Staffer ‘sacked for Rebl rousing’

A FORMER Rebl Corp employee who claims she was fired for asking questions about the business practice says she believed the company had been unsustainable.

Georgia O’Bree says her concerns were “just batted away’’ when she questioned the viability of the business model during a staff meeting.

The Bulletin this week revealed Gold Coast businesses had been caught in the collapse of Sunshine Coast-based media company Rebl Corp.

The company, which promised to provide content “for free” to small businesses, put its subsidiaries Media Rebl and Digital Rebl into administration this month, leaving clients caught in ongoing contracts.

Rebl would pay the clients a monthly lease fee for software, which was initially financed by a third-party company.

Clients would sign two agreements, one for the supply of content and the other a rental agreement with a thirdparty financial provider that would fund access to the software. Rebl Corp would forward a payment for software into client accounts, which would then be retrieved by the finance company, leaving the small business in a “cost neutral position’’.

But Ms O’Bree, who worked for the Rebl Gold Coast branch until December, said she began to grow suspicious when executives were unable to explain the cashflow.

“I always had inklings about the company and it was always met with deflections,” said Ms O’Bree. “The penny dropped during a staff meeting in Southport when I asked how covering clients’ expenses was a sustainable business model. They just batted it away.”

Ms O’Bree said six salespeople had been working on the Coast to recruit businesses.

“We really believed in helping small businesses but I just wasn’t getting answers and I hadn’t been paid for months,” she said. She was dismissed in December last year.

Those on the hook for fees of $1800 a month are now likely to be provided the 24 videos annually they were promised, according to a spokesman from Integra Corporation, which supplied the software to Rebl Corp clients.

Integra Corporation has taken control of Rebl Corp’s phone lines and started its own media division.

A spokesman for the company said Integra had been unable to contact Rebl’s director, Michael Maunder. Bulletin attempts to contact him have also been unsuccessful.

“What we are trying to do now is provide content for them,” the spokesman said.

“We provided the software which clients still have access to but understand they were expecting media so we are here trying to help.”

Liquidator Worrells Forensic Accountants issued reports to all known creditors on Tuesday.