Customer Naomi Reed said she got her pool but not the accessories she paid for. Photo / Supplied
Customer Naomi Reed said she got her pool but not the accessories she paid for. Photo / Supplied
About 42 clients of a failed Auckland swimming pool manufacturer have been left claiming $1.5 million from the business which didn’t deliver what they paid for, according to the first liquidators’ report out today.
Container Pools is owned by Michael, Joel, Nicola and Lousie Painter but left many high anddry.
It went into liquidation last month, causing an outcry from customers who either hadn’t got pools they had spent money on or didn’t get all that they had paid for.
Many customers have emailed the Herald to complain in the last week, including Naomi Reed of Hunua who got her $88,000 Container Pool installed off the deck of her rural Auckland property but not accessories including a heat pump and pool-cleaning robot which she says she paid for.
Customer Naomi Reed said she got her pool but not the accessories she paid for. Photo / supplied
“We are one of the lucky ones and got our pool but we are $16,000 out of pocket for extras we paid for,” she complained.
Container Pools NZ Victim Support says many customers have not received goods they paid in part for, including pools and accessories.
Derek Ah Sam and Paul Vlasic of insolvency experts Rodgers Reidy have today issued their first report into the business which was established in 2006. That names each of the customers who are owed money by the business.
All the company’s assets will be sold via auction.
The books show $1.6m is owed to Container Pools by its own debtors but how much of that can be obtained is still to be investigated.
Container Pools NZ sent images to customers showing production last October. Photo / Supplied
Other assets listed included plant and equipment of $298,000 but again how much can be realised from that remains unknown.
And it’s bad news for those awaiting pools or accessories.
“The initial view of the liquidators is this amount relates to the remaining balance of the contracted amounts for pools not completed or delivered. It is unlikely these amounts will be collectable,” Ah Sam and Vlasic said.
The liquidators’ initial investigations suggest the company suffered cashflow issues mid-2022. About 62 customers had made various payments. Some had paid 25 per cent deposits but others had fully paid but not got their pools.
An insurance claim had been lodged by the business after damage to the premises the company occupied from Cyclone Gabrielle.
Staff are also out of pocket: they are owed holiday pay of $49,000.
A number of secured creditors were listed including Bank of New Zealand, BOC, Egmont Air, Bolster Trade Finance, United Rentals, Composite Floor Decks and Vulcan Steel.
Inland Revenue is claiming $147,000 for outstanding GST.
Creditors are asked to submit claims against the company but the liquidators can’t say how much might be able to be recovered.
Bank of New Zealand is listed as being owed $714,000. Vulcan Steel is owed $61,00, Prospa Pty $317,000, Fluidra Group (NZ) $55,000 while Dobson Scott is owed $62,000.
One customer told the Herald last month that delivery of his pool had been delayed for months. He had connected with 12 others. The company’s social media and website have been deactivated recently, he complained. Calls are not being answered.
Other customers wrote positive Google reviews, like Nikki Stewart two years ago: “We ordered our pool and got it super fast just before lockdown. Mike and the team were incredibly helpful and the whole process was effortless. It was amazing as literally there was no pool one day, and it’s all there the next,” she said referring to a director and shareholder Mike Painter.
But on April 21, customer Susan Edmunds wrote: “I almost can’t put into words how bad this experience has been. We engaged Container Pools to produce a pool almost a year ago. We have had barely any communication through this time, except to chase us for payments. We also paid to prepare our site,” she said telling how the pool was not yet delivered.
Customer Di Cleverley said she and her husband Murray were on a rural property outside Timaru and had planned a pool for years. They had sold part of their lifestyle block to make a few upgrades to our living situation, a pool being part of that.
They paid $56,000 but did not receive their pool.
“It’s so gutting,” Cleverley wrote to the Herald just yesterday.
