Former employees, employees and customers of Fabelio speak up
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Established six years ago, furniture company Fabelio started off as a start-up firm that provides good quality furniture with affordable prices. It recorded an impressive growth with more than 20 retail stores or showrooms and expanded to interior design service for clients who wish to build a personalised space.
To fuel the growth, Fabelio has raised $19 million in funding with 10 investors. The latest round of investment was a Series C funding in 2020.
A year after its Series C funding-a couple of weeks ago, to be precise-, allegations against Fabelio’s mismanagement began circulating on social media. The FOMO app was the first to share an anonymous tip from an alleged employee of the company.
The tip said that the company hasn’t paid its employees since October. It also hasn’t paid the employees’ social security (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) since 2020, yet it deducts the fund from their salaries.
TFR first reached out to a former employee of Fabelio to confirm the allegation. The allegation was indeed true. According to Reni (not her real name), there are plenty of issues within the company.
“We are supposed to get our salary on the 25th each month according to the contract. However, during my first month working there, I received an email blast on the 24th informing us that the salary payment will be moved to the 31st,” Reni explained. She left the company after a short stint.
Several former employees and employees testified that the company has been delaying salary payment for a while. Some were delayed starting from the end of 2020, some in the beginning of 2021, while some in August or October 2021.
In some cases, the company split the salary payment into 50%, some only received 75%, 80%, or 85%. At the time of writing, the company hasn’t paid October and November salaries according to the sources. Bonuses like religious holiday allowance (THR) were only paid 50%.
“In October, Fabelio didn’t pay October salary at all. It also hasn’t paid off the remaining 25% of September salary, until today. They said that they don’t have funds and is waiting for funds from investors,” said Okto*.
According to the sources, there is no clear explanation from the management or C-level about when their salary will be paid. The management cited investment funds as the reason for the delay.
“The reason why we’re not getting paid till now is because ‘the investors haven’t transferred yet,’” said Yeni*, an employee. “They only said ‘if [you] want to resign, go ahead, [if you want to] continue to work, go ahead, but we don’t know when we can pay.’”
“The news about investor funds has been buzzed by the management since September, but the funds haven’t come in until today. The management said that the investors are in quarantine, so they haven’t been able to send funds. However, this was informed three weeks ago, while the quarantine period is supposed to be 14 days only. There is no confirmation until today,” Okto explained.
“If you ask about the reason behind the delayed payment of employees’ rights (salaries), we (employees and former employees) were only informed about the company’s situation that has no cash flow and only relying on investors’ funds.”
Okto also added that there is no exact timeline when it will happen or who the investor(s) is. TFR has reached out to Fabelio management and received a response that they are willing to meet offline. However, none of TFR team is allowed to meet any source offline due to COVID-19 restrictions. We have offered written and online interview but we haven't received any reply until the article is published.
Ardi*, an employee, doesn’t know the exact number of suppliers or vendors that haven’t been paid, but there are more than 300 employees the company owes at this moment.
“[I] don’t know whether people can’t be bothered or [we] are already powerless because since the beginning of the salary delay announcement, the HR department told us the C-level has prepared a lawyer,” said Ardi when being asked if the employees have ever directly discussed the matter with the management.
Jeni*, another employee, told TFR that the employees were told to wait until the beginning of 2022. Some of the sources also said that there are employees whose households are torn apart due to economic reasons caused by the delayed payment.
According to Jeni, one of many possible reasons for the mismanagement is the mishandling of products at the warehouse. “Some products were missing from the warehouse and no one did audit,” said Jeni.
Jeni’s explanation could be an answer to customers’ complaints about refunds and undelivered products on Fabelio’s social media accounts.
A customer told TFR that his order in October was cancelled because the product was out of stock. However, he hasn’t received any refunds until today. “I’ve been asking the customer service through WhatsApp, email, Instagram and website, but nobody replies,” said the customer.
Runa* in 2019 had a row with the company after it failed to confirm the exact date of delivery. The product was delivered a month later, but it was not the product she ordered.
The matter was finally resolved when the then-CEO intervened. It took three months in total for Runa to receive the product. Fabelio also refunded her and offered her a complementary deal for the trouble she had to go through.
During the row, she received tips from friends on social media about their experience shopping at Fabelio. A friend had a similar incident a few years ago. Unlike Runa, she opted for a refund.
Nanda, a customer who gave permission to TFR to mention her real name, shared her experience on social media. “Bought furniture on 23 August, was supposed to be delivered on 3 September, but when I asked them, it was pushed back to 19 September,” her story on highlight read.
She also shared multiple screenshots of chats with the customer service division that she deemed unhelpful. When the furniture arrived, she immediately knew it was not the product she ordered. “I contacted the supplier directly to save my effort and time,” Nanda told TFR.
Clients of Fabelio Projects, a custom interior design service tailored to each client’s needs, face an even more absurd situation.
A client who requested the company to design a business space decided to cancel the entire project with Fabelio. The fees, however, have been paid.
According to the client, the space was 70% done, but it was nowhere near the initial design. “I was too ashamed to show people what they’ve done to the space so I hired another design studio to redo the whole space,” said the client.
Fred* in 2018 paid a down payment for a custom kitchen space. The first and second designer assigned to him went missing. Filled with frustration, he decided to use the down payment to purchase a wardrobe.
The mishaps didn’t stop there. At first, he received the wrong wardrobe. Then, he was told the wardrobe had sold out, but it turned out that it wasn’t. On top of that, the invoice stated table instead of wardrobe. The debacle lasted for two years.
There are clients who started in April and June but haven't received any confirmation when their furniture will be completed. “The answer is always ‘it is still in the finishing stage,’” said the clients.
Anna*, who made the first payment in April, had to wait until September for her project to start. She was told to pay the remaining fees in order for the project to be completed.
“I haven’t heard anything since I made the second payment. I’ve been asking my project manager every day,” said Anna. So far, she only received a kitchen set in the wrong size.
Despite the shake up, some employees told TFR that the company is still hiring.
Yuni*, another employee, stated that there’s a possibility that the incoming sales are used to cover previous costs the company owed to suppliers or vendors. “We asked them to stop accepting orders and complete the unfinished ones, but they continue to accept orders,” said Yuni.
A supplier who sells products at Fabelio under a consignment deal told TFR they haven’t received any sales report they used to receive. When asked about the products, the company could not confirm the whereabouts of the products. It is unclear whether Fabelio has sold or lost them.
Former employees also told TFR that suppliers and vendors whom Fabelio owes still contact them and demand payment although they have resigned.
This situation is extremely unfortunate as almost every former and current employee stated that working at Fabelio is a pleasant experience if not for the mismanagement.
“While working at Fabelio, many things and experience happened and felt so pleasing because I was able to join a cohesive division with a fun and creative work culture, along with a learning curve to find and sharpen plenty of things, especially skills and also talent. I dare to say Fabelio is the best company I’ve worked at apart from the salary problem,” said Okto.
Past customer whose custom furniture was completed in early 2021 said that it took the company three months to finish the furniture, a month later than it promised. Despite that, the entire experience is quite pleasant and the furniture meets expectations.
“Some people [in the company] hate the whistleblower because it could jeopardise the investment. While I do agree it’s unethical, what else can we do?” said one of the sources.
“We know as employees, this case is not easy for the company owners. However, it’d be better [if] the CEO or the C-level could humanise employees. If [they] can’t afford to hire hundreds of employees, please fire us. If the company is in dire financial state, we will understand and will not demand severance pay. Don’t just say ‘please wait/give us time’ while our basic needs and installment keep on going,” said Ardi.
Most of the employees who remain at the company are still searching for jobs. Many of them take side jobs like online drivers, start a small business and make other efforts in order to continue their livelihood.
“There are some employees who were evicted from their boarding house because they cannot pay rent, some could not settle hospital bills because there’s no funds and other inflicting things,” said Okto.
Since the management has been hard to reach, the latest update the sources receive is that they are allowed to resign and request a letter regarding their unfulfilled rights-salaries in this case. The employees create a petition on Change demanding the company to pay its dues.
*not their real names
Note: We are still waiting for an update and we will publish the statement from Fabelio regarding the issue if they get back to us with written or online interview.