How can a car just disappear?
This was the question brought to Fair Go by Chris Moriarty of Hamilton.
Chris hadn't forgotten where he'd parked it, it hadn't been stolen, he'd simply taken it to a repair shop to sort out a problem with rust. That was early in 2018.
The repair shop was called Hauraki Panel and Paint in Glenfield, Auckland, near to where Chris was living at the time, and it was recommended by VTNZ.
Not only that but Alan Le Noel, the owner of the six branches of Hauraki Panel and Paint, was the former Chairman of the Collision Repair Association. He'd been given gold status as a repairer by AMI insurance, and he was the poster boy for an insurance firm for apparently turning his business around for the better. Chris Moriarty felt he was in safe hands.
The car Chris had dropped off was a 1990 Honda Concerto. Described by Chris as "a modern classic", a car that had "wood panelling, lovely upholstery and all the convenience of a modern motor car". Perhaps not to everyone's liking, but it had a special place in Chris' heart.
So, Chris was frustrated when he called the Glenfield branch of Hauraki Panel and Paint over several months, only to be told other jobs had taken priority. By this time he was living in Hamilton, so it was difficult to keep a close eye on what was going on. Then came the call he made last September, in which Alan Le Noel told Chris that the Glenfield branch of Hauraki Panel and Paint had been sold in August, and Chris' car had gone with it.
No problem, thought Chris. He assumed the new owners would do the work on his car, so he gave them a call. But the new company, Premium Panel and Paint, said they hadn't had any jobs passed on to them from the previous owners. The confusion continued. Alan Le Noel sticking to his story that the car was a "work in progress" and that the responsibility lay with the new garage owners, while they stood firm saying no jobs had been issued in the handover.
According to Premium Panel and Paint, the sale of the business was far from a "straightforward business deal" and that the "negotiations prior to settlement were frustrating", requiring them to get lawyers involved. Chattels they believed they had paid for were not forthcoming, and "the existing regular client base was non-existent". They claim the same could be said for the so-called works in progress.
Chris was at a loss at what to do, which is why he came to Fair Go, and after many calls and emails, the sorry series of events became clear.
Alan Le Noel was correct in saying that the car had physically been left with the new owners. However, there is no evidence to suggest it was left as a work in progress as no paperwork whatsoever had been passed on with it, and no communication about the Honda was exchanged. Chris is the first to admit it was an old car that needed a lot of work so he wasn't surprised to hear that the new company Premium Panel and Paint had assumed it had been abandoned. The rusty car was taking up precious parking space, and even after extensive questioning of the former owners, Premium Panel and Paint couldn't find out anything about who it belonged to.
Unfortunately for Chris, their decision was to have it towed. The owner of Premium Panel and Paint stated, "categorically that this would not have occurred had I known who this vehicle had belonged to". The usual protocol for towing companies is to dispose of cars if no-one pays for storage within 21 days, either by selling them to cover costs or simply sending them to the scrap heap. So it would seem highly likely that Chris' beloved Honda Concerto came to such an end.
Fair Go understands that the legal responsibility lay with Alan Le Noel and Hauraki Paint and Panel as the car was given into their care. If they had decided to pass the Honda on to the new owners as a job to be completed, they should have clearly communicated this to them. We went back to Alan Le Noel for answers.
Alan Le Noel said he himself didn't know who the car belonged to, claiming that Chris "just dropped it and ran". We pointed out this wasn't a very professional way to run a business, and that Chris Moriarty had made calls to check up on whether or not the work had been done.
Alan Le Noel replied, "well you could argue that .... why that one was missed I have no idea".
It turns out Alan Le Noel had made some effort to find the car. He told us he rang the council, the towing companies and the police but to no avail. It may have partly been because he was searching for a Honda with the registration TE 1609, while Chris' car had the registration PE 1609.
All in all, this was highly unsatisfactory for Chris. Fair Go hoped there was one last glimmer of hope. Perhaps Alan Le Noel would see fit to compensate Chris in some way, especially given his seemingly impressive reputation. But sadly, those hopes were dashed.
Fair Go found out that in February, the other five branches of Hauraki Panel and Paint all went into liquidation. The liquidators told Fair Go they had "no comment". We went back to Alan Le Noel who said, "you've got to understand that with the company put into liquidation you can't get blood out of a stone. Unfortunately I've been left with just the clothes on my back."
So sadly there's no happy ending for Chris Moriarty. Just a hard lesson to learn to keep paperwork on any business transactions, and if jobs are being strung out for months, to consider taking your work elsewhere.
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