To be delighted that Brighthouse is about to go bust?

[AgeLikeWine]

It’s not all bad news at the moment. .

Brighthouse is a nasty, exploitative business which rips off the poor, the uneducated and the vulnerable by selling household goods at inflated prices on finance at extortionate interest rates. Their business model relies on creating spirals of debt in a similar way to Wonga.

Normally I would sympathise with the staff of businesses which go bust, but not in this case. Good riddance.

@Absentwomen And in the meantime, how were you getting your clothes washed?

I'm not one for debt either, i either pay upfront or save up, even when i'm offered interest free credit. However, I'm not in the situation where i can't do that or don't have other ways of raising funds.

That's a lot of money you saved in a few months, I don't know many families living in poverty that can save over £100 a month, just going without. Going without what? Food, electricity?

I would hate to work in an abbattoir too but I wouldn't judge those who do or be happy if they lost their jobs.

"You're telling me, your friend bought a washing machine for £200 and repaid £320, 12 months ago from Brighthouse?"

That's exactly what I'm telling you. Why are you so invested? Do you want the make and model number? The Apr she paid? The exact contract details? Should I give completely exact info and then name change?

@lyralalala

Appreciate what you're saying.

But, had Brighthouse not existed, what then? It's because it has been allowed to sneak into our high street, and be an option,that I have a huge problem with.

It's the option for those excluded from mainstream facilities, I've an issue with. Because it became the ONLY option. For so many.

I've worked in second hand goods. Washing machines are the one item that fail PAT testing. It's a known fact that washing machines dont respond well to being moved. The second hand market in washing machines is patchy and reconditioned ones come with little protection.

The majority of renters have to provide their own washing machines, unless they're lucky enough to be able to afford places that offer integrated white goods. Housing associations offering people homes are under no obligation to provide any electrical items.

Perhaps that's where we start. I dont have the answers. But I stand by my argument that Brighthouse have taken advantage of the most vulnerable in society.

Taken advantage, or provided a gap in the market?

Massive sympathy to everyone who loses their jobs off the back of this but I agree to it being good riddance to this horrible company.

Looking through twitter it doesn't look you hold an unpopular opinion at all!

Taken advantage, or provided a gap in the market?

Exactly this. They've been going strong for over 25 years for a reason. It's shit of course, but there's clearly a call for this type of thing.

@Absentwomen

If Brighthouse hadn't existed I'd have had to use a local money lender. I had to do that on one occasion when one of my girls destroyed her school shoes at school. £10 shoes cost me £1 a week for 10 months, but I had absolutely no other options. I was also one of the lucky ones who never missed that £1 a week so it didn't escalate and I was able to resist the temptation of the "Are you sure you don't want another wee £10"

Local money lenders have always existed, they probably always will, and their terms are even more extoritionate than Brighthouse. They also put people in danger of other things - threats, violence, drugs etc.

Brighthouse have taken advantage of the vulnerable. That's not in question. I'm in no way arguing against that.

However, removing them from the equation right at this moment doesn't actually help anyone because it hasn't been replaced with anything. So people now just have one less option.

That probably limits the pool of jobs you can do quite considerably.

Yes, it does. I am lucky, very lucky, that my skillset after retraining allows me to fairly choosy about who I work for. There's degrees of exploitation as well. A modest profit from those who can afford it? Fair. Wringing money out of the poorest and most desperate? Not so much.

I wouldn't judge those who do or be happy if they lost their jobs.

I don't have much sympathy for them. That's not quite the same as being happy that they lose their jobs. The absence of sympathy isn't the presence of joy.

As for judging them: I reserve the right to do so. We all do, about everyone. Several people on this thread have been happy enough to judge me. A judgment expressed on an online forum, not targetting any named person, is just an opinion. It doesn't harm anyone. No one will be hurt because bd67 didn't approve of the job they did.

And maybe, after what you've all said about people needing to do really scummy work to keep kids fed, I might have softened my opinion a little towards most Brighthouse staff. Still reckon the bastards in charge should be hung head-down in the Thames.

Glad there going one I won’t be sorry to see go.

As for judging them: I reserve the right to do so.

And I reserve the right to think you're a dick to think people should go homeless rather than work at Brighthouse.

