Brighthouse - "Stolen Property"

[stevew1990]

Disappointing experience dealing with Brighthouse (Shocking news i know). Ive had an account with them for years. Did the TV/Laptop etc. on it which are all paid off now.

 

Took a mobile phone with them in April, desperate for money in May and sold the phone. I was completely unaware that this was going to result in such drama - nobody had told me i couldnt do this in store but obviously my fault for not reading the fine print. Had a text from the chap i sold it to on Gumtree saying he had tried to sell it on Music Magpie last week and they "red-flagged" it as having finance on it so were holding it and would only send it back to its rightful owner (not me OR him)

 

Contacted Brighthouse, they did their standard "This is selling stolen goods and we are reporting you to the police" etc.etc. Contacted Music Magpie - No response. Phoned BH head office, then the store, then head office. I was pushed from one to the other with no resolution in sight.

 

Unbelievably the irate man who I had sold the phone to seemed to have had more luck and set something up for MM to return the phone to BH. Ive seen an email from MM to him today saying they are sending it back to BH by courier. Called head office, they said talk to the store for an update, called the store and was told they would not be speaking to me any further about my account and to speak to head office.

 

I have asked both if the phone being returned to Brighthouse meant my account could be closed and neither would give me an answer on this (bounced from one to another of course). Ive paid about 6 months out of 18 months of this off but happy to call it quits if thats possible. Has anyone had any experience of this and what the likely outcome is going to be?

 

Surely they cannot keep the phone and continute to charge me andthey state on the website that you MAY be able to return goods with no further payments to make.

 

Either way though, Brighthouse are no longer answering any of my questions - literally outright refusing and the store/HO playing me off one another, no response from MM either.

 

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

Cheers guys!

[fkofilee]

Hi Steve

 

Thank you for coming over to CAG. I think this will be complicated.

 

Technically, by doing what you did, the terms of the agreement would have been breached I believe under their T&Cs but for your benefit i would just double check the paperwork.

Remember, the terms of the contract would state you dont own the device in full till the agreement is paid off.

 

So well lets see what to do now.

BH have washed their hands of you... So Music Magpie have returned the phone to BH yes?

If so, no need to contact them anymore. Your deal is with BH.

 

What happens when you visit store... Do they just tell you contact HO?

[dx100uk]

I'd stop paying

I bet youve always been spoofed unto taking their (non) compulsory insurances out from day one anyway

So they owe you were you to declaim the lot!!

 

Might screw your credit file mind

But they don't do court

So stuff'em

[stevew1990]

I'd stop paying

I bet youve always been spoofed unto taking their (non) compulsory insurances out from day one anyway

So they owe you were you to declaim the lot!!

 

Might screw your credit file mind

But they don't do court

So stuff'em

 

Let's say I haven't been the best with managing my credit file so not worried about that. Just gotten the hang of getting creditors to take notice of unaffordable payments and freeze interest but that's another story.

 

Cancelled the insurance a week after taking it as protect your bubble was cheaper. Be interesting if I could claim anything back from the previous 3 years of agreements that are Donte now though.

[stevew1990]

Hi Steve

 

Thank you for coming over to CAG. I think this will be complicated.

 

Technically, by doing what you did, the terms of the agreement would have been breached I believe under their T&Cs but for your benefit i would just double check the paperwork.

Remember, the terms of the contract would state you dont own the device in full till the agreement is paid off.

 

So well lets see what to do now.

BH have washed their hands of you... So Music Magpie have returned the phone to BH yes?

If so, no need to contact them anymore. Your deal is with BH.

 

What happens when you visit store... Do they just tell you contact HO?

 

the store want no further contact with me and tell me to speak to HO. Head office are saying that the store will give me An update.

 

Really though, I'm more curious what happens when the store have my handset or if they will even acknowledge the receipt of it. It would be insane to give it back to me but if they have it they can't really continue a HP agreement because I'm not hiring anything if it's in their hands? I also wouldn't put it past BH to say they didn't get it and continue to charge me. No response from MM via email re tracking number but i am going to ring tomorrow.

 

FYI also I have agreed with the buyer privately that I will give him the cash that MM were going to but obviously can't do that until the handset is either with BH or myself and I know where I stand legally.

[stevew1990]

Just chased again for a response to my original email.

 

Brighthouse seem to be outright ignoring me from both store and HO and spending another half hour on the phone to be told to call somewhere else who tell me to call the original person isn't an appealing idea. *sigh*

[martin2006]

I currently have a BH issue going through FOS regarding insurances including 5*.

So far they claim its provided at no "additional" cost, but not at no cost.

 

They claim they dont keep info more than 6 years but supplied the account info from 15 yrs ago under a SAR.

 

In the main, they talk utter bowlarks and im taking them to task.

 

Need any help reclaiming, give me a shout.

[renegadeimp]

Its not theft. Theyre just scaring you. You sold it, so all they can do is chase you for the remainder owing. They know this, but they think they dont have to follow rules and procedures.

[Jason BrightHouse Web Rela]

Dear Steven,

 

Thank you for your feedback.

 

Sorry to hear you haven't received our response to your emails.

 

We have sent you an email with regards to your queries. Please check your inbox for this. Alternatively, if you haven't received our response please contact our Customer Relations Team on 0800 526 069 and we will be able to go through this with you or arrange for it to be re-sent to you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Ella

Customer Relations Representative

[renegadeimp]

Or you can supply an email and not a phone number where they will be belittled and threatened on the phone as with other brighthouse customers.

[Jason BrightHouse Web Rela]

Good Morning,

 

I hope you had a great festive period, may I please ask you to contact our customer relations department on 0800526069 so that we can look into this for you. Alternatively please email customer.relations@brighthouse.co.uk.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Kind Regards

 

Rahul

(BrightHouse Customer Relations Web Team)

[renegadeimp]

If you phone bright house, please record the call. They are well known for misleading giving misinformation and issuing threats over the phone.

Edited January 6, 2017 by Andyorch
edited

[Jason BrightHouse Web Rela]

Hi,

 

Thank you for your post, can you please contact our customer relations department on 0800526069 or alternatively email us at customer.relations@brighthouse.co.uk. I would like the opportunity to investigate this for you, therefore to reduce the length of time it takes to locate your details; if you choose to email us please provide your local store, post code, full name and date of birth.

 

Regards

 

^Rahul (Web Relations Team)