GrabOne, a website which offered users deals on experiences, products, and travel, has gone into liquidation. Photo: Screenshot
Failed voucher business GrabOne owes more than $16.5 million, including at least $3.8m to unsecured creditors who are unlikely to see any refunds.
Liquidators Calibre Partners have issued their first report into Global Marketplace New Zealand, which operates GrabOne.
It launched in 2010, and took commission on deals it arranged for businesses based on volume. It was sold to Global Marketplace New Zealand by former owner NZME in 2021, for $17.5 million.
The liquidators said Inland Revenue was yet to lodge its preferential claim, and employee entitlements were still under review.
Customers who had bought vouchers that could not be used, or not received goods paid for, as well as businesses that had honoured vouchers GrabOne had not paid them for, were likely to be unsecured creditors.
They were unlikely to get their money back, the liquidators said.
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In a "frequently asked questions" on its website, Calibre Partners said it could not offer any refunds.
"As an unsecured creditor, you are entitled to lodge a claim for the amount owed by completing the Unsecured Creditors Claim Form available below. However, we advise that based on the current financial position of the company, and the debt outstanding to priority creditors, it is unlikely that any funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors."
They could not say whether goods ordered would be delivered.
"GrabOne operated as a marketplace connecting customers with third-party merchants. As such, the Company did not hold physical stock or manage the shipping/fulfilment of orders. The liquidators do not have access to shipment records, tracking details, or merchant specific delivery information."
They said it was up to businesses whether they chose to honour outstanding vouchers, but they were unlikely to be paid for them.
"We are working with management to retrieve the voucher and payment information stored in your merchant account. Once this is available to us, we will endeavour to provide it to you as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience while we work through the large volume of data and requests."
Some businesses have said they would honour the vouchers anyway.
Snow Planet said it was shocked to hear the news of GrabOne's demise, but did not want its customers to suffer.
"While Snowplanet has no assurance of receiving payment from GrabOne, we have made the decision to honour all valid GrabOne Snowplanet vouchers. Our priority has always been our guests," Rojie Aguilar, general manager of Snowplanet, said in a statement.
Vouchers would remain valid until their stated expiry date, under the same terms and conditions, Aguilar said.
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