Dolphin finance and promotional tactics (Dolphin Bathrooms in General)

Member Name: speedo2003

Product:	Dolphin Bathrooms in General
Date:	03/02/05 (3040 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fitting can be of a high standard sometimes

Disadvantages: Sales tactics, Misleading financial illustrations, Sales personnel customer service

After visiting a Dolphin showroom (we hadn't heard about all the horror stories or we'd have steered well clear) we were enthusiastic enough to allow a salesman to come round the following week. What a mistake.

The promotional spiel we were fed about the Privilege (!) Gold Account was complete tosh. I won't mention the finance company in the same breath as Dolphin because so far they have been blameless in this saga. We were promised the following incentives by the Dolphin salesman to buy on account, even though I stated that we could pay in full up front:

a) A 20% discount on the price of the bathroom - given that it was way over what we wanted to pay anyway, this was the least I'd expect.

b) FREE payment protection - I questioned this repeatedly but was told it was included in the price of the bathroom, and not only that, but we would get half of the value of the premium refunded upon settlement of the account. So, I asked, it's like a net gain of half the amount? Oh yes, he replied. WRONG. The total premium payment is added on to the cost of the bathroom. You do indeed get half the value back if you settle within a certain timeframe, but the full amount still gets added to the loan you take out, so even if you don't need the protection (which we don't and as I told the salesman) you still lose out by the value of the premium, plus the interest you accrue on the extra amount.

c) Repayment terms - the account could be paid off at our leisure, as long as the minimum term was 18 months, to ensure some interest for the lending company. But don't worry, to minimise your interest, you can pay off a lump sum up front and just leave yourself the minimum monthly to pay for the next year and a half. Fair enough I thought, I can settle for that, given that I'm getting money for nothing from the payment protection premium (see above). WRONG. A Dolphin sales manager subsequently told me that to pay off a lump sum first was against the 'spirit of the contract' - what the hell is that?? - and would incur penalties against us. The best we could do would be to pay off the maximum monthly in equal installments over 18 months, meaning that we'd end up paying for the bathroom at the full (non-discounted) price after all with the interest we'd be paying!! However, subsequent to that, the finance company themselves have told me that's rubbish, and if we want to pay off most up front, all we have to do is leave 3 months of minimum payments and we'll be fine, with no penalties and still qualifying for the payment protection rebate.

d) Other promotions - A total of £550 in extra rebates and vouchers was promised to us. Rather than automatically send you the money, however, Dolphin make you jump through hoops to claim it. I am still waiting for any of the money, although have received assurances today that one part of it will be paid soon, after Dolphin originally attempted to renege on the deal, saying it was our fault that the salesman didn't know that particular promotion had ended!

Reading other reviews, it seems that people have been unlucky with the quality of the fitters. I have to say that our experience has been completely the opposite. The fitter was an experienced, well-qualified, friendly and accommodating man with his own stories about Dolphin's treatment of him and other customers. The bathroom, now we have it, is fitted to a perfectly good standard. If only we hadn't been so misled by Dolphin's sales tactics, I would be writing a glowing review, rather than revealing them for the mercenaries they are.

Summary: