Habitat Ireland, voluntary liquidation question.

bbbaldy

Habitat Ireland has filed for voluntary liquidation, all shops closed.
I have an order due to be delivered this week (7500 worth ).
It freaks me out that I could loose this money. Is this the case.
I was told that a company looking for voluntary liquidation has to be solvent, if they are solvent should they perhaps be able to fullfill their orders.
Any advice or opinions would be welcome.

mikemac

The Uk operation is far bigger than Habitat Ireland. It's a UK company afaik
I'd imagine they'd cover all debts.

And if not, the media need to know about this

bbbaldy

I wish that that would be the case but The Irish stores were run by a company called Conai Designs Ireland ltd they had the Habitat franchise. I dont think that Habitat in the UK will absorb any of the losses of a franchisee that has run into difficulty. Maybe im wrong, I hope so.

311

This topic was being discussed on the radio today ,I heard some of what has happened.

Basically habitat here in ireland is only a franchise ,run by an irish company.
Not sure of the name of the company ,think it's coney or covey or something.

linky http://www.independent.ie/national-news/habitat-axes-its-irish-operation-1371924.html

bbbaldy

What radio show was it, maybe I could download the show.

311

Sorry ,I don't remember . I was working in the house at the time .
Basically the discussion was from a woman who had placed an order and was told that there would be a delay ,because the stock was low.

She asked for comfirmation from staff that everything would be ok ,this was only in the last couple of weeks. I think she was trying to get accross that habitat UK ,shouldn't have allowed the orders to go through ,knowing the extent of the irish issues.
I'm sure it's a fairly large issue with a lot of people and it will be discussed again.

Pacifico

Yeah it was on Joe Duffy

jdivision

I think they said you should contact info@habitat.ie if you need details. It's an Irish franchise so nothing to do with Habitat UK which is owned by Ikea

311

jdivision wrote: »

I think they said you should contact info@habitat.ie if you need details. It's an Irish franchise so nothing to do with Habitat UK which is owned by Ikea

The independent linky I posted ,has a statement from the company

"We are working closely with Habitat UK Ltd to determine the extent to which customers will be affected by this unfortunate situation, and Habitat UK Ltd will be investigating all options available."

bbbaldy

311 wrote: »

The independent linky I posted ,has a statement from the company

"We are working closely with Habitat UK Ltd to determine the extent to which customers will be affected by this unfortunate situation, and Habitat UK Ltd will be investigating all options available."

Sounds to me like Habitat UK do have a say in proceedings after all.

311

bbbaldy wrote: »

I wish that that would be the case but The Irish stores were run by a company called Conai Designs Ireland ltd they had the Habitat franchise. I dont think that Habitat in the UK will absorb any of the losses of a franchisee that has run into difficulty. Maybe im wrong, I hope so.

I completely missed your post above ,sorry about that:o

bbbaldy

Thats ok we posted at the same time I just got in first.
I think I will be calling Habitat UK in the morning.

Nody

bbbaldy wrote: »

Sounds to me like Habitat UK do have a say in proceedings after all.

Highly doubt they have a say but rather want to avoid bad publicity depending on the amount they have to pay out of their own pockets.

Lila

I have a Habitat gift card and e-mailed the info@habitat.ie address seeking information. I received the following reply today...

"The position regarding Gift Cards/Vouchers is currently being reviewed with
Habitat UK Limited as certain vouchers are redeemable in other Habitat stores. However, until the situation is confirmed by Habitat we are not in a position to comment further.

We wish to advise that Conai Designs (Ireland) Limited is in the process of
taking steps to liquidate itself and it is proposed that notices of the
Creditors Meeting will be advertised in the prescribed manner in The Irish
Times and The Examiner on Friday, 16 May 2008. Conai Designs Team."

Doesn't look good!

axer

OP I hope you paid by credit card. You would probably be better off if they do not deliver within 30 days of paying for the items so that you can just charge back instead as you will have problems if something is wrong with the items i.e. who are you going to contact then?

adf123

Habitat Ireland was indeed a Franchise customer of the Habitat Group (UK ltd).

Habitat UK will honour all Irish orders, see below press statement:


14th May 2008, London


Habitat UK Ltd stands behind its valued customers in Ireland


Habitat UK Ltd has confirmed that it will honour all outstanding customer orders placed with Conai Designs (Ireland) Ltd.

