Consumer Protection

• James Bartlett (Manager) fined $12,000, JPA Offroad Group Pty Ltd fined $12,000
• This is Mr Bartlett’s second prosecution for the same offence
•  It is against the Australian Consumer Law to accept deposits or full payments without supplying the goods and services within a reasonable or agreed time

Consumer Protection WA has prosecuted a Perth-based business selling Jeep car parts and offering installation services, for taking payment from consumers and failing to supply goods and services in a reasonable amount of time, resulting in a $24,000 fine.

• Non-compliant products containing button batteries pulled from Albany shelves
• Retailers face penalties for failing to comply with mandatory standards 
• Separate inspections reveal most Albany automotive dealers comply with the law

Consumer Protection has sounded a warning for retailers to ensure they are complying with mandatory button battery safety laws or face penalties, after a number of inspections in Albany uncovered non-compliant products for sale.

Cute photos of puppies and kittens have been used by scammers for years to dupe prospective pet buyers out of their hard-earned money and it’s only getting worse.

In Western Australia last year, our WA ScamNet team received 114 reports of pet scams, with 75 victims losing more than $216,000 – a three-fold increase on both the losses and victim numbers reported five years earlier in 2017.

They may well look like lollies to young eyes, but both button batteries and small high-powered magnets are capable of causing devastating internal injuries if swallowed.

The dangers have been highlighted in recent news reports on two young children who were hospitalised after ingesting these incredibly hazardous items in separate incidents.

• Mother’s Day online shoppers warned to be on alert for fake websites and scams
• Consumers urged to know their rights if gifts are faulty or they’ve been misled
• A reminder that gift cards now have a three-year minimum expiry limit

Consumer Protection is encouraging shoppers to be diligent when looking for Mother’s Day gifts, particularly online.

Consumers who increasingly rely on internet shopping for convenience and choice are being warned to be on alert for scams.

Next time you spot a bill in the letterbox, it could be worth looking into whether you’re being charged extra to receive this correspondence in the mail and how you might avoid paying the fee if so.

A growing number of service providers now charge a fee to cover the costs of printing and posting your bill. That list recently expanded to include Telstra, which reportedly cited ‘environmental reasons’ as the reason many of its customers would need to pay $2.20 each time they received a bill in the mail after 20 May 2023.

• Repairer takes payments from vehicle owners with little work carried out
• Three Perth consumers left out of pocket and their vehicles unusable
• Case highlights the dangers to consumers of paying too much money upfront

A Port Kennedy vehicle repairer has been ordered by the Perth Magistrates Court to pay $48,492.59 in fines, compensation and costs after accepting payments from consumers but failing to complete the work.

• Balga man sells two vehicles online with incorrect odometer readings
• Fined $1,600 on each charge for false or misleading representations
• Seller had previously been prosecuted for unlicensed dealing

An online car seller has been fined $3,200 by the Perth Magistrates Court for misleading two buyers by falsifying odometer readings.

Wesam Hamed Mohammed of Balga was also ordered to pay costs of $682 when convicted on 14 April 2023 of breaching the Australian Consumer Law by making false or misleading representations.

• Travelling conmen approach WA consumers and businesses uninvited
• Reports so far received from Perth, Goldfields and Great Southern areas
• These fake tradies do a dodgy job, take the money and run

WA home and business owners are being warned to avoid dealing with a band of fake travelling tradies known as ‘bitumen bandits’ offering to re-surface driveways and car parks, but the standard of their work is extremely poor.

A lack of available rental homes means it’s becoming harder and more expensive for many WA tenants to keep a roof over their heads.

As Perth’s rental vacancy rate reportedly drops to 0.7 per cent and average weekly rents rise to $535, existing tenants may be asked to pay more to remain in the same property.  

There are strict rules surrounding how often rent increases are allowed to happen – they can only occur after the first six months of a new tenancy agreement and on a half-yearly basis thereafter in both fixed-term and periodic leases.