PK receivership big blow for clients

PK Furniture customers say they are devastated after the company went into receivership last week, with no guarantee it will fill pre-paid orders.

Pensioner Diane Austin and her husband spent almost $5000 on bedroom, lounge and kitchen furniture with the company and were told it would arrive in April.

When this didn’t happen, she went into the store and was told the company had gone into receivership and she was unlikely to get her furniture.

“We’re not getting our stock,” Austin said. “We got told the receivers get their money and then we’re at the bottom of the list.”

Austin was told the container with her furniture had landed in New Zealand, but was being sent back to China because it hadn’t been paid for and the receivers weren’t planning to cover the cost, despite the Austins having paid for the furniture months earlier.

“It just upsets me so much because we saved so hard for that,” Austin said.

“We sold all our furniture because we were expecting the new stuff to arrive so I’ve been scrounging around trying to buy cheap stuff to make do,” she said. “It’s just horrible.”

Another customer, Savin Kumar, said he and his wife had purchased a latitude couch from the company in April for $2300 and were advised it would take 12 weeks to make and deliver.

He said news the company had gone into receivership was a shock, and he had been unable to contact PK to see if he would still receive the couch.

“Little did I know that PK would go into receivership. I believe I have been ripped off,” Kumar said.

“I still think PK should honour their end of the deal and either have my couch made or just give me back my money,” he said.

“This is completely unfair to all those who have purchased things from PK last month and have not yet received anything.”

PK Furniture, which has close to 150 staff and 17 stores, advertises itself as New Zealand’s lowest-priced furniture retailer and operates across the North Island.

Receiver Andrew McKay from BDO said the chain would continue to trade and that receivers were looking for a buyer.

He said the business had been advertised as a going concern.

“We have had a good level of inquiry and we are working with those interested parties,” McKay said.

“We have had a number of staff resign and we have also let go about 15 people in order to reduce costs and continue to improve sustainability of the business.”

Receivers were working through more than 800 customer queries, McKay said, and were assessing the status of more than 1200 orders that had been placed with PK and were either partly or fully paid for.

“For sales where the goods have been identified or set aside in the store or the distribution centre they will be released to those customers,” he said.

According to Companies Office records, PK Furniture is the trading name of Greenmark Wholesaler (NZ), which is directed by Jing Huang.

McKay said the director had asked the bank to appoint receivers, who took over control of the business on May 15.