Brighthouse Stores (formerly Crazy Georges)

[steven4064]

I think that is harrassment and they should be reported to the police - harassment is a criminal offence. I agree it's child abuse too - report them to social services while you are at it.

[julie1961]

I would have reported it to the police, its disgraceful behaviour.

[morrigan54]

From what I can gather, the lady had been up against it financially and offered a lesser payment until her finances improved. Like many others she had gone in to the store and made a payment offer although it wasn't the full amount. In general it's pretty much what some of us have experienced and they declined that offer.

She has paid well over a third off her TV and cooker but they did take the kids Xbox 360 which she couldn't argue about as they were within their rights to do so. No big deal though as one of the neighbours gave the kid his old xbox so good riddance to Brighthouse but unfortunate for the next customer who will probably be paying for a new xbox 360 RECONDITIONED.

It's not the first time these people have bullied children, I've read many a story about Brighthouse sending the heavy mob round, but best they know one day it's going to come crashing down on them because it's rackmanism at its best.

[julie1961]

They try the bully tactics cause they know if it has to go to court the court will make them accept minimum payment or even write it off.

I got intouch with my local council & they sent a debt advisor out to see me, she wrote to everyone I owed money to & got them to reduce payments, she wouldn't allow me to be bullied. the council are trying to clamp down on companies exploiting people as tenants are getting behind with there rent & council tax to pay the bullies.

[DCA-KING]

Brighthouse sent me a letter when i phoned they told me they will send someone around i told them ok go ahead due to the fact that i am metally unsable if they get attacked it will be your fault

Ok we will phone you everyday ok thats telephone harrassment

ok we will send you letters and take you to court my reply

Thank you look forward to present my case in court

to date no calls letters nothing

check out my thread

[katrina14]

Does anyone know how long it takes for goods to be reposessed with Brighthouse? I've missed 2 payments and asked my local store if i could have until next Wednesday to catch up with my payments, which will be about £55 by next week. I was told by an extremely rude assistant, that i couldn't have till next week, and must make the payment by today, (friday). I've got a cooker and a nintendo from them. I wondered if anyone can help me please, as i can't pay till next Wednesday, and don't know what happens now.

I would be grateful for any advice.

[trazie]

hi katrina14 from your post it looks like you will be paying both late weeks plus the slap on the wrist payments this Wednesday coming its saturday tomorrow so they wont do anything probably phone you and they will phone monday and tuesday no doubt, Wednesday you say you will be paying it will take them longer than that to do anything there are people out there that have missed months at a time,i would email their customer service about the assistant though i have the email if you would like it Brighthouse_Direct@brighthousestores.co.uk hope i have helped put your mind at ease

[clemma]

I'm going to keep a close eye on this one - hopefully she will start her own thread, or can one of the Mods be kind enough to do it for her?

[franti]

For my sins I have worked for them, not by choice and not as shop staff, I needed a job and had never heard of them.

If you take an average 42" tv the shop price will be say £1000 as opposed to £750 shop price at olther stores minus any discount available, maybe down to £550.

If you have your own home contents insurance you don't need their version as you should be told but, not necessarily clearly and properly explained.

If you take their policies over the full terms you will end up paying say £2800+ for a £550 tv! Is it really worth it?

If you are buying used the quality is variable, it may be a returned or reclaimed item only a few months old but repairs can be very poor.

If you buy a second hand sofa DO NOT PUT YOU HAND DOWN THE SIDE OF THE FIXED CUSHIONS WITHOUT STURDY GLOVES! They are generally not cleaned out and I pierced my finger on a broken pencil, imagine if it was a syringe!

The shops are placed in areas of some deprivation, high unemployment, generally low paid employment and higher immigrant populations. They are generally placed in areas with kwik save, lidl, aldi, etc stores.

Your treatment by shop staff will vary according to the person but they are obviously always there to get the maximum profit from you.

If you have problems with payments pay as much as you can afford reguarly, ignore their threats and contact the citizens advice, trading standards, fsa etc. If you have car or home insurance you may be able to get free legal advice. Don't just stop paying, pay an amount reguarly until you can sort yourself out.

[Tallulah1]

Hi I'm new to the forum.

