Farepak Hampers Ceases Trading
Farepak Ltd who are part of the European Home Retail company suddenly ceased trading today meaning thousand of people will be without hampers and money vouchers.
Farepak, who employ 20 full time staff operated through the UK via 35,000 agents. customers paid a monthly contribution towards items at Christmas time. At the present time nothing will be honoured.
The administrators, BDO Stoy Hayward, said they undertook an immediate review and it was with regret that the company had to cease trading.
Interesting Farepak was owned by EHR who had their shares suspended in August. Last Friday some of their businesses were sold on to shopping company Findel that included the sports clothing company “kitbag” and the i network marketing company “Kleeneze” - we have no word on how these particular companies are operating.
Farepak had been trading across the UK since 1969 and operated through agents.
Customers who have paid monies into the company are said to have a claim against the company in administration. Monies that are held by agents should be given back to customers and customers who have monthly direct debits should cancel them.
The industry trade body “The Hamper Industry Trade Association” said this situation was “extremely unfortunate”
Comment by cheryl lally on 20 October 2006:
as they put it .The industry trade body “The Hamper Industry Trade Association” said this situation was “extremely unfortunate”ifeel ill i cant believe it,on a low income we now dont have much for christmas,all they can say is “extremely unfortunate”.it is “extremely unfortunate” for my 4 children who have to go without i saved £480,we now dont have and why is there nothing we can do?
cheryl lally
Comment by small business on 20 October 2006:
Hi Cheryl - we feel for you - I see a newspaper is on the case for some folks - see http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/swindonnewsheadlines/
Comment by small business on 20 October 2006:
additionally it looks as though the government may help - again from the above newspaper I quote : “THE Department for Trade and Industry is to look into the Farepak fiasco after Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove told the House of Commons “this stinks”.”
Comment by peter carling on 21 October 2006:
my wife has done farepak hampers for 20 yrs and im disgusted to hear that farepak has been filtering money into its other companies.this surely is fraudand as such,the company directors should be held accountable.there are a lot of lower income familys pay into this so as to ease the burden of xmas expense,it seems that trying to budget and save a little in any way shape or form is a waste of time as so many forms of saving i.e pension etc are not safe from the hands of the greedy.id like to wish all the farepak hamper customers a merry xmas but i feel it would be an insult to them!!!!
Comment by Lisa on 21 October 2006:
I have lost £600 and with 17 of my friends in an agency we have lost £3400 altogether. I’m glad this is being taken seriously, but it is absolutely disgusting that decent hard-working people are losing out to company directors sat in two million pound mansions. Someone’s “head should roll”…
Comment by small business on 21 October 2006:
Latest news from the BBC:
Retailers may help savers hit by the collapse of the Swindon-based hamper company, Farepak.
Consumer minister Ian McCartney has met the British Retail Consortium (BRC) over proposals for a goodwill scheme for customers who have lost out.
No details were immediately available of the scheme.
About 150,000 customers had paid money monthly to Farepak or its agents for Christmas hampers or vouchers. Farepak went into administration on 13 October.
‘Keen to help’
The minister said the scheme must be “simple, not derisory, fraud free, easy to administer at store level and have as much choice as possible”.
“This will not be a compensation package and members of the BRC are under no legal obligation to provide any help,” he said.
“But they have had a lot of interest from many large retailers, who are keen to try and do something.”
BRC spokesman Richard Dodd added: “This is purely a goodwill gesture.
“The fact that Farepak has gone bust is nothing to do with other retailers, so they are not under any obligation to step in.”
The BRC will now be contacting its members so they can decide what they might be able to provide.
Comment by Carole Swarbrick on 24 October 2006:
I have lost £4500 in this Farepak swindle!, I have been in contact with my Member of Parliament, The Rt Hon Michael Howard, QC MP and along with other helpful comments, he has stated that if Farepak carried on trading knowing that they could not discharge their liabillities to their customers, then the Directors may be guilty of Criminal Charges……..Well!, I believe this to be the case…they have known for some time that farepak were in trouble!, they took our money, and just before they were due to meet there obligations to us, then, surprise, surprise, thet could not honour them…..well I call that theft!…So, lets prove that they are conmen and swindlers and lets all get together and get them!!!!!
