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Kleenmaid collapses: $27m in deposits gone

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Solly

Solly

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"ANGRY homeowners, including one carrying a sledgehammer, fronted the founder of failed Queensland-based appliance company Kleenmaid yesterday as it emerged that more than $27 million of customer deposits were gone."

See this interesting story here from Mitch Gaynor and Suellen Hinde;
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25321450-952,00.html

I wonder who will be the next to fall over.

I've always considered it's handy to have a spare sledgehammer in the boot, just in case you run into issues along the way..

I was considering refurbing with this gear..lucky I didn't get around to visiting their show room.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

more than $27 million of customer deposits were gone
Click to expand...

Well $3500 of it is currently mine.

Building el ponerosa at the moment
$22,000 worth of Kleenmaid selected by the chef.
They pressuered me to buy the whole lot and they to hold it until the build was far enough along to fit.

I refused.

I may have some recourse as I believe the owner of the business where i bought the appliances is a seperate franchisee.
My appliances are evidently in storage awaiting my payment.

Will be interesting.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

From the Courier Mail story

Andrew Young, founder and owner of Kleenmaid

He said the company's business model of using customer deposits to fund other areas of the business "had not worked".
Click to expand...

That is not a business model, it is a ponzi scheme.

This same situation happened to my brother many years ago. He paid the full price up front on a garage to McFadden Homes/Garages. The crooked salesman said there was going to be a big price increase the next day, so pay the full price today and save the increase. Problem was the next day the company was gone.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

Kleenmaid were running add's for franchises to repair their machines with a $100K PA which says a lot about their stock...this time last year the owners were in the paper in a feature about QLD riches beside that other great business man Mr. Storm.
Any takes on who will be next?
The manager here at Hardly Normal tell me thing are getting worse and will get a lot worse in time to come.
A B C news reports rents are going down in Sydney and more vacant prop. on the market.
I heard they owe $67M more suckers who though the credit bubble would never burst.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

That quote can not be fairdinkum surely.......if that was done by a travel agent, it would has breached several laws allowing imprisonment....

There is a massive job loss effect here too........Kleenmaid was an intensive employer, in all its wisdom was mainly based on sunshine coast, where how should I say, employment is not exactly plentiful.....

There really are not many jobs there outside of Centrelink and serving old people coffee..........alas, I'm not holding my breath for this corporate failure to free up some cheap beachside apartments for me......I'll need a few ten baggers for that to happen:rolleyes:
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

Solly said:
I was considering refurbing with this gear..lucky I didn't get around to visiting their show room.
Click to expand...

Now you will get what u want at the auctions...half price. ;)

-----------------

Any Australian manufacturing that can be done cost-effectively in
China...will eventually be done in China....this is the world we live in.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

Another debacle down to a down at heel ASIC/Consumer Regulators.

It makes it difficult to foster an efficient bourgeoisie when they can have their hard earned conned out of them by lack of existing regulation and warning signs of disaster.

gg
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

I have a Kleenmaid washer and dishwasher, just paid for an extended guarantee on the dishwasher, now useless.

I was always very happy with their products but funding the business from customer deposits ?????

If Kleenmaid can go down watch this space, Powerhouse, Harvey Norman, they must all be under enormous pressure at the moment and it aint going to get any better for a long while.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

Garpal Gumnut said:
Another debacle down to a down at heel ASIC/Consumer Regulators.

It makes it difficult to foster an efficient bourgeoisie when they can have their hard earned conned out of them by lack of existing regulation and warning signs of disaster.

gg
Click to expand...

Just following a great Aussie tradition among regulators, do it half arsed then go to lunch.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

This probably won't attract any more comment by the media, will be regarded as just one more in a string of failed businesses.

You have to feel for Pacific Brands who copped such a roasting essentially just for being the first in line.

I heard a story the other day from a retail salesperson in a bedding store.
Couple came in to buy an ensemble. They liked one which was made by Pacific Brands (apparently their bedding division is still up and running) but when they discovered the manufacturer, said they wouldn't buy anything "from those nasty people". Instead they bought a fully imported ensemble!
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

Julia said:
This probably won't attract any more comment by the media, will be regarded as just one more in a string of failed businesses.
You have to feel for Pacific Brands who copped such a roasting essentially just for being the first in line.
!
Click to expand...

Agree, Pacific Brands were just the scapegoat, worse is happening right now and it will continue, who will the media target next ?
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

So if you put a deposit on your credit card, perhaps you can claim it back? The 'failure to provide the service' clause.

