Travel buying tips to avoid holiday hell
The recent collapse of a travel agent business in WA and similar instances over East should send a warning to Australians looking to buy airfares and/or holiday accommodation.
With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner Gary Newcombe
The Syrian refugee crisis has prompted an outpouring of public support for those in need of aid. Consumer Protection would like to remind Western Australians, who try to make a difference through charitable donations, to choose an established humanitarian charity.
With Commissioner for Consumer Protection Anne Driscoll
People who sell cars on a regular basis need to hold a motor vehicle dealers' licence. In fact, the law says that if you sell more than four cars a year you may be asked to substantiate why you do not hold a dealers licence.
If it is purely for personal use and is not connected to running a de-facto business buying cars privately and then on-selling them privately is accepted but it may not make the vehicle seller exempt from the law, which applies to backyards as well as car yards.
A travel accommodation website is listing properties for lease without the property owner’s permission, sparking fears that the site is run by scammers.
WA ScamNet is currently investigating the origins and purpose of Travel Advisor Pro (TAP) traveladvisorpro.net but due to early indications that it is a scam, a decision has been made to issue an early warning to protect consumers from potential monetary loss.
Here’s what we know so far…
With Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection, David Hillyard
Paying large amounts of money up front for nothing in return or hiring a tradesperson without a recommendation, or without seeing references or sighting previous good work are some of the mistakes Western Australians regularly make when having work carried out on their homes.
With David Hillyard, Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection
Checkout Checks
Each week, our team of compliance officers visit shops across the Perth metropolitan area to see whether prices advertised on store shelves match the amounts customers are charged when the goods are scanned at the checkout. These checks are called price scanning audits and are also done by Consumer Protection officers in country towns to make sure regional consumers are also paying the advertised shelf price amount for goods.
A Wangara motor vehicle dealer and its sole Director have been ordered to pay a total of more than $80,000 in fines and costs by the Joondalup Magistrates Court for selling used vehicles without a warranty.
Ridgehaven Holdings Pty Ltd, trading as Wanneroo Cars and Commercials of Wangara (now closed), and its sole Director Brian John Whitehead pleaded guilty to 29 charges under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and 10 charges under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act (MVDA).
Rent bidding is now banned, tenants have stronger rights to fight back against retaliatory action by landlords and undercover officers from Consumer Protection will be checking to make sure landlords and agents are doing the right thing.
Welcome to stage one of Western Australia’s Rent Reforms, which came into effect on 16 May. The changes to the Residential Tenancies Act passed through Parliament last month and here’s what it means for renters and landlords.
The Cook Labor Government has committed extra funding to support streamlined dispute resolution for renters and property owners, as part of the implementation of Western Australia's reformed tenancy laws that have now passed State Parliament.
Laws requiring all Short-Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) in Western Australia to be included on a new register have passed through State Parliament.
