CUSTOMERS who pre-paid for items from Banbury’s Powerhouse store have been told they cannot have the goods and are unlikely to get their money back.
The company announced last week that it had gone into receivership and that 93 of its 223 stores nationwide would close.
The Banbury shop is continuing to trade but several of its customers have become victims of the business’s financial woes.
When Liam Sebag-Montefiore was told he would not be getting the cooker he had paid for, he turned up at the store and attempted to take it.
But staff told him they would stand across the entrance and have him charged with assault if he tried to get past them.
He said: “I find it amazing that these people are so loyal to a company that will probably lose them their jobs very shortly.”
Mr Sebag-Montefiore bought the cooker after buying a new home in Kineton. He paid by debit card and with cash and arranged for it to be delivered when he moved into his new home.
He said: “As soon as I realised the company had gone into receivership I tried to get the cooker delivered straight away. In fact I even paid extra to get a morning delivery. “It was due to be delivered last Thursday, but the day came and went and there was no delivery.”
He was told by the store’s manager that although the cooker was in store he would have to deal with the receivers. This was when he attempted to take matters into his own hands.
Single mum, Linda Crossley, of Sinclair Avenue, Banbury, paid £615 for a washing machine and dishwasher from Powerhouse on August 16 using a debit card.
The day before they were due to be delivered she got a phone call to say the company was no longer making deliveries.
She was told however, that if she got to the store quickly she could take the same products that were on display.
Despite borrowing a van and taking time off work to get to the store immediately she was told when she got there that she could not take the items.
Miss Crossley said: “I will never receive the goods or get my money back. I am a single mum and I can’t afford to throw that kind of money away. I have been left with no one to turn to. I have called the receivers, Trading Standards and the police and no one can help me out.”
Mr Sebag-Montefiore said he was told by a manager of the Banbury store that there were 25 other customers in a similar situation in Banbury.
>From The Banbury Gaurdian