A few years ago we wanted to purchase some computers from Random Bytes (Apple provider in Adelaide). They wanted a deposit, I said no, they would get their cheque when we collected the computers (around $6,000). So this was agreed to. Collected the computers, paid the money but within the week Random Bytes was gone.

Gyms might be the next to go - three closed their doors here on Thursday. One guy was naturally irate - he joined as a member the day before. Surely that must be illegal?
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

Prospector said:
Gyms might be the next to go - three closed their doors here on Thursday. One guy was naturally irate - he joined as a member the day before. Surely that must be illegal?
Click to expand...

As they say "tell it to the judge" the law doesnt protect the innocent, it administers the "law"
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

So if you put a deposit on your credit card, perhaps you can claim it back? The 'failure to provide the service' clause.
Click to expand...

Will look into this "P" as I think I actually did pay the deposit by card.

I remember the sales guy pushing like crazy to have me pay the lot.
Saying he had to pay for it and hold it in stock until I wanted it.
I guess then I should be able to walk in with the cash and pick up the good then.

As he is an independent operator I guess I have more chance with him than the principal.
If I were him I wouldnt be particularly comfortable.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

What will be interesting to see is if they find evidence of them trading as insolvent. Kleenmaid have been marketing an extended warranty scheme whereby people who have Kleenmaid items that have come out of warranty were offered an additional five years of warranty if they purchased a special package. This was being marketed up until at least eight weeks ago. Surely if they were marketing this when then knew they would not be able to deliver, would have to breach something. When we finally resolved an issue we had had with Kleenmaid products for the last six years about eight weeks ago I said to my husband "That company is going to go out of business". The dishwasher that we paid $1600 for six years ago had had continuous service calls (an average of one every twelve weeks). FINALLY after water continously poured out through the door seals they advised me that they couldn't repair my dishwasher and after nasty letters and phone calls :banghead: they agreed to replace the dishwasher for me and then offered me the opportunity to purchase one of these extended warranties. After numerous nasty calls again they then "threw the warranty in" - so good of them considering that they are now practically out of business. AND my experience is not a one off - one staff member told me that the issues that they were having with my dishwasher was common with products kleenmaid had brought in from the "Brandt Company". I also heard of similar problems with a front loading washing machine.
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

Someone I know has paid for all their goods, and they are at a courier delivery place awaiting delivery to the owner. They were supposed to be delivered early last week, but because the person wasnt at home, the courier company still has them. They contacted the courier company last Thursday to organise delivery, but now the courier company is saying that because Kleenmaid owes them $17,000 they are refusing to deliver the goods! :eek::mad:

Interesting for TechA, they have been advised that because the goods were paid by credit card, they can claim on that and the Credit card will have to reimburse. So TA, you might just be in luck!
 
Re: Kleenmaid collapses $27m in deposits gone.

Prospector said:
Someone I know has paid for all their goods, and they are at a courier delivery place awaiting delivery to the owner. They were supposed to be delivered early last week, but because the person wasnt at home, the courier company still has them. They contacted the courier company last Thursday to organise delivery, but now the courier company is saying that because Kleenmaid owes them $17,000 they are refusing to deliver the goods! :eek::mad:

Interesting for TechA, they have been advised that because the goods were paid by credit card, they can claim on that and the Credit card will have to reimburse. So TA, you might just be in luck!
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure the credit card company will be of some use in this. That may depend on the card type however.

As for the overall issue with companies like this, I generally won't buy any appliance likely to need servicing (ever) that's a re-badged product from some company that doesn't otherwise market the product in Australia. That's unless, of course, it's cheap enough to just replace if it breaks and not worry about repair.

There's just too many horror stories of consumers with dud products (in general, not specifically Kleenmaid) they can't get fixed and which no electrician / gas fitter will touch since parts aren't available other than via the distributor. And the distributor won't supply anyone other than their own franchisees. And for those who try and get around it using generic parts, that's great until you realise that it's all custom made stuff and that nothing else fits properly. I don't have the time or $ to mess about with this.

Best hope for owners of Kleenmaid appliances is if either the original manufacturer or a third party decides to market and support those products in Australia. If not, you're stuck with somthing that's quite likely unfixable in the event of anything other than a very generic component failure.
 
"P" and Smurfy.

Had a talk to the legal people today.

Seems that if you give permission for your card to be drawn upon for the purpose of a deposit then your snaffled with that course of action anyway.
 
I thought that if you were defrauded using a credit card the bank would recover the funds.
It's just a reversal from their account.
 
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