Updated

Customers

Deposits, orders, gift cards, bookings and warranties: what happens to them when a business fails.

UK

Customers

SnackVerse enters administration while telling subscribers it is business as usual

SnackVerse Ltd, a monthly snack box subscription service with a London address, went into administration on 2 November, with Kieran Bourne of Cromwell & Co Insolvency Practitioners appointed administrator in the High Court at Birmingham. Its website still tells subscribers it is trading normally, and nothing has been said about refunds or how to cancel a subscription.

Why it matters: Subscribers billed monthly are paying a company in administration with no word yet on deliveries, cancellations or refunds. Card chargebacks for goods that never arrive usually have to be raised within about 120 days, the Financial Ombudsman Service says.

UK

Customers

Ribcraft goes into liquidation with a reported £4.1 million shortfall

Ribcraft Limited, the rigid inflatable boat builder in Yeovil, Somerset, is in creditors' voluntary liquidation, run by BTG Begbies Traynor's Neil Vinnicombe and Paul Wood. Rescue groups have reported paying £50,000 to £96,000 towards boats Ribcraft never completed.

Why it matters: Customers who paid for unfinished boats are among creditors owed £355,498 in a liquidation with a reported £4.1 million gap. The liquidators' report to creditors is the next document to show what, if anything, can be recovered.

UK

Customers

ROLI, maker of the Seaboard, enters administration again with orders unfulfilled

ROLI, the east London maker of the Seaboard keyboard, is in administration again: RSM UK partners Damian Webb and Joe Barry took over Luminary Roli Limited as administrators on 20 October, and buyers still waiting for instruments or refunds have had no public word on either.

Why it matters: Buyers who paid ROLI for instruments that never arrived have heard nothing about refunds, and owners of Seaboard, Blocks, Lumi and Airwave gear do not know whether the software their instruments depend on will keep running.

Australia

Customers

David Jones cuts change-of-mind returns to 14 days and stops selling gift cards

David Jones Pty Limited, the Sydney-founded department store chain in voluntary administration and receivership since 5 November, has changed its refund policy: anything bought from 7 November can only be swapped within 14 days if the buyer changes their mind. It has also stopped selling gift cards, though cards and store credit already issued are still accepted.

Why it matters: Gift cards and store credit still work for now, but their holders would rank as unsecured creditors if the business is wound up. The first creditors' meeting is on 17 November, and nothing has been said yet about lay-bys or deposits.