Couple ‘disgusted’ $5m collapsed company’s Instagram used to launch new firm called Arkular
A Victorian family who claim a “horrendous” experience led to them losing $600,000 have been shocked to see what’s happened next after the original company failed.
EXCLUSIVE
A couple who claim their lives were “destroyed” by the $5.5 million collapse of a building company, which they said left them $600,000 out of pocket, have been horrified to discover the firm has used its old Instagram account to launch a new business.
Its popular Instagram account currently boasts 146,000 followers.
Beverley and Stan Johnson said they made the “fatal mistake” to build with a Melbourne company called Archiblox on a block of land they purchased six years ago in McCrae, a suburb of the Mornington Peninsula.
The Johnsons, who have two adult children together, describe the entire experience from signing with the company to its collapse and later trying to get their dream home complete as a “five year horrendous journey we didn’t plan to be on” when they were nearing retirement.
Both 60, the couple had decided years earlier to make a sea change and opted for a modular build, which Archiblox specialised in, so their dream home could done within three to six months and dropped onto their land.
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They paid $900,000 to Archiblox to complete the build but ended up with a home filled with defects, according to an expert report they commissioned.
Beverley said the build was hit by a spate of delays over a number of years, from issues with digging into the difficult terrain on the land to engineering problems.
“During this time we had sold our house and were renting, in order for us to meet the scheduled payments.” she told news.com.au.
Their double storey, three-bedroom house was stored at Archiblox’s premises in Melbourne while being constructed.
“They built the house on their site and it sat there for years whilst they tried to get the engineering right,” Beverley said.
“During this time it was not properly waterproofed and the damage to the modules was catastrophic.”
‘Disgusted’
Beverley said she was “disgusted” that a new company had been launched under Archiblox’s old Instagram account, with the new name of Arkular.
She's particularly outraged its still using the same Instagram account as when it traded as Archiblox, but had just changed the handle name, despite posts on the account dating back to 28 September 2018.
An Instagram post on August 28 announced that “Arkular is the new home for Archiblox” to its 146,000 followers.
Despite Arkular only launching in August this year, a number of projects from the Archiblox website are featured on its website.
“As someone who lost over $600,000 from Archiblox I find this outrageous – how would new buyers know what they were in for unless they did due diligence and Googled them. I have steam coming out of my ears,” Beverley said.
Bill McCorkell is an architect, who was a director at Archiblox when it collapsed.
He said the new company Arkular has been established to only focus on the design, sales and marketing of sustainable homes, “which is my passion and area of expertise”.
“Arkular does not engage in construction, which is outsourced to a range of reputable, specialist construction firms,” he added.
He said his family had retained ownership of the intellectual property from Archiblox and there was a reason the old Instagram handle was used.
“The original handle had a large number of followers, whom we still believe would be interested in our design work, so it made sense to continue using it,” he said.
“The designs we did at Archiblox were all of our own work – I am the chief architect at Arkular, as I was at Archiblox — and we are proud to showcase them through Arkular.”
The company collapse
Archiblox collapsed in February 2020 devastating the Johnsons and other families.
A liquidator’s report filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in May 2020 painted a picture of the 10-year-old company’s demise.
There were at least 17 projects in various stages of completion when administrators were appointed, according to the report from Vince & Associates, and the company did not have any cash in the bank.
The report also revealed that Archiblox had $5.5 million in outstanding debt.
It showed it had been trading with a “significant deficiency” since 30 June 2018 and had accumulated trading losses of approximately $2.8 million from July 2017 to February 2020.
Mr McCorkell said the construction arm of Archiblox placed itself into voluntary liquidation in 2020 following an unexpected and substantial decrease in the insurance cover provided by the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority.
“A vast majority of that debt was owed to me and my family. We worked with all external creditors to implement payment plans where possible,” he said.
“It was a highly unfortunate situation, beyond our control, and we sincerely regret that customers were impacted.”
As for the 17 projects impacted, Mr McCorkell added: “As far as I am aware, every project received payment through the state government to assist with completion of their projects,” he said.
The liquidator’s report had said there was “insufficient funds” and that unsecured creditors were unlikely to receive any money.
Beverley said they received $300,000 back on insurance, which did not cover all their losses, and two years after the company collapsed the couple had not received any “compensation” from the business and they had been forced to sell the land.
Defective house
At the time of Archiblox’s collapse, the Johnsons were also faced with the task of having to remove their modular home from the company’s leased premises after it failed.
They commissioned a building consultant to come and examine the house, which Beverley said left them “gobsmacked”.
The expert report outlined a number of defects in the house including water leaks and stains, rust, signs of black mould, timber flooring laid incorrectly, cracking around the window area, incorrect waterproofing in the bathroom and “extensive” bird poo in some rooms.
“You fall in love with the dream and think it’s all going to be OK and then this happens,” she noted.
“You do feel stupid. We could have pulled the pin when we had paid $100,000 but we wanted that dream and for it to happen.”
Beverley said they spent an extra $30,000 to get their home moved and for storage of their modular home.
“So once the modules had been picked up, we started to try to get the build going … We realised with the damage to the modules and the cost of retaining walls was over $200,000, we were not able to finish the build,” she said.
“With a very heavy heart we sold the land.”
Beverley claims the experience with Archiblox “ruined their lives” with inheritance money from her beloved mum lost. They have now found themselves with a new home but a “hefty” $500,000 mortgage at the age of 60 with “absolutely no hope of paying it off”.
“When we started the process, we were both working in corporate jobs earning six-figure salaries and then over the years trying to get this house built things changed. We don’t have that kind of income anymore, so emotionally and financially, it has ruined our lives,” she said. “We are trying to get back on track and not think too much about it but I can’t help but think that the owner of the company has not suffered at all.”
But Mr McCorkell said he and his family were materially and significantly impacted.
“We did our best to mitigate the situation for everyone concerned, and we put creditors and customers ahead of ourselves,” he added.
Better protections for consumers
Beverley added there were “no repercussions” when a company collapses.
She wants to see better regulation of the building industry after their experience, with a string of companies also having failed this year
“I think the government needs to do something about it,” she said.
sarah.sharples@news.com.au
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