UPDATE: New advice to seek a refund or replacement has been issued since this blog was published. Please read the latest media statement: /announcements/urgent-advice-owners-recalled-samsu...
With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner Gary Newcombe
With Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection Gary Newcombe
Puppy scammers are getting their claws into the money of pet-buyers in Western Australia. WA ScamNet – the area of Consumer Protection that deals with consumer fraud – received four reports of monetary loss to puppy sale scams recently. All of the victims had been buying online but there were slight differences in their stories:
Consumer Protection is warning businesses not to deal with ‘bitumen bandits’ who offer to lay driveways on-the-spot with material supposedly leftover from another job.
A report received by Consumer Protection suggests that a British man is approaching business owners in the Willetton area with the offer of immediate start, drive-way laying services, using asphalt in his truck, leftover from another job.
Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection Gary Newcombe says carrying out work there and then is a sign of a travelling conman.
With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner Gary Newcombe
Due to their popularity at Halloween-time, I recently used my weekly Community News column to remind consumers to have their eyes open to the potential safety risk posed by short-term wear lenses that allow you to change your eye colour temporarily, or to display a fun pattern over your iris.
With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner Gary Newcombe
Complaining via social media – think before you tweet
In the past consumers who wanted others to know about their bad experience with a business would usually rely on word of mouth or perhaps a strongly worded letter to a newspaper editor but nowadays it’s commonplace for people to speak out on social media.
With Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard
Consumer Protection would like to remind Western Australians to protect themselves while shopping online and to know their consumer rights this Valentine’s Day.
February 14th is seen by many as an opportunity to spoil loved ones. But if the flowers you ordered are not as described or don’t show up on time, or you are left with an empty wallet and nothing to show for it, you are unlikely to be feeling romantic.
Red roses shouldn’t be blue
With Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard
Consumer Protection recently attended an intellectual property rights workshop in Perth where makers of products, particularly electrical items, showcased physical examples of genuine and non-genuine items to highlight the differences. The session was mainly to help Australian Border Force officers detect counterfeit goods but we took away some consumer messages.
With Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection, David Hillyard
Do you know of an individual or organisation doing great work to help consumers or tenants, or promote product safety in WA? You can now recognise their efforts by nominating for the Consumer Protection Awards 2017.
The awards are open to individuals, non-profit groups, businesses, and local government organisations, plus there's a media category to recognise a journalist or outlet that has been raising public awareness of consumer, tenancy or product safety issues and rights.
With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner David Hillyard
Summer’s here and that means music festival season. But what happens if a big outdoor event or live concert is cancelled or dramatically changed at the last moment?
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) gives consumers rights if an Australian business fails to deliver what they said they would … that can include calling off a festival or altering the line-up, venue or amenities in a major way.
With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner David Hillyard
As the warmer months approach, many of us have a list of home maintenance tasks to tick-off and that might include sprucing up hard-to-reach places during a ‘Spring-clean’, emptying gutters or pruning trees in the garden. It’s timely to talk about a growing and troubling product safety issue relating to the way ladders are used, particularly by older men.
