A Bunbury tradie has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 in fines, costs and compensation after taking deposits from consumers and doing nothing or little in return.
Blake Ball, trading as Balls Walls Constuction, was fined $5,000 on May 21, 2018, after pleading guilty to three charges under the Australian Consumer Law for wrongly accepting payment from two consumers who had provided part-payment for the construction of limestone retaining walls at their homes.
In March 2015, Mr Ball accepted an $850 cash deposit from a Dalyellup consumer for the construction of a wall after reducing the quote from $2,375 to $1,700.
The work was not completed and no refund was offered.
In July 2016, Mr Ball accepted a total deposit of $3,655 from a Bunbury consumer under two contracts to build limestone retaining walls at both the front and back of the property.
The deposits represented 50 per cent of the total amounts quoted. The work was never started and no refunds were made.
Consumer Protection commissioner David Hillyard said consumers who paid deposits as high as 50 per cent or more were putting their money at risk.
“Our recommendation is to pay no more than ten per cent up front and then only make progress payments as work is completed to your satisfaction,” he said.
“Paying large deposits or even the full amount up front takes away the consumer’s bargaining power if the work is not completed or fails to meet the expected standard of workmanship.”
Complaints against tradespeople can be made via consumerprotection.wa.gov.au.
