HOPPING MAD: Aspley Clive Peeters store manager Gary Kirkland is confronted by angry customer Darryl White.
RECEIVERS appointed to beleaguered electronics retailer Clive Peeters have announced that all gift certificates and deposits will be honoured at all stores.
A representative of recovery firm PPB also confirmed that customers who have paid for goods in full can now pick up their goods.
The spokesman said the company would continue to trade as normal while a formal sale process was instigated.
"Following an urgent review of the business and discussions with key stakeholders, we are pleased to inform customers that deposits and gift certificates will be honoured at all Clive Peeters stores," receiver and manager Phil Carter said
"We understand that uncertainty surrounding this issue has caused customers a significant level of distress so we have worked urgently to resolve the matter. We thank customers for their patience while we conducted this initial review.
"We are commencing a formal sale process and a number of parties have already expressed interest in acquiring the business as a going concern.
"We are encouraged by the level of initial interest in Clive Peeters and were hopeful we can provide further certainty to all stakeholders by way of a successful sale of the business."
Mr Carter said PPB had held discussions with employees and suppliers and the company appreciated their continued support during this unsettling time.
Yesterday, Clive Peeters stores in Brisbane continued to take new orders as customers who had already paid for products were told they could not have their goods.
There were angry scenes as customers were turned away empty-handed from Clive Peeters stores after the struggling business said that those who had already paid for products before Wednesday night, when the company went into receivership, would not have their purchases honoured.
Gareth Jenkins, an insolvency expert with law firm Clayton Utz, warned consumers to exercise caution when dealing with the company.
''Just talking as a consumer, I'm not sure I would be paying money unless there was an iron-clad guarantee that I'd get my product or I'd get my deposit if I didn't get my product,'' he said.
A Clive Peeters employee who asked not to be named said staff were being instructed to advise new customers to buy only what was physically in the store.
Staff also said they were concerned for their jobs, long service, superannuation and leave entitlements.
Irate Aspley store customer Darryl White, 32, fronted workers yesterday after they refused to hand over a $2532 plasma TV he had purchased.
''It's here and it's waiting with my name on it,'' Mr White said. ``She (a salesperson) said, 'Sorry, you can't get it . . . you've got unsecured holdings with the company.' ''
Clive Peeters Kingsholme customer Pauline Crandon, of Oxenford, said she was told yesterday morning she could not pick up a $599 refrigerator she bought for her son and paid for in full at the Loganholme store last Friday.
''We were supposed to pick it up on Saturday,'' she said. ''But when I rang this morning to arrange to pick it up today the sales manager there told me that the fridge and the money had been frozen.''
Receiver Phil Carter of recovery firm PPB, which was appointed by major creditor NAB, said there had been strong interest from potential purchasers of the 49-store chain.
Retail king Gerry Harvey said he was not among them. ''I can't make any money out of it, and neither can anyone else,'' Mr Harvey said.
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