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For your information Ocean Sunrise Ltd is now in liquidation and is with the official receivers office.
We would like to make it quite clear what Martin Barnett's involvement in the Ocean business was. He was a director of Ocean Horizions, the previous company, for two months. He was invited by the previous owners, Retail Variations plc, to assist in recovering the company. In November 2005 Mr Barnett resigned as a director as he was not happy with the way the main owners (Retail Varations) were running and financing the company. In Janurary 2006 Retail Variations went into administration for £25mil.
At the end of November 2005 Ian and Susan Shefras bought the assets from Ocean Horizions' liquidators, Lavendar Hill & Highgate stores and the Ocean name and website. Martin Barnett had no involvement with the company other than his company supplying them with 70% of their product. The strict conditions of sale to Ocean Sunrise was that the goods were ordered and stored in the warehouse but not shipped until cleared funds were received. The end result was that Martin Barnett's company had £300k worth of stock which was not paid for. Most of these goods were for customer orders. Ocean repeatedly promisied to pay us but we never received payment. We also had some customers contact us directly as they discovered that we were one of the main suppliers to Ocean. Unfortunatley we could not release the goods as their were not paid for. When Mr. Barnett discovered that Ocean Sunrise was about to cease trading and we were advised by the credit card company that all customers would receive their money back. Mr Shefras provided the customer list so that we could try and let customers have their goods and discounted prices even though that had already received a refund.
To dispose of the surplus stock an arrangement has been made with the Landlords with the Highgate and now also the Lavendar Hill store to sell the stock belonging to the manufacturers which was never sold to Ocean but was ordered on their behalf. A sale is being held at both stores with goods being sold at below cost to reclaim some of our money. The Lavendar Hill store will open on Friday 10th November. Customers trying to either remove or get their refund from either store most contact the official receiver. Additional discount may be given to previous customers. Any person linking the name of Martin Barnett to Ian Shefras, making slander or trying to link Martin Barnett to Ocean's dealings will be sued.
We would also like to note that the customers going into both stores are taking goods on a cash and carry basis as the products are being sold at below cost.
Check out the news story: http://www.hamhigh.co.uk and search for Ocean. It was dated yesterday. Like anyone who has already been ripped of would go in there and and over more money. Ian Shefras lost his money through being an incompetent businesman which is his own fault and I certainly don't feel sorry for him.
Hi, I lost a fair amount of money with Ocean like lots of people here. It has now been 2 months since Ocean declared they were going bankrupt and it is still not true. In between they have been running a clearance sale with goods we paid for.
I am starting legal action :
1- to find out whether Mr Ian Shefras is an unlucky businessman who lost all his money in Ocean, or whether he is simply ripping off customers as a profession.
2- to clarify the links between Ocean and Mr. Martin Barnett who is approaching unlucky Ocean customers (like me) pretending to be an "unfortunate Ocean supplier"... but who also used to be Managing Director of Ocean and who used to run many companies that were finally bought out by Ocean.
3- to get my money back (should I put that first ?!!)
This is not the first time these guys are ripping off customers, according to the information I found here and elsewhere. Ocean is a tiny tiny company and those people rely upon the fact nobody will complain. The more we are the more chances we have to get our money back and get the market rid of these people.
If you share these views and are interested in undertaking this action, please email me ( zaak@lycos.co.uk ) with your details (email / phone number) and I will get back to you asap.
Again, I wish I had known about this site this morning. OK, I went in to the Highgate store today for the 3rd time to insist that I would not be leaving the store without my money or the two chairs we paid for by direct debit (£305). After speaking to Aziz, the useless shop assistant who obviously didnt have the power to do anything we insisted that he then call the police so that we could sort this out finally. He was understanding but continued that he could do nothing to help. Then we went through the same conversation with another female assistant. I calmly sat on a very nice Eames chair while we waited for the police to arrive. Then all of a sudden the owner calls and speaks to my wife abusively over the phone and demanding we leave the shop. At the same time, another female (supposedly of authority) appeared and became extremely abusive and refused to hear any of our complaint. She even verged on becoming racist in her tone and insuation. She even suggested that the chairs that we had originally ordered were "cheap" and "bottom of the range". She demanded that I get out of the "£950" Eames chair and leave the shop. When I became annoyed at her comments she suggested that I was becoming aggressive (because i pointed a finger at her) and that I did not how to communicate. After some more abuse from her we continued to calmly wait for the police who never arrived. Sadly we had other things to do so had to leave. However, we were fuming from the blatant abuse and pure audacity shown by them. Now i know that they are not even in liquidation I will pursue these people to the very end. They saw me and my wife and their predjudices, biggotry and utter lack of respect thought they could treat us the way they did. Well, as i told the lady in the shop "do you know who i am". Obviously not! However, she will know very soon.
