Moben in administration

Cazsimps

My husband & I signed up for a new Moben kitchen only to find out they have gone into administration. I paid a deposit on my credit card & we signed a financial agreement for the rest. The fitter started last week & we almost have a full kitchen but because they had delivered the wrong sink we were waiting for the replacement which in turn delayed the dishwasher being fitted. Where do we stand on getting the work finished?
I take it our 10yr guarantee is defunk as well, can we claim anything back?
Have to say feeling extremely lucky, a few days earlier could have been a disaster & I feel for everyone in that position

phill99

Administration is not the same as bankrupt. If an administrator has been appointed he will try and sell the company as a going concern or sell parts of it off to raise capital to meet their liabilites.

Effectively, the company will still trade until the administrator decides it can't be sold and therefore effectively puts the company into bankruptcy. In the immediate term, your kitchen should be finished. The reason it may not be finished is that the fitter hasn't been paid by the company and is refusing to do anymore work for him. You will probably need to discuss this with the fitter directly and you may end up having to contract him directly to finish the work.

If the company is folded, your guarantee will fold with it, unless its an insurance backed warranty- you need to check this out.

Don't know what you think you can claim back. If the company does go into receivership, your claim will be lodged with the rest of the claims and you may get money when the company eventually winds up. However, the chances of you getting anything are precisely zero.

Cazsimps

Thanks for your response much appreciated. I've paid to have the skip removed from the front of the house and we've decided to contract the fitter to finish the work and will pay him direct. He was told this morning that he was redundant.
Moben had delivered the wrong sink, which I guess we're probably stuck with. In the circumstances I guess we will have to have the wrong one fitted which isn't the end of the world just a tad disappointing.
What I'm hoping to claim is the skip removal and payment for the fitter to finish the kitchen. I'm assuming I can claim this back from the credit card company if not the administrators??

phill99

Cazsimps wrote: »

What I'm hoping to claim is the skip removal and payment for the fitter to finish the kitchen. I'm assuming I can claim this back from the credit card company if not the administrators??

You can try claiming from the administrators, but whether they are willing to pay is a different matter. If the company goes into receivership, the receivers find out how much money is available and how much money is owed. There is the a priority in terms of who gets paid first. The administrators and receivers get paid and then VAT and unpaid corporation tax etc is the first call after that. Then debenture holders, then landlords, then ordinary creditors (the fitter, suppliers and you). If there is any money left to pay this last catagory, its normally a very small amount and ends up as a few pennies in the pound. Eg if they owe you £500, you may get 8p in the pound ie £40.

You may fair better with your CC company, but this isn't an area I know anything about.

In terms of your sink, there is no reason why you can't have the one you want. Its unlikely that the sink you want is exclusive to Moben so its a case of researching and finding out who makes it and supplies it.

Buy one and sell the one you have on ebay. At least it will cut your losses.

ZenUK

Better to claim using Section 75
See guide

DFW2

I had a similar query regarding Sharps (we are waiting to see if our fitters arrive as promised on Monday) fthl who replied to my post said "Yes you'll need to pay the finance, but the finance co will also be responsible for ensuring that the stuff gets installed. Probably by refunding the amount it will cost to get someone else to fit. Be wary of going down this route though- make sure you have all the right bits as getting replacements might be a !!!!!! if something is missing or damaged."
Hope you get everything sorted.

akitabow

I think as you have taken a finance agreement then you will not lose anything and will not have to pay the finance. You can get the deposit back from the credit card company as you paid for a specific product to be fitted by a specific company as specified in the agreement, If they are in administration then his will not be happening as agreed. Any alterations to this agreement should make it void. If the agreement is not fulfilled then simply put you have no need to pay. I would contact the finance company and lay out your case and see what they say.

ranty66

I was one of the hundreds of employees slung out by Moben/Dolphin yesterday with no pay for the month I had just worked.....As I understand it, the company has now folded. The very people drafted in to help save our flagging fortunes are the very same people who appear to have contributed to the demise of the Moben and Dolphin Brands. (Google the MFI collapse for clues ) They will walk away from this mess nicely taken care of, as they now own Kitchens Direct and Sharps, all previous debts of these 2 parts of the group now having been wiped out. Yes, if you paid by Visa Credit card or finance,you will be able to claim back your money via the provider, however , cash buyers face more of a struggle. The prospect of recievership is unlikely....we were purchased by a major investor 4 years ago, and they have recieved nothing back on their investment. It truly looks like the end of the road for Moben, or at least that's what we are led to believe. If you're waiting for anything at all to be delivered, wether it's a sink, or a door , or if you're waiting for a fitter to come out and undertake warranty work on an existing kitchen....I wouldn't hold your breath....there are no staff there to organise your delivery, and no fitters to carry out work the company can't pay for. It can't even pay rent on it's head office , warehouse or any of it's showrooms....sad state of affairs for all involved. Whatever you hear about Moben and Dolphin and KD customer services, the people in that department always worked extrememly hard...you just cannot manage complaints at that volume....over promising and under delivering caught up with us in the end

adamg

f.y.i how long before this happens to Magnet......

Meepster

adamg wrote: »

f.y.i how long before this happens to Magnet......

Interesting you should ask this for two reasons:

1) This is basically what Magnet will be announcing in tomorrows National Press: Magnet will honour any deposit already paid to Moben, up to a value of £1000, against the cost of one of their kitchens. They will also honour the Moben quotation price (even if it doesn't make any money)

2) The chances of this happening to Magnet are very VERY slim. If the fact they are owned by one of the largest kitchen manufacturers in the world in Nobia isn't enough. They are also a member of Trustmark. Any monies paid to Magnet are insured (whether it's just a deposit or the total price) and part of this agreement is that IF Magnet went bust part way through an installation, the fitter would still get paid.

Meepster

I just want to add, I do feel sorry for all the Moben staff who were effectively told they no longer had a job the other day, especially with regards to how it was done. One of my friends worked for Moben and he is gutted, having worked there for nearly 7 years and worked his !!! off there, all seemingly for nothing.

I also feel for those customers who are either part way through their installations, or were due to start soon, as there is very little they can do, apart from try to claim their money back.

No-one likes seeing a business go bust and even though it is one of my biggest competitors, I would never have wished this to happen. Ever.