Consumer Protection

There’s a lot to weigh-up when buying a car, such as the make/model and how much you want to spend, but one important thing to investigate is who you’re actually doing business with.

We’re warning consumers to be wary of backyard operators who buy and sell multiple vehicles as a profit-making business, as they may rob unsuspecting consumers of their rights to a warranty and other remedies should something go wrong with the vehicles after purchase. 

• Online retailer takes payment for goods that don’t arrive within a reasonable time
• Hundreds of complaints received by consumer protection agencies in Australia
• Consumers urged to avoid placing orders with the retailer at this time

WA consumers are being warned about shopping with national online retailer Kingdom Warehouse, based in Melbourne, as many of their customers have failed to receive their goods or any refunds.

A sudden ceiling collapse can turn a comfortable home into a disaster zone in an instant, with the potential for serious injury and significant damage to property and possessions.

Consumer Protection recently became aware of two tenants who had been given seven days to vacate their rental property following the collapse of their living room ceiling.

UPDATE: The new regulations are now in place, having been approved by Executive Council and published in the Government Gazette on 12 August 2022.

• Financial reporting thresholds increased to lessen the cost of compliance
• Regulation changes to provide consistency between WA and national rules
• Changes in response to feedback from sector consultations

New regulations will be put in place by the State Government that aim to reduce the red tape burden for WA’s incorporated associations with financial reporting thresholds to be increased.

• Text message recipients are advised they are a close contact
• Link in text goes to fake order form to get a PCR test kit
• Scammers seek to steal personal and financial information

WA mobile phone users are being urged to ignore scam texts purporting to be from a federal government agency that contain a dodgy link and an offer of free COVID-19 PCR test kits.

Recently the texts have appeared to come from Medicare, but previous messages have pretended to come from Services Australia and myGov.

• Affected passengers are entitled to a refund if replacement flight not acceptable
• Compensation can be claimed for alternative bookings in some circumstances
• 193 travel complaints lodged with Consumer Protection so far this year

Consumer Protection is reminding WA consumers about their rights when impacted by the current wave of domestic and international flight cancellations or long delays.

• Domain name versions without .com, .net, .org etc. will soon be publicly available
• Businesses and organisations urged to register the .au only version of their name
• Failing to register .au versions could result in identity theft and financial loss

Businesses and organisations are urged to take urgent action on planned domain name changes to prevent the possibility of their corporate identity being stolen and their contacts being scammed.

• Investigation into tickets allegedly sold for more than the allowed 110 per cent.
• Viagogo urged to do more to prevent illegal ticket sales on their website.
• Evidence that some tickets on Viagogo are at least double the original price.

Consumer Protection is investigating ticket re-selling website Viagogo for possible breaches of WA’s anti-scalping laws and is alerting WA ticket buyers.

• Scammers target parents, pretending to be children needing urgent money
• Losses from WA victims amount to almost $120,000
• Parents urged to verify sender before sending money or credit card details

A growing number of victims in WA are falling for a text scam that targets parents who receive desperate messages for help from impostors pretending to be their son or daughter.

With their mesmerising patterns, earthy tones and Dreamtime narratives, it’s little wonder that Aboriginal art and crafts are displayed on walls in homes right across the world.

While much of the allure of buying your own piece of Aboriginal artwork is knowing it has been created by an Aboriginal person, a new report demonstrates why there’s a good chance this may not be the case.