Next account - how does it work?

[mrochester]

Hi all

I'm a bit confused about this one. Just taken something back to Next and was given a voucher for £10 off my first order bought on their website. I found some other trousers I liked the look of in the shop, and thought I would buy them online to benefit from this money off.

As usual, you have to create an account on the Next website to be able to purchase something, and this account creation process asked for the usual details you would expect. However, upon completion of the account creation, I discover that I appear to have opened some sort of credit account as I apparently have £600 to spend, and the pair of trousers I ordered are being sent to me for delivery on Monday with absolutely no payment details provided by me (I apparently only pay for them when I decide I want to keep them!).

My question is, how on earth have Next been able to determine that I am eligable for this credit, and how on earth do Next ever expect to receive payment for the items they are sending to me since they have taken precisely zero payment details from me?

I'm just really confused; either Next are very trusting, or there is some horrible catch to it all! Does anyone have any ideas?

Ta

M.

 

[mrochester]

There's no catch - though they surely took your address details?

They'll invoice you in about a month's time. It is a credit account - I thought it was strange too but I've not had any problems, had an account with them about a year now.

Just watch out because they'll keep sending you Next Directory 3 times a year which costs £3.75 so make sure you pay for it if you keep your account.
I've not ordered much from them, only about 4-5 things but always paid for them at the end of the month anyway.

Well I ticked a box that said I didn't want to receive the Next directory when I signed up. I assume that means I will never receive one.

 

[mrochester]

You open an account with them and they'll let you spend up to whatever limit they give you. They then bill you every month in the same way a credit card company will so you need to pay a minimum off or however much you want to in the same way.

They will send you catalogues in the post that cost £3-4 every 6months or so, so you need to pay them off for that as well.

I don't understand how it can be a credit account when no credit check was made?

 

[mrochester]

There is no catch, they will bill you for the items and you pay either the minimum or the total (anything in between), they have run a credit check with the details you have obviously given them (name, address) and that is about it.

There are various ways to pay, including setting up a DD or simply using your Debit Card. My wife used it a lot as it is convenient and you can return things to the store as well as by post. As far as accounts go, it is one of the better ones.

I see. I was under the impression that you need to provide some sort of banking or payment details to do a credit check (certainly every other form of credit I have ever applied for has required this). Since Next didn't ask for any of these, I assumed that no credit check had been done and that they were trustingly giving me £600 to spend with no comeback should I choose not to pay the bill.

Why can't you just buy something from their site and pay for it like you would anything else?

 

[mrochester]

You can. You can choose to just pay for your items immediately.

Well I didn't see that option! Before I knew it it was telling me my items would arrive on Monday and that there'd be no need to pay until I had tried them.

I assume that like most other credit accounts, if you pay the balance on the account before a certain date, there's no interest charged?

 

[mrochester]

Yeah that's right.

Now that you've signed up, I don't think you'll have that option any more. When you're a new customer you can choose to just pay straight away. Used to be able to anyway.

I also can't see any preference on the My Account screen to in relation to receiving (or not receiving) the Next catalogue. Can I assume that by ticking to not receive the catalogue this time (and get free delivery) that I won't ever receive the catalogue? I don't want to unexpectedly receive and be charged for a catalogue I do not want.

 

[mrochester]

Now I'm even more confused. I've just received through the post a letter from Next with a Credit Agreement document they want me to sign and send back. But hang on, I thought I had already entered into a credit agreement with them (as I have already been able to order and have goods delivered)? Do I have a credit agreement with Next or not? The account online seems to think I do, but the paperwork they're expecting me to agree to and sign seems to suggest I don't.

 

[mrochester]

My girlfriend got stung like this with one of those money off vouchers.

Nowhere on the site did it give you a visible place to enter a code for £10 off your first order. You're screwed as well, as you can never use the code now as you are an existing customer.

Actually when I signed up there was an "incentive code" box or something to that effect. It showed the £10 discount but seemingly my first order has been charged at the standard price without the discount.