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The site has had loads of hits with people looking for info on the collapse of Powerhouse and tonight the BBC put a story up from Working Lunch on the issue. Primarily of interest is the extended warranty situation which makes for interesting reading.
The full story is here: http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.p … =0&thold=0
I put a note at the bottom to try and explain that there is no connection with anyone else, my concern was that MFI in particular use the same brand name for certain products so I have tried to disassociate them from it.
However, it looks as if the name of Powerhouse is set to become nothing more than a distant memory, much like many other retailers have done over the years. The reason, in my own personal opinion, is simple, they cannot make enough profit from selling cheap appliances with low margins as they are doing to survive in the long term and in turn neither the warranty companies or the manufacturers can afford to finance the service operations that their customers expect delivered on the products.
I wonder if anyone will wake up to it?
K.
It’s quite amazing really, the third largest electrical retailer in the country, but still only a 4{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} market share.
It shows that the only way of profit making by selling cheap appliances is massive volumes, and extended warranties.
This of course is not true of the service industry, where work volume does not neccessarily mean profit, in fact the opposite in many cases.
Dave.
Dave_Conway wrote:This of course is not true of the service industry, where work volume does not neccessarily mean profit, in fact the opposite in many cases.
Oh how true that is!
K.
We are owed a few hundred £. Ive telephoned Marsh of Witham in Essex to whom we send ALL Powerhouse bills, they tell me that out of a list of 18 claims I will only be paid on 2. I feel they may have some responsibility and could be liable, as their name is on the invoice for billing purposes, I’m not 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} on this but legally it looks like I may have a case that would stand.
An alternative is to bill the individual customers/policy holders, somehow I dont think it would work.
If anyone knows of a watertight method of reclaiming what is legally mine, I would love to know. I assume nobody got anything out of the demise of PESN last year? I certainly didn’t.
You go after whoever passed the call to you, whether they get paid or not is quite frankly not your problem. This hacked me off more than a little with another WP who refused to even discuss calls that were rejected after they stopped working for another company, needless to say I never saw the money for those calls amongst others.
As for PESN, no, I don’t think anyone ever got any money from that affair and I saw one poor bugger lost over £24K from that alone! I will not expose myself to that level of risk from a third-party agency ever again as I’ve been stung too far too many times to risk it again. So now at the first sign of trouble I bail out, it’s simply not worth it.
K.
Loads of people has lost loads of money.
The best way is to look at the billing address, Marsh Ltd, Witham Essex & issue them with a county court sommons for the whole amount. Ultimately, they are responsible as they manage the account. Doesn’t matter if Powerhouse has paid them or not.
Yup correct, it’s the company that passes you the call and pays the bill that ultimately foots the bill, whether they get paid or not is not your concern.
K.
You may be interested to know the Scottish Power policies covered by L.G.H. has been put into “Protective Receivership”. Make of that what you will.
Marsh Policies except those directed to Marsh that are Powerhouse “Own” policies, usually beginning EXU….. etc are underwritten by White Summit.
The rescue that has taken place of Powerhouse as an operation will include 142 stores remaining open. All previous accounts etc. will not be honoured at this stage it appears.
What follows are copies of E-Mails sent out to a service provider following crash of Powerhouse. Forwarded to me & I thought may be of some relevance.
A transcript of the message left on Marsh telephone system, followed by a letter from Darren Farrup.
Marsh Message
> Start
 Thank you for calling the PowerPlan Claim’s Line. As of September 1st
2003,
> PowerPlan Company Limited, the company providing services under your
> extended warranty contract was placed in administration. For the time being all
> repairs and services have been temporarily suspended until a solution is found.
> This means that you are unable to request services from PowerPlan. If you
> decide to arrange your own repair, we cannot guarantee that full repayments
> will be made in the future. The situation should become clearer when a new
> claims process is implemented. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.
> Pleased be assured that we are doing everything possible to help customers.
> We will provide an update on this line in seven days.End
> ———————- Forwarded by Daren Farrup/NLG on 09/09/2003 16:28
> —————————
>> A further update on the situation concerning the PowerPlan Company Limited (PPCL)> Extended Warranty scheme as follows.
