Harvey Norman "36 months interest free"

thehamo

So was in HN the other day and my gf decided she would buy a laptop under the 36 months interest option. She spent about ten minutes with the sales person giving details thinking she was just about to get a new laptop. However, he came back to her about 5 min later and told her she was declined.

Now she has never had a bad credit rating and all cards and debts are paid and up to date. Sice this, both she and I have talked to numerous people who have said that they tried to get this interest free option and were declined for absolute no aparant reason. My GF was so freaked she ordered a copy of her credit report and it transpired that they didnt even make a request for her credit background.

Seems to me to be one big scam to be honest, dont know how they are getting away with it.

Nody

thehamo wrote: »

So was in HN the other day and my gf decided she would buy a laptop under the 36 months interest option. She spent about ten minutes with the sales person giving details thinking she was just about to get a new laptop. However, he came back to her about 5 min later and told her she was declined.

Now she has never had a bad credit rating and all cards and debts are paid and up to date. Sice this, both she and I have talked to numerous people who have said that they tried to get this interest free option and were declined for absolute no aparant reason. My GF was so freaked she ordered a copy of her credit report and it transpired that they didnt even make a request for her credit background.

Seems to me to be one big scam to be honest, dont know how they are getting away with it.

Depends on what information she give, for example if she claimed salary less then X etc.

thehamo

they dont even ask. They just asked what she worked at and how long she is in that job. She is in the same job for the past ten years. They never even asked if she has any other loans or outstanding debts or anything.

kerplunk86

I think calling it a scam is a bit extreme... These large stores use an external credit provider for these agreements and it is entirely up to the provider to accept or decline a request for credit. The staff in the stores are never told the reason for declining a customer.

It also seems that with the "current economic climate" that fewer people are getting accepted.

Mr E

The exact same thing happened to me, OP. I went in to get a good camera (about €770 worth). The repayments would have been just over €20 a month.

Went through the process of putting all my details into the computer, and got a big red "declined" on the screen. I did the exact same thing as your girlfriend - I went onto the ICB website, paid my €6 and got my credit report. I could see that HN requested a credit rating, but it didn't show the rating that was given. All other loans etc. show ticks beside all installments - none were missed.

To be honest, I was pissed to begin with (not to mention a bit embarassed), but like the previous poster said, they're tightening their criteria for credit acceptance. I have a mortgage and a couple of loans - they might think that too much is coming out of my account every month.

But still.... its just over €20 a month. I'd understand if it was €100 a month.

pistolpetes11

This also Happened to me !

I had just been approved for my mortgage in July , Me and my partner had a good cash reserve in place and when we seen the interest free credit (24 months it was at the time ) I said we may as well go with .

Any way we got the no go from Harveys finance company (HFC Bank )

I could not understand why this was and when i went to query it , I was told i couldnt.

Went to DID and bought my stuff in the end .

Any way I was in harvey there last week and seen a really nice sofa for about 5k, then seen they were now doing the 36 months offer .

This prompted me to get the credit rating done ! EBS gave me a rating of 512, AIB credit card 502 , Bank of Scotland 510 for previous car loan paid off and AIB car finance 508 for another car loan paid off.

Any way HSF bank gave a rating of 427 in the same week that EBS offered me my mortgage and gave me the rating of 512 !

Going to pop in tomorrow out of curiosity ,and see what they say now ! Speaking to the guy at the sales counter he mentioned a different name for the finance company , cant remember what it was now .

I will give you an update tomorrow !

Antigone05

HFC pulled out of Ireland about 6 months ago.

They use Creation Finance now.I tried it, got declined myself.didnt bother with getting onto the ICB. The lads @ Harvey Norman only put the details in.. its not their decision in the end.

rebellad

Not an issue with HN but I did have an issue when signing up for one of the mobile phone companies - they wouldn't accept me, no problems at all with my credit rating. I got the company they use to check my credit rating for €6 and sent the letter to the phone company who then had no problem taking me on - strange...

foggy_lad

i would see this as a scam because many people when refused the interest free credit will then get the hard sell from well trained sales people to buy the very expensive finance deals available and most likely there will be no problem with credit rating for these 30%apr finance arrangements?

