If ever there was a right time to post a blog on here it would be with the news that 453 customers of the Homeform group of companies who have gone into administration are to lose money handed over before the collapse.
According to a BBC online news report, customers of Moben, Kitchens Direct and Dolphin Bathrooms who did not make payment by credit card or finance agreements are set to lose a total of £1.5 million.
My heart goes out to all those victims who may lose their hard earned and it’s a travesty that this should still be allowed to happen but it’s never a better time to highlight the following to those contemplating a substantial purchase for the home or other wise.
If you have the facility to do so, make payments using a credit card. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, doing this will protect your purchase from £100 up to the value of £30,000 should a company decide to enter administration after you’ve placed an order.
If a company doesn’t have the facility to take your payment by credit card give them a wide berth when making substantial purchases for the home unless they offer an alternative form of payment protection
That’s of course little comfort to the victims here who not only have to cope with their a financial loss but have to do so at a time when it must have been difficult to have put aside that amount during a recession.
They are not the only victims and staff and installers appear to be in the same boat. The Manchester Evening News yesterday reported that staff protesting outside Moben’s Manchester offices complained that they hadn’t been paid and had been told the company had no cash available for their next pay cheques.
The only crumb of comfort was reserved for customers who placed an order with Sharps Bedrooms after it was sold off and those who placed orders with Sharps will still have them fulfilled.
Immediately news of the collapse was announced there was a mad scramble among rival suppliers to win business from former Homeform customers with Magnet and others leading the pack promising some salvation to those affected. A quick online search will display a host of rivals revising their Adword campaigns and jostling for the top spot in the sponsored listings of Google page results.
Advice to customers enticed by the bevy of offers from rival companies is to get the calculators out and research whether the promises of salvation are authentic or just a clever disguise to win additional custom. In all my time in kitchens, I can’t say I’m familiar with any company who will replenish a rivals customer losses after they enter administration but certainly some discounted promotions targeting those affected will be genuine so the advice is to wise up and be more thorough in your research.
The advice to those who purchased their goods from Moben, Kitchens Direct or from Dolphin Bathrooms from Deloitte, who’ve been appointed the administrators, is as follows:
Customers who did not pay with a card or finance agreement can write to the administrators at Deloitte LLP, Athene Place, 66 Shoe Lane, London EC4A 3WA but “are unlikely to receive a refund” unless the remaining Homeform businesses are sold
Let’s hope for the sake of all the victims here that the remaining businesses are sold off and they have some glimmer of hope that their purchases or owed payments are salvaged.
When MFI went into administration, no one came forward to buy the business – Homebase bought the brand name (Hygena) and put it on some of their furniture.
When Focus went into administration, there were no buyers for the business which had a reasonable reputation. So who in their right mind would buy Moben, Kitchens Direct or Dolphin who had an expensive produce, poor customer service and a bad reputation plus the business had lost £100 million in the past 4 years?
So where did the money go … it went on hugely expensive showrooms( they would think nothing of spending £2.5m on a showroom), expensive TV advertising, layers of local, regional and national management who all had company cars.
Big colour brochures, meetings and conventions for the commision based salesmen & women plus the wage bill for all the showroom staff around the country – plus the enormous waste of time and energy trying to rectify the problems on each installation.
If anyone is thinking of buying a kitchen in the future, they need to check out the company – look at financial position of the company (Homeform Group did not file any accounts in this country) and is the company you are entrusting with your money – are they likely to be around in 15 years to honour the warranty ?
I would suggest there will be many more companies both large and small that will fold in the future – So my advice is forget the old theory of getting 3 quotes – spend you time doing your homework on companies that will be able to withstand the tough times ahead ( posh showrooms do not mean they doing well – look at Moben ) and invite the profitable & established ones to quote, because there are still some good guys out there.
Couldn’t have put it better Keith – great advice and from conversations I have with customers I think the age of research is already here. My feeling is that there would have been many more victims had this taken place before the ability to research was there at our fingertips.
It is however difficult to determine who will survive and who won’t but we’re living in an age where interaction from the very top of companies will be a necessity. No more Ivory Towers
Would anyone be able to advise on who to contact regarding any warranty issues? I have a fridge door that is no longer fitting properly after fitting 12 months ago and cannot seem to locate if the warranty is still valid or not. Obviously phone numbers and emails don’t work any longer.
Thanks
Sorry Iain, if it’s the appliance door then it depends on the warranty terms of the manufacturer and not Moben. As Moben are no longer trading, your kitchen warranty will not be honoured with them but perhaps posting an image of the door may help unearth the manufacturer, if they were outsourced.
Can anyone advise me. I too was taken in by the Moben sales team and spent a hugh amount of money on one of their kitchens which has not stood the test of time. It is only 4 years old so still under warranty which of course does not withold, but the high gloss lacquer on the doors and drawers is wearing away making it look very tatty. Although I feel very angry that I have been taken in by the lure of their expensive showrooms and pursuasive sales women/kitchen designer I just now want to repair the cupboard doors…..can I get replacement Moben kitchens doors or is their a lacquer that I can purchase to touch up the chips that are appearing along the edges of the doors?
We have a Moben kitchen that needs to be repared. any recommendations ?