 

I am in the middle of dealing with these lot! Last year I had similar problems, had the phone calls, the threats and intimidation of re-possessing my goods and hey presto- they've started again this week because I'm in arrears.

They actually made me ill last year but this time round, sorry, but I'm enjoying playing them at their own game. They threatened on Saturday to take my goods so I said- 'ok then, come for them!' I've no quarms about going to court with all my receipts and payments, none at all.

In the next breath they said- 'well we really don't want to take your goods.' So I replied- ' so reduce my payments then!'

Oh I've had the abuse off these lot and they like to give it out too! Thing is, I was miss nasty as well and for some reason, they didn't like it?

Now, being the sponsors of The Trisha show, you'd have thought they'd have some empathy with their clients when they're in a spot of financial bother? Afterall, Trisha does cover the depravation of lone parents and debt and the rest of it. ( no dig at single parents by the way because I'm one myself)

Well, I had a pleasant surprise this morning. I spoke to the store manager and mentioned who they sponsor and guess what? If I go in with my usual payment before Saturday, they are wiping my arrears!

After last years performance with them, there was no way on this earth I was letting these lot bully me again- not a prayer! To be truthful and like many, after I've paid off what I owe them, I'd rather go without than get anything off them again. As many have said on this thread, they must put their staff on a bad attitude course before thrusting them in to the store.

Like many have said on here, don't let them bully you, don't let them make you ill because these lot aren't worth it. I asked the store manager for some help to sort my arrears out and in all fairness when he did back down, he was pretty helpful because if he wasn't prepared to help then it's no skin off my nose, I'd have sent channel 5 an email asking them why this lot sponsor a show that is designed to help people and the top and bottom of it is- that's exactly the type of show they sponsor!!!!! Quite bizarre don't you think?

I just want to say good luck to everyone who uses this company, but do not let them bully you.

Well done you!!

[steven4064]

Hi franti and tallulah

 

Welcome to CAG

 

(sorry to miss your arrival until today franti - your insights as an ex-BH employee are especially useful)

[Loxley79]

I too have been (unfortunatly) a member of the Brighthouse team.

 

As i have just recently been dismissed after 2 years of my life, because i dont agree with there policies. I would be pleased to offer advice to anyone who wants to know the in's and out's of there system.

[steven4064]

Welcome Loxley

[Lefty]

I too have been (unfortunatly) a member of the Brighthouse team.

 

As i have just recently been dismissed after 2 years of my life, because i dont agree with there policies. I would be pleased to offer advice to anyone who wants to know the in's and out's of there system.

 

Hi Loxley - and welcome to CAG!

What didn't you agree with?

Cheers

Lefty

 

[mickydicky69]

I too have been (unfortunatly) a member of the Brighthouse team.

 

As i have just recently been dismissed after 2 years of my life, because i dont agree with there policies. I would be pleased to offer advice to anyone who wants to know the in's and out's of there system.

 

