James Seddon ordered three bed frames from online furniture retailer Brosa for a total of $5,000 in November last year to install in his first home in Victoria.
He told 9news.com.au the frames arrived damaged and the bed heads looked used so he scheduled a return and collection under Brosa’s return policy.
“I’m building my first house, I’m supposed to move in and I can’t move in because I bought the beds from Brosa and they arrived damaged,” he said.
The bed frames were collected on November 12th and Brosa phoned him to say a refund would be given by December 14th.
On Tuesday, administrators and creditors voted in favor of Brosa’s full liquidation
“I checked my bank on December 14th and there was still no refund. I called that day and got a voicemail to say they are in administration effective December 14,” he said.
Seddon claims he contacted administrator KordaMentha about the refund and the last email he received in early January directed him to their website for more details.
He has now contacted his bank to arrange a chargeback but has been told it could take 120 days and has no written evidence of the incident.
“I have $5,000 out of my own pocket. I have nothing left, I have no furniture, no money, I have nothing,” he said.
Joanna Starr experienced a similar situation with Brosa after ordering a sofa to be delivered on December 19, but the company collapsed a few days earlier.
Starr has no hope that her order will be delivered or that the thousands of dollars she spent will be refunded.
“I’ve lost over $2,000 and I don’t have a couch,” she said
She also claims to have repeatedly contacted Brosa, Kogan, KordaMentha and courier ANC for an update on their furniture or a refund, but was met with silence
“Since the beginning of this whole thing, we’ve had zero responses and zero help,” she said.
“We lost so much money and nobody involved cares about it.”
Brosa has $10 million in unfulfilled orders for about 5000 customers, including Starr and Seddon.
A KordaMentha spokesman dismissed claims that customers had not been contacted regarding the liquidation and their orders, saying it had done its “utmost” to respond to all emails.
“If we If you missed an email, we apologize for that,” the spokesman said
“Unfortunately, from a cost perspective, it is not possible or practical for the admins to speak to every customer and they have received thousands of emails and many phone calls.
“Serving them all face-to-face in person would have been a huge expense that would have reduced the rate of return for creditors.”
The spokesman said administrators continue to respond to customers and post frequently asked questions documents for unsecured creditors online.
KordaMentha said there are two groups of customers: the first are customers whose orders have been located and Kogan will deliver them.
A Kogan spokesman said the company is in the process of booking Brosa stock in Australian warehouses and shipping the orders to customers.
“Kogan is managing the complex process of receipt of stock from Brosa’s warehouse and will notify all relevant customers of the allocated stock once the receipt is complete,” the spokesman said.
“That will probably be before the end of February.”
The second is customers whose orders cannot be found in warehouses, are manufactured abroad or are in transit. They have become unsecured creditors.
“The administrators have no way of accessing these items because Brosa has no money to pay for them and the manufacturers and carriers will not deliver unless paid,” the spokesman said.
Administrator Richard Tucker previously stated that the second group is unlikely to receive their orders or refunds.
“With limited cash to trade the business and materials amounts owed to suppliers and couriers, there will be some customers who will not receive their orders,” he said.
Both Seddon and Starr fall into the second category.
Both customers are frustrated by the situation but continue to search for answers.
“We will never see our furniture and we have to take responsibility for trying to get our money back from our banks,” Starr said
“It makes me so angry,” Seddon said
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