BrightHouse staff say they twisted affordability checks to hit bonus-related targets and customers were chased for payments
One ex-employee told us she earned £500 extra during one busy Christmas period
FORMER BrightHouse workers claim they twisted affordability checks to allow vulnerable customers to take out contracts in order to meet bonus-related targets.
Staff who contacted The Sun Online - and wish to remain anonymous - were employed by the rent-to-own firm between 2006 and early 2017.
They held a number of positions including sales assistant, store manage and debt collection staff.
Last week, the the business was ordered to pay £14.8 MILLION pounds to 249,000 customers after the financial watchdog found it had treated them unfairly.
Now, former employees who worked in stores around the country have come forward about conduct at the business.
Staff claim that they were set targets based on the number of items they needed to sell to customers, with full-time employees expected to sign up four or five new items per day.
It they didn’t hit target then they would face disciplinary action and sometimes in the most extreme circumstances they were threatened with losing their job.
Those who did hit targets or exceeded them were rewarded through financial incentives or prizes as rewards.
One ex-employee told us she earned £500 extra during one busy Christmas period.
At one point sales staff were able to earn up to £1,000 and debt collection staff up to £750 per month.
Another said that they had “bunker days” where staff could win a TV, XBox or shopping vouchers if they sold the largest number of items to customers in their region.
There were also bonuses set for staff on retaining customers. They could do this by offering customers money off an item to ensure that they stayed a customer by signing them up to a new contract.
How customers were chased by staff
WE spoke to one member of staff who at one point worked in debt collection for the firm.
He said: "I was told I wasn't ringing people enough and I needed to ring them faster.
"I was told I needed to ring them at least eight times a day, or I wouldn't have a job"
"I'm not proud of it. I was earning £500 a month in bonuses because I would go into someone's house and take back their stuff.
“People thought we were bailiffs but we're not. We have voluntary surrender forms. We'd get the stuff in the van and then get them to sign it.
“If a customer wasn't paying for their TV we'd put a pin in the aerial cable. The customer would then call up and ask for the TV to be serviced.
“You'd go and collect it and then you'd tell them they weren't getting it back because they hadn't paid their bills."
One staff member said: “You were almost bribing customers to take out more by giving money off.”
This put a lot of pressure on staff to perform and rules were broken, workers claimed.
One ex-employee said: "You could fabricate the numbers so you would make sure that the person who couldn't afford it could afford it. It was go and do what needed to be done to get your targets."
Another said: “They were so scared of losing their jobs. They didn’t care who they’d sell to.”
Even customers with the best credit scores were only supposed to enter into one or two additional contracts.
The worst case seen by one member of staff was a customer who had been allowed to take out 32 separate agreements, meaning they had to pay back in excess of £300 per week.
Another added: “We would still sell to people on benefits. You’d ask to see their bank statements but know they probably had two or three bank accounts.
“Did the people we were selling to understand what they were doing? I don’t think so.”
If a customer was late with a payment to BrightHouse then staff were encouraged to chase them, its claimed.
One worker said: "Staff were encouraged to visit customers two or three times per week. It was borderline harassment."
Another ex-employee told us that payments were being taken off customers without their permission.
She said: “A customer phoned me and asked why we had taken money out of her bank account.
“I found a folder with card details in the back of the shop.”
What BrightHouse said in response to the allegations
In response to the allegations a spokesperson from BrightHouse said: "These are anonymous and unsubstantiated historical claims.
"BrightHouse has robust procedures and checks in place that are intended to root out any malpractice or misconduct."
In 2009, BrightHouse recorded a 21.5 per cent rise in annual pre-tax profits to 29.4million.
Earlier this year, it said that its earnings were down 79 per cent on the previous year to £11.7 million.
The compensation scheme and collapse in revenue at BrightHouse comes after the firm was forced to introduce stricter affordability checks by the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority last year.
MUM-OF-THREE LOCKED INTO DEBT FOR 18 YEARS
The 38-year-old, who lives in Northamptonshire, took out her first agreement with BrightHouse in 1996 when she was 18 and a hairdressing student at college.
Since then, she took out around 26 agreements with the loan company which she paid off over almost two decades.
"Two men would turn up on my front door on a Saturday, hours before the payment was due," she said.
"The payment wasn't even late and they would be banging on my door making sure that I was going to go to the store to pay."
"At the time I had two young children in the house and I had to hide them in the living room so they wouldn't see."
Over the 18 years, she believes she has paid approximately £31,587 to BrightHouse for goods which cost around £17,509.
A spokesperson for BrightHouse said: “BrightHouse takes all customer concerns extremely seriously.
"We are surprised that after many years as a customer, this is the first time that BrightHouse has been formally made aware of Ms Taylor’s concerns. We would be happy to discuss them with her personally.”
It promises customers "great deals" on sofas, TVs and cookers but customers often pay up to 70 per cent interest on items.
In relation to this investigation BrightHouse said: “BrightHouse offers its customers, who are on lower incomes and often have poor credit histories, a range of flexible payment options to get everyday goods.
"Our customers are typically excluded from mainstream credit and they cannot walk into other retailers to buy a washing machine or TV outright, so any such comparison is misleading.”
We also revealed how its fatcat boss sold his London mansion for £53million - the most expensive house sale in Britain last year.
Following the FCA’s announcement BrightHouse apologised via a statement on its website and said those affected will be notified by the end of 2017.
"Having reviewed our past business, we have identified two historic issues that have led to our announcement about repayments to some of our customers," it said.
"We are sorry this has happened. We will contact all customers included in the programme by personal letter before the end of the year."
HOW TO GET HELP WITH DEBT
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