I was recommended to Home-buy through a friend as a couldn't afford to buy a Tv outright. What a mistake that was! the Tv i wanted wasn't in stock and i was being persuaded to buy a more expensive one which i didn't opt for. I decided on a refurbished model 32'inch widescreen at £5 per week. The tv was only going to cost me about £150 and interest about £20. The tv was delivered with no stand which i had been told was included, no badge on the front, which made it look less desirable than my own tv.The delivery men were rude to me when i enquired about the stand, they gave me a remote and said 'sorry love the volume buttons don't work', this wasn't like at all what the saleman had showed me in their glossy magazine. I was told they had put £16 for me on my meter.. i have never had the pleasure of having a coin operated tv! The £16 lasted little more than 24hrs.I was in shock, I hadn't hardly had the box on!I unplugged the tv and set top box and called them first thing the next morning to come and collect the tv as I had decided that it wasn't for me. I could probably save the money i would have been putting in the coin slot and buy one off ebay in a couple of week. They agreed to collect it the next day. Nobody came! When i called Homebuy the person i spoke to told me that there was a note on the computer not to pick up the Tv but to send somebody round to see what my problem was and to see if they could persuade me to keep it!!! I was outraged. The tv is in the hallway waiting to be collected, still!!!after 5 days someone is finally coming after I threatened to bring the tv myself and leave it at the office! If there's one thing this last week has taught me it is that if you haven't got it in your purse, you can't afford it!!!

Congratulations on coming to that conclusion so quickly :)

I knew i would be paying over the odds for the Television my eyes were wide open to that!!! but the coin meter....

Like BrightHouse or Crazy George (now gone), places like this exist to rip off the poor.

I hate the advert where the guy says "I didn't think I could afford a high definition widescreen but I could with Bright House".

While some household items are essential for everyday living (like a washing machine), big screen TVs aren't.

what a set of rip-off merchants! I never knew schemes like this existed - it's abd enugh paying over the odds for the telly but coin-operated as well?

Tell them that the tv is going on the garden, and that if they don't collect it, PDQ, then someone may be off with it.

or, how about "If you DON'T collect it, PDQ, I will be charging you for its storage, at a rate of 16 quid per 24 hours" :hihi:

I think that for one crazy moment i felt I had to conform to society and have a silver widescreen tv as my sons mates who are 10 commented on how old fashioned my tv was!

Why don't you look on Freecycle to see if any TVs are going? It'll cost you nothing at all.

I think that for one crazy moment i felt I had to conform to society and have a silver widescreen tv as my sons mates who are 10 commented on how old fashioned my tv was!

If I listened to the comments my daughter comes out with about my clothes,
mobile etc I would be spending loads on gadgets and clothes I would never wear:suspect:

Kids are just like that because they are not paying for these things:rant:

Just ignore them kids are obssessed with being in fashion its only as you get older you realise what a rip off fashion is:hihi:

I think that for one crazy moment i felt I had to conform to society and have a silver widescreen tv as my sons mates who are 10 commented on how old fashioned my tv was!

Your son's mate's parents want to teach them some manners, respect and values. Don't let that become your problem, it's theirs - I hope you teach your own son differently.

it's only recently and now i'm nearing 30 that I understand what people mean when they say 'keeping up with the Jones'. Although my children are not materialistic at all i find that a lot of kids are. I don't mean teenagers... i mean kids as young as 5. Maybe if I just didn't have a tv at all then i wouldn't see adverts telling me what I should be buying .

I think that for one crazy moment i felt I had to conform to society and have a silver widescreen tv as my sons mates who are 10 commented on how old fashioned my tv was!
Anyone can have ALL the latest must haves ......... but I'll wager that over 50% of people will get themselves into debt for it ..... which i think it pretty silly.
I completely missed out on the flat screen/widescreen phase because there was nothing wrong with my old TV and it goes against every principle of mine to replace something that works perfectly .......... it eventually gave up the ghost after 8 years last year and i splashed out on a new LCD.

I certainly would charge them for storing their rip off TV ......... and make sure you've blocked the direct debit, robbin sods

it's only recently and now i'm nearing 30 that I understand what people mean when they say 'keeping up with the Jones'. Although my children are not materialistic at all i find that a lot of kids are. I don't mean teenagers... i mean kids as young as 5. Maybe if I just didn't have a tv at all then i wouldn't see adverts telling me what I should be buying .

It's an awful trap to get into. I've seen it many times. Parents who encourage it are crazy and usually very shallow, imo. It takes a lot of character these days to stay out of the "fashionista/consumer trap". A lot of parents just don't seem to be able to say "no" to their kids, but they don't realise the damage they're doing.

homebuy have always been a complete con
same as buy as you view,
i know a sales manager at homebuy who earns over 60k a year
by exploiting peoples innability to gain credit through the normal channels,
AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wtf a coin operated tv , thats a first ive heard .... but how can u not hav 150 in first place

wtf a coin operated tv , thats a first ive heard .... but how can u not hav 150 in first place

Errrrm not everyone is lucky enough to just have access to £150.00. It might not seem alot but when you've got kids,mortgage,car,bills,food to buy, travel,clothes to buy it's not that easy to lay your hands on even a fiver sometimes.

Who gets the money from the meter and how is it collected? It sounds to me like it's a nicked rented coin op telly and if you remove the money box the coins will just fall out of the bottom. Tell them that you will report them to police on suspicion of selling stolen goods if they get themselves round there immediately.

Incidentally I bought a 32" telly for nearly £1000 about 5 or 6 years ago which broke down. I was looking for spare parts on eBay and ended up buying another one exactly the same in full working order with stand for £45 They even chucked a dvd player in with it and this very afternoon I have sold what is now a spare remote control for £15. Take care with your money or someone will be waiting to grab it from you.

wtf a coin operated tv , thats a first ive heard .... but how can u not hav 150 in first place

Oh dear, the nursery has access to the internet now.

