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Two sister companies run by a Hawke’s Bay businessman have gone bust, leaving unfinished pools, “ruined” backyards and a debt of more than $730,000 in their wake.
Alpine Pools NZ Ltd and Hawke’s Bay Earthworks Ltd were set up by Havelock North businessman Werner Dercksen to install pools and carryout property improvements around the region.
But they had been trading for less than two years when they went into liquidation last month.
Some of Dercksen’s clients have come forward to Hawke’s Bay Today to share their experiences, saying they have been left tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket with what they claim are unfinished and poor-quality pools or jobs.
Multiple attempts were made to contact Dercksen, who has not responded to requests for comment.
Until the sister companies stopped trading in January, Alpine would install pools and Hawke’s Bay Earthworks would carry out the required earthworks.
Warren and Helene Hanger (left, front), Tamzin Stevens and Craig Musker (right) and Paul and Tania Karakassidis say they've been left out of pocket by the collapse of Alpine Pool NZ and Hawke's Bay Earthworks. Photo / Connull Lang
Hawke’s Bay Earthworks would also do other jobs such as driveways, landscaping and some renovations.
In their first report, released this month, liquidators wrote that Dercksen told them the companies failed after “losing a major contract due to multiple errors made”.
“The financial knock-on effect brought the business to a halt and subsequently the staff resigned,” the report said.
The report said the businesses now owe more than $730,000 combined to more than 50 known creditors.
Alpine Pools initially traded under the name Cascade Pools Hawke’s Bay, as part of a one-year “trial” with Auckland-based company Cascade Swimming Pools.
A Cascade Swimming Pools spokesman told Hawke’s Bay Today they cut their relationship with Dercksen last year.
“After the one-year trial [the relationship] failed, as he would not follow any of our instructions,” the spokesman claimed.
“At that point, he was told not to trade under our name, which he still did continue [to do] for a while.”
He said there were four customers with unfinished pools around Hawke’s Bay which they had been helping complete jobs for out of “goodwill”.
“For us, we are out tens of thousands of dollars and by the end of this I suspect we will be out $100,000, of which most of it we know we won’t recover.”
Havelock North resident Warren Hanger employed Dercksen to build a new pool and complete landscaping work on his property. Work started in October last year.
He claimed his backyard had now been “ruined” and he’d been left tens of thousands out of pocket, paying Dercksen’s two companies $80,000 from a total quote of around $115,000.
The collapse of Alpine Pools NZ and Hawke's Bay Earthworks means several backyard pools around the region are now sitting unfinished. Photo / Connull Lang
He said he and Dercksen had stopped communicating in January and they now had a half-finished pool that was currently a breeding ground for mosquitos.
He claimed it had been “a disaster” since week one.
“It just did not feel right,” he claimed. “He just did not seem to know what he was doing.”
Hanger said they were unsure of the quality of the pool and were in talks with Cascade Swimming Pools in Auckland to complete the job.
“Whenever we would look at the work he’d done, it was just a mess,” he claimed.
“Even my wife’s father, who is a plumber in France, said the plumbing is just a disaster - it is all over the place.”
“We had some conversations about how we felt we were being ripped off and he basically said he is ‘not good at business’ and he is ‘no crook’,” Hanger claimed.
Alpine Pools formerly traded as Cascade Pools Hawke's Bay. Pictured is a company truck.
Havelock North resident Craig Musker said he got a quote from Dercksen last year to redo his driveway and install a pool he had purchased.
He made a hefty deposit last September, the amount of which he said he preferred not to disclose, with work starting soon after.
“Bit by bit, we discovered these guys had no idea what they were doing,” he claimed.
Musker said he had decided to part ways and even trespass Dercksen after what he claimed was a couple of months of mishaps.
He claimed he had observed a hole being dug for the pool that was far too big, that the levels were out of alignment for the pool, which meant it had to be taken out and reinstalled multiple times, concrete used to case the pool was “a mess”, retaining walls were not done correctly, the pool’s filter box was too low and soil used to backfill was “contaminated” with rubbish.
Musker says he asked for his driveway deposit back - which he claims he’s never received.
Dercksen has since registered another company, Cape Property Maintenance.
There are laws around setting up similar companies, known as phoenix companies, if a company has gone into liquidation.
Liquidators can refer a director to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) if they believe rules have been breached.
MBIE spokeswoman Vanessa Cook told Hawke’s Bay Today its integrity and enforcement team had not received any referrals regarding Dercksen or the two companies in liquidation.
According to the liquidators’ report, assets belonging to the two companies include a new ute, a trailer, an excavator, two compactors and two pumps.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
