The results
The survey revealed the following:

• 71% of people surveyed have taken out more than one interest free deal.
• Almost 20% said they had to purchase goods of a higher value than they intended to buy in order to get the interest free deal.
• A third of people said the salesperson had not explained that they would be charged interest once the interest free period ended.
• Almost 20% missed or made late payments and so paid late fees on their interest free deal.
• 67% of people received a credit card as part of the deal.
• Over 75% of people who received a credit card said it had a higher credit limit than the purchase price of the goods bought on interest free.

Unsurprisingly less than a third of respondents read the paperwork in detail, and few were aware that there were fees & charges to pay, as well as interest charges when the interest free period expired.
Many were aware that the finance company's suggested minimum repayment would not pay off their deal within the interest free period, and yet this information was not generally readily provided, with one response "Our previous purchase did so we were quite shocked at the end of the period to have so much of the balance remaining. We then had to pay interest on the balance until it could be cleared and had to increase our repayments to clear the balance as quickly as possible which added strain on the budget as we had planned on the repayments ceasing at that point" Survey participants also said they would have liked to have been told more about the interest rates and the fees and charges applicable to these loans.
The good news is that generally salespeople do not appear to be actively selling or pressuring customers into taking out interest free deals & the majority of salespeople do not appear to be providing incorrect or misleading information, however they tend not to provide details unless asked.
Overall however, Australians are happy with the service, and more than 70% have taken out more than one interest free deal, with few indicating that they had had to pay interest on their purchases.

"Used wisely, these offers are a fantastic way to purchase big ticket items, keeping your cash in the bank offsetting your mortgage or earning interest for you" says Rebecca from Finance Seekers, a sydney mortgage broking company, "however wise use is the key. We recommend our clients who are considering taking out this type of loan read the paperwork very carefully, and be clever about the repayments."

She suggests you should always take note of the amount you have borrowed and the actual interest free term, and come up with your own payment schedule which will see you pay off the entire debt before interest is charged.

To calculate how to pay the loan off during the interest free period, divide the loan amount by the number of ‘interest free months' & add any applicable fees. The answer is the monthly repayment you must make.

"All too often we see borrowers doing the right thing and paying off their loans as instructed, only to reach the end of the interest free period and get slugged with interest rates in excess of 25%. In my opinon the loans are also too easy to get, and the credit limits too high, this only fuels the problem. Borrowers also don't see these as actual loans - which they are - and they can have a significant impact on your borrowing capacity when you want to buy a new home or refinance a loan."

Clever use of interest free facilities can save you money, pay attention to the fine print to avoid paying a lot more in the long term.

 reference: www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au