Freedom Furniture - Anyone Heard Anything about Receivership?

LCheapCanuck on 23/11/2025 - 14:32

Hi Team, I was considering living room furniture from freedom but wasn't 100% on the leather colour so drove across to New Plymouth to check the samples a couple of weeks ago.

Arrived to a locked door stating they had gone in to liquidation.. Nothing different in the website or phone when calling. Later in the week the location was no longer on the website and Google sites said permanently closed. Two weeks later and it appears to be back to normal on their website.

Has anyone heard anything about this? Was it just a franchisee? I'm a bit reluctant to spend around $7k and have to wait three months for the furniture to be delivered if there is a chance the company will go bust.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how to protect my money from being lost? The obvious one is to not buy from them, but are there other options?

Thanks in advance

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Comments

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  • jjjj on 23/11/2025 - 16:52
    +5

    Whatever you do, don't spend 7k on anything without receiving the goods. There's plenty of tales from the likes of Smith City, Kitchen Things, etc on what happens even if you do a CC chargeback. The economy is not strong, and Ikea, even if its flatpack, will definitely make a big hole in furniture retail.

    • CheapCanuck on 23/11/2025 - 20:49

      It seems to be pretty common at most of the furniture stores. They don't hold inventory and make the furniture to order after payment. I considered asking if they would accept a deposit with full payment before they load it on the truck.

      • Alan6984 on 24/11/2025 - 10:41
        +1

        They don't hold inventory and make the furniture to order after payment. I considered asking if they would accept a deposit with full payment before they load it on the truck.

        In that situation, I would definitely negotiate to only pay a deposit up front, with the balance on delivery (realistically, they will want payment in full prior to delivery, but at least that limits your counter-party risk to the deposit (for some period of time) and a window of a day or so in most circumstances to get delivery).

        The other alternative is to collect it yourself (which might mean hiring a 'man with a van'), and pay in full upon collection. Regardless of whether they explicitly state it (they might advertise 'free delivery'), there will be delivery charges in your all-up cost. If you defray some of those costs by collecting, they should be willing to reduce the cost to you, but there's no guarantee that the person you are negotiating with will understand that, or perhaps won't have authority to do it.

        If they won't accept that, then go elsewhere?

  • QCon on 23/11/2025 - 18:07
    +2

    Make the purchase on a Visa, MasterCard or Amex. Make sure you use contactless if using a Debit card to ensure it goes through the respective network rather than EFTPOS.

    If the company goes into liquidation and you have not received your goods - you can file a charge-back and should win.

    More info: https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/chargeback-disputed-transactions.…

    @jjjj Any specific examples of "what happens even if you do a CC chargeback"? AFAIK this should be a pretty cut-and-dry scenario for a chargeback.

    • Alan6984 on 23/11/2025 - 19:49
      +2

      I agree with this, but probably best that you use a credit card, rather than debit - better it isn't your cash up front if there is doubt.

      There might be a card fee (say, 2%), but that is really more akin to an insurance policy, plus you might have a card that gives points that have some value to offset the increased cost.

      • QCon on 23/11/2025 - 20:33

        Agreed!

        • CheapCanuck on 23/11/2025 - 20:47
          +1

          Thanks team. Good way to frame the fee as an insurance on your money if they go bust.

      • nzmax on 24/11/2025 - 17:24

        Don't you usually have the same protection whether it is credit or debit? Both seem to use Visa or Mastercards system when paying that way and the fees still seem to be the same.

        • QCon on 24/11/2025 - 18:02

          Yes you get chargeback protection with credit and debit. But it could be weeks/months before you get the money back - so Credit may offer a little more protection if the dispute is raised before the credit card bill is paid.

        • Alan6984 on 24/11/2025 - 18:35

          Don't you usually have the same protection whether it is credit or debit? Both seem to use Visa or Mastercards system when paying that way and the fees still seem to be the same.

          Personally, I'd rather be arguing over whether I have to pay or not, than whether I am getting a refund or not.

          • nzmax on 24/11/2025 - 19:29

            @Alan6984: True, but some people can't get credit cards and/or a high limit on it, so debit can be the only option for more expensive purchases. I would rather pay debit than cash anyway.

            • Alan6984 on 24/11/2025 - 22:44

              @nzmax:

              … some people can't get credit cards and/or a high limit on it, so debit can be the only option for more expensive purchases. I would rather pay debit than cash anyway.

              Well, to state the blindingly obvious, if you can't get a credit card, or a sufficient credit limit for a given purchase, then that won't be an option, unless you paid from your bank account onto the credit card to give sufficient facility first, then made the purchase.

              Similarly, whilst you might prefer to pay debit than cash, if you couldn't get a debit card for some reason, then that wouldn't be an option either.

              However, the above suggestions were rather predicated on having the choice :-)

  • Hartaru on 23/11/2025 - 21:57

    Pretty certain you can see this on the companies register - should show if they are in process. Or check nz gazette

    • CheapCanuck on 24/11/2025 - 06:26

      I'd tried before with no luck. Found this one now and it appears to just be the franchisee

      https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2025-al6477

      • mpc on 25/11/2025 - 18:57
        +1

        Email/ring the liquidator as the business could still have reopened in liquidation to sell existing stock - similar to what they did with Smiths City after doing a stocktake. I doubt they'd be taking orders for anything they don't have in stock but I also wouldn't want to find out and risk that amount.

  • Rhys on 25/11/2025 - 21:15
    +1

    It was just a franchisee, i.e. your local store. All details here; https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/service/se…
    I do wonder why franchisee's struggle, the stock is often never in stock and requires prepayment
    If you order off the website, it's sent from the master franchise.

    • Alan6984 on 25/11/2025 - 22:51

      High fixed costs of being a retailer perhaps - locked in rent and fixed wages can be killers.

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