Comment by Susan Scott on 24 October 2006:
I have also lost money in the Farepak fiasco, I have lost £1100 of my own money and cannot believe that Farepak new all along that they were going into receivership. I work in accounts and for them to take money month in month out and then when the final payment was paid, they close for business. But then to find that Farepak are part owners in Home Farm Hampers, Kleeneze and Eezee which are still trading how can this be. Yep you bet Home Farm Hampers have obviosly bought Farepak out. Now they have changed theyre website and not having any links to Farepak. We need our Governments help!!!
Comment by Susan Scott on 24 October 2006:
Check the website http://production.investis.com/klz/businesses/fdivision/
This identifies that Farepak have 60% share in Home Farm Hampers
Comment by sarah on 27 October 2006:
hi guys, i have just been speaking to a friend who found some info on the net. so she went to the bank and they said she would have her money back with 7 days, as she paid them with her visa debit card this is how it works : “chargeback procedure” this is a visa rule and it means the aquirer bank ie not the company but the bank, is responsible to get the money back from the transactions that have not been adequatly completed.
We went to our issuing bank today, and I spoke with someone regarding this matter,and they have all the details of the payments and they told her,that the money will be back in her account within 7 days.
I said that I only found out about this by chance, but she had informed me that it had been on the news about it.
So hopefully we will get the money back.
I hope this is useful to anyone who has paid by visa debit/credit card to make their monthly payments.
i hope thi shelps you all, but please listen it is your agent which has to go to there bank as they are the one’s that paid the money to them we are not so sure about other cards we just know that this is the way visa works.
i hope this helps you all, i never shopped with them but my mum was an agent so i am going to tell her 2moz.
Comment by Janice Kennish on 27 October 2006:
My sister in law was my agent and had been doing this for 5 years and so had we. This year my husband has been off with a bad back and so we put in more than we usually do so that we could be sorted for christmas with 5 children. I would just like to know how much they were paid as you listen to all the news and papers and here all the awful stories. Why did no one pick up on this earlier. What an awful christmas for us.
Comment by ANGELA LIVINGSTON on 28 October 2006:
I AM DISGUSTED THAT FAREPAK HAS TAKEN MY MONEY MY AGENT COLLECTED £3400 AND FAITHFULLY PAID IT TO FAREPAK IVE GOT TO TEENAGE BOYS WHO WONT BE HAVING A GREAT XMAS INLESS I GET MYSELF IN DEBT . ALL WE WANT IS THE MONEY BACK WE ALL PAID TO FAREPAK I HOPE THE OWNER OF THIS COMPANY CANT SLEEP AT NIGHT I KNOW I CANT WORRYING ABOUT XMAS MY AGENT SAID TO ME IF SHE WON THE LOTTERY SHE WOULD PAY US ALL THE MONEY BACK WE WISH !
Comment by denise balmer on 29 October 2006:
I to have fell prey of farepak lost £800 worth of voouchers and dont know where to turn for christmas. When my 6 year old daughter heard about the loss of vouchers she broke down crying saying “Wont i get any presents this year Mammy?” I felt bad enough losing all my hard earned savings but to witness my child break down was heart breaking, i wish the directors of farepak a very rotten christmas and an even worse new year!!!!!!
Comment by Irene Stevenson on 30 October 2006:
I too am an agent for Farepak and we have lost £3731.81 between 13 off us. One of my customers is an 81 year old pensioner, another is a 20 year old girl and the rest of us are working mums with families expecting their usual “no expense spaired christmas” how dissapointing it will be for them. I realise this is not life threatening and things could be a lot worse. We will get over this whatever happens but the people responsible should remember this “Every dog has it’s day and whatever goes around comes around”. I hope they can sleep at night knowing how much harm they have caused not only to their own customers but to all the other companies out there who operate a similar scheme, I doubt very much whether anyone in their right minds will want to do business with them in future. Which puts the employee’s of these other companies jobs at risk too.
Irene Stevenson Livingston, West Lothian ,Scotland.
