No Xmas for my kids

How to be a smug fat cat:

1 Start a company with other peoples' money
2 Move the money to another company that you own
3 Declare first company bankrupt
4 Go on holiday while Administration faffs around spending any remaining money so there is nothing left to pay back to the people whose money you nicked in 1
5 Start another company with other peoples' money

and so on and on and on

- its called capitalism

 

Disgraceful.I used to work with a chap who was owed a couple of thousand for work he had done for his firm.They went to the wall and then started up another company two doors down from the unit this chap used to work in.Talk about rubbing salt into the wound...

But I have been reading about ordinary folk who run up massive credit card debts and loan debts,then go bankcrupt,and walk away with the goods but with no intention of paying any of it back.Perhaps we should all do that,but I for one would have a conscience

 

Whoa please - I'm with Dendy on this. He may have been appointed to Kleeneze by some idiots, that does not mean that we should try and bring the company down, ruining the lives of its employees, especially those that earn some pennies to augment what in most cases is benefits or pensions.

It is the man not the company that he's been appointed to.

There's better ways to have at him. Ever written a letter to the broadsheets, ever written to his local mp, ever written to his local pub or restaurant - to make sure that those he holds dear are aware of his actions.

 

Edinburgh Evening News - Business - Kleeneze poised...
www.edinburghnews.com/business.cfm?id=1383132003
Published on: 12/17/2003 Last Visited: 12/17/2003

Chief executive William Rollason said: "The group has been restored to a sound basis which is reflected by the resumption of the dividend.

"At Kleeneze UK we are focusing on new ways to drive sales by recruiting and retaining distributors and introducing further catalogues following the success of recent innovations."

Operating profits at the catalogue business rose three per cent to �£3.2m, despite a two per cent fall in turnover to �£42m, which was blamed on a fall in the number of distributors ordering goods regularly.

Kleeneze also has a business called Farepak which provides Christmas hampers, gifts and shopping vouchers on a monthly instalment basis through catalogues, and Mr Rollason said the group continued to focus on improving operating performance at this division, which posted unchanged operating losses of �£400,000.

He added: "Overall, we believe our expectations for the full year will be met."


Look at the date on this .They were in trouble 3 years ago.So its not exactly out of the blue then is it?

 

Beefy ..No you are correct as they have known about these problems all year as i said earlyier my husband allways recieves �£60 of vouchers in april as he gets them because he he hasnt had any sick leave..This april the company that distributes them had ceased to supply them farepak..so yes they have known all year and yes they still kept taking peoples money..
I have been in a similar position to this where some crook i worked for switched bank accounts with goverment money and left about 13 of us without wages i investigated him and found he had left a long string of people in debt in the past ..taken money from all sources and he was also a bankrupt posing as a director which isnt allowed ..i took him to court i won and still didnt get a penny..I did get mild satisfaction as he had the goverment auditors crawling all over his assetts and he was exposed in the newspaper..He also died shortly after of a heart attack so he wouldnt rob anyone else..some of the people i worked with had familys and were left in dire circumstances wages owing no work etc etc..These sort of people love inflicting misery..In the case of farepak it stinks big time as its targetting xmas and children..their are many sad storys emerging,,I have no sympathy for him and i havnt got any sympathy for kleeneze either..Writing to the newspapers in the case of this wont do any good as the newspapers are allready aware of it ,and mps are useless i went to my mp and my euro mp and both of them had fingers in the pie of the crook i worked for ..so allthough they had to listen they did absoloutely nothing it was only when myself and a solicitor i worked with contacted brussells that they started to flap as it concerned themselves ..the man needs to be hit where it hurts the most in his pocket..

[ 20. October 2006, 04:11 AM: Message edited by: wildflower ]

 

Well i was just looking at the daily newspapers online and i see someone has delivered him an empty hamper..

THIS Grinch boss of a firm which has ruined Christmas for 350,000 savers was furious when we delivered a present yesterday.

We arrived at the �£2million mansion of Sir Clive Thompson, of failed saving club Farepak, with a festive hamper - just like the ones his customers had been saving for.

But he slammed the door of his house in Sevenoaks, Kent, when we told him what was inside... nothing - exactly what victims of the Farepak disaster will get this Christmas.


And Sir Clive had nothing to say when we asked about the �£68million collapse of Farepak's parent company, European Home Retail plc.


Customers have been paying into the Farepak saving scheme all year, expecting hampers or vouchers they can spend in the high street to help them through Christmas.


"I'm sickened," said Mary Ann O'Leary, of Corby, Northants. "I've paid about �£640 over the year and made the final payment, of �£62, only last Friday.


"I feel as though they've robbed my children of Christmas.


"I have four boys, aged three to 16, and my husband works all hours as an HGV driver. We don't deserve this.


"We had booked a Christmas holiday at Pontins but now we've cancelled, hoping that we'll get a refund that might buy some presents."


We told Sir Clive about Mrs O'Leary's plight but he refused to comment.


So we repeated questions from another Farepak victim, Lynne McCumskay, of Blackburn.


She asked: "How is it possible to allow customers to pay into something all year and then not see a penny of this? Where did all the money go?"


Bentley-driving Sir Clive, former president of the Confederation Of British Industry, wouldn't answer.


