‘Rustling Charlie’ back in business, but customers are unhappy – again

A businessman with a company in liquidation, dubbed ‘Rustling Charlie’, is back with a new venture – but customers are already unhappy.

Charlie Thompson first came to Stuff’s attention last year after being associated with a large trail of unpaid contractors, missing livestock, and a failed rural cabins business which saw him featured on TVNZ’s Fair Go.

His latest venture has concerned previously burnt customers, some who can’t believe the “sheer balls” of continuing to re-name his business, despite his company being broke.

For the fourth time in five months, Thompson has changed his business trading name after negative publicity. He’s now calling it Farmline Buildings & Fencing and is advertising through Facebook through-out New Zealand and responds as ‘John’.

“He’s got balls of steel,” Stew Hickford from Awahuri In Manawatū said.

Hickford paid a $10,000 deposit for a shed which hasn’t been built.

In March, Stuff revealed Rustling Charlie (a nickname farmers coined because of unexplained stock disappearances on properties neighbouring Thompson) was at it again, leaving more customers out of pocket after he re-named the trading name of High Country Cabins to Tru Timber NZ.

Under the moniker John, Thompson attracted new customers, including Jason Flynn from Nelson who was $40,000 out of pocket after Thompson failed to build two huts.

Unperturbed, Thompson began advertising on Facebook in the North Island, under the subtly changed trading name ‘Trulink Timber’.

Thompson has also consistently used images of cabins he claimed he could supply, but was forced to take them down when Stuff alerted the American architect who designed them, Marc Thorpe.

Subsequently, Thompson’s Trulink Timber webpage was taken down, but within weeks Rustling Charlie was at it again with the newly-named Farmline Buildings & Fencing.

On one post, he claimed he had a new sleepout which people could make an offer on. The photo used to illustrate the post matches photos used to illustrate the same cabin in various retail sites in the United Kingdom.

Thompson is now offering two free shed builds for anyone who places an order in August, and he’s advertising for a full-time qualified builder on a Central Otago Facebook jobs page.

However, Thompson’s company is in liquidation and there’s a long list of creditors, including suppliers who have no chance of retrieving their money, according to the first liquidators report.

Stuff has learnt that Thompson was at a Central Otago farm last week for another customer, who did not know of his business history. A concrete supplier in the area refused to give him credit, joining many other suppliers he is blacklisted from.

Hickford is furious that Thompson can keep trading under different names after he and eight other customers complained to police in the Manawatū region.

He wants a full refund but believes he will never his money back.

A police spokesperson confirmed they were investigating a complaint of “obtains by deception” in relation to a deposit paid for construction and delivery of a shed.

Even though Thompson continues to take orders for cabins, the Ministry of Business and Innovation’s Integrity and Enforcement team said any removal action of High Country Cabins as a company has been paused while insolvency procedures were carried out.

However, Thompson is still able to access credit as a director of his second farming company, Miners Creek, which is not in liquidation.

Vanessa Cook, Manager Integrity and Enforcement said if any members of the public had complaints about Thompson breaching the Companies Act, they can do it on the New Zealand Companies Office website.

Thompson did not respond to phone calls, emails and text messages.