Conai Designs (Ireland) Ltd, who have operated Habitat’s stores in Galway and Dublin under a franchise agreement for the past 6 years, ceased trading on 9th May 2008. In spite of this unfortunate situation, Habitat UK Ltd is pleased to confirm that it will honour all outstanding customer orders placed with Conai Designs (Ireland) Ltd. In addition, there is a process in place to ensure that all gift cards and vouchers will be redeemable in Habitat UK stores.

Habitat UK Ltd will be contacting all valued customers in Ireland with outstanding orders to secure arrangements on a one to one basis as a matter of priority.

Customers wishing to contact Habitat UK Ltd in the meantime can do so via our dedicated email address below. However, we would like to reiterate that all customers will be contacted as soon as feasibly possible.

Customer enquiries can be sent to:

CustomerEnquiries.Ireland@habitat.co.uk

Press contact:

Habitat UK Ltd
Claire.Durkin@habitat.co.uk
T. +44 20 7614 5506

The Habitat Group is a UK based international home furnishing retailer with a strong foothold in Europe, operating 71 stores: 37 in the UK, 23 in France, 6 in Spain and 5 in Germany. In addition, Habitat’s Retail Partnerships division has secured presence in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Isle of Man, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand and Turkey.

mcaul

Now, why can't all retailers be as customer friendly & focused as Habitat???

No hassles, no ifs, no buts.

daheff

adf123 wrote: »

Habitat UK Ltd has confirmed that it will honour all outstanding customer orders placed with Conai Designs (Ireland) Ltd.

In addition, there is a process in place to ensure that all gift cards and vouchers will be redeemable in Habitat UK stores.

All well and good but...what if you dont get to the UK to use their stores to use your vouchers? Can you get them refunded?

Also if you do get to a UK store I'm sure they rip you off on the exchange rate (as your voucher is in EURO and they charge in GBP)

bbbaldy

Uasually with a liquidation the customer is last in line, after the tax man the banks etc, the customer whom is probably most financially hurt, normally gets nothing as all funds are gone at that stage.
I say fair play to Habitat UK they dont have to pay up, but are.
More than likely not for my benifit but for a positive brand name retention or the likes.
Im getting my stuff and Im a happy camper.

eth0_

daheff wrote: »

All well and good but...what if you dont get to the UK to use their stores to use your vouchers? Can you get them refunded?

Also if you do get to a UK store I'm sure they rip you off on the exchange rate (as your voucher is in EURO and they charge in GBP)

Well there is a Habitat in Belfast. Not like you have to go over the water.

Minty71

Habitat in Belfast is a franchise just as the Dublin and Galway ones were. The vouchers can only be redeemed in Habitat UK stores which are only found in mainland UK.

MysticalSoul

The store in Belfast closed in October, so UK stores only I'm afraid

eth0_

Minty71 wrote: »

Habitat in Belfast is a franchise just as the Dublin and Galway ones were. The vouchers can only be redeemed in Habitat UK stores which are only found in mainland UK.

Well in that case, they should really give a refund!

johnfás

eth0_ wrote: »

Well in that case, they should really give a refund!

Given that they are not legally going to be entitled to anything I'd be fairly happy with what is on offer. Beyond which, they will probably allow home delivery to Ireland from their website or something.

MarieD

finally i got a half decent e-mail yesterday from HABITAT UK... not before they told me to stop sending duplicate e-mail!!!
they have no idea when they will be able to deliver any of their orders.
(i was in the shop on the friday they closed up and i got confirmation that my order was due into ireland the following tuesday!)
i asked them in my e-mail about cancelling the order and they said if i paid by credit card then the credit card company may give me my money back...
Very poor customer service from the UK. i tried to call them also, but they are not taking or returning calls either. :mad:

ninty

Anybody get anything they ordered from habitat yet. How were they able to sell preordered items when they knew they would not be able to honour them, is this not fraud.No wonder there was such huge discounts in their furniture Dept. More money for the creditors?

