MFI Group Limited (In Administration) (“the Company”)
 
Phil Duffy, Geoff Bouchier and Paul Clark of MCR were appointed as Joint Administrators (“Administrators”) to MFI Group Limited on the evening of 26 November 2008. All Administrators are licensed by the Insolvency Practitioners’ Association.
 
The affairs, business and property of the Company are being managed by the Administrators, who act as agents of the Company and without personal liability.

Further to the updated announcement on 18 December 2008, despite the best endeavours of the Administrators and management, it has not been possible to conclude a sale of the customer order book.

However, as noted previously, prior to the business being placed into Administration on 26 November 2008, the directors entered into certain arrangements with the Company’s merchant services provider whereby substantial cash sums were held by the merchant services provider as security for customers’ monies.

Based on management’s figures, the Administrators currently believe that the merchant services provider is holding a total of almost £30m in respect of these arrangements which is roughly equivalent to the total amount of customer monies held by MFI Group Limited in respect of outstanding orders as at the date of Administration.

Following the unresolved negotiations with parties who had wished to acquire the rights to the fulfilment of the Company’s order book, the Administrators have decided to cease trading and to effect a refund of customer monies. All stores have now been closed.

Outstanding Customer orders and refunds

Following the decision of the Administrators to close all MFI stores, arrangements are being made to refund / charge-back, as far as is feasible, customer monies held by the Company.

FUNDING IS AVAILABLE FOR REFUNDS / CHARGE-BACK

Prior to the business being placed into Administration the directors entered into arrangements with the Company’s merchant services provider (the Company which processes all of the Company’s credit and debit card transactions) whereby substantial cash sums were deposited and held as security for customers’ monies.

The merchant services provider is holding a total of almost £30,000,000 in respect of these arrangements, a sum which is believed to be roughly equivalent to the total amount of customer monies held by MFI Group Limited in respect of outstanding orders as at the date of Administration.

REFUND / CHARGE-BACK CLAIMS PROCEDURES

In order to claim a refund / charge-back from these funds, customers with outstanding orders should follow the following procedures:-

CREDIT CARD AND VISA DEBIT CARD PAYMENTS

1.  If a customer has paid a deposit or a final payment by credit card (or VISA debit card) and has not received ANY product then they should contact their own credit card issuer to initiate a charge-back of any sums paid.

All such charge-backs will be made from the funds already held by the Company’s merchant services provider in accordance with normal industry practice.

The Administrators have agreed a detailed process to reconcile all claims to the Company’s records and to ensure that all valid customer charge-backs will be approved and processed as quickly as possible.

2.  If a customer has paid by credit card (or VISA Debit card) and has received an incomplete delivery, the customer should contact their own credit card issuer to initiate a partial charge-back of their order.

All such partial charge-backs will be made from the funds already held by the Company’s merchant services provider in accordance with normal industry practice.

The Administrators will liaise with the merchant service provider to confirm short deliveries and to ensure that all valid charge-backs are issued as quickly as possible.

Charge-backs will NOT be made where the customer has signed Company documentation confirming receipt of goods which they now claim were not delivered.

CASH, CHEQUE AND NON-VISA CARD PAYMENTS

1. If a customer has paid by cash, cheque or non-VISA debit card and has not received a delivery, based upon current financial information the Administrators expect to be able to issue a refund from the surplus funds held by the merchant services provider.

It is not yet possible to predict the timing of such refunds although discussions with the merchant services provider are taking place in order to seek an interim release of the surplus. 

All such customers should complete the Proof of Debt form available on the Company’s website and submit this form to the Joint Administrators at mfi@mcr.uk.com or 43-45 Portman Square, London, W1H 6LY before 31 January 2009. Copies of the Proof of Debt form are also available by post from MCR 43-45 Portman Square, London, W1H 6LY.

INTEREST-FREE AND OTHER CONSUMER CREDIT ARRANGEMENTS

1. Customers who made arrangements to pay for their order using any form of interest free or other consumer credit and who have not received a delivery are unaffected by this process. The credit has not been drawn down by the Company and the customer will NOT be required to make payments under any such arrangements.

2.  Customers who have paid for their order using a consumer credit agreement but who received an incomplete delivery will be contacted by the Administrator in order to arrange a reduction in the amount owed to the credit provider. Specific queries in this regard should be emailed to blackhorse-enquiries@mfi.co.uk.

The Administrators have already initiated a process to contact such customers.  

The arrangements put in place by the directors prior to the appointment of Administrators have ensured that the Company’s consumer credit supplier is currently holding more than sufficient cash to make the expected reductions.

Again, the Administrators, have implemented a process to ensure that all valid claims are dealt with quickly but refunds will NOT be made where the customer has signed Company documentation confirming receipt of goods which they now claim were not delivered.

The Administrators regret that it has not been possible to find a buyer for the business as a going concern but are committed to establishing an equitable process to refund customer monies where this is possible and where valid claims are made and confirmed by the Company’s records.

 ITV advertisement

 Advertisements in respect of MFI Group Limited were aired on ITV commencing on 11 December 2008.

