The owner of an online alcohol seller that attracted more than 130 customer complaints during December 2023 and January 2024 says the decision to stop operating the business was made before state regulators approached the business.
Sydney-based Liquorkart Australia was established in 2020 and described itself on social media as “one of Australia’s leading online alcohol marketplaces and one of the fastest-growing start-ups”, with more than 6000 products on offer for delivery across most Australian capital cities and other regional centres on the east coast.
However, the business is now no longer accepting orders via its website and the retailer’s Facebook page is no longer available.
The business’s Instagram account is still available, however, the last post is from mid-2023.
NSW Fair Trading received 70 complaints about the business in December 2023, earning the retailer the top position on the consumer affairs agency’s public register of complaints.
In January, Liquorkart received 61 complaints and came in as the second-most complained-about business in the state, behind Samsung.
Almost all of these complaints in December 2023 and January 2024 related to the supply of goods.
NSW Fair Trading told The Daily Telegraph in February that it had received more than 250 complaints about Liquorkart Australia over the past 12 months and was officially investigating the retailer.
However, owner Vihang Gandhi told SmartCompany on Tuesday that the business ceased operating more than five weeks ago and this occurred before the business was approached by fair trading representatives.
“We had several operational and financial issues,” he told SmartCompany.
“We tried to fix it but we couldn’t. So we ourselves decided to stop taking orders.”
Gandhi says the business is committed to fulfilling existing orders or providing refunds to customers who did not receive their orders, and has already started this process.
Liquorkart not a “scam”, says owner
In recent months, frustrated customers have left hundreds of less-than-glowing reviews about the business on sites including productreview.com.au and trustpilot.
Others took to LinkedIn as recently as two weeks ago to vent about what they called a “scam’, which took months to obtain refunds for orders that never arrived.
Gandhi rebukes these claims however, referencing the business’ four years in operation.
“We operated for more than four years. If we were a scam, we couldn’t have done that,” he says.
“Surely we had issues lately, which frustrated many of our customers, but we are 100% going to provide them stock or refunds, and we are committed to it.
“We have started working in [sic] it. All we need is a bit of time.”
Liquorkart Australia was operated by an entity called SDNP Group, according to The Daily Telegraph, which reported last month that Gandhi had established another online alcohol retailer called Boozetown in November 2023.
This second business was reportedly operated by a different operating company, SYMG Group, but shared a physical address and liquor license with Liquorkart.
While The Daily Telegraph reported the website was only recently shuttered, Gandhi claims it hadn’t commenced trading, only the website was being built.
“We want to focus on Liquorkart issues first and get those fixed,” he says.
However, the business owner didn’t rule out operating other online alcohol retail businesses in the future.
“As of now, we focus on fixing Liquorkart pending issues first,” he reiterates.
According to reports, Gandhi has said he is working with both NSW Fair Trading and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to resolve disputes with customers.
SmartCompany contacted the ACCC, however, the commission was unable to comment on the matter.
SmartCompany has also contacted NSW Fair Trading, as well as Consumer Affairs Victoria to see if the Victorian regulator has also received complaints about the Liquorkart.
This story was originally published on Smart Company.