I cannot believe that a company can be allowed to operate in broad daylight in this way! I dont care if it costs me more money than my goods - they will pay!
hi, i bought from them couple of years ago and had no problems at that point. i don't have any issues with them now however feel awful for those who have. i have always wanted a couple of their bar stools but never ordered, if i make a 90 mile trip to london can i buy from this store? is there a contact to even see if they have any?
sorry it is a mail that will annoy those of you who have lost money. i too have been in the same situation with a different company a few years back. thanks for your help.
I visited the shop at Highgate Studios, 53-79 Highgate Road, London NW5 1TL this morning, since the phone (020 7267 6415)went completely unanswered. There is a fair amount of stock there, though the set-up looks very temporary. Ian Shefras was behind the counter but claimed that the company had gone into liquidation and declined to refund the money (luckily only £80)I had paid for furniture never received. I called the local newspaper, the Hampstead and Highgate Express (020 7433 3888), and spoke to a journalist on the newsdesk called Ben who is looking into the story and might be glad to hear from other aggrieved customers. I also contacted the Office of Fair Trading, who weren't very helpful, but said they would pass my complaint on to Camden Council.
If you live in London and can get to the North London shop could you attempt to get a telephone number from these people and put it on this site. I live in Yorkshire and have lost my purchase from Ocean and would very much like to obtain some details of the manufacturer in order to find the item elsewhere. Obviously he has sold on my purchase to someone else as it no longer appears on the website!!! Is this legal if he has not yet gone into liquidation?
I have complained to bbc watchdog about this company and my personal loss. They have actually shown interest and contacted me for supportive evidence which I have sent on to them.I suggest you all do the same now and really give this company maximum exposure for what it has done to us
I spoke to trading standards who said that paperwork had gone to Official Receiver regarding the liquidation of Ocean. The company is on the list waiting to go through the standard procedure REF:LR197010. It will be a couple of weeks for them to get sorted and we may be able to make progress. I have their contact number.
Visited the store today and spoke to Ian Shefras. Got out of him that the sale is being operated by Philip Shefras Ltd, a management consultancy owned by his Father and registered at the same address as Ocean Sunrise. This doesn't sound like a furniture supplier to me as claimed on Ocean's website.
There is a sign aboe the door saying 'Liquidation Sale' but Ocean are not yet in liquidation and are still listed as an actively trading company on the Company House website.
Has anyone spoken to the Police about this yet?
Something is very very fishy. There is alot of furniture on display in the store. The Ocean web site is back which is very strange. The shop is manned by the owner of Ocean. Rumour has it he has bought Dwell
Spoke to Companies House on 14 September and they had no record of Ocean being in liquidation, but told me the requirement is for them to be informed within 2 weeks. Called them again today (9 October) and there is still no record of a liquidation. They have advised me to take legal advice as this is clearly fraud.
Having been through the same, I have been into the shop twice, this weekend and last, and was told by the temporary staff(!) they would make sure their boss would call me. They couldn't tell me who was running the sale, who the stock belonged to, or who the liquidators were. Needless to say, no call. I am waiting again and will go back to the store, probably pointlessly, to see if any more info is available. Unbelievable. Any potential sources of recompense, please share!
If you look at the web site they now have the site back up claiming that they are selling stock in the highgate store on behalf of the liquidators (who havent been appointed!)
It would be worth going down there to have a look and see what is going on...the sale on behalf of the liquidators is being run by the director of Ocean, which seems very strange to me.
Cant believe that I’ve been ripped off, paid by debit card and there’s no going back apparently, spoken to Bank of Scotland’s call centre and its totally out of their hands!! Gutted!
Disgusted that I had spoken to one of the shops floor staff over the phone regarding my order and was simply told it would be another couple of weeks, knowing that they were about to go bankrupt!!
I know that iv lost my £405 even if they do go into liquidation what money is recovered will be divided up and it'll be 1p to every £1... Not sure if that’s exactly how it works but I expect it'll be a useless solution none the less!!
Iv written a complaint into BBC’s watchdog, not sure what they'll be investigating as the company seems to have disappeared but can I encourage anyone else to do the same, it doesn’t take long just a couple of mins if you've got them. (Never know might make a difference?)
UPDATE: I just spoke to the government insolvency dept who still have no record of Ocean Sunrise being in liquidation - and have them listed as still active! I also spoke to the Official Receivers who have no record of liquidation and no name for a liquidation company which they would have if it were true. I spoke to the Company Investigations Board and made a complaint.
A repeat tho - if anyone has the name and details of the company that Ocean 'say' are their liquidators PLEASE let me know!!