MarieD

i have received no goods from Habitat. i phoned Visa (TSB) today and requested that i cancel my transaction and get my money back. they were a bit unsure if that was posssible.
my sister got an e-mail this evening from habitat saying that she could get her money back from her visa card/laster company and if she then wanted to re-order from habitat, that they would process her order. #

is this a cop-out from habitat? is it their way of not having to fulfil the orders...

i've lost 1,800 and really want to get it back so i can get my furniture somehwer else.

anyone out there get any satisfaction from habitat uk yet?

Dub47

Well they did a good job in the press *pretending* that they would honour all orders (just to stop bad press) but now they send an email asking us to get a refund from the credit card or laser company.

First of all they promised in a letter and in a press release to honour all orders. That means following through and delivering our furniture, not copping out and trying to get people to get refunds from credit card companies.

I for one do NOT want a refund. I want my couch that I have waited over 3 months for. The couch I got at a great sale price and which I paid for in euro. I am NOT willing to try to get a refund and then start a completely NEW TRANSACTION with Habitat UK where I have to pay in STERLING at a much higher price and begin a NEW WAITING PERIOD of another 3+ months.

Also if you look at their last email carefully they claim that, "After working with both IPSO (Irish Payment Services Organisation) and the Irish NCA (National Consumer Agency) they have confirmed to us that all customers who have paid either by debit or credit cards - i.e. Laser card, Visa Debit, Visa or MasterCard - are entitled to a charge back from their credit card issuer if the retailer goes into liquidation or bankruptcy."

Most of that statement is true but here's the thing to ask - have Habitat gone bankrupt or into liquidation? No, they simply "ceased trading". So does that rule even apply?

Also I know for a fact that some people who paid by Laser have tried getting a refund but the companies are claiming that Laser is a "CASH transaction" and does not apply.

I have emailed Habitat asking about all of this and as usual I get a generic automated response. What absolute crap customer service.

Also they did keep taking orders for items up until they closed their doors even though they clearly knew they were about to cease trading. Legally this is fraud and they should be prosecuted for it.

I am definitely not letting this go and I hope others won't as well. Please update me on how you get on with your order/refund! Good luck!

mcaul

Lollyflashpants - you may not like this but...

Habitat Ireland was a franchise from habitat UK. They paid Habitat UK for use of name & purchased products from Habitat UK. Same way as most centra, Londis, Supervalue stores work - owned by local people but buy from Musgraves.

The company that ran habitat in Ireland was completely seperate to habitat UK and this company has gone into receivership. The only input Habitat uk had was in the way the stores dispayed goods and the type of goods sold in the stores. - This is similar to liquidation and the banks will refund credit cards based on receivership.

Laser is considered as a cash payment - it basically an electronic cheque and is not covered under credit card rules.

As to being able to get the exact couch you wanted, unfortunately if you want it, you'll have to buy at the current price. But imo, habitat are a rather expensive store in any case and you'll probably find just as good an item in another store for the price you want to pay - maybe take a trip to ikea in Belfast (their sale starts today!!)

MysticalSoul

I got an e-mail from them today regarding a voucher I have, and they have said that they will honour it. I need to send it off to the Oxford store, and they will re-issue one in Sterling for me. Keeping fingers crossed that it goes through smoothly.

MarieD

sorry to hear about your couch. i hope u get it. what a shower habitat uk are. please dont remind me that they dont have to do anything for us. the fact that they let us all know that they would honor every order placed is a joke. if they had no intention of doing this, then fine... but pretending is a whole different ballgame.

i have successfully got my money back from visa. it took some time and an awful lot of talking to a lot of people in the visa dept of my bank before i actually found someone who knew what they were doing. even the consumer agency said they didnt think i was entitled to any money back from visa.

finally, i managed to contact someone in the visa dept and i had my account refunded within 4 days of writing to them.

i also contact the joe duffy show and they phoned me back and took details of how habitat UK were dealing with everything.... especially when the whole subject got so much air play when they first closed their doors.

my advice...... if you want your order, fight for it. they encouraged us to purchase with such good discount!

i'm off to buy with an irish company...

is it true that IKEA are owned by the same people??

daheff

I got my sister a voucher as a wedding present...they hadnt gotten around to using it yet...Habitat gave me the usual..you can redeem it at the UK stores...which is absolute boll*cks

As far as i can see, Habitat Ireland went into voluntary liquidation..so the voucher *should* be refundable if there is any surplus once the company is wound up.

but habitat dont seem to want to admit this.
does anybody know how you can be listed as a creditor of a company that is being wound up? do you need to apply to the high court?

