Pledge on MFI customer refunds

Dec 19 2008

Customers of failed furniture chain MFI who were left without the goods they ordered when the firm collapsed will have their money refunded in full, administrators confirmed.

MFI said at the time of its collapse into administration late last month that all customer orders would either be fulfilled or refunded.

Around 30,000 customers have been left with outstanding MFI orders and between 40% and 50% - up to 15,000 - paid by debit card, cash or cheque, which meant that they had to rely on the administrators to refund them along with other creditors.

But attempts to sell the company's order book to other firms - in order to fulfil the outstanding orders - have failed, Menzies Corporate Restructuring (MCR) said.

A statement on the MFI website said that £30 million held by MFI's merchant services provider - which processed the firm's credit card transactions - would be used to give refunds to all customers awaiting stock.

Customers who ordered custom-made Kuchen Lab kitchens will be the only ones to receive the orders because they are individually designed to the buyer's requirements.

People who paid by credit card or Visa debit card and have not received a delivery or have received some, but not all, of their order should contact their card company for a refund for the undelivered goods.

MCR said they will speak to credit card companies to ensure that the refunds are confirmed and completed as quickly as possible.

Those who paid by cash, cheque or non-Visa debit card and have not received a delivery are expected to be refunded in full from the funds held by the merchant service provider. But MCR have said that they do not yet know when these refunds will be made.

All MFI stores were closed last weekend, with around 1,350 MFI staff made redundant. MFI collapsed after being hit by falling demand for "big ticket" goods in a slumping housing market.