Vouchers & Co.

Kika/Leiner bankruptcy: What customers should do now

The restructuring proceedings opened against the furniture giant last year have now failed.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

Once again, Kika/Leiner has slipped into insolvency: the furniture giant is on the brink of collapse. What exactly does this mean for customers? Are their vouchers, down payments etc. now worth nothing? What can they still do? We have done some research for you!

This is not the first time that customers have had to ask themselves what will happen to their Kika/Leiner vouchers, down payments and the like: Restructuring proceedings had already been opened against the furniture giant the previous year. At the time, these proceedings were favorable for consumers in that "the aim was to continue the company as a going concern and customers were therefore in a much better position than in bankruptcy proceedings aimed at breaking up and liquidating the assets," says Dr. Petra Leupold, head of the "Complaints" department at the Association for Consumer Information (VKI). 

"At the time, it was still possible to redeem vouchers in full in the stores and outstanding contracts - such as outstanding deliveries from purchase contracts - were fulfilled in full," reports Leupold. But: "Now that the implementation of these restructuring proceedings has failed, unfortunately everything is the same for affected customers as in any bankruptcy proceedings." This means that the situation for customers no longer looks as rosy as it did last year.