Consumer Protection

These days, it pays to be extra vigilant on social media. Like-harvesting, or like-farming as it is also called, is a scam perpetuated throughout Facebook and features bogus pages designed to do nothing more than “harvest” your likes.

The content pulls at your heartstrings or offers big prizes leading you to like, share and comment. Recently, a fake Virgin Australia page offering a trip to Hawaii collected several hundred thousand likes this way before being shut down.

A backyard motor vehicle dealer in Rivervale has been fined $8,000 and ordered to pay costs of $756 after pleading guilty in the Perth Magistrates Court on 19 October 2018 to buying and selling vehicles without a licence.

John Salehi had purchased 13 vehicles and sold 12 of them from August 2016 to August 2017 in breach of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act.

Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard said backyard car dealers are jeopardising consumers’ rights.

A wedding photographer/videographer has been fined $4,500 by the Perth Magistrates Court and ordered to pay $5,650 in compensation to three consumers for supplying promised photo and video packages either too late or not at all.

An illegal motor vehicle dealer has been fined $25,000 and ordered to pay costs of $916 after being convicted in the Perth Magistrates Court of buying and selling vehicles without a licence.

A Shenton Park property manager has been reprimanded and fined $13,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal for making unauthorised withdrawals from a real estate agency’s trust account.

Rhonda Denise Reid, who was a Director of the Nedlands agency, also failed to act fairly and honestly by making 13 unauthorised withdrawals totalling $36,290 between May 2014 and June 2016 without the knowledge of the agency’s licensee. Ms Reid’s registration had already expired so an order for her licence to be disqualified could not also be made.

Baby bath aids such as plastic recliners, cradles or seats, have become increasingly popular with parents as they provide support for babies and young children in the bath.

But it is important to remember that they are not safety devices or a substitute for adult supervision and support. Children have drowned while using a bath aid as they can easily slip off and become submerged under water, tip over when the suction cups come loose or climb out.

When we hear about a tragedy – from a bush fire or floods to someone badly injured by a coward’s punch or deaths in a terrorist attack – it’s normal to want to help those affected and giving or collecting money may seem the most practical way to do so. But cautionary tales from donors and collectors highlight the importance of our charity licensing laws.

Consumer Protection is here to help people navigate the correct way to safely go about helping those in need.

With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner David Hillyard

The average Australian will spend $599 on presents this Christmas, according to a Commonwealth Bank survey of consumers. That’s up from $475 in 2015.

Gift loved ones not retailers

With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner David Hillyard

If you’re buying a car any time soon we have a message we’d like to drive home. Consumer Protection has concerns about the value of add-ons being sold to people purchasing motor vehicles in Western Australia.

With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner David Hillyard

Air-filled loungers were one of the must-have Christmas presents for 2016 and had been heavily promoted via social media and at pop-up stalls in shopping centres. Photos or videos indicate the products are able to be used in water BUT two near-misses in Australian home swimming pools during the festive period prompted drowning risk warnings from a number of agencies including Consumer Protection WA.