Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

[Trackman]

This is a bit of a cross-over with the "You know you're getting old when ..." thread, but I had to do an internet search to see what a Prime drink is, as I'd never heard of it.

I assume it's an "energy" drink, as seem popular with some anti-social types round my way, from the number of Red Bull and Monster cans that get thrown away on my estate's roads and footpaths. The stuff smells disgusting to me when I collect the discarded cans for recycling. I wouldn't drink either of those even if they were free too.

I've never heard of it too, from what I have gleaned - they are not too healthy.

 

[PG]

It was £15 a can at one stage in my local shop. It is now down to £2.

Good job I was sitting down when I read that! Its coming to something when, were it to be available in a can, the water of life aka Whisky would be cheaper...

 

[Snow1964]

Apparently Cazoo (the online car retailer) has filed notice that it will enter administration if a buyer isn't found within 10 days

Troubled online used car retailer Cazoo is close to entering administration, putting about 1,000 jobs at risk.

The move marks a fall from grace for a company that became one of the darlings of the pandemic, when car buyers were forced to make their purchases online.

The firm was launched in 2018 by Alex Chesterman, who also founded the property website Zoopla and LoveFilm, a predecessor of Netflix.

Its popularity during lockdown meant that when it listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 it was valued at $7bn (£5bn). That has now dropped to just $30m.

Cazoo's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, external means it must find a buyer or appoint administrators within 10 days.

It came shortly after the company admitted, external it was struggling to raise money from investors, and said it would miss the deadline to file its annual accounts.

In March, Cazoo said it had sold off its remaining stock and switched to an online marketplace model, allowing car dealers to list their own stock on its platform. It also wound down its European business.

Despite its valuation in 2021, it has never made a profit. In 2022 its losses rose to £704m, external from £544m the year before, and in December it restructured $630m of debt, external. It said it had sold 120,000 cars in the UK.

The company said it had explored "strategic alternatives" to insolvency, including selling off parts of its business, but a buyer has so far not come forward.

The number of people working for Cazoo has dropped sharply in recent years, from 4,500 in 2021 to about 1,000 today.

Cazoo: Online used car retailer close to collapse

Troubled online used car retailer Cazoo is close to entering administration, putting about 1,000 jobs at risk.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[dgl]

Not surprised online used car sites are not doing well, why on earth would you buy a car sight unseen even if it has a money back guarantee.

 

[TheSmiths82]

Not surprised online used car sites are not doing well, why on earth would you buy a car sight unseen even if it has a money back guarantee.

In lock down people didn't really have much choice, but now things are back to normal their entire business model is evaporating. I love cars but I find buying cars very stressful so would happily buy a new car online but not used.

 

[Dai Corner]

Apparently Cazoo are not popular amongst car dealers and the chances of advertising being switched from Autotrader to their platform is small.

The administrators will have to sell off their stock which may well depress prices to the benefit of anyone in the market for a used car.

 

[skyhigh]

The administrators will have to sell off their stock which may well depress prices to the benefit of anyone in the market for a used car.

The quote above suggests they'd already sold all their stock by March and had switched to just advertising third party vehicles, so any affect on prices if they close now is likely to be minimal at most.

 

[hst43102]

Apparently Cazoo (the online car retailer) has filed notice that it will enter administration if a buyer isn't found within 10 days

Cazoo: Online used car retailer close to collapse

Troubled online used car retailer Cazoo is close to entering administration, putting about 1,000 jobs at risk.

www.bbc.co.uk

I saw a long convoy of Cazoo lorries heading up the A6 today, at least 20 units with some more being carried on trailers. Possibly heading for storage due to this announcement?

 

[richw]

Not surprised online used car sites are not doing well, why on earth would you buy a car sight unseen even if it has a money back guarantee.

Bought mine from the other large online site.
No complaints at all. Everything as described.
No pushy salesmen to deal with.
Car arrived on time and delivery man showed me every control etc.
I’ve had it 2 years and done just short of 35000 miles with no issues at all.

 

[Andyh82]

It was £15 a can at one stage in my local shop. It is now down to £2.

They were handing it out for free in Manchester Piccadilly today

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It was £15 a can at one stage in my local shop. It is now down to £2.

