These days, it pays to be extra vigilant on social media. Like-harvesting, or like-farming as it is also called, is a scam perpetuated throughout Facebook and features bogus pages designed to do nothing more than “harvest” your likes. The content pulls at your heartstrings or offers big prizes leading you to like, share and comment. Recently, a fake Virgin Australia page offering a trip to Hawaii...

A backyard motor vehicle dealer in Rivervale has been fined $8,000 and ordered to pay costs of $756 after pleading guilty in the Perth Magistrates Court on 19 October 2018 to buying and selling vehicles without a licence. John Salehi had purchased 13 vehicles and sold 12 of them from August 2016 to August 2017 in breach of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act. Commissioner for Consumer Protection David...

A wedding photographer/videographer has been fined $4,500 by the Perth Magistrates Court and ordered to pay $5,650 in compensation to three consumers for supplying promised photo and video packages either too late or not at all. Mohammad Amir , formerly trading as Enchanted Films and Dyno Media , was also ordered to pay costs of $5,000 when he pleaded guilty in the Perth Magistrates Court on 11...

A Shenton Park property manager has been reprimanded and fined $13,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal for making unauthorised withdrawals from a real estate agency’s trust account. Rhonda Denise Reid , who was a Director of the Nedlands agency, also failed to act fairly and honestly by making 13 unauthorised withdrawals totalling $36,290 between May 2014 and June 2016 without the knowledge...

The average price of unleaded petrol is set to increase by around 14 cents per litre (cpl) to 165.5 cpl tomorrow, so FuelWatch is encouraging Perth drivers to fