Dodgy WA fencer gave customers ‘the royal runaround’
There have been renewed calls for investors to avoid paying hefty deposits after an unregistered fencer took substantial deposits for work he never carried out.
Matt Richard Smith, owner of now-registered Pinjarra Fencing and Gates, was fined by the Armadale Magistrates Court for taking upfront deposits for fencing jobs without carrying out the work.
In total, Smith was ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and $688.80 in costs.
In June 2021, the business accepted two deposits from customers: a $1,000 payment for a Byford customer who wished to build a carport enclosure, and a $1,700 payment from a customer in Waikiki to build a fence.
Smith never carried out the work he had committed to, and did not refund the deposits until recently, with one customer receiving their refund the day before the hearing.
He was found guilty of two charges under the Australian Consumer Law – wrongfully accepting payment, and failing to supply goods and services in a reasonable period of time – with Magistrate MacLean stating that Smith had given his customers “the royal runaround”.
Trish Blake, Commissioner for Consumer Protection Western Australia, stated that the affected customers “suffered financial detriment and stress after paying Mr Smith significant sums of money in good faith to undertake the work”.
She warned customers to take caution when paying deposits, and be prepared to bargain if the price is unreasonable.
“Just because a business might ask for a 50 per cent deposit, it doesn’t mean a consumer has to pay it,” she said, noting that consumers should negotiate a small deposit of 10 per cent.
“If you are entering into a building contract valued at more than $7,500, the builder is not allowed to ask for more than 6.5 per cent as a deposit,” she said.
The commissioner also advised using a credit card to pay the deposit, as it “provides the protection of getting a chargeback if the goods or services aren’t delivered”.
In the case that a business has failed to carry out work within agreed time frames, consumers are urged to lodge a complaint on Western Australia’s Consumer Protection website.
The Pinjarra case follows on from several Western Australian tradespeople who were fined for poor work earlier this year.
In June, a Perth building supervisor was issued a $40,000 fine and was stripped of his building practitioner registration after being found guilty of negligence.
The same month, a Perth-based electrician was fined $15,000 after his work was deemed to have failed safety standards.
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