There are too many words to say in a 140 characters on #twitter so I thought I would blog some view points.
The first and most important thing to be asked here is did top managment at Moben/Dolphin/Homeform group know how bad things were did they continue to take deposits off customers? This should be investigated and if any wrong doing is found to have taken place then legal proceeding's should follow, this should be a standard matter of course for all companies that do the administration type thing.
Secondly do people not watch BBC's Watchdog programme, when a company is on there that many times and this goes for other companies not just the afore mentioned then this should be a sign for them to steer clear of that particular company because BBC will not put you on there unless they have received a sustained number of complaints, again this shows massive mis-managment by these companies companies when they are on there that many times and yet fail to prevent themselves from appearing again.
Thirdly there seems to be a number of companies trying to take advantage of the situation by offering Moben customers who have already paid a deposit some financial assistance if they buy a kitchen off them, good business move for the companies but the last time I looked some of these companies do not have a price list so you do not know for sure if you are going to be offered a genuine deposit refund, I.E any company that has no price list can make up a figure and deduct a fictional discount which Moben did for years, again some gullible people who have just been bitten will no doubt be bitten again. The other companies who are offering some financial assistance who do have a price list still do not offer their best price first off in the hope that the customer pays the higher price thus more profit, this is still a sharp selling practice that the Government needs to get hold of.
KBB retailers who offer a deposit guarantee scheme either covered by the manufacture such as Sheraton / Chippendale or by the KBSA is a good thing and can be dropped into the conversation especially now when customers are feeling vulnerable.
The national media have a lot to play in the hype that surrounds peoples perception of the retail industry and economy as a whole, it is sensationalising the issue, they should not name retailers that have not gone into administration who take cash sales for take-away-goods today because the customer pays today & takes it away today. The News announced this morning that Jane Norman (womans fashion retailer) and Clinton Cards are having trouble, If they were not in trouble then they surely are now because the national news has just told us all.
The news is now available twenty four hours a day seven days a week and from a huge amount of sources, it would be in ours as retailers and consumers interests if they also mentioned that there are good solvent companies out there who are doing an honest job who are not in financial trouble, if everybody here's the word bomb we all run.
In summary: Thanks to negative reporting by national news corporations to the general public (not industry publications as they are reporting to trade customers) the day will come when there will be few retailers left and we will all be looking for somebody to blame. People who go out and buy large ticket items should really do their homework first and not accept what they think is a good deal as they say if it sounds to good to be true it usually is and finally KBB retailers who rip people off should watch their backs because they could be next.
Russell
