Media alert: Bitumen bandits – Tamborine Mountain
The Office of Fair Trading is warning consumers of reports of an itinerant trader operating in the Tamborine Mountain area, offering bitumen laying services at an allegedly reduced cost.
Itinerant bitumen layers often target older or vulnerable consumers. They vary their approaches and mix and match their sales pitches depending on what they think will work with the particular consumers they are targeting.
- Often they claim they have bitumen left over from another job and so they can offer it at a ‘cheap price today only’.
- Sometimes watered down bitumen is laid on ungraded or poorly graded ground and consumers find themselves out of pocket twice as they later have to pay another trader to have it removed and replaced.
- On other occasions the traders initially quote a low cost then a much higher payment is demanded during the work for it to be completed. Consumers sometimes comply because if the work isn’t finished they can’t get their car out of the garage.
- Sometimes the scammers simply take large deposits, perform no work, and never return.
Consumers have no way to get a refund as these types of traders usually vanish.
Consumers are reminded door-to-door traders must generally not accept payment or commence work on a property within a 10-business day cooling-off period, and consumers can cancel any agreement within this period without penalty.
If you think you have seen these traders, contact the Office of Fair Trading on 13 QGOV (13 74 68) so we can track their movements and warn other consumers.
ENDS
Media contact: 07 3239 3976 or 07 3008 5837
All other enquires: 13 QGOV (13 74 68)
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