>
> Having notified that the placing of PowerHouse
> into administrative receivership had disrupted the claims process and
> raised uncertainty as to the future settlement of repair invoices, I can
> now advise you that PPCL have had an Administration Order made at the High
> Court. I can also advise that Mr Douglas MacDonald, of the MacDonald
> Partnership has been appointed as PPCL’s Administrator:
>
> The Administrators contact details are as follows:
>
> The MacDonald Partnership, 81 St. Martins Lane, London, WC2N 4AA. Tel:
0207 539 7750.
>
> As mentioned previously, London General Holdings Limited have been seeking
> urgent confirmation from PPCL and more recently from PPCL’s Administrators,
> that they will continue to provide funds for the payment of repair
> invoices. Unfortunately, despite our continued efforts this communication
> has not been forthcoming from PPCL.
>
> We also understand that the facility whereby PPCL customers contact Marsh
> to arrange a repair, has been withdrawn and I attach a transcript of the
> recorded customer message for your consideration.
>
> In view of these recent developments, we feel a number of measures must be
> taken.
>
> 1. LGH’s ability to process any of your current invoices for the PPCL
> Extended Warranty scheme will be impacted by the continued uncertainty over
> the payment of LGH’s own administration fees, and the ongoing release of
> funds by PPCL for the payment of repair invoices. In view of this we would
> ask that any invoices for work completed on the PPCL Extended Warranty
> scheme be submitted to PPCL’s Administrators rather than to LGH, with
> immediate effect. PPCL’s Administrators should then advise you of their
> intentions in relation to your unpaid invoices.
>
> 2. Any enquiries you have concerning work in progress and PPCL’s plans to
> make available funds for the payment of repair invoices, should be
directed to Douglas MacDonald at the MacDonald Partnership.
>
> Notwithstanding the above, there could be further developments in relation
> to Frozen Food Loss and Accidental Damage claims specifically, and in this
> respect we will communicate with you in due course.
>
> I must stress that the above ONLY relates to the PPCL Extended Warranty
> scheme administered by London General Holdings Limited.
>
> For all other schemes administered and/or underwritten by LGH or Aon
> Warranty Group Limited, it is very much a case of ‘business as usual’ and
> we continue to process claims and issue cheques where appropriate. These
> issues are isolated to schemes directly impacted by the fact that
> PowerHouse has been placed into administrative receivership.End.
Bottom line is: http://www.titsup.com!
Avoid like the plauge and it looks as if the fallout may extend further than intitially thought. 🙁
K.
kwatt wrote:Bottom line is: http://www.titsup.com!
K.
Perhaps we should register that domain, as yet unocupied.
I’m sure we could fill it soon. 😉
And after the news from The Sunday Herald I posted a short while ago, my advice is don’t touch a Powerhouse repair with a bargepole or the money up front! I know I won’t!
And God help any company that is relying on payment from them as it looks as if they’ve no chance. 🙁
K.
Pacific Retail Group
There may be good news on the Powerhouse front. Refer to the home page on this medium and you will see some news dated 25/09/03.
There is a full page advert in today’s Daily Express and they have made some encouraging promises. Certainly they are confident and they are demonstrating their customers are paramount. I hope this extends to the service providers.
For those who are owed or mildly interested, take a look at the following website:- http://www.powerplaninadministration.co.uk This will be updated on a regular basis I am told, so watch this space.
Update on Above
Spoken at length to Marsh this afternoon, very helpful & friendly; (well they would be wouldn’t they).
The upshot according to them is the Powerhouse Advert in the national press is not strictly accurate. Apparantly all policies sold at the time they went under & the goods were not delivered, they are honouring at this stage. Whether they improve on that remains to be seen.
All policies that start with 4 alpha chracters the 1st 2 being either SP or PH are the only ones Mc Donald are obliged to deal with. Anything that begins EXW, EXU, EXE, EXN, UAC, UAM or UAE were the ones that were not underwritten in the U.K. by an insurer. These are the ones that may not be settled.
I’m owed a few hundred £ and at the moment not pushing it as there are some things happening in the background so I’m led to believe.
Time will tell.
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