bought out to look at the computer screen. (the one i originally seen was supposedly off that day) It turned out that the computer was saying THEY OWE ME £180. He said this is obviously a mistake but the computers don't reset until Sunday so come in next week to settle it. The next week i tried to phone in 3 times to find out if it had been sorted, every time i spoke to a team member they said i'll take a look, then you will have to speak to the manager can i call you back? They never did call back. I went back to the store with the £57 i thought would be the remaining settlement price. I was told i owed £126 but they would knock it down to £100.50p. I was obviously miffed that an extra £50 had found it's way on to my settlement figure so after a heated discussion i walked out disgusted without paying a penny. I am now of the opinion that they tried to rip me off for £50 so they can see how they like it back and I'm not paying again! Will they take this to court etc is what I'm looking to find out? I tried to look over my contract to work out if they did in fact, owe me money but they never put the amount of money i paid on the old sofa on to the new refurb contract. So I'm unsure of how I'd work it out. I did however, notice that I'd never signed the TAD agreement on the contract. It just has the date and signature of the staff member but nothing from me. Would it be worth my time using this against them to make them go away? I probably come across as wanting to run away from debt responsibilities but i was more than happy to pay up until they tried to con me Sorry for the very long post and thanks in advance

Hi all, just joined long story short i have been a perfect home customer for just over a year had no issues with them until they started collecting card payments from a business account i had used one time, WITHOUT MY CONSENT. This happened 6 times week after week, and every week after complaining to the store manager i would have the reply of "well how were you going to pay your account this week?'' which would then send me into blind rage for the cheek of the remark, resulting in the manager apologising and stating it wouldnt happen again. I have since cancelled my cards and received new ones but i am now refusing to pay them anymore. Im now receiving what i can only describe as their bully boy tactics (laughable at best) seen scarier teenagers in bootle Since no credit check was completed by perfect homes im not bothered about becoming a bad debtor with them i just want to know my rights can someone please advise PS I do not want any advice how to bring the account upto date or resolve the issue about the fraud all telephone calls were recorded. Thanks in advance

i have been a customer with perfect home for around 3 years (never missed a payment.) and i have sofa from them at £22 a week ive paid about 70 weeks of the 130 week contract and came to a bit of a struggle i ended up losing my job and going on to benefits i rang perfecthome and asked if they could help me reduce the payment like take the opitional cover off but oh no they couldnt help so i missed a few payments they hounded me, turned up at my door etc telling me some pretty awful things i didnt refuse to pay i just asked to knock the opitonal service cover and maybe the theft off. just had a chap at the door from temple finance saying they will take me to court in 14 days and i better have a solictor etc and they will take money from my benefits and bailiffs will come etc anyone been to court yet and anyone had money taken off there benefits and what happens thanks very much.