dear brighthouse i wish to make a formal complaint about the treatment that my wife and i have received from your staff at the bilston store regarding a returned Philips ambilight TV 42" my name is Patricia, and i live at XXXX the name of the member of staff that has been harassing us is SAM who is the assistant manager of that store. we had a little accident around 4 weeks ago with the TV, my husband tripped over the wire running from the hover and went head first into the TV. therefore we got in touch with brighthouse and told them what had happened. they told us that not to panic all will be sorted and that we will get a replacement TV until our TV will be fixed. when a week later they came to pick the TV up we asked them where is our replacement TV that we were promised and the engineer told us that he has not got any tv"s with him and not only that he also said that a replacement TV was not ordered to come to your property and that you are gonna have to go back to your local brighthouse store and ask them to give you a replacement TV. we then asked the engineers when will we get this TV back and he replied I'm sorry but you wont be getting it back as it wont be fixed. once they left i went straight to the store and asked for a replacement TV and was told that they could not give me one and that until we have had the engineers report we cannot do anything for you. and then i told them that the engineer told us that the TV in question will not be fixed as it will be too much to mend and that you need to go back to the shop and get another one so that is why i need a TV. they then said that i would have to wait up to 6 weeks for them to get the information about my TV and that up untill then i sill have to pay them for the TV, and then i said how can i pay for a TV which you know that i have not got for the next 6 weeks, so now we are left with no TV and your staff ring us every day demanding money from me for no TV. i also have other items from the same store which include a PC monitor 21" acer monitor, a 9kg whirlpool steam washer black, a 15.6 inch acer laptop, and a TV stand and at the moment we are paying for all of these items but now we have been told that even though we are paying for the other 4 items they keep saying that they are gonna come and collect these items from us even though we have paid for them in advance. she rings about ten times a day demanding the money for the TV. the store code is 7384 my a/c number is ** mod edit, personal details ** the model of the TV is PH42PFL23 the date the TV was taken away was 21/09/2010 cms ref 577317 csr name is ken, it has now been 11 days since they took our TV and every day they have rung me up demanding payment from me and also last week i had a member of staff come to my door demanding money off me at my own home. what I'm sad about is that up until now we had a good relationship with the store always popping in to say a friendly hello to them all and now i darnt show my face there as all i get is abuse from the staff there, and then today when my cousin went in to pay for his laptop of which Ive mentioned here they told him to go away and they don't want his money for the laptop as i haven't paid for the TV and now they are refusing to take any payments for the rest of the items. the assistant manager SAM then said that to give Patricia me a message that for Trish to go in and make a payment on the telly and that she wanted £66 from Trish namely me for the TV and then she went to fetch someone else and they told him that if Trish came in and paid for the TV then they would give me a replacement TV until my TV will come back fixed. well why are they now saying that to me and they already said that they cannot give me a replacement TV until they have heard about the TV that has gone to be repaired or scrapped. i will not be bullied or intimidated by your staff any longer Ive always paid my items on time and my hubby used to be a customer of yours when you were called crazy Georges and he had no problems what so ever.i want this to be sorted and quickly as I'm too afraid to go out of the house. or answer the phone. how can a TV which costs £17 a week turn into £66 in 10 days, so please can you sort this out as soon as possible please, many thanks, .what advice can you give me about this then.

Edited October 5, 2010 by 42man
Edited due to personal details left on post...

[loopinlouie]

Micky Ive contacted the site team for you. You need to protect yourself with removing name and address and any identifying mentions in your post. You can get brill advice here, but please protect yourself. You need to click on the edit button of both posts to do so and if have probs the site team should help you xxLL

[42man]

Hello Mickey, I wouldn't suggest putting any name or address on here for safety reasons, Have you sent the letter above by recorded delivery to their branch ? you have raised a dispute and they would have to answer it.....

[mickydicky69]

thanks for the info loopinlouie as it was my first post i was not sure wat to put in as id like to get across all info to thoes who may be able to help me out.

[mickydicky69]

For my sins I have worked for them, not by choice and not as shop staff, I needed a job and had never heard of them.

If you take an average 42" tv the shop price will be say £1000 as opposed to £750 shop price at olther stores minus any discount available, maybe down to £550.

If you have your own home contents insurance you don't need their version as you should be told but, not necessarily clearly and properly explained.

If you take their policies over the full terms you will end up paying say £2800+ for a £550 tv! Is it really worth it?

If you are buying used the quality is variable, it may be a returned or reclaimed item only a few months old but repairs can be very poor.

If you buy a second hand sofa DO NOT PUT YOU HAND DOWN THE SIDE OF THE FIXED CUSHIONS WITHOUT STURDY GLOVES! They are generally not cleaned out and I pierced my finger on a broken pencil, imagine if it was a syringe!

The shops are placed in areas of some deprivation, high unemployment, generally low paid employment and higher immigrant populations. They are generally placed in areas with kwik save, lidl, aldi, etc stores.

Your treatment by shop staff will vary according to the person but they are obviously always there to get the maximum profit from you.

If you have problems with payments pay as much as you can afford reguarly, ignore their threats and contact the citizens advice, trading standards, fsa etc. If you have car or home insurance you may be able to get free legal advice. Don't just stop paying, pay an amount reguarly until you can sort yourself out.

