Johnny’s Furniture Group director fined $32k after customers left in lurch
The director of a furniture chain with four Queensland stores has copped a paltry fine after leaving dozens of angry customers owed thousands for items that were never delivered.
The director of a national furniture chain with four Queensland stores has copped a tiny fine after leaving dozens of angry customers owed large sums for items that were never delivered or were defective.
Jonathan Raymond McDonald, sole director of Johnny’s Furniture Group Pty Ltd, was fined a total of $31,808.70 after pleading guilty in Pine Rivers Magistrates Court to 16 charges of accepting payment and failing to supply goods or services within a reasonable time under Australian Consumer Law.
His company, trading as Johnny’s Furniture and Ashley Homestore before it went into voluntary administration last year, failed to supply goods or re-pay deposits to consumers across three states.
The chain had Queensland outlets at Virginia, North Lakes and Bundall on the Gold Coast.
Some customers said they were owed as much as $4000 for furniture that never arrived, after being repeatedly given excuses such as shipping containers being stuck in port.
When the company went into administration on June 5 last year, before going into liquidation the next month, hundreds of furious customers took to its Facebook page to air their stories.
Some said they had waited up to seven months before finally receiving deliveries, or got nothing at all.
One woman said after waiting 14 months for a leather Mayfair couch that the leather peeled off only two months after being delivered.
After more delays, it was not properly fixed.
The charges followed an extensive investigation by Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading
(OFT).
Its investigators found that between June 2023 and January 2024, McDonald received
payments totalling almost $21,697 from 16 customers to supply furniture including lounge suites, bedroom and dining room furniture, chairs and bookcases.
The court ordered McDonald to pay $21,697 in total compensation to the 16 consumers.
He also was fined $10,000 and must pay a further $111.70 in court costs.
No conviction was recorded.
Administrator Shumit Banerjee, from insolvency firm Westburn Advisory, said at the time Johnny’s Furniture went into liquidation that creditors included lenders, staff, customers, the Australian Taxation Office, related parties and other government revenue offices.
One customer, Gold Coast woman Alana Boland, told the Gold Coast Bulletin last year that she paid $950 towards a $1800 new lounge in November 2023.
She asked for a refund but never received it.
“I had just bought my first home for myself at 27, I’ve got a mortgage and I was looking forward to getting a new lounge – it kind of opens your eyes to the bad things in the world,” she said.
Commissioner for Fair Trading Victoria Thomson said the OFT was committed to
bringing traders operating in breach of Australian Consumer Law before the courts.
“This trader’s blatant disregard for Australia’s consumer protection laws not only
impacted consumers in Queensland but two other states, and in many cases affected
these people’s ability to live comfortably in their own homes,” Ms Thomson said.
“When consumers pay their hard-earned money for goods, they’re entitled to expect
that they’ll get what they paid for, or at the very least, have any deposits repaid
where items can’t be supplied, not be given poor excuses and more delays.
“The Australian Consumer Law was designed to give consumers confidence and
protection, foster competition and create a fair marketplace, so where we become
aware that someone’s breaching their legal obligations, we will act.”
Complaints to the OFT can be lodged online at fairtrading.qld.gov.au