 It should be noted that the agreement to air these advertisements were arranged prior to the Administrators appointment and no payments for the advertisements were made by the Administrators. The advertisements were aired without the consent of the Administrators and against the Administrators explicit requests to have the advertisements withdrawn. 

When the Administrators became aware that the advertisements were scheduled to be aired on ITV, they took all reasonable steps to have them withdrawn. 

Customers seeking information on product warranties/guarantees

If your product was branded Diplomat or was an MFI own brand product you may have a claim in the Administration if the product has failed during the standard warranty period.  Please send details of your claim to the Administrators office at the address below.

If you have an appliance which was made by another manufacturer, it may be covered by the manufacturers’ warranty.  Please contact the manufacturer directly.

If you purchased an extended warranty through a third party such as AIG and the product is still within its warranty period, please contact the third party directly.

General customer queries

The customer call centre details are as follows:

Weekdays – 01405 744 813 between 9:00AM and 6:00PM.

Saturday – 01405 744 813 between 9:00AM and 6:00PM. 

Please note that the call centre does not operate on Sundays.

Please also note that the call centre continues to experience a very high volume of calls.   You may therefore prefer to email your query to customer.services@mfi.co.uk and your email will be responded to as quickly as possible. 

Alternatively, if your query is not covered by the information contained within this website, you can email the Administrators’ representatives at mfi@mcr.uk.com.  Your email will be responded to in cases where we are able to provide additional information.

 Suppliers
 
All supplier orders including fitters and subcontractors have been suspended and should not be completed/fulfilled without the express authorisation of the Administrators.
 
All debts owed to suppliers/creditors incurred prior the Administrators appointment will be unsecured claims against the Company.  The Administrators will be writing to all creditors within the coming weeks. However, if you wish to lodge your claims now then you can download a Claim Form from the MCR website (go to downloads/publications and follow the link to MFI).  All completed forms should be sent to the MCR offices at 43-45 Portman Square, London W1H 6LY.  Alternatively, scanned Claim Forms can be emailed to mfi@mcr.uk.com.  To assist the Administrators in dealing with the email enquires, please include “Supplier – Claim Form” in the subject line of your email.
 
Payment will not be made by the Administrators for any supplies/work provided after 26 November 2008 without the prior and express authorisation from the Administrators.

Please note that creditors/suppliers claims will be dealt with in the Administration and this is likely to take several months before all claims are agreed. At this stage it is too early to confirm what level of funds will be available to distribute amongst unsecured creditors. Any funds will be distributed equally amongst unsecured creditors and should funds be available it is likely you will receive a fixed percentage of your claim.
 
Suppliers queries should be directed to mfi@mcr.uk.com and one of the Administrators staff will endeavour to deal with your enquiry. 

Customers who purchased Kuchen Lab kitchens  

The following section applies to customers who have paid for a Kuchen Lab kitchen in full.  It does not apply to any other class of customer.  

Having reviewed the Company’s books and records, the Joint Administrators advise that subject to meeting certain terms and conditions, the Joint Administrators are able to facilitate the release of Kuchen Lab kitchens that are currently located at the Company’s warehouse in the UK. Please note that this only relates to kitchens that have been paid in full and located in the UK.

 The Joint Administrators are able to release these goods, because the Kuchen Lab kitchens are custom designed, built for individual customers, paid for in full and have been delivered into the UK by the manufacturers. 

You will be contacted by the Joint Administrators representatives in due course who will explain the process to you. Further, should you wish to contact the Joint Administrators, please contact us at mfi@mcr.uk.com and place ‘Kuchen Lab’ as the subject header to your email.

The Joint Administrators are continuing to review the balance of the Kuchen Lab order book in respect of other classes of customers, including remedial work. An update will be provided in due course once the position has been clarified.

 Homebase Offer

In order to further support customers who have outstanding deliveries and who have or will receive a refund, the Joint Administrators have managed to secure a 10% discount at Homebase on all new Kitchen, Bedroom and Bathroom orders placed before 30 January 2009.

To receive this discount, customers with outstanding deliveries will need to provide proof of their outstanding delivery obtainable by email from the Administrator at mfi@mcr.uk.com with the word ‘Homebase‘ in the subject heading. 

Terms and conditions apply.  For more information, customers can call the Homebase helpline number: 0845 601 0441 or visit www.homebase.co.uk.

General Enquiries and the Joint Administrators’ Report to Creditors and Statement of Proposals 

The Administrators offices are located at 43-45 Portman Square, London W1H 6LY. 

The Administrators’ Report to Creditors and Statement of Proposals dated 5 December 2008 is available by clicking here http://www.mcr.uk.com/documents/78.pdf. A proof of debt form is available by clicking here http://www.mcr.uk.com/Documents/76.pdf. An Order of the High Court of Justice dated 3 December 2008 granted the Joint Administrators relief not to post the report to all known creditors. A copy of this Order is contained with the report.  This document together with other notices and documents relating to the administration can also be found by clicking on Publications/MFI on the left hand side of the MCR website.  The proposals report to creditors and proof of debt form are also available on the MFI website www.mfi.co.uk  

By the Administrators