Many home workers who acted as agents for Farepak the Christmas Hamper people will have been shocked to discover that the company has gone into liquidation. The company had around 35,000 agents and around 170,000 people who are going to be affected.

The signs are not good for anyone to get their money back and it is going to leave both customers and agents in a very un Christmas like mood. The embarrassing thing is that agents tend to sell to their family, friends and neighbours. This is going to put some strain on these relationships.

The basic idea behind companies such as Farepak is that the customer selects the hamper of their choice and pays a weekly or monthly amount towards the cost. The full cost has to be paid by the end of October and the hampers are dispatched during November and early December.

If you have been effected in any way there is a Questions page on the Farepak web site www.farepak.co.uk but it does not make very good reading.

Kleeneze who were also owned by the parent company are un effected by the events at Farepak.

If you are interested in the story it is being covered by The Working Lunch BBC2 program and you might like to visit their web site at www.bbc.co.uk/workinglunch for more information and updates.