Brittany: Virginie lost €12,500 for an extension to her house which will never be done

Ker Bâti was a construction company, based in Pleudihen-sur-Rance (Côtes d’Armor), a subsidiary of the Onyx group, based near Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine) which operated around twenty mini-markets in France, under franchise with Monoprix and Franprix.

Onyx had created this construction company for the renovation and fitting out of its food businesses but this economic building collapsed in a few months.

Ker Bâti then Onyx liquidated

After the convenience stores, it was Ker Bâti which was subject to judicial liquidation in March. Then Onyx, which no longer had any reason to exist, was liquidated, in turn, three weeks ago.

A deposit of €12,500 for an extension to your house

The employees of these structures are not the only ones to bear the brunt of this precipitous economic disaster. A Brestoise, Virginie Bénard, explains that Ker Bâti took a deposit of nearly €12,500 to carry out an extension to her house which will never be done. And for good reason, the company no longer exists.

“I was promised compensation”

But she believes that those responsible, knowing the difficulties of their company, should not have gotten involved.

They could have reimbursed me in February when I had several discussions with Laurent Castel, one of the two partners of Onyx, seeing that the work was not starting. On several occasions, I was promised to compensate me after canceling the estimate. They made me wait in vain. I understood that I would not see my money again when Laurent Castel told me, on March 5, that Ker Bâti had just been liquidated that same day.

Reports to courts

Virginie Bénard then discovered the numerous articles published on the Onyx group. She learned that Laurent Castel had been banned from management since December 2019, for five years (1) and decided not to stop there. “I’m not rolling in gold, I’m a childminder. The extension was intended to better accommodate children. I took out a loan which costs me €976 per month for this work. I therefore contacted UFC que Choisir, the Repression of Fraud, and wrote to the Libourne court which banned Laurent Castel from managing in 2019 as well as to the Neuilly court and the Brest prosecutor with the intention of file a complaint. »

A customer from Saint-Nazaire also

Virginie Bénard is convinced that she is not the only collateral victim of the Onyx group. “I am in contact with a person from Saint-Nazaire who would have suffered damage of €27,000,” assures the Brestoise.

” I am sorry “

Contacted, Alexis Desilles, the former CEO of the late Onyx, assures that Virginie Bénard is the only individual to know of this damage. ” I am sorry. In difficulty, we offered the lady to have her project carried out by partner companies but she ended up refusing. »

Would the €12,500 deposit have been paid to the companies in question if the project had been able to see the light of day? “They agreed to carry out the work for the amount set in the estimate. They were doing us a favor,” replies Alexis Désille, rather evasively.

“For my part, I can no longer make any decisions”

In any case, it was impossible for him to repay the amount. “I have no more money, I spoke to the judicial administrator about this situation. For my part, I can no longer make any decisions. »

As for the €27,000 concerning a construction site in Saint-Nazaire, they would be owed, not to an individual but to a real estate professional, which does not take away the damage.

“Where did my money go?” »

Virginie Bénard, very unhappy, assures that she will do everything to make the two ex-associates of Onyx pay the €12,500 stolen. “If I refused to allow other companies to take over my project, it was because I no longer had any confidence in Ker Bâti, which I had found on an internet platform. I wasn’t going to take the risk of paying the remaining 2/3 of the estimate, once again for nothing. Where did my €12,500 go? Laurent Castel told me that no materials had been purchased for my project. I find it abnormal to see people take money from their customers and take refuge behind the liquidation of the company so as not to repay. This is unfortunately common. We, individuals, if we have a failure, we are registered with the Banque de France. If Mr. Desilles is sorry for me, why doesn’t he call me? »

(1) The person concerned defends himself by saying that within Onyx – of which he was an equal partner with Alexis Desilles – he was director of development and not manager, although he made many decisions.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.