So we asked a question from yet another victim, Lesley Robertshaw, of Bradford, who said: "Shouldn't the firm have informed clients of its financial difficulties when it realised there were problems - not waited until we've all made our final payments?"


But 63-year-old Sir Clive, who pocketed �£100,000 a year as European Home Retail's chairman, stayed silent. We also delivered an empty hamper to the company's �£275,000-ayear chief executive, William Rollason, but there was no answer at his �£1.5million London home.


According to its last annual report, European Home Retail had a healthy turnover of �£176million but disaster struck after expansion plans went wrong.


Although the stock exchange suspended its shares in August, savers continued to pour in money, unaware that disaster loomed.


Earlier this week, the Farepak website was still running and, in a sickening boast, claimed: "At Farepak, we take the hassle out of shopping so you can enjoy the stress-free and affordable Christmas you've always wanted."


Now, a notice on the site advises anyone owed money to write to the administrators at Kings Wharf, 20-30 Kings Road, Reading, Berks RG1 3EX.


:D :D :D

 

I don't know anything about Kleeneze, but I do have one simple rule. I don't buy anything from anyone knocking on my door or cold calling me on the phone or internet.

 

I dont buy from the door either or cold calling i have blocked nuisance calls to some extent..I have stuck a notice on my front door now saying i dont wish to buy anything from doorstep traders,,Its not safe to open the door to people selling things ..Well it isnt here ..!!

 

I only get things from reputable companies. Didn't do me much good this time though did it :rolleyes:
Still had no reply from my answerphone message. Obviously Mr. Rollason is not so enamoured with sausage and chips for Xmas dinner!!!! :D :D

The empty hamper sounds good!! So wish I'd seen the look on his face :D :D

 

Hey Windy i hope you didnt think i was sticking up for that b.....d, what i was trying to say is that there is so many people will suffer right down the line and im sure the poor sods who work for him had no idea,and the kleeneze bods who come round im sure they had no idea,so this will be a ripple efect were so many will suffer because of him,i had been in business all my life and have seen many similar examples,i have been caught out been owed hundreds of �£ while the main man goes back to his million pound house,and starts out all over again and to cap it all he manage to hide an airplane from the creditors

 

Hi Windy,
Just got back on line and read your thread. I really feel for you. The worst thing, I think must have been that you were saving with a known company that had been working for years. Really hope that things turn out well for all of your family. Who knows if someone has been less than honest maybe the criminal compensation will kick in.
Not much else to say except your are right, you still have all your family and in the end that's all that really counts.

 

**UPDATE**
Farepak are being investigated for fraud!
About blooming time!
I'm sure they would have covered their tracks really well though and we still won't see any of our money :rolleyes: But a little satisfaction will be gained when I see the fat-cat bosses 'slopping -out' :D :D

 

since I have seen the way these firms work from the inside I can tell you that all the ground force are classed as "self employed"- in other words pay their own tax after declaring the pitiful returns. They have to fund their own fuel and cars, stationery, catalogues and other items from their own pockets and of course receive about 90p from each �£10 of goods sold as a rule. They certainly are not part of the grand scheme of things these unscrupulous monsters carry out, as they will also be owed money from the last one or two deliveries they have paid for as part of the overall dirty business. It all adds up in the end for the owners. Of course the ground force will also suffer although not to the degree of people who paid in of course. I looked at the way these firms were run myself from the point of view of the ground force - most people are quite strapped for cash when they take it on- and could not see any real return for the trouble of running each "Section" and I was right!

 

Windy ..have you seen this ???








Wanted ... find Farepak fiend














Hamper boss to inherit �£75m

By CHARLES RAE
Consumer Editor
October 30, 2006




THE man behind the collapse of the Farepak hamper firm is heir to a �£75million fortune.

But Nick Gilodi Johnson has so far refused to help the 250,000 people ââ?¬â? owed about Ã?£20million ââ?¬â? whose Christmas he has ruined.

Victims have branded him The Grinch ââ?¬â? from the Dr Seuss kidsââ?¬â?¢ book How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

Oxford-educated Gilodi Johnson, 35, has been in hiding since the collapse of the firm a fortnight ago.
His millions come from his father Bob, Farepak�s founder, who was among Britain�s wealthiest 500 people.

He died in 2001 and the family fortune goes to Nick and sister Chiara on the death of their mum Bruna, 69.

Gilodi Johnson lives in a �£1million London home with wife Vanessa, an investment banker.

The family also have a �£3million mansion in Roehampton, West London and a holiday villa in Sardinia. It is thought he also has a trust fund in Liechtenstein.



Millionaire ... Nick Gilodi Johnson


Gilodi Johnson earned �£62,000 as managing director of Farepak.

He was the largest single shareholder of the firmâ��s parent company, European Home Retail, which also went bust owing �£35 million.

Around 25,000 agents collected money all year round to help pay for Christmas gifts, hampers and vouchers.

 

Very interesting!! Not surprised he's in hiding! I'm one of the lucky ones, with a good supportive family and have been effectively 'bailed out' now. Some other poor sods aren't so lucky. I read an article on-line about a family with a terminally ill child who have lost everything they saved to make it's last Xmas a good one :( Absolutely heartbreaking :(