DEVASTATED Courts customers could only weep after their savings were frozen when the furniture company went into administration.

Customers who paid for furniture by cash or cheque have been told by the administrators KPMG that as unsecured creditors they would receive neither goods nor refunds.

Heartbroken Gill Jackson said her elderly mother-in-law and father-in-law, who live in Lymm, have lost their life-savings after handing over almost £1,000 in cash for a three-piece suite.

The couple, Mary and Ronald Holt, who are aged 77 and 74, have only a savings account. They took the £100 deposit and later the £882.50 balance to Courts in Mrs Holt's handbag.

Gill said: "On November 25, Courts rang them to say the balance needed to be paid in full. I took them in on November 26 and they handed over £882.50 in cash. Courts said the suite would be delivered on Tuesday.

"I wish now that I'd paid on my credit card but they were so excited and had saved up all the money. They don't have a card, they always buy things in cash."

Julie Phoenix, aged 36, of Tilston Avenue, Westy, paid £1,407.50 for a leather suite on her debit card. Her mum, Joan Phoenix, said: "She's saved up for 18 months and is so upset she came in crying. I think it's disgusting.

"If Courts couldn't deliver the goods they shouldn't have taken the money."

Stephen Lee, aged 33, of Stonehaven Drive, Cinnamon Brow, is furious that people who save up and pay in full, rather than using a credit card, are the ones being punished.

He and fiance Kelly Hough, aged 23, used their £200 cash, given by friends as an engagement gift, to order a new table and chairs.

Lee said: "Losing £200 is not the end of the world but I'm annoyed about the principle. The banks clearly got their sums wrong and the administrator should pay customers first. It's not our fault, we didn't take a gamble, we just wanted to buy a table and chairs."

A spokesman for KPMG said: "We are looking to sell the business as a going concern. We've had a lot of positive responses and hope to issue a statement by Friday giving an indication of the level of interest."

Administrator's statement to Courts' customers

I

f you have recently been advised by your local store that 'your' goods have arrived and you have paid the full balance due we are hoping to deliver your order. However, we are not currently in a position to make deliveries due to the disturbances and incidents over the last couple of days. We will review this position and if a delivery can be made we will ring you as soon as we possibly can.

If you have paid a deposit and have not been contacted to pay the balance it is most likely that 'your' goods have not been delivered to Courts by the manufacturers. If that is the case it will not be possible for us to provide you with any further goods as we will not be receiving any further deliveries from manufacturers.

If you are in this situation and have paid your deposit by debit/credit card, you should contact your card provider. Subject to the rules of your card issuer, you may be able to claim a refund direct from them.

If you have paid by cash or by cheque, unfortunately this means that you are an unsecured creditor in the administration. This means that you will not receive any goods and you will not receive a refund as Courts is insolvent and has no money to pay its creditors.

The administrators will be sending a report to all creditors within eight weeks setting out their proposals and the prospects of any money being available for the unsecured creditors.

For the avoidance of doubt you will also not be able to claim goods from your local store in lieu of the deposit that you have paid.

You need to make a claim against Courts (UK) Limited for the amount you have paid. You should do this by writing to the administrators enclosing proof of your claim. The address for such claims is:

The Administrators

Courts (UK) Limited

The Grange

1 Central Road

Morden

Surrey

SM4 5PQ