NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe is warning consumers and businesses in the Riverina, Wagga Wagga, Albury and Dubbo regions to avoid dealing with itinerants offering to do cheap bitumen work.
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Mr Stowe said Fair Trading has received advice about a number of travellers with Irish accents operating in the south of the state.
“Travelling conmen are a constant scourge,” he said.
“They incur costs for consumers who are victimised by them and impose a compliance cost on all taxpayers.
“The group working in the Riverina and Albury are using Mitsubishi Triton work utes with Queensland plates.
“They approached the owner of a service station at Jugiong with the usual spiel ‘we’ve got some left over bitumen’ and offered to do bitumen sealing valued at $15,000.
“The service station owner contacted Fair Trading this morning and expressed concern that the men may be travelling conmen.
“The group is known to have done work in Queensland and the Northern Territory as well as in NSW.
“Work by travelling conmen is usually of poor quality and consumers are left with little opportunity for redress.
“This is because they are highly mobile and have usually left the area by the time problems are detected.”
Work by travelling conmen is usually of poor quality and consumers are left with little opportunity for redress.
- NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe
People should report any sightings to the Travelling Conmen hotline on 1300 133 408 or to local police.
Travelling conmen do not restrict their business to bitumen driveway sealing and may also offer other general household trades.
Itinerant traders are unscrupulous, often targeting the elderly and can become quite intimidating when challenged.
Use local, reliable tradespeople who have a stake in maintaining their reputation.
People offering or carrying out home building work valued at more than $5,000 on residential properties in NSW must be licensed which should be similar to a credit card with details of the trader’s name and category.
