Shade Solutions owner charged for failure to stop operating

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The owner of an awning business that allegedly swindled tens of thousands of dollars from customers and used company money to fund his lifestyle while running the business aground has been charged by the consumer watchdog.

Consumer Affairs Victoria alleges Malvern man Andrew John Valk, 55, continued to operate his business Shade Solutions Australia despite being notified he must cease supplying goods and services to customers in January.

Shade Solutions Australia director Andrew Valk leaving the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.Credit: Paul Rovere

Valk – the sole director of Shade Solutions Australia, which operates in both Victoria and New South Wales – faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for a brief hearing on Thursday after he and the company were charged on summons earlier this month.

Court documents show Valk has been charged with a single count of failing to cease operating after being directed to under the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012.

Valk renamed his business Studio Shade Australia in May, following an article published in The Age in September last year revealed the business had allegedly kept tens of thousands of dollars worth of deposits from clients for awning and roof installations that were never carried out.

The company went into voluntary administration the following month and details of the company’s finances in the final years before its collapse were later aired in a report by administrator Hamilton Murphy in November.

The report alleged Valk had used large sums of money from the ailing business to pay for his personal expenses while racking up more than $1 million in company debts.

According to the report, Valk blamed an unanticipated $500,000 tax bill, COVID-related supply disruptions, negative media coverage, internet “trolls” and legal costs stemming from defamation lawsuits for the company’s financial woes.

Valk vehemently denied that any customers were left in the lurch when approached by this masthead last year.

But the consumer watchdog says it has received more than 140 complaints about the company under its different business names, from customers who claimed work they paid for was never completed, and on most occasions, refunds were never issued.

This masthead also spoke to more than a dozen clients and former employees of Shade Solutions Australia who claimed Valk duped them out of thousands of dollars.

The watchdog claims Studio Shade Australia continued to target small businesses from its warehouse in Dandenong South after it rebranded, amassing a substantial amount of business in Melbourne’s south-east.

It also alleges Valk approached developers, architects, landscapers, pool builders and retailers to team up in a “dealer network” and incorporate his products into their building projects.

In a statement, Consumer Affairs Victoria director Nicole Rich urged people to avoid entering into an agreement with Studio Shade Australia and Shade Solutions.

Former Shade Solutions Australia customer Amy Horan at her home in Koo Wee Rup.Credit: Paul Jeffers

“I would encourage consumers wanting motorised blinds and awnings to find another business to supply and install these products,” Rich said.

Rich encouraged customers who had been impacted to contact Consumer Affairs Victoria and warn others against doing business with the company.

Terminal cancer patient Amy Horan, who was among those left thousands out of pocket by the company, said the charges were a step in the right direction.

“Hopefully, our justice system doesn’t let us down,” she said.

“I just hope it’s a means to an end and no one else has to go through what I did.”

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