If you read down lower there is a posting from someone who's friend rang the courts and was told the petition to put Ocean in the hands of the liquidator isnt due to be heard until 4th Oct - therefore officially he is not yet in liquidation and is not being truthful when he says he is 'acting on their behalf' selling off his stock. Has anyone managed to get goods in lieu of their order though? Is there anything actually left in the north london shop? And where is it??!
This was posted on another thread Ocean Sunrise Limited
Companies House says Ocean Sunrise Ltd is trading normally on Sept 14 2006. Insolvency Services say they know nothing of any alleged "liquidation".
Man in shop (Shefras) says Ocean is in liquidation and that he is "acting for the liquidator".
There are no notices in the shop or on the shopfront which indicate that the shop is in the control of a liquidator.
Furniture in (open) shop displays price tickets and is available to buy!
Man in shop claims he is unable to help with providing undelivered goods, referring to alleged "liquidation".
Situation stinks of fraud. Anyone interested in going there this Saturday morning at 11am to speak to man in shop about this situation and 'requesting' goods in lieu?
Chairless at 14th Sep 2006, 12:32P
The shop was open yesterday and is manned by none other than Mr Shefras himself. There is a sign above the door saying Liquidation stock for sale and a company name "Classic Furniture Direct" above the door.
PS: can anyone help with details of the liquidator? Or number of customer service (or is it dead?) All I have is the number of the battersea branch and a receipt for my sofa - not a lot to go on!! THANKS
I have just spoken to my bank to try to recover the £840 Ocean has taken from us without delivery of goods - my bank are going to start the process but told me that there is a limit of 120 days from payment so we're only just within it. If you're in similar state you must hurry. I haven't heard anything from Ocean or their liquidators tho - I only found out today when I tried to contact them to get a delivery date!! Am so gutted, cannot afford to lose the money!
Dear Friends, I have been reading all your comments about Ocean and I was fortunate enough not to part with my money a week before they went into liquidation. Me and my husband wanted to buy a sofa but my husband talked me out of rushing into buying it. The trouble is I still really want to buy the sofa (the lucca) and I was hoping to get in touch with the company who make this sofa so I could deal with them direct. Is there anyway I can found out the name of manufacturer?
I lost my money in October 2005 when I paid by direct debit. I visited the shop in Highgate, London on many occassions trying to find out why they did not deliver my goods. Eventually that incarnation of Ocean went bust and I got a letter from the administrator saying i would get nothing. I was treated with contempt throughout.
In November Ocean in its current guise appeared. It bought the stock and assets from the previous Ocean and low and behold, carried on trading. What has happened since then if these blags are anything to go by is that the current director are doing exactly the same to customers as the previous compan. In my view they appear to be a bona fiade buisness, take peoples money, don't deliver the goods and leave a trail of creditors (unpaid utility bills, unpaid council tax, unpaid staff salaries) behind the.
No doubt this company will be wound up and the whole process will repeat itself.
What was frustrating for me is that there is no one I can report these people too.
One last thing - in the Highgate store, they are flogging off everything from the shop. It looks to me that this is being done with the full knowledge of the directors and if you ask me they are hoping to raise as much cash before the whole shooting match is wound up.
If you have lost money, you could try going along and see what you can persuade these rip off merchants to give. I dont hold out any hope though!!!!
Add a comment about this blagger
Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
We would like to make it quite clear what Martin Barnett's involvement in the Ocean business was. He was a director of Ocean Horizions, the previous company, for two months. He was invited by the previous owners, Retail Variations plc, to assist in recovering the company. In November 2005 Mr Barnett resigned as a director as he was not happy with the way the main owners (Retail Varations) were running and financing the company. In Janurary 2006 Retail Variations went into administration for £25mil.
At the end of November 2005 Ian and Susan Shefras bought the assets from Ocean Horizions' liquidators, Lavendar Hill & Highgate stores and the Ocean name and website. Martin Barnett had no involvement with the company other than his company supplying them with 70% of their product. The strict conditions of sale to Ocean Sunrise was that the goods were ordered and stored in the warehouse but not shipped until cleared funds were received. The end result was that Martin Barnett's company had £300k worth of stock which was not paid for. Most of these goods were for customer orders. Ocean repeatedly promisied to pay us but we never received payment. We also had some customers contact us directly as they discovered that we were one of the main suppliers to Ocean. Unfortunatley we could not release the goods as their were not paid for. When Mr. Barnett discovered that Ocean Sunrise was about to cease trading and we were advised by the credit card company that all customers would receive their money back. Mr Shefras provided the customer list so that we could try and let customers have their goods and discounted prices even though that had already received a refund.
To dispose of the surplus stock an arrangement has been made with the Landlords with the Highgate and now also the Lavendar Hill store to sell the stock belonging to the manufacturers which was never sold to Ocean but was ordered on their behalf. A sale is being held at both stores with goods being sold at below cost to reclaim some of our money. The Lavendar Hill store will open on Friday 10th November. Customers trying to either remove or get their refund from either store most contact the official receiver. Additional discount may be given to previous customers. Any person linking the name of Martin Barnett to Ian Shefras, making slander or trying to link Martin Barnett to Ocean's dealings will be sued.
