Families left in the lurch after Zone RV caravan manufacturer collapse
The Thornton family, from New Zealand, are unsure if they will receive their caravan. (Supplied)
In short:
Queensland-based manufacturer Zone RV was placed into voluntary administration last Monday.
More than a week on, Zone RV customers still do not know if they will be able to recover their money or caravans.
What's next?
The first creditors' meeting will be held on Wednesday, where a clearer picture of the company's debt will emerge.
Alexis and Cade Thornton had everything ready for the holiday of a lifetime — a lap around Australia.
The young family sold their business in New Zealand, bought a four-wheel-drive, and sank $168,000 into a luxury new caravan.
Now they are among more than 100 customers counting the cost after a major Australian van manufacturer collapsed.
Zone RV plunged into administration last week, which also left about 250 employees redundant without work or entitlements, only weeks before Christmas.
Zone RV founder and director David Biggar has overseen the company's collapse and has not spoken publicly since it happened. (Supplied: Youtube)
The Thorntons have paid $168,000, with a final $42,000 due before the van was to be collected on February 3.
Mr Thornton said his children, aged 7 and 9, were devastated.
"The kids are gutted, they were just so excited," he said.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if we did have to delay it, the kids get older and they don't want to go so we've only got a small window to do this.
"It just seems bewildering how it can happen. You do so much homework and research and you put your savings, all your hard-earned money into it.
"You're just trying to process it. It's quite hard."
Cade Thornton says his children were excited for their trip. (Supplied: Alexis Thornton)
Ms Thornton said the trip required complex logistics.
"We've found tenants for our house, we've booked flights to Australia, we've just bought a vehicle in Townsville.
"Coming home is not really an option for us. We don't have a house to come back to.
He said his family was in limbo, waiting to find out whether there was any chance they could get their van or if they should just start again.
"It's just really unsettling," he said.
"We had this perfect plan lined up, and now that's all out the window and we just don't really know where to start to try and organise the next step."
Retirement plans ruined
Sara and Magnus Charleson have paid almost $200,000 towards a customised off-grid Zone van that was to become their home on wheels.
Sara and Magnus Charleson were set to embark on the trip of a lifetime. (Supplied)
The Gold Coast couple put their house on the market, and Mr Charleson was about to sell his business so they could finally live their dream of joining the grey nomad movement and travelling around the country.
"We've been planning this for years," Ms Charleson said.
"We moved from England 20 years ago, worked really hard and just wanted to see beautiful Australia."
Three days before they were due to pick up their van from the company's headquarters at Coolum, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, they received an email from Zone RV informing them of the closure.
"I was at work and I felt physically sick,"Ms Charleson said.
"You just feel so powerless. So near yet so far."
The couple's friends, Dane and Steph Oliver, had recommended the company after spending two years on the road in their beloved Zone RV.
"We feel really guilty about that," Mr Oliver said.
"We have been really pleased with the product and are absolutely shocked this has happened — it's a high-end product."
Steph and Dane Oliver have loved travelling Australia in their Zone RV. (Supplied)
Mr Oliver said Zone RV's "aftercare" had been excellent.
The travelling couple's van is out of warranty, and they are worried about who they will be able to contact if anything goes wrong.
"But our main concern is Magnus and Sara. We feel gutted for them," Mr Oliver said.
Ms Charleson said she still had faith in the company, and was holding onto hope it could be resurrected.
"The brand's just amazing and Australian-built, we wanted to support them," she said.
"We've paid for it. We've got the VIN number. In our heads, it's ours."
Caravans are lined up at Zone RV on the Sunshine Coast after the company collapsed into administration. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Josh Dye)
What can customers do?
The ABC understands more than a dozen completed caravans will be delivered to owners who have paid in full.
Customers who had only made partial payments were unlikely to be so lucky.
Insolvency lawyer Alison Drayton said it would be a challenging few months ahead, with the company likely to be liquidated.
"Cor Cordis is going to continue to trade the company as best it can in the hope that the company does not have to go into liquidation," she said.
"If that lucky circumstance happens, then customers will not have to worry."
"The likelier circumstance, however, is that … consumers' money has basically been used by directors to prop up the business.
"If they have paid money to the company and they're wanting to collect their caravans, they may not be able to do so and they may just lose that money."
Ms Drayton said even customers who had fully paid could find it difficult to get their caravans.
"The asset has to be dealt with by the administrator in an orderly way in the administration," she said.
"So it doesn't mean that they can just hand over that asset to a consumer.
"They've got to work everything out in the administration and the likely thing is that assets will be sold to pay off debts.
"I fear that the company is going to be put into liquidation based on others that have followed the same sort of path."
The first meeting of creditors is on Wednesday, where administrators Cor Cordis will reveal how much debt Zone RV owes.