 

dear brighthouse i wish to make a formal complaint about the treatment that my wife and i have received from your staff at the bilston store regarding a returned Philips ambilight TV 42" my name is Patricia, and i live at XXXX the name of the member of staff that has been harassing us is SAM who is the assistant manager of that store. we had a little accident around 4 weeks ago with the TV, my husband tripped over the wire running from the hover and went head first into the TV. therefore we got in touch with brighthouse and told them what had happened. they told us that not to panic all will be sorted and that we will get a replacement TV until our TV will be fixed. when a week later they came to pick the TV up we asked them where is our replacement TV that we were promised and the engineer told us that he has not got any tv"s with him and not only that he also said that a replacement TV was not ordered to come to your property and that you are gonna have to go back to your local brighthouse store and ask them to give you a replacement TV. we then asked the engineers when will we get this TV back and he replied I'm sorry but you wont be getting it back as it wont be fixed. once they left i went straight to the store and asked for a replacement TV and was told that they could not give me one and that until we have had the engineers report we cannot do anything for you. and then i told them that the engineer told us that the TV in question will not be fixed as it will be too much to mend and that you need to go back to the shop and get another one so that is why i need a TV. they then said that i would have to wait up to 6 weeks for them to get the information about my TV and that up untill then i sill have to pay them for the TV, and then i said how can i pay for a TV which you know that i have not got for the next 6 weeks, so now we are left with no TV and your staff ring us every day demanding money from me for no TV. i also have other items from the same store which include a PC monitor 21" acer monitor, a 9kg whirlpool steam washer black, a 15.6 inch acer laptop, and a TV stand and at the moment we are paying for all of these items but now we have been told that even though we are paying for the other 4 items they keep saying that they are gonna come and collect these items from us even though we have paid for them in advance. she rings about ten times a day demanding the money for the TV. the store code is 7384 my a/c number is ** mod edit removed personal details ** the model of the TV is PH42PFL23 the date the TV was taken away was 21/09/2010 cms ref 577317 csr name is ken, it has now been 11 days since they took our TV and every day they have rung me up demanding payment from me and also last week i had a member of staff come to my door demanding money off me at my own home. what I'm sad about is that up until now we had a good relationship with the store always popping in to say a friendly hello to them all and now i darnt show my face there as all i get is abuse from the staff there, and then today when my cousin went in to pay for his laptop of which Ive mentioned here they told him to go away and they don't want his money for the laptop as i haven't paid for the TV and now they are refusing to take any payments for the rest of the items. the assistant manager SAM then said that to give Patricia me a message that for Trish to go in and make a payment on the telly and that she wanted £66 from Trish namely me for the TV and then she went to fetch someone else and they told him that if Trish came in and paid for the TV then they would give me a replacement TV until my TV will come back fixed. well why are they now saying that to me and they already said that they cannot give me a replacement TV until they have heard about the TV that has gone to be repaired or scrapped. i will not be bullied or intimidated by your staff any longer Ive always paid my items on time and my hubby used to be a customer of yours when you were called crazy Georges and he had no problems what so ever.i want this to be sorted and quickly as I'm too afraid to go out of the house. or answer the phone. how can a TV which costs £17 a week turn into £66 in 10 days, so please can you sort this out as soon as possible please, many thanks, .what advice can you give me about this then.

[Panasonicman]

I have found that a lot of people are having issue's with brighthouse and their damage & liability insurance plus their optional insurance cover , you can get the store which handled your purchase to take off the osc insurance but the dlc is required if you dont have home insurance or your home insurance policy do not cover hire purchase or rental items and if they do then brighthouse insists that any cheques should be paid to them directly

[jonnyb65]

A little information, I'm not sure if this is current, but Crazy Georges was a spin off of the Rent-A-Center (RAC) in America. the software was bought by Thorn in 1994 and the first store opened in Birmingham. This was at the time Rumbelows and Radio rentals closed it's doors.

 

 

The stores were named after a guy at Thorn named George, I forget his surname! At first the staff were friendly and customers were happy with the service they received.

 

 

I'm not sure who owns them now! I do however know the ethics of Thorn were/are very high and the behaviour I have read about on here were never tolerated. the interest rate was always high though and they are on a par with these payday loan companies.