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Consumer Protection Western Australia has issued warnings after travelling fake roofing contractors conned couples out of over $20,000.
The Western Australia consumer watchdog alerted against itinerant traders doorknocking across homes around the state with substandard roof repair work.
The warning comes after two couples have been conned out of over $20,000.
Commissioner for consumer protection, Trish Blake, said any home owners who receive a knock at the door from traders offering roof restoration services should say “no”.
“These conmen move from town to town using high-pressure tactics to push overpriced roof restoration jobs – often delivering little to no actual work,” Blake said.
In one instance, an elderly couple were approached by two men in their home in Hillman, who claimed their roof required tile tuckpointing, minor fascia board repairs and cleaning.
The two men then started working on the Hillman roof without providing an official quote or a clear scope of work, providing only a business name and a bank account number.
The couple was then asked to deposit a bank check of $18,645 directly into the men’s bank account, which the watchdog said was most likely to avoid surveillance security cameras and muddy the money trail.
Similarly, a Parmelia couple were contacted by a man in a white ute who used high-pressure tactics to sell a roof repair and cleaning job.
The couple was initially quoted for $1,950, but ended up paying $2,145 to allegedly cover GST, with the man standing over them to ensure the bank transfer.
Once the man left, the Parmelia couple realised that no tiles had been replaced and no repointing had been carried out.
Instead, the couple was left with new water leaks and a significant mess while their security camera had been deliberately turned away from the front of the property, preventing it from capturing footage of the man.
The Western Australia consumer watchdog said that in both cases, no formal quote was issued, and home owners were left without any contact information.
Blake said that in each instance, the conmen were in clear breach of Australian Consumer Law (ACL) as they did not respect the mandatory 10-day cooling-off period for unsolicited approaches and started working straight away.
“What’s particularly concerning in these latest reports is the group’s failure to provide formal quotes or contact details, leaving consumers with no way to follow up,” he said.
“Without a written quote – which sets expectations and offers legal protection – victims are further being denied their right to seek a remedy.”
She said that home owners seeking to get work done should contact multiple registered tradies for various quotes, see their previous work, and prepare questions to check their credibility.
“Under the ACL, traders are also required to include the GST component when referring to the price of goods or services.”
“Paying by credit card is also a good option as it potentially provides the protection of getting a chargeback if the goods or services aren’t delivered, unlike payments made via bank transfer or cheque which offer no such recourse,” Blake concluded.
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