Comment by d collins on 30 October 2006:
what do all the people like me who wont be able to find the money again to buy my children christmas presents. i hope the poople from farepak who have taken our money will have a thought for us on christmas day,but i dont think they will
Comment by LIZ on 1 November 2006:
THIS FIASCO SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED. I TOO HAVE LOST £500 TO THIS COMPANY AND AM DISGUSTED! I HAVE EMAILED COUNTLESS PEOPLE ABOUT THIS STATE OF AFFAIRS AND IN TURN HAVE RECIEVED SOME VERY INTERESTING REPLIES. MY LOCAL AM HAS SAID THAT THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL AND THAT COMPANIES SUCH AS THIS SHOULD HAVE THE SAME RULES AS SOLICITORS WHEREBY CLIENTS MONEY HAS TO BE KEPT IN A SEPERATE ACCOUNT. WHILST BROWSING THE NET I CAME ACROSS A WEBSITE CALLED ‘GRASS ROOTS ‘ WHOSE MANAGING DIRECTOR RIK BURRAGE COMMENTED ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THEIR DEAL WITH FAREPAK HE SAYS’ THIS TAKESTHE BONUS BOND GIFT VOUCHER INTO A NEW MARKET AND WITH A VERY WELL ESTABLISHED AND SUCCESSFUL COMPANY SUCH AS FAREPAK’ HE GOES ON TO SAY, ‘NICHOLAS GIOLODI JOHNSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF FAREPAK HAS HIS CUSTOMERS INTEREST AT THE HEART OF THE NEW ARRANGEMENT’ I EMAILED GRASS ROOTS ADVERTISING MANAGER TO ASK WHETHER THEY STILL FELT THIS WAY? HE REPLIED TO ME TODAY STATING ‘WHILE FAREPAK ADVISED THEM THEY WOULD BE PURCHASING VOUCHERS FROM THEM AND ADVERTISED THIS NO ORDER WAS EVER FORTHCOMING’ SO NOT ONLY DID THEY CONTINUE TO TAKE OUR MONEY RIGHT UP TO THE BEGINING OF OCTOBER THEY HADNT EVEN ORDERED ANY VOUCHERS!!!! SURELY THIS ISNT LEGAL!
Comment by Jo on 2 November 2006:
Like everyone else I am in shock at what has happened and how this could have hapened. A savings club going into liquidation - aye right.
My mother has been an agent for 12 years and I dont even want to think of the money she has given them over the years. Now I am just really angry that this has been allowed to happen. Who doing what and why is the media not reporting this. Maybe if it was somewhere else outwith the UK then we would here more about it. I find the whole this unbelieveable, the longer it goes on the more the Chairman, managers etc of farepak get away with it and have a better chance of covering their tracks. Sell “their” assets before they do and lock “them” up instead of ruining so may kids dreams. It is straight forward fraud to me.
Comment by denise balmer on 5 November 2006:
Fooled
All
Robbed
Everyone
Pilfered
And
Kiboshed, Christmas!!!!!!
Comment by bob christie on 5 November 2006:
would all previous posters please join the website http://www.unfairpak.co.uk more people in exactly the same position, get advice and support.
Comment by Suzy Hall on 5 November 2006:
Just to re-iterate Bob’s message of today’s date that we would welcome all posters over to http://www.unfairpak.co.uk where we are endeavouring to fight this fight to the bitter end!
Pingback by Farepak Customers Get Sainsburys Help on 7 November 2006:
[…] After the recent announcement that Farepak Hampers had gone bust (see farepak ceases trading here) the folks that lost all their money thought that Christmas would be without any cheer. […]
Comment by pete molloy on 10 November 2006:
my wife hasbeen an agent for farepak for years.we have lost 700 not to mention what her custormers lost .I think somebody should be jailed for this outrage . christmas is going to be a real hardship this year. for us and thousands like us. while the fat cats have a nice christmas on our money..
Comment by Marion Evans on 28 November 2006:
I have been an agent with Farepak for many years,I live in South Wales and have lost £450.00. For Farepak to be allowed to use our money for other companies should be illegal.My local paper reported that Halifax which pulled the plug on Farepak has now had their loan of £31 million repaid to them. Also the donation of £2 million to the Farepak fund, only amounts to just under 1/2 million as they have received £1.6 million in interest on the original debt. Halifax also refused to place our money in a clients’ account which would have safeguarded us. It just makes you wonder if any bank can be trusted after this. The directors should be locked up and the key thrown away, but then again they have all our money to employ some fancy lawyer to get then off all the charges of corruption, theft, dishonesty,lying,swindling, need I go on. Something about all this Farepak Fiasco Stinks. HIGHLY.