GrabOne Liquidation: What Are Retailers’ Legal Obligations?

Global Marketplace New Zealand Limited (“GMNZ”), which operated GrabOne, has been put into liquidation.

GMNZ’s liquidators have said the company is not in a position to provide refunds to consumers with unredeemed vouchers.

What, then, are a retailer’s rights and obligations when approached by a consumer with an unredeemed GrabOne voucher for the retailer’s business?

Who owes what to whom?

GrabOne’s business model involved consumers pre-paying for goods and services through its online platform.

In each case, the consumer’s contract was with GrabOne (the platform operator), not the eventual providers of the goods and services.

GrabOne collected payment, took its commission, and was then obliged to remit the retailer’s share once the voucher was redeemed. Upon its liquidation, those obligations transferred to the liquidators. However, the liquidators are not required to continue honouring vouchers or to pay retailers for vouchers they haven’t yet been redeemed.

As each contract is between the consumer and GrabOne, retailers are not legally obliged under the Consumer Guarantees Act to provide goods or services when presented with vouchers they may never be paid for.

Consumers holding unredeemed vouchers are, in effect, unsecured creditors of GMNZ. Their claim sits alongside other unsecured claims in the liquidation. Based on the liquidators’ initial comments, it appears unlikely consumers will be repaid in full, if at all.

Subject to the terms of their agreement with GrabOne, individual retailers shouldn’t have any contractual obligations to honour unredeemed vouchers either.

The commercial and reputational dimension

While the strict legal position favours the retailer, the commercial reality can be more nuanced.

Some retailers, such as Snowplanet, have announced they will honour unredeemed GrabOne vouchers (until their expiry date), recognising that goodwill and brand trust may outweigh the short-term cost of GrabOne’s non-payment.

Each business will need to make its own assessment as to how it responds to this event. For some retailers, absorbing the loss may not be commercially viable, especially if voucher volumes are high or margins are tight.

Best-practice steps for retailers

• Review your agreement
  Check your contract with GrabOne. Subject to any unique deal structures, retailers should not be contractually bound to honour unredeemed GrabOne vouchers now that GMNZ is in liquidation.
•  Decide on a consistent policy
  If you choose to honour vouchers (in full or part), make the conditions clear — for example, “valid until expiry”, “one-time redemption only”, or “subject to availability”. Consistency reduces the risk of Fair Trading Act complaints.
• Communicate clearly
  Transparency is key. Publish your position on your website and in-store signage. Avoid misleading or deceptive statements about whether unredeemed vouchers will be accepted.
• Manage customer interactions carefully
  Train staff to handle enquiries politely and keep records of all decisions. If refusing redemption, explain that the legal obligation rested with GrabOne and tell customers to direct any questions to GMNZ’s liquidators.
• Consider partial or goodwill offers
  Some retailers may offer consumers a partial credit or discount to preserve goodwill while minimising losses. This is a legitimate commercial strategy, but not a legal requirement.

This piece is authored by Ford Sumner, Retail NZ’s legal partner. Ford Sumner’s legal services are provided at competitive rates and Retail NZ members are entitled to a 10% discount on Ford Sumner’s standard hourly rates. If your business would like legal assistance with this issue, you can contact Ford Sumner at retail@fsl.nz.