We would also like to note that the customers going into both stores are taking goods on a cash and carry basis as the products are being sold at below cost.
martinbarnett22 at 7th Nov 2006, 01:38PM
I am starting legal action :
1- to find out whether Mr Ian Shefras is an unlucky businessman who lost all his money in Ocean, or whether he is simply ripping off customers as a profession.
2- to clarify the links between Ocean and Mr. Martin Barnett who is approaching unlucky Ocean customers (like me) pretending to be an "unfortunate Ocean supplier"... but who also used to be Managing Director of Ocean and who used to run many companies that were finally bought out by Ocean.
3- to get my money back (should I put that first ?!!)
This is not the first time these guys are ripping off customers, according to the information I found here and elsewhere. Ocean is a tiny tiny company and those people rely upon the fact nobody will complain. The more we are the more chances we have to get our money back and get the market rid of these people.
If you share these views and are interested in undertaking this action, please email me ( zaak@lycos.co.uk ) with your details (email / phone number) and I will get back to you asap.
Cheers
I cannot believe that a company can be allowed to operate in broad daylight in this way! I dont care if it costs me more money than my goods - they will pay!
sorry it is a mail that will annoy those of you who have lost money. i too have been in the same situation with a different company a few years back. thanks for your help.
janine31 at 29th Oct 2006, 12:54PM
Ben, Ham&High newspaper
shipwrecked at 19th Oct 2006, 03:56PM
There is a sign aboe the door saying 'Liquidation Sale' but Ocean are not yet in liquidation and are still listed as an actively trading company on the Company House website.
Has anyone spoken to the Police about this yet?
It would be worth going down there to have a look and see what is going on...the sale on behalf of the liquidators is being run by the director of Ocean, which seems very strange to me.
Disgusted that I had spoken to one of the shops floor staff over the phone regarding my order and was simply told it would be another couple of weeks, knowing that they were about to go bankrupt!!
I know that iv lost my £405 even if they do go into liquidation what money is recovered will be divided up and it'll be 1p to every £1... Not sure if that’s exactly how it works but I expect it'll be a useless solution none the less!!
Iv written a complaint into BBC’s watchdog, not sure what they'll be investigating as the company seems to have disappeared but can I encourage anyone else to do the same, it doesn’t take long just a couple of mins if you've got them. (Never know might make a difference?)
Once again GUTTED!!
A repeat tho - if anyone has the name and details of the company that Ocean 'say' are their liquidators PLEASE let me know!!
http://www.english-sofas.co.uk/leather_sofas_all.htm
Companies House says Ocean Sunrise Ltd is trading normally on Sept 14 2006. Insolvency Services say they know nothing of any alleged "liquidation".
Man in shop (Shefras) says Ocean is in liquidation and that he is "acting for the liquidator".
There are no notices in the shop or on the shopfront which indicate that the shop is in the control of a liquidator.
Furniture in (open) shop displays price tickets and is available to buy!
Man in shop claims he is unable to help with providing undelivered goods, referring to alleged "liquidation".
Situation stinks of fraud. Anyone interested in going there this Saturday morning at 11am to speak to man in shop about this situation and 'requesting' goods in lieu?
Chairless at 14th Sep 2006, 12:32P
The shop was open yesterday and is manned by none other than Mr Shefras himself. There is a sign above the door saying Liquidation stock for sale and a company name "Classic Furniture Direct" above the door.
I lost my money in October 2005 when I paid by direct debit. I visited the shop in Highgate, London on many occassions trying to find out why they did not deliver my goods. Eventually that incarnation of Ocean went bust and I got a letter from the administrator saying i would get nothing. I was treated with contempt throughout.
In November Ocean in its current guise appeared. It bought the stock and assets from the previous Ocean and low and behold, carried on trading. What has happened since then if these blags are anything to go by is that the current director are doing exactly the same to customers as the previous compan. In my view they appear to be a bona fiade buisness, take peoples money, don't deliver the goods and leave a trail of creditors (unpaid utility bills, unpaid council tax, unpaid staff salaries) behind the.
No doubt this company will be wound up and the whole process will repeat itself.
What was frustrating for me is that there is no one I can report these people too.
One last thing - in the Highgate store, they are flogging off everything from the shop. It looks to me that this is being done with the full knowledge of the directors and if you ask me they are hoping to raise as much cash before the whole shooting match is wound up.
If you have lost money, you could try going along and see what you can persuade these rip off merchants to give. I dont hold out any hope though!!!!
Add a comment about this blagger