Mr E

Nope, that wasn't offered to me (wasn't even mentioned).

dorothygale

I was thinking about going for this offer but now I don't know... I certainly don't want "declined" on my credit report. Someone should email this tread to Harvey Norman's public relations representative.

Guy:Incognito

dorothygale wrote: »

I was thinking about going for this offer but now I don't know... I certainly don't want "declined" on my credit report. Someone should email this tread to Harvey Norman's public relations representative.

For what? To try force a finance company to give money to people it doesnt deem to have a fit credit rating?

prendy

Stekelly wrote: »

For what? To try force a finance company to give money to people it doesnt deem to have a fit credit rating?

lol... ya look where that got us!

nellocon

Crikey...Seen as my laptop is on its last legs i was going to pop into HN and get myself a new one on this interest free option...A college student like myself i obviously have no chance of being approved credit for it...

Crap anyway:mad:

jaffa20

nellocon wrote: »

Crikey...Seen as my laptop is on its last legs i was going to pop into HN and get myself a new one on this interest free option...A college student like myself i obviously have no chance of being approved credit for it...

Crap anyway:mad:

You never know. These sort of credit checks involve looking at how much repayments you currently have. Credit cards, loans or other forms of interest repayments and if you don't have any, you may be in with a chance.

nellocon

jaffa20 wrote: »

You never know. These sort of credit checks involve looking at how much repayments you currently have. Credit cards, loans or other forms of interest repayments and if you don't have any, you may be in with a chance.

Unfortunately i do have another small monthly payment so i think id be pushing it... Its only like €20 a month though it'd hardly break the bank for most people...i could prob find 20 a month down the back of my sofa for god sake:rolleyes:

foggy_lad

Crikey...Seen as my laptop is on its last legs i was going to pop into HN and get myself a new one on this interest free option...A college student like myself i obviously have no chance of being approved credit for it...

you are probably more likely to get approved than people with long standing good credit history

daltonr

I'm not even sure that the "Interest Free" claim is legit.

I popped in to HN last week and every TV had a sign with a price and in big writing it said "Negotiate a Discount For Cash"

To me that says they're showing the price that you'd pay if you avail of the finance deal. In other words they've already added in the interest. If you pay up front you pay less.

That Isn't Interest Free.
I Don't know if this policy only applies to TV's.

Be careful in HN. I was looking for a Bluray player that was on display in one HN store for 319 Euro, in another HN store the same item was 369 euro!!!
In both the actual price I could get it for (by asking for a discount) was 299.

I bought the player in AllianceElectric, who actually list it for 299.

Also HN have a bit of history. About a year and a half ago Panasonic were offering a free 5 year warranty on their Plasma TV's (they still might be). HN didn't tell customers this and actually tried to sell extended warranties to their customers who bought Panasonic.

Buyer beware.

-Rd

Sleipnir

daltonr wrote: »

Be careful in HN. I was looking for a Bluray player that was on display in one HN store for 319 Euro, in another HN store the same item was 369 euro!!!
In both the actual price I could get it for (by asking for a discount) was 299.

I bought the player in AllianceElectric, who actually list it for 299.

Has to be the Panasonic BD35. I'm so sad....:(

daltonr

> "Has to be the Panasonic BD35. I'm so sad...."

Yep. It's good.

-Rd

AARRRGH

I think people are being a bit paranoid. HN obviously have their own system for deciding who they want to give credit to. For whatever reason, you didn't pass their test. This could be anything from your age to a glitch to being unable to find you in the ICB's database to whatever.

I wouldn't take it personally.

Captain Flaps

daltonr wrote: »

I bought the player in AllianceElectric, who actually list it for 299.

Why would you pay 300 for a BD player when you could get a PS3 for the same price? The PS3 would be fully updateable and have internet connectivity too.

jor el

Captain Flaps wrote: »

Why would you pay 300 for a BD player when you could get a PS3 for the same price?

Because that was a year ago. This is exactly why old threads should not be dragged up.

Relevant posts split to a new thread, here.