fraudulent tradie

Dear All
I had a tradie who gave me quote to replace the laminate bench top with stone. He looked very authentic who came in a company car, gave a proper invoice on company letter head. We agreed on the price and the requirements. He wanted a 50% deposit for starting the work which amounts to abou $4500. I said I can give only $1500. He collected the money in cash and sent me a text message as a receipt. He then sent me a message that he is unable to do the job as the supplier does not have stock. I said I want the money back. He then sent me a text message that the money was transferred to the nominated bank account. I said I have not received the money and to send a proof of transfer. He is now not responding to the calls and no contact and it is now 3 weeks. What are my options to recover the money. His registered company has address details.
I was looking at following options
1. Fair trading. Not sure how effective this option would be.
2. Debt collector. This would add to further cost and not sure if I can succeed still
3. Police. Will this not amount to theft. If the same person come and stelas money it become a crminal case but if he comes and collects the money and disappears is it not the same?

I do not want to let him get away as this would be encouraging him to do it again to others. I reported this to the serviceseeking website from where he gave me the quote. They said they are unable to help in this matter.

This has wasted 4 weeks of my time and have now engaged another person to complete the work.
This is my first such experience.
Thanks you for any assistance.

 

I'd speak to the police about that. They'll let you know if it's not a job for them. Also contact Trading Standards.

 

Police will brush you off.
You would need to sue the company. Make sure it is a real company first

 

I didn't get a brush off from the police when I had a similar, but larger problem recently. You may need to go to court to recover the money but it's very expensive and unlikely to be worth it for that amount. Marshall Freeman debt collectors.seem to have a good success rate and charge a percentage. Definitely worth talking to them.

 

Yes well worth a try
But really it is a civil dispute, but could also be a crime too.

 

This has definitely become my full time job since I was well and truly taken advantage of recently. I've tried out a few of the available options

 

Thank you all. More than the amount of money lost it is about the way the money was sipphoned off which makes me angry. I feel if this guy gets away he will be a repeat offender. I just looked at the ACT policing website which has the following definition for Theft. Since the money has been taken by deception, it would satisfy the definition of theft.
Theft
The unlawful taking or obtaining of money, goods, services (other than from motor vehicles) or non-motorised vehicles, without the use of force, threat of force or violence, coercion or deception, with the intent to permanently deprive the owner/possessor of the use of the money or goods. Additionally, the taking of another person’s motor vehicle parts or its contents illegally, whether or not this also involves the taking of the motor vehicle.

 

The police have been awesome with me .It's 100% worth reporting, even if it just leaves info on a file until next time. A property mentor has taken a large amount of my money. Until it happens to you, people have no idea how easily it can happen and how devastating the effects can be.

 

Contact Fair Trading - they crack down on shonky subbies.

Does the company have a physical address?

 

Fair trading are completely and utterly useless. All they do is send a letter and if the business doesn’t respond they tell the customer to take it to court at their expense. If the company gets more than 30 complaints in a month they end up on Fair Trading’s **** list of the month. You need to be pretty special to end up on the **** list, you’ll be in good company though along with the likes of Harvey Norman, Good Guys etc

 

The only address is what I have from the quote. I believe it is his home address as I drove past that to see what is there. I have checked his ABN details and has the same address on it. That was the reason I was thinking of sending a debt collector

 

Why don’t you just knock on the door?

 

You inferred it was a company. If so you should be using their registered address as recorded on ASIC register

 

I was considering knocking on the door. Not sure of the consequences and also how to handle the situation.

 

Hope he wasn't Irish.

A lot of Irish/Irish accent scammers doing this over recent years

 

What on earth difference does it make if he's Irish?

 

If you're certain he received your previous communications and is just ignoring you then you don't need to knock on the door (unless you want to). I'd only do it if I knew I could stay calm, and that it wouldn't stress me out. If you go, just let him know that you've contacted him previously without response and you're now speaking to police and debt collectors. That might be enough. Ask for immediate repayment.

 

Linky
Kinky
Stinky

A whole generation of Irish scammers

 

Thank you. I just sent a final notice saying I will lodge a formal complaint with police under deceptio case if I donot receive the money by Tomorrow. I am a bit hesitant to knock on his door at this stage as I do not know what to expect. I would rather pay some money to debt collector to do this.

 

Always check ABN/Licence of anyone who quotes on a job BEFORE you let him loose on your property.