How much is your house going to cost over the lifetime of the mortgage?

This is when the lender does full credit checks and has a charge over the house which (even in the current market) is more or less guaranteed to clear the amount owed.

Of course Brighthouse's Apr is higher. They sell items which massively depreciate in value the second they walk out of the store to people of lower or highly variable income with some very long repayment terms on offer.

They aren't going to repossess as frankly between recovery costs and the p in the £ you'd get at auction it's not worth it.

Hence the higher costs.

Is it any different to the likes of Rumbelows etc back in the day?

"I am lucky, very lucky, that my skillset after retraining allows me to fairly choosy about who I work for."

Something else that a lot of people do not have the luxury of doing. At least this thread has perhaps reminded you that your experiences are not universal.

No one will be hurt because bd67 didn't approve of the job they did.

I imagine if I were an employee of Brighthouse who, after being told I was being made redundant in the midst of global pandemic, I'd certainly feel hurt after seeing some of the opinions on this thread. Not just your opinion, but the opinions of everyone else on this thread who have deemed them morally reprehensible.

It's a known fact that washing machines dont respond well to being moved.

Too right. When you buy a new one, it's got retaining bolts to keep all the innards in place when you move it, and people usually chuck the bolts out instead of keeping them for moving house. Putting them up on dollies to move them out for hoovering is ok, but they don't like being put in a van or car without the retaining bolts. They aren't great fans of being tipped on their side either, the residual water can come out of where the powder drawer is and go all over the electrics if you're not careful.

@WaxOnFeckOff

I was homeless. The thing about being without a home is that one makes do with the same clothes for days at a time. I washed my knickers in the canal and as it was a good summer, I could air dry them.

When I eventually got a flat, I got a cleaning job at the local high school. I did copy writing also, I had feast or famine. Even while living on the streets,moved on by the police constantly, I managed to keep some dignity.

My main focus was having a cooker, and a washing machine. An old friend gave me a cooker, and I saved and worked for a washing machine. I had no id. I scrubbed toilets, school corridors and with a knife, unpicked chewing gum from under tables in schools. I went to the local credit union, nah. I sat on a floor for almost a year.

The day my washing machine was delivered was the day I began to build up. No more scrubbing lavs. I went to Sainsbury's and got a job stacking shelves. My husband and I got back together. I had a heart attack at the age of 42.

I know what it is to be in poverty. But I also know who to avoid and how to survive.

I watched how companies like Brighthouse have slowly infiltrated people's lives. Roll a turd in glitter all you like. It still stinks.

That’s the one big thing I hate about mumsnet the sneering middle class high handedness , the just go and get a job in Tesco / Asda , just buy yourself a secondhand whatever, your not worth anything else

Evilspiritgin

Agreed.

I'd certainly feel hurt

But the loss of job and paycheck caused by the closure is the actual harm, not words on a forum.

I feel pretty pissed about the lack of empathy for depressives some people have shown on here, but I don't conflate their words with harmful actions, nor my hurt feelings with real injury. People are allowed to have opinions, including ones that I don't like.

If I worked in an abattoir and a vegan said they'd rather starve on the street than do my job and they couldn't understand how I could do it, I'd be offended and pretty annoyed, but I'd still try to understand why they took their view.

At least this thread has perhaps reminded you that your experiences are not universal.

Everything prior to leaving The Arsehole, I had been very happy to forget. But yes, some people haven't had that chance to retrain.

Redifusion and Rumbelows 'back in the day' often relied upon money in the meter to work the telly.

Sadly, I'm old enough to remember my mother breaking into the meter.

The late 80s were where rental telly and VSR became credit where one could walk in with a pay slip and get both items.

It was a rental agreement that was over a term. Difference is, most people paid.

Brighthouse cant be compared to its older cousins. Brighthouse and PDL escalated to roll credit out to those excluded from mainstream lending following the financial crash.

If I worked in an abattoir and a vegan said they'd rather starve on the street than do my job and they couldn't understand how I could do it, I'd be offended and pretty annoyed, but I'd still try to understand why they took their view.

There's a difference between saying that you personally would rather be on the street if you were hypothetically in that situation, and judging others who are actually in that situation for not making the same choice.

I was homeless.

absent no way would I ever ever EVER wash my clothes in a canal.