I'm shocked this is allowed to be aired.

I know we often see advertisements for credit and in very very small print across the bottom horrendous interest rates- blatant profiteering. Shouldnt be allowed - its vulnerable people this affects

This is truly awful isn’t it - such high rates of interest should be illegal. In fact Brighthouse should be illegal

Even the product price is vastly inflated.
They are around 2.40 pounds, but were selling for 180 during black Friday fortnight or whatever it is now.

£240 I meant

There was an item about Brighthouse ages ago on the BBC news. They were going on about their vastly inflated costs even then. Surely they should be outlawed like that pay day loan company now defunct. They are making a living preying on those less fortunate.

I wonder what the managing director and co really think about how they make their living..
They really shouldn't be allowed to blatantly rob people in this way.

I saw this as well and was horrified. So much for being honest and cheerful, it still costs twice as much. There will be people that want it sadly but it's disgraceful imo

I pass Brighthouse every time I`m in town. Many`s the time I`ve gone on to my daughter about their high interest rates, they even have them in their window. People must be very desperate for these things to pay their extortionate rates and prices.

I saw the advert too toscalily . I’ve posted before on GN about a Brighthouse near to where I work in a very poor NE town . I could cry for the young people with no other choice but to use this obscene company to buy things like washing machines , sofas, cookers etc. If I ever won the lottery I would stand outside and hand cash out to stop people going through the door ! 99% interest rate ? How bloody dare they ! Angry doesn’t cover it !

I agree....up to a point.
The point being that as a young couple we had to make do with not having a washing machine ( trips to the laundrette)
A sofa ( not a new one anyway) or a tv set.We did buy a cheap reconditioned cooker.
There was hire purchase back then ( inflated interest rates)
But we decided not to go down that route.
So, then as now, people have to decide for themselves how it will be.

lemon nice try as usual at victim blaming rather than focusing on the real villains in this. Your post comes across as pretty smug quite frankly. The world is different now from when you were setting up home or havent you realised that?

Oh lemon I had none of these things when I was a young single mum either but in 2018 a washing machine, tv, cooker etc. are essentials in my mind. Not everyone has relatives to give them their old stuff. If you don’t have the cash you can’t even buy second hand can you ? And it’s very hard for some people to get credit in the “normal” shops. Anyway, I’m sure we covered this subject extensively just recently didn’t we? Or am I living in a parallel universe?

Shocking! I guess £6 a week sounds cheap. Shouldn’t be allowed to prey on the vulnerable and poor in this way.

Then, as now, people must decide themselves if they will pay inflated interest rates or save up for something, nothing has changed really in that regard.
There is no ‘need’ for an XBox. Just as there was no ‘need’ back then for us to have a tv, much as we would have liked one.
Brighthouse only exists because enough people are willing
To pay high prices because they want things this minute, just as the old hire purchase firms used to do.

Did we cover this extensively gilly ? Which thread was it?

Yes the cunning bit is the amount per week. Years ago when I worked for CAB there was a time when some people could get loans from the DHSS for items like washing machines or cookers which were paid back at a set amount per week with no interest. The local loan sharks soon found this out and so offered repayment rates at below the DHSS rate - of course with huge interest and taking much longer to pay back.

Oh I think the whole sorry criticise-the-young -we-managed -without -mobile -phones- we-lived-on-soup-and-dried-bread-they-don’t-know-they’re-born thing has been done to death on GN and doesn’t improve in the repeating.

It was covered in the thread asking who got into debt at Christmas

There was an article covering these extortionate interest charging outlets, recently on television. One woman had paid about 8 times the cost of a gas cooker, I think. It led on to show the plight of other folk who had been charged such rates of interest. From what I understood, I believe that there is going to be a cap put on these rates. I sincerely hope so.

I agree with you Auntyflo there should be a cap on all these interest rates, as most of them are huge, certainly for cookers, beds and similar.
Anyone can live without gadgets such as XBoxes though, which was the point I was making.

MaryE it must be exhausting being so permanently angry,
Especially at our age.

I agree lemongrove, re not falling into the trap of buying something like this which is unnecessary.

However, I'm just wondering what time the advert was on C4 and whether it was at a time that children would be watching then pestering their parents for an X Box.

It does seem immoral for a loan company to use something such as this - they are using an enticing product, not selling the product itself, to promote their loans.

Has this been reported to the the Advertising Standards Agency? It's not right that the Iceland ad was banned but this is allowed to be shown.

These rates are disgusting. They prey on the poorest in our society making their position worse and worse. At those rates of interest the item will probably have broken down and another needed before its paid off. Sometimes it's to buy practical household items. Sometimes expensive Christmas presents for kids who hear what others are getting at school and desperate parents succumb to pressure. Yes we said no when we couldn't afford things but not everyone manages this, Government should protect the hardest up, however they got in that position, through legislation which stops loan sharks cynically exploiting them.

The point being that as a young couple we had to make do with not having a washing machine ( trips to the laundrette)

Cool. I also made trips to the laundrette.... when there was one on every corner!

Now they are few and far between and if you HAD actually been to one in the last few years, you would know that they now cost over £5 per load to wash and dry. Per load. So that would be at least £10/week for one single person who doesnt have a "dirty" job that requires more washes. Not including petrol/bus to get there now that there isnt one in every neighbourhood any more. The only one I know of in a 5 mile radius of my home is an outdoor drive-up coin set up where you sit in your car while you wait...so you need a car..

So laundrettes, IF you can find and drive to one, are not the frugle option these days and cost more per yr than a HP washer/drier. But thanks for the tip I'm sure that any youngsters planning to go back in time will find it useful...