What's the saying... "a fool and his money are easily parted".
Something like that was always going to be a short-term bubble (no pun intended)... and I don't think it would have lasted much longer even if South Park hadn't taken the mickey out of it.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Frankie & Bennies.

On Friday evening, I went to the one in Praed Street just outside the ramp at Paddington; usually very busy and a wait for a table at that time hasn't been unusual in the past.

This time, however, just three tables occupied including ours. I realised why as soon as we received the menu - it's been slashed to about a dozen items, and they've abolished a lot of the most popular items ( including the omelettes ). Hardly surprising that the place is now virtually empty... and that puts it firmly in the territory of this thread...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Frankie & Bennies.

The Frankie and Benny's brand name's days do perhaps seem to be numbered. Believe they've been loss-making of recent and changed ownership fairly recently. Doesn't help either that TripAdvisor reviews (for what they're actually worth) for Frankie and Benny's have been decidedly mixed. And yes, omelettes, do now seem to be off the menu.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

And yes, omelettes, do now seem to be off the menu.

...so is nearly everything else!!! When I said there were only about a dozen things left on the menu, I wasn't joking... but I was including the sides...

 

[sprunt]

...so is nearly everything else!!! When I said there were only about a dozen things left on the menu, I wasn't joking... but I was including the sides...

I don't know how much was on the menu before, but there seems be plenty there now: https://www.frankieandbennys.com/menu - certainly way more than a dozen items.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I don't know how much was on the menu before, but there seems be plenty there now: https://www.frankieandbennys.com/menu - certainly way more than a dozen items.

That's not the current menu... the one they had on the tables on Friday evening was about A5 sized and most of what's on there wasn't on it.

...and the lasagne is now £14.25, so they've had another price rise as well. My wife had the BBQ Chicken and that was £18.25.

 

[jon81uk]

That's not the current menu... the one they had on the tables on Friday evening was about A5 sized and most of what's on there wasn't on it.

...and the lasagne is now £14.25, so they've had another price rise as well. My wife had the BBQ Chicken and that was £18.25.

This seems to be a location specific version for Praed Street https://menus.tenkites.com/thebigtg/frankiebennys04 which is linked from https://www.frankieandbennys.com/restaurants/london-paddington-praed-street
I expect they do have London specific pricing. Most of the places round there are just aiming for tourists. Best best now is probably Wahaca.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

This seems to be a location specific version for Praed Street https://menus.tenkites.com/thebigtg/frankiebennys04 which is linked from https://www.frankieandbennys.com/restaurants/london-paddington-praed-street
I expect they do have London specific pricing. Most of the places round there are just aiming for tourists. Best best now is probably Wahaca.

That does look more like what I saw - quite a ridiculously sparse menu, to be honest. Hardly surprising nobody was in there is it?

 

[Russel]

That does look more like what I saw - quite a ridiculously sparse menu, to be honest. Hardly surprising nobody was in there is it?

My local branch closed last year, I have to say it lasted 10 years longer than I thought it would though!

The few times I've been, I've always thought they were 90s time warp.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I'm quite frankly amazed that they are still going all these years later as I certainly wouldn't pay the money they charge even at their provincial branches to either eat in or take away. And last one I went to the food was decidedly mediocre and I would probably have done better at the slightly scruffy green king pub around the corner and had I been on my own. That's where I'd have gone but there's no convincing some people

 

[jon81uk]

That does look more like what I saw - quite a ridiculously sparse menu, to be honest. Hardly surprising nobody was in there is it?

To be fair, I'd rather a restaurant had a small selection of dishes done well, than an extensive menu but nothing cooked well. Unfortunately Frankie & Benny's is probably offering a small menu cooked badly, also concentrating so much on burgers when its meant to be New York Italian seems wrong, it definitely needs more pasta.

 

[adc82140]

Cazoo have now gone in to administration. I bought a car from them during lockdown out of necessity (mishap involving ice and a ditch with the last car) and the experience was odd, I have to say. Buying a car unseen just didn't seem right. Fortunately I got lucky and I still have the car, and it's about to turn over 100,000 miles.

It seems their business restructure didn't work. I can't see what latterly they had over Auto Trader, who list many times more stock from 3rd parties.

