Cell Bikes out of business

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AUbicycles
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Cell Bikes out of business

Postby AUbicycles » Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:33 pm

Once a high flyer, on 11 April 2018, Cell Bikes (Plex Pty Ltd) has gone into liquidation.

Customers with other brand gear can contact the brand or distributer / wholesale direct for any warranty issues. For customers with Cell Bikes brand bikes with warranty or servicing issues, contact the liquidator below for advice. For brands with unpaid bills, likewise, contact the liquidator below.


Company: Plex Pty Ltd
ACN: 091 196 342
Trading name: Cell Bikes
Status: In Liquidation
Appointment Date: 11 April 2018

Liquidator Kong Yao Chin
Address Suite One, Level 7, 234 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Contact person Ky Chin
Contact number 0294840296
Facsimile 0283228089
Email ky.chin@eagleia.com.au
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby thomashouseman » Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:54 pm

Woah!

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby ValleyForge » Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:05 pm

I think I'll tell my kids to forget law and vet & just become liquidators.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby mikesbytes » Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:24 pm

ValleyForge wrote:I think I'll tell my kids to forget law and vet & just become liquidators.
The prime objective of a liquidator is to recover their fee
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby AUbicycles » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:21 am

Unfortunately the littlest ones tend to lose out, but I think the big ones have as well.

There is probably a moral question about selling to a customer when it is known that the promised service and warranty can't be delivered as I will guess that for the most recent sales it was probably known that the business was closing.

A number of big distributers were reported to have collected stock which is also a sign of significant debt. If they collect stock before formal liquidation, they at least immediately recover some losses.

What now happens is that other businesses have to put in their claims and only get a slice. Otherwise, look out for auctions where any remaining stuff is sold.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby axeman74 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:50 am

ValleyForge wrote:I think I'll tell my kids to forget law and vet & just become liquidators.
They could become Insolvency lawyers and get the best (or worst) of both worlds. There's a lot of money to be made in other peoples misery.

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby Jawa » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:38 am

mikesbytes wrote:
ValleyForge wrote:I think I'll tell my kids to forget law and vet & just become liquidators.
The prime objective of a liquidator is to recover their fee
As a creditor who deals with liquidators and administrators on a daily basis I concur with this statement

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby rodneycc » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:39 pm

Cell were great from 2012, 2013 up to about 2014 where I bought a bit of stuff from them but something changed about 2015. And they brought in that new range of Bikes about 2016 and was all down hill from there I'd say. Shame. I heard Reid was struggling a bit as well so will be interesting if they go the same way (or possibly with Cell going down make it easier for them).... Anaconda prob another place that was killing them.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:18 pm

rodneycc wrote:Cell were great from 2012, 2013 up to about 2014 where I bought a bit of stuff from them but something changed about 2015. And they brought in that new range of Bikes about 2016 and was all down hill from there I'd say. Shame. I heard Reid was struggling a bit as well so will be interesting if they go the same way (or possibly with Cell going down make it easier for them).... Anaconda prob another place that was killing them.
Agreed, when they became a reseller of other peoples stuff as opposed to a brand, I think signified the onset of issues, in terms of reduced margins and failure to preserve brand identity or even brand distinction. I don't know however whether the shift that coincided with their selling Totem bikes caused the issue, or was a symptom of a pre-existing issue. In any case, they became just another LBS in market that probably has too many LBSs.

Honestly, I'm not too cut up about it as they weren't bringing anything unique or worthwhile to the marketplace, aside from a further element of competition, however this may be questionable.

Wonder if external Admin will assess whether there is a trading whilst insolvent issue to be dealt with here...that would not be a good thing.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby Zippy7 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:49 pm

A sad day.
I suspect the 99 bikes opening up nearby increased competition and shrank margins.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby AUbicycles » Fri Apr 13, 2018 3:42 pm

I think there have been lingering problems unrelated to the market and competition.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby Damo380 » Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:58 pm

I have a soft spot for Cell, my first decent bike was an Akuna which never let me down during the 15000km I put on it.

But I do agree, when the Cell branded bikes were no longer available I thought things didn't look good.

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby Jawa » Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:11 am

Anyone know of a liquidators sale going to happen?

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby mikesbytes » Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:17 pm

AUbicycles wrote:I think there have been lingering problems unrelated to the market and competition.
What's the speculation?
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby AUbicycles » Wed Apr 18, 2018 5:46 pm

mikesbytes wrote:What's the speculation?
A number of people/entities are/have been affected so for now it it better if it follows its natural course.