I would try to get the money back through my credit card..but i think technically i cant..as i bought a gift voucher and actually received it..even if it was never used.

MysticalSoul

I emailed Habitat UK regarding a voucher I have, and have been told if I send it on, it will be transferred into a sterling voucher instead, so that it can be used. Naturally, I have sent it by registered post to be on the safe side.

Dub47

hi,

well we paid by laser and we rang AIB today and they will NOT refund the money as laser is considered a CASH transaction so Habitat lied in their email to Irish consumers saying that we could get a refund.

I am contacting Joe Duffy as well and a journalist. I won't let them get away with this. They are ripping off Irish people after promising to honour all orders. I have spoken to the Consumer Agency here as well and Habitat are not cooperating with them either. Habitat quoted the Consumer Agency in their email to Irish consumers and what they quoted was a lie. The Consumer Agency confirmed to me that they never said that.

This just infuriates me.

mcaul

seems their not as good as their published word.

An angle for Joe Duffy, if you're talking to him, is that Habitat is actually owned by IKEA, though operated as a sepeate company. - So will IKEA offer the same "tell them one thing - do something else" attitude to customer service?

An e-mail to the various newspapers that gave Habitat the good PR for their false statement may also be an angle to go for.

Sponge Bob

The Irish Consumer Agency are Tossers , look at 3 Ireland peddling substandard non Broadband as Broadband and the Consumer Agency will not even acknowledge complaints about them, complaints submitted Last August .

I would complain to Joe Duffy about the useless Consumer Agency ias well as Habitat .

RichieFitz

Hi all,

I'm furious too with the lies and crap customer service Habitat are expecting their customers to put up with.

Like many many others we paid by Laser and last week when I spoke with the snottiest and most unhelpful "Customer Care" person in Habitat UK they too insisted they had agreed with the NCA and IPS (Irish Payment Services) that BOTH laser and Credit card customers would get a full refund.

Bizarrely he said they would only honour cash orders - which unsprisingly accounts for about .001% of all orders! I was blue in the face telling this fool that Laser (in UK & Ireland) IS a cash payment buthe wsa just reading from a script and kept saying email customer enquiries - they would sort it. I did that and have had no reply.

I spoke to Mark in the NCA this am andhe was helpful but did say that they cant force Habitat UK to do anything. He saidthey are still trying to get their "co-operation"...

I've potentialy lost €700, less than others I know but its still a lot of hard earned cash to lose these days!

The CRO told me today that both a Liquidator and Receiver had been appointed but you have to PAY to find out who they are (typical) despite the girl on the phone having the details on screen!

Has anyone else who paid laser had any contact from Habitat?

Cheers
Rich

RichieFitz

Did a bit more digging folks and discovered details of Director and Secretary of Conai Designs Ireland Ltd. I expected an Irish address but the one listed is in Middlesex, UK!

Did some more digging and found that he was head of finance for Habitat UK. See http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=15697

The other director listed is also based in the UK.

I now feel what Habitat UK have been telling us about Dublin being a completely separate franchisee may not be entirely accurate - ie more lies, and is nothing more than a hand-washing exercise.

I'm going to chase the Receiver company today also and will post my progress. As a company director myself I am disgusted at the behaviour of these people. They clearly knew they were about to shut down yet still took hard-earned cash from innocent punters.

I may sound naiive but I really hope some action is taken against them. I can't understand how they can sleep at night knowing how much hardship they've caused people who put their trust in them.

BTW - I understand a report will be submitted to the Director of Corporate Enforcement as part of the wind up process. I will report on this too if I can get info or provide input.

ninty

RichieFitz wrote: »

Did a bit more digging folks and discovered details of Director and Secretary of Conai Designs Ireland Ltd. I expected an Irish address but the one listed is in Middlesex, UK!

Did some more digging and found that he was head of finance for Habitat UK. See http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=15697

The other director listed is also based in the UK.

I now feel what Habitat UK have been telling us about Dublin being a completely separate franchisee may not be entirely accurate - ie more lies, and is nothing more than a hand-washing exercise.

