Commissioner's Blog: You can’t buy love but you can buy local this Valentine’s Day

Don’t disappoint loved ones this Valentine’s Day with online flowers or gifts that don’t arrive in time, or arrive in time but are not what you ordered.

If you have left your shopping to the last minute, make sure to seek delivery guarantees when ordering online, so you know your flowers or gifts will arrive in time.

New campaign to help pet buyers understand their consumer rights

  • State Government campaign launched to empower new pet owners to understand their consumer rights
  • 186 consumer complaints received about issues with new pets in the last three years
  • Almost $30,000 total successfully refunded to complainants from 2020 to 2022

Commerce Minister Sue Ellery today launched a new pet buyer awareness campaign promoting Western Australians' rights when purchasing a pet, following a spike in complaints to Consumer Protection.

Commissioner's Blog: Seafood lovers urged to have their say

With a world-class fishing industry right on our doorstep, it’s little wonder so many Western Australian consumers are hooked on seafood.

But if you’ve ever sat down at a restaurant and thought there was something fishy about the menu, rest assured that changes are coming to help clear up some of the confusion.

In a move designed to increase consumer awareness about where our food comes from, the Federal Government is working with restaurants, cafés and hotels across Australia to implement mandatory country of origin labelling on the seafood being served.

Commissioner's Blog: How to avoid hiring a shady tradie

Whether you need a qualified tradesperson to tackle a home project or a handyman for a quick repair, it’s important to know the operator you’ve hired is trustworthy and reliable.

While the majority of tradies do the right thing, we are contacted by disgruntled consumers about the minority that don’t.

In the past 12 months, we have received 579 complaints about those working in trades industries, mostly to do with them failing to exercise due care and skill, as well as wrongly accepting payment.

New cyber security roadshow to block scammers and identity theft

  • WA Government has partnered with IDCARE to deliver 20 Cyber Resilience Outreach Clinics, with a focus on remote and regional areas
  • Western Australians lost a record total of almost $16 million to scams in 2022
  • Report scams and suspicious activity to WA ScamNet to warn the community

The McGowan Government has joined forces with Australia and New Zealand's national identity and cyber support service, IDCARE, to deliver 20 Cyber Resilience Outreach Clinics (CROC) throughout Western Australia.

Funeral companies face legal action over sales practices

  • New funeral pricing laws will now be enforced, with businesses warned to comply
  • Providers to give a breakdown of costs and a total price before a funeral is held
  • Measures designed to stop questionable sales practices and prevent overcharging

From today, funeral companies in Western Australia will face enforcement action if they fail to comply with new pricing laws introduced by the McGowan Government that make funeral costs clearer for those grieving the loss of a loved one.

 

Commissioner's Blog: Breaking the bonds tying tenants to landlords

When you walk away from a tenancy, an important next step is working out how the security bond paid at the start of the lease will be distributed between tenant and landlord.

Tenants may be relying on getting back the money to help with finding a new place to live, while landlords may need some – or all – of the funds to cover damage or cleaning costs.

Commissioner's Blog: Avoid tax-time scams

Ongoing cost of living pressures mean many Western Australians will be looking forward to receiving tax refunds, but the end of a financial year is also a time when scammers emerge with false promises of monetary windfalls.

In a sign scammers are once again ramping up their tax-time efforts, our WA ScamNet team has received reports of a phishing email claiming to be from the Australian Tax Office (ATO), but is actually from a completely unrelated email address.