 

[Irascible]

South-West water... I notice their name was absent from the list of companies saying they had to put bills up today - incidentally what sort of sociopath do you have to be to say that sort of thing *now*.

If anyone feels like shipping bottled water to the south-west atm we're quite short of it!

 

[JD2168]

Cazoo have now gone in to administration. I bought a car from them during lockdown out of necessity (mishap involving ice and a ditch with the last car) and the experience was odd, I have to say. Buying a car I seen just didn't seem right. Fortunately I got lucky and I still have the car, and it's about to turn over 100,000 miles.

It seems their business restructure didn't work. I can't see what latterly they had over Auto Trader, who list many times more stock from 3rd parties.

Seemed to become very quick very fast perhaps it was not a sustainable model. Snooker’s World Championship is among the sports that will need new sponsors.

 

[pdq]

Cazoo's previous direct rival, Cinch, appears to be OK. I believe they are part of BCA which handles a huge amount of used car logistics so maybe a better backbone to the business.

 

[BJames]

It was £15 a can at one stage in my local shop. It is now down to £2.

It's actually worse than that! It was supposedly anywhere from £25 to £100 at Wakey Wines: https://talksport.com/sport/1299539/ksi-responds-wakey-wines-hates-100-pound-price-prime/

Was a big tiktok craze at the time.

It initially launched in the UK in Asda, before also moving to Aldi, but the demand has been so high that it has caused chaos in stores all over the country, with customers scrambling to get their hands on the drink.

It has even got to the point where other individuals and retailers, such as the infamous 'Wakey Wines', have been bulk buying the product and selling it on for as much as £100 a bottle or can.
Asked on talkSPORT Breakfast whether he expected this response to the launch of Prime, KSI replied: "I thought it would do OK, because it had me and Logan Paul promoting it and we both have very big fanbases.

"But I didn't expect it to be this insane to the point that people are paying £100 for a can of Prime or £25 for a bottle of Prime hydration, it's going crazy."

In fact, after a quick google - here's it selling for £35 still: https://wakeywines.co.uk/product/la-dodgers-prime-drink-hydration-by-logan-paul-x-ksi-500ml/

 

[adc82140]

They are selling Prime at my local gone past best before warehouse at next to nothing. I can only assume the regular shops can't shift the stuff before it goes out of date.

 

[richw]

Cazoo have now gone in to administration. I bought a car from them during lockdown out of necessity (mishap involving ice and a ditch with the last car) and the experience was odd, I have to say. Buying a car unseen just didn't seem right. Fortunately I got lucky and I still have the car, and it's about to turn over 100,000 miles.

It seems their business restructure didn't work. I can't see what latterly they had over Auto Trader, who list many times more stock from 3rd parties.

I bought my previous car from them, no complaints but pretty sure they sold it too cheaply, as I got more for it when I part exchanged it than I paid for it 18 months previously.

Current car came from Cinch,

I like the experience of not getting pestered by salesman and it just turned up at home when I arranged. The cinch car I’ve put 40,000 trouble free miles on since July 2022 so far. Flew through 2 MOTs.

 

[Cross City]

Cazoo's previous direct rival, Cinch, appears to be OK. I believe they are part of BCA which handles a huge amount of used car logistics so maybe a better backbone to the business.

Cinch are the same company as BCA as you say, as well as WeBuyAnyCar. They own the process from start to finish. WBAC buy used cars, ones which are good go to Cinch, the poorer ones go to auction.

I'd bought two cars from Cinch and found the process preferrable to buying from a dealer. I found them much more open about the condition of the vehicle than salesmen/women in dealerships, they don't try the hard sell on extras, and their returns guarantee is rock solid from what I've heard.

People saying they find it hard to believe anybody buys from websites without physically seeing the car are living in the past a tad.

Cazoo didn't have anywhere near as much control over the entire chain as Cinch have and their prices were always a few percent higher.

 

[richw]

I'd bought two cars from Cinch and found the process preferrable to buying from a dealer. I found them much more open about the condition of the vehicle than salesmen/women in dealerships,

Mine had a photo of a tiny chip in paintwork , maybe 2-3mm max.
On delivery the bloke delivering highlighted the chip to Me. It wasn’t visible unless you knew it was there.
I’d recommend anyone to Cinch from my own experience