I'm going to chase the Receiver company today also and will post my progress. As a company director myself I am disgusted at the behaviour of these people. They clearly knew they were about to shut down yet still took hard-earned cash from innocent punters.

I may sound naiive but I really hope some action is taken against them. I can't understand how they can sleep at night knowing how much hardship they've caused people who put their trust in them.

BTW - I understand a report will be submitted to the Director of Corporate Enforcement as part of the wind up process. I will report on this too if I can get info or provide input.

Got this from www.finfacts.com may be of help

Conai Designs (Ireland), which is in receivership, has assets of €2.35 million, according to a document circulated at its creditors’ meeting yesterday.
But a bill of €627,899 to its preferential creditors and a debt of €2.25 million to Bank of Scotland (Ireland) means its accounts show an estimated deficiency in shareholders’ funds of €2.13 million. Unsecured creditors are owed a total of €1.43 million.
George Maloney of Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon(Ph 4965388), the appointed receiver of Conai Designs, took control of the assets of the company last week.
No Habitat customers were present at the creditors’ meeting in Dublin yesterday. Habitat UK has said it will honour all outstanding customer orders placed with Conai Designs, which went into voluntary liquidation and closed its stores in Dublin and Galway earlier this month.
The business was owned by retailer Malcolm Brighton, a Londoner who acquired Habitat’s Irish franchise in 2002 from the foundation that owns the commercial interests of Ikea-founder Ingvar Kamprad and his family.
In 2005, Habitat spent more than €2.5 million fitting out its Dublin store. But the company ran into trouble when sales collapsed due to the downturn in the housing market and the wider economic slowdown, which meant consumers were reluctant to spend money on big-ticket items. It also faced competition from cheaper retailers, such as Ikea’s store outside Belfast.
Conai Designs’ list of unsecured creditors shows Habitat UK is the creditor that is owed the most, with a sum of €558,343 owed to the company. Mr Brighton is owed €150,530. AIB is owed €158,037, while the company also owes €187,000 in respect of leases.
Among the preferential creditors, who will eventually be repaid from the sale of its assets, Habitat employees are owed a total of €52,293 and the Revenue Commissioners are owed a VAT bill of €318,000. Dublin City Council is owed rates of €89,093, while Galway City Council is owed €28,643.

ddea

I have a voucher and got the email two weeks ago regarding posting it. I was in the UK last week so I contacted them to enquire how long it would take to be processed and was informed that it will be at least four weeks before they can begin processing the vouchers so don't hold your breath.

Instead of contacting Joe Duffy why not try British media to warn Habitat's british customers about the problems with the company, the fact that they haven't kept their word to Irish customers and the connection between Conai and their finance director. If it got some publicity in the UK surely it would affect their customer orders over there and spur them into meaningful action?

MysticalSoul

Does anyone know what time Habitat are closing for their sale today? as I was in the UK for the weekend did not get a chance to have a look around.

Ste.phen

You didn't read the rest of the thread did you?

Munya

OMG!:mad: I love that store. :[

MysticalSoul

Igy wrote: »

You didn't read the rest of the thread did you?

Actually I did, and had participated in the thread before. This weekend Habitat reopened the store to sell off the stock they had with up to 80% off. As I was away for the weekend I could not get in. I tried to get in yesterday after I landed, but when I got there just after 5pm, it had closed at 5pm, and stated Monday (ie today) would be the last day. I called in at lunch-time, and they were clearing the store out - were closed to business, so I reckon due to everyone flocking there, there was nothing left, and not worth paying staff wages to open for another day.

fjord

irishamethyst wrote: »

Actually I did, and had participated in the thread before. This weekend Habitat reopened the store to sell off the stock they had with up to 80% off. As I was away for the weekend I could not get in. I tried to get in yesterday after I landed, but when I got there just after 5pm, it had closed at 5pm, and stated Monday (ie today) would be the last day. I called in at lunch-time, and they were clearing the store out - were closed to business, so I reckon due to everyone flocking there, there was nothing left, and not worth paying staff wages to open for another day.

Irishamethyst,
Did you ever receive your sterling cheque back from Habitat Oxford Street?
I have vouchers and cards too that we received as Wedding gifts and was never advised to do this
Thanks