Just A Little Advice Needed Here.....

[chrisuk013]

i went to dfs last january to get a couch on the 12 months interest free terms,Today i get a letter from black horse stating that a payment should have been made on the 31 of january 2006 being 12 months since signing the agreement.But the thing is that my goods being the couch took 12 weeks to arrive,So where do i stand on this matter i can remember the salesperson in dfs telling that it would be 12 months from when the goods arrive,Can anyone shed any light on the matter?

[Oneeyedvic]

On the agreement you signed (which wil lhave somehting along the lines of Loan Agreement regualted by the Consumer Credit Act) written on the top, it will say when the first payment is due.

It al llikelihood, as IAP says, it will be 12 months from the date of agreement. Whether the salesperson remembers you or agrees that he said 12 months from delivery or even if he still works there will be unlikely.

I doubt you could take this any further, as (i believe) the agreement will clearly state when the first payment is due.

[jason1980]

I have had dealings with Black Horse for finance and the first payment date is usually on the credit agreement but with payments due a long way off there is normally a reminder letter stating when payment will be taken. Also under contract law the sale is when you accepted the goods, but there is a returns/cancellation period for so long after receiving certain goods because they may not be as described or up to good standards. I covered consumer law in my accountancy studies when I trained to be an accountant. 1: It was 12 months interest free terms. 2: This can only be applied from the date you received the goods because it was the date you accepted the goods as yours - otherwise right now you are paying money for something you didnt have 12 months ago. Also with any agreements there should be a period of opt-out or cancellation usually a 4 week period. Which even if the contract of sale was last january you would have had until February to cancel or commit so even with that in mind - 12 months on from acceptance of sale would be at least February.

Lastly I am aware that they put a �25 charge on for missed payments so I suppose it's up to you to contest it.

[stanleyman]

I have to differ slightly with Jason where he says the sale is when you accept the goods. A contract is made when both the seller and buyer agree to the terms of contract not when the goods are supplied or when payment is made.

It is reasonable to assume that 12 months credit would be from the date of the contract and if so, this would be in the contract and easy to check. However, if the sales person stated that payments would not start until 12 months from when the goods arrived then this is a term of the contract, the problem is in proving it!

[Eels]

All I have to say is that if you're involved with Black Horse then good luck - you'll need it!

I'm never putting my business their way ever, EVER again, their idea of customer service is spectacularly wide of the mark.