Sorry, this is not very fulfilling for observers and the thirst for info and answers, though I am sure there is understanding for the people who are directly impacted and I am sure we will get the details at a later point in time.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby mikesbytes » Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:14 am

I had a spare 10 minutes on Saturday and I was right near Cell Bikes, so I had a look. The store looked just like it would of been when trading minus a couple of accessory shelves that were missing their stock, though most of the shelves were stocked. There was no sign of their been a closing down sale, it appeared that they were trading as normal and the next day the doors were locked

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby g-boaf » Thu Apr 26, 2018 1:37 pm

Zippy7 wrote:A sad day.
I suspect the 99 bikes opening up nearby increased competition and shrank margins.
I like 99 Bikes quite a bit more than Cell to be honest. Having them opening a few doors down the road must have been the proverbial straw that broke the back of the camel.

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby LateStarter » Thu Apr 26, 2018 2:21 pm

The website is still operating, I hope it isn't taking people's money
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby Zippy7 » Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:54 pm

g-boaf wrote: I like 99 Bikes quite a bit more than Cell to be honest. Having them opening a few doors down the road must have been the proverbial straw that broke the back of the camel.
I've not had my bike serviced at Cell, but 99 bikes was very ordinary.
I bought a few things from Cell online a few years back, and was keen on the Akuna and Brunswick, but never ended up getting one as I waited for the next version that never appeared. Totem branded stuff just didn't appeal (price wise, yes, but colour scheme and spec wise, no).

That just leaves Bikebug to support as my local online supplier. I noticed that their Rosebery store closed down. Maybe there isn't enough money being spent to support so many stores.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Fri Apr 27, 2018 1:22 pm

Zippy7 wrote:
g-boaf wrote: I like 99 Bikes quite a bit more than Cell to be honest. Having them opening a few doors down the road must have been the proverbial straw that broke the back of the camel.
I've not had my bike serviced at Cell, but 99 bikes was very ordinary.....
Have purchased from BikeBug a couple of times recently, good tyre prices. And the option to pick up in store is handy if you want to avoid postage costs..
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby g-boaf » Fri Apr 27, 2018 1:40 pm

Zippy7 wrote:
g-boaf wrote: I like 99 Bikes quite a bit more than Cell to be honest. Having them opening a few doors down the road must have been the proverbial straw that broke the back of the camel.
I've not had my bike serviced at Cell, but 99 bikes was very ordinary.
I bought a few things from Cell online a few years back, and was keen on the Akuna and Brunswick, but never ended up getting one as I waited for the next version that never appeared. Totem branded stuff just didn't appeal (price wise, yes, but colour scheme and spec wise, no).

That just leaves Bikebug to support as my local online supplier. I noticed that their Rosebery store closed down. Maybe there isn't enough money being spent to support so many stores.
I've never had bike services done either by 99 bikes or Cell. Not by bikebug either. I do the servicing myself because it isn't that tricky.

Bikebug is moving from Rosebury from what I hear.

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby Zippy7 » Fri Apr 27, 2018 6:12 pm

g-boaf wrote:Bikebug is moving from Rosebury from what I hear.
When I spoke with Craig, believe he was going to open in Alexandria, but then decided not to.
That was about a few days before the final day at Rosebery. He could've changed his mind, but he seemed to have decided to move onto something else.
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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby BrisBoy » Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:27 pm

LateStarter wrote:The website is still operating, I hope it isn't taking people's money
I don’t think it is. I’ve tried to buy some gear in the last month and can put items in the cart but get no further. I didn’t realised they’d closed. It’s a shame really.

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby BobtheBuilder » Mon Apr 30, 2018 1:19 pm

Zippy7 wrote: That just leaves Bikebug to support as my local online supplier.
I wrote to Bikebug a week or two ago to get some pretty simple parts (BBs, shifter) for older bikes and they flat-out said they couldn't get those parts anymore - but I managed to find them very easily (some online, some through my "local" (300km away) bike shop).

Not impressed at all!

Pushys online (https://www.pushys.com.au) were much more helpful. Moruya bicycles didn't even answer.

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Re: Cell Bikes out of business

Postby Thoglette » Mon Apr 30, 2018 9:56 pm

BobtheBuilder wrote: Moruya bicycles didn't even answer.
That's unusual. I normally get a response within one or two working days.

But it is basically a one-man shop, so if the owner is out (or busy) you could be at the bottom of the intray
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