A Cashmere man believes authorities aren’t doing enough to curb the rise of “bitumen bandits” fleecing homeowners of money across the country.

The man, who only wished to be identified as Tony, voiced his concerns to authorities after being duped by dodgy driveway makers 18 months ago. The scammers unlawfully used the phone number of a legitimate New South Wales business.

Further enquiries through the New South Wales Department of Commerce led Tony to contact Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading.  Tony supplied authorities with the work vehicle’s registration details, the worker’s contact phone number and improper invoice, but said they “wouldn’t get of their arse and do anything”.

“I followed it up in Queensland but they weren’t overly interested and it seemed like they didn’t care,” he said.

“The impression I got was it was all a bit too difficult for them, and that even if they did do anything they (the traders) probably wouldn’t turn up for the court case.

“I thought that was a bit weak. If you owe them (the government) 50 bucks for parking too long in a loading zone like I got done for, if I don’t pay it they’ll eventually take my driver’s licence off me.

“Yet these sorts of people go out and rip off others, in a lot of cases I’ll bet older people or people who haven’t had a background with this sort of thing.”

Sandra, a single mother from D’Aguilar, was ripped off to the tune of $1100 by dubious workmen earlier this year.

She contacted The Westerner after reading about fellow locals who had been targeted by dubious operators.

“This was the first time I have come across anybody that had the same situation as myself, and I got done big time,” she said.  “They used exactly the same line with me, that they had leftover bitumen from a job and they had to lay it today.

“There’s a lot of new estates going on in our area … and he said he was doing all the bitumen for the streets. He tried to make out that he was doing me some great deal and if I paid cash in hand I didn’t have to pay GST.

“I was bit suspect on them, so I got a friend’s husband to go around and have a look at the work. He was absolutely beside himself at how pathetic it was and how much they were charging, but the job was already done.”

Sandra said she didn’t contact police because she didn’t know the value of the work, adding “I really thought didn’t have any avenue or any leg to stand on.”

“I thought ‘they’ve done the job so I have to pay anyway’,” she said. “I paid $1100 cash for probably about $100 worth of silvery rocks that they put down. It wasn’t bitumen at all.”

Sandra said the workers responsible for the scam had English or Scottish accents, consistent with other people responsible for poorly made bitumen driveways.

Tony believes such itinerant workers over-charging consumers for substandard work is common.

“These characters come out here basically in the northern (hemisphere) winter, doing all these con jobs and dodgy types of things,” he said. “They’re known as the bitumen bandits and they were well known (to the authorities).

“We’re supposed to have immigration laws here and they come back into the country, so surely they could stop them.”

An Office of Fair Trading (OFT) spokesperson said the office doesn’t have the legislative power to force a trader to reimburse a consumer for dodgy work, adding “only a court or tribunal can”.

“When the OFT investigates a serious complaint, the aim is to prevent it happening again,” they said. “Depending on the seriousness of the issue, it has a range of enforcement options available, ranging from issuing a warning, having the trader enter an enforceable undertaking, through to prosecution of serious breaches.”

The spokesperson said the OFT was alerted to suspect traders “when a pattern of complaints about a particular matter begins to emerge in a locality.”

“The OFT has a network of offices around Queensland which gathers intelligence, often with help from police, about suspect itinerant traders,” they said.

Under the Fair Trading Act, door-to-door salespeople must provide a written contract stating the breakdown of costs, including GST and the total price of goods or services.  They must also produce identification with their name and address and offer a 10-day cooling-off period for the sale of goods or services valued at more than $75.

Traders are also prohibited to contact customers on Sundays and public holidays and outside business hours from Monday to Saturday. Traders caught breaching the Act face fines of up to $54,000 for individuals and $270,000 for companies.

Contact the Office of Fair Trading on 131 304 or visit http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/