Flood victims bleed to Kika/Leiner bankruptcy: Who helps now?

Flood victims bleed to Kika/Leiner bankruptcy: Who helps now?

Niederösterreich, Österreich - The Austrian furniture chain Kika/Leiner has filed for bankruptcy, which brings thousands of customers into serious difficulties. Many victims of the devastating flood disaster in September, which had previously advertised with an offer of help and 20 percent discount for their purchases, are particularly affected. As noen.at , numerous people who have made payments for furniture-often no longer to get their money back.

The bankruptcy means that the customers concerned, including many flood victims, have to worry about 10,000 to 20,000 euros for kitchens and sofas. The insolvency administrator has not yet given the customer a clear promise whether their contracts can be fulfilled - an extremely worrying situation that is still exacerbated by the lack of legal protection in consumer protection. There are no consumer protection for down payments, especially not in the furniture sector, such as Vol.at stated.

high down payments, high uncertainty

In the past few weeks, numerous individual fates have been published, including the case of an older couple who had to count over 21,000 euros for a new kitchen, as well as a single educator who invested 19,000 euros for furniture. In view of the fact that many customers had to make payments in cash or had to transfer, the possibility of getting these amounts back is low. For transactions via credit or ATM card, there is only the option of initiating a backbook. The bankruptcy rate in Austria is often less than 10 percent, which means that those affected will only receive a fraction of their money.

The SPÖ has addressed the topic of liability for down payments in the current government negotiations, but has not been able to prevail against the resistance of the ÖVP and NEOS. While the ÖVP describes the situation as "frightening", the FPÖ MP Alois Kainz asks questions about the possible state support for the flood victims concerned. Experts have asked for companies to offer a down payment guarantee in the future in order to avoid such situations in the future.