Alarm bells sound over ‘bitumen bandits’

A statement from the watchdog said these “scam con artists” are leaving “terrible bitumen work behind, in worse shape than before”.

Use of substandard materials, demand for a higher fee than originally quoted, and threats to destroy the completed work where invoices aren’t paid are characteristics of the scam, which has been described by the commissioner for Consumer Protection Trish Blake as “an international organised scam” – with directors often based in the UK or Ireland.

According to Ms Blake, “it is the definition of dodgy and a complete scam”.

“These con artists posing as tradespeople have a blatant disregard for the law and use completely unethical business practices that prey on innocent people, tricking them into a ‘good deal’ but ultimately charge highly inflated prices for shoddy work,” she stipulated.

“They lie to potential customers, saying they have leftover bitumen from a job nearby so [they] can offer a cheap price, but the finished job is left uneven, thin and soft.”

She flagged that in one case in Derby, “the bitumen washed away with rain the next day, but the customer was still invoiced $33,000, and demands were made for immediate payment”.

Consumer Protection stated that numerous consumer laws are being breached by the bandits, including coercing customers for payment after poor-quality bitumen works are complete.

It was also flagged that they are approaching potential customers uninvited with unsolicited consumer agreements, failing to observe the required 10-business-day cooling-off period, and providing false representation as to the price of services.

Of concern, too, is their false claims to be affiliated with Main Roads and other reputable businesses.

First issuing a public warning in April 2023, Consumer Protection has now received 31 complaints since 1 January 2023 about the travelling con men.

Complaints have followed targeting of consumers across areas, including Albany, Australind, Bunbury, Picton, Williams, Narrogin, Wongan Hills, Collie, Boddington, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton, Derby, Carnarvon, Karratha, Broome, and a number of suburbs in the Perth metropolitan area.

Consumer Protection has said it is working closely with authorities across Australia, including the Western Australia Police Force, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Home Affairs, and other Australian Consumer Law regulators.

The offending bitumen companies are named below:

Bitumen Road Services (director Andrew Watson); Road Tech Oz (director Jack Reagan Maskell); Road Tech Construction Oz (director Anthony Kenneth Lee); Regional Civils (director Jay Brough); Top Coat Civils (director Gabriel Thomas O’Malley Mackerness); Rolo Bitumen (director Lee Desmond Rowland); Civil Highways (Director Jonathan Michael Hovvels), and Ground Fix Landscapes (director James Lee).

Consumer Protection also shared that regular workers from the above companies include Anthony Kenneth Lee, Simon Ross, Tom Ross, Thomas Dean Whaley and Matthew Nunn.

Continuing, Ms Blake said: “These scam con artists will leave you with dodgy work, harass you for payment and quickly move on, making it difficult for customers and authorities to catch up with them.”

She has recommended anyone who has already had work done by any of these companies and is unsatisfied to not pay the invoice “and report it to Consumer Protection”.

She also advised West Australian consumers to resist approaches and high-pressure sales tactics from the companies or individuals named and always seek multiple quotes from reputable local tradespeople.

Consumers who encounter these “travelling con men” can make a report to Consumer Protection on 1300 30 40 54 or via email at [email protected].

Consumer Protection said descriptions of the offenders, vehicle registration numbers or business names used are “extremely useful”.