Oh dear, the nursery has access to the internet now.

:hihi: my thoughts exactly.

Some people don't have £150 spare and to be honest iv spent most of my savings doing my house up and I don't agree with credit cards ect or catalogues and I thought it sounded like a good deal at the time... to the man who said about having 150 spare

Some people don't have £150 spare and to be honest iv spent most of my savings doing my house up and I don't agree with credit cards ect or catalogues and I thought it sounded like a good deal at the time... to the man who said about having 150 spare


Coco you don't have to explain yourself...I bet a third of the people on this forum couldn't just put their hands on £150 immdiately...I know I couldn't:)

Coco you don't have to explain yourself...I bet a third of the people on this forum couldn't just put their hands on £150 immdiately...I know I couldn't:)

no neither could i!!
you know what I really hate, the fact that 'tricia' is sponsored by brighthouse! She probably makes regular programmes about people being in debt, then the flipping show is sponsored by one of the worst companies for it!! :rant:
sorry, bit off topic lol

a credit card with 0% interest on purchases for 9 months would have been a better move for this purchase :(

Oh well - I hope you managed to point out some of the things your son has that his friends don't ;)

While a lot of my mates have uber tellys which cost an arm, leg and kidney I refuse to spend that kind of money on a telly which will spout the same amount of crap as my 2nd hand £25 32." telly.

If anyone had the temerity to mock my appliances then they feel free to use my lovely UPVC door :D

Some people don't have £150 spare and to be honest iv spent most of my savings doing my house up and I don't agree with credit cards ect or catalogues and I thought it sounded like a good deal at the time... to the man who said about having 150 spareYou don't agree with credit cards and yet you are prepared to pay 13.33% interest over 34 weeks which is an apr of at least 20%, no wonder you can't afford stuff. You need to think carefully about how you spend your money and you might find you are better off than you thought.

no neither could i!!
you know what I really hate, the fact that 'tricia' is sponsored by brighthouse! She probably makes regular programmes about people being in debt, then the flipping show is sponsored by one of the worst companies for it!! :rant:
sorry, bit off topic lolBrilliant marketing, it goes straight to their target audience.

How on earth do you know what i can afford and what i cannot afford and what i do and do not believe in! I don't want to get myself tied down with credit card after credit card, store cards, car credit ect.... I wanted a quick and easy method of payment without ending up grands in debt like most of society.

How on earth do you know what i can afford and what i cannot afford and what i do and do not believe in! I don't want to get myself tied down with credit card after credit card, store cards, car credit ect.... I wanted a quick and easy method of payment without ending up grands in debt like most of society.You said you couldn't get hold of £150, I'm suggesting that if you spend more prudently you will be able to buy more. Most of society doesn't have grands of debt on cards but even if they do there's nothing wrong with it so long as it's managed properly. Paying 20% interest on a SH telly is not the best way of doing things. You don't have to take any notice of me though, it's just a suggestion.

Btw you didn't answer my question about where the money went that you put in the meter.

£5 a week went towards paying for the tv and it was £1 for 4 hours of television supposedly, Also I do think there's something wrong with owing thousands on credit cards... also I am not ashamed that I cannot get my hands on £150 til i get paid because I know that everything I own is paid for.

£5 a week went towards paying for the tv and it was £1 for 4 hours of television supposedly, Also I do think there's something wrong with owing thousands on credit cards... also I am not ashamed that I cannot get my hands on £150 til i get paid because I know that everything I own is paid for.Ok fair enough.

I knew i would be paying over the odds for the Television my eyes were wide open to that!!! but the coin meter....

I remember a friend who had a TV from these guys a quite few years back, it took 50p pieces.

Anyway I'm round his flat and his kid is watching something and the TV goes dark, he put 50p in the slot and turns a little handle, I kid you not 30 mins later the kid comes into the kitchen and tells dad that the TV has stopped again and could he have another 50p, at this I get leaned on and give the kid the money.

So I ask my mate what the hells up with that and he says it takes a quid an hour to run the TV but its OK because he thought it was a bad influence and the fact that it was so expensive meant that he didn't use it much.

The mind boggles don't it, and to you the OP, well done lass, tell um to stick it where the sun don't shine.

You said you couldn't get hold of £150, I'm suggesting that if you spend more prudently you will be able to buy more. Most of society doesn't have grands of debt on cards but even if they do there's nothing wrong with it so long as it's managed properly. Paying 20% interest on a SH telly is not the best way of doing things. You don't have to take any notice of me though, it's just a suggestion.

Btw you didn't answer my question about where the money went that you put in the meter.


The thing is once you have a credit card it's difficult not to use it when you're struggling at the end of the month. e.g. for food, petrol etc. I've done it myself. Good on you for not getting a credit card or loan Coco and I suppose you'll know in future to avoid the place like the plaque.
Somebody said to me last week, if you haven't got it in you're purse then you can't afford it...best advice I've been given.:)

The thing is once you have a credit card it's difficult not to use it when you're struggling at the end of the month. e.g. for food, petrol etc. I've done it myself. Good on you for not getting a credit card or loan Coco and I suppose you'll know in future to avoid the place like the plaque.
Somebody said to me last week, if you haven't got it in you're purse then you can't afford it...best advice I've been given.:)If you can afford interest payments you can afford it though. With loans you pay interest for the privilege of using something before you have saved up for it, nothing wrong with that, people do it all the time. It's a question of keeping your spending under control that is the issue with people who have a debt problem.

And with a credit card if you have any problems, you'll get a more sympathetic ear than with a credit company. I've known credit card companies reduce the interest rate for people struggling.