By Esther Lauaki
Customers and suppliers who paid thousands of dollars for trailers and parts have been left in the lurch after a Hoppers Crossing manufacturer “packed up and disappeared” in recent weeks.
Hoppers Crossing Trailers, which sells, repairs, hires and manufactures trailers,
has cleared out its Industrial Avenue site of about 200 units of stock and abandoned its yard with little notice to customers or suppliers.
A post on the company’s Facebook page on April 2 indicated that the business was in trouble.
“Nowadays we’re facing some problems, due to which we are unable to open our physical location,” the post said. “Kindly be patient and we’ll be right back.”
A customer, who asked not to be named, contacted Star Weekly last week saying he’s $5000 out of pocket.
“I paid a deposit on a trailer and when I drove past the yard … there was nothing there,” he said.
“They disappeared in the middle of the night and all their phone numbers are disconnected. To anyone like me who has made a deposit on a trailer, good luck in getting your money back.”
He said looters have been jumping the fence and taking parts and machinery that have been left behind.
A supplier said he was owed $1200 for parts he had sold Hoppers Crossing Trailers.
The company’s Facebook page was still advertising trailers for sale on April 9.
Four more people have warned customers online from making orders for trailers saying they too had lost money and their inquiries were unanswered.
Mohammad Khodr said he understands the business owners have “done a runner”.
“Without giving anyone notice they … took lots of people’s money who have paid deposits and paid for trailers,” Mr Khodr wrote on Monday.
Star Weekly’s attempts to make contact on three phone numbers and via the Hoppers Crossing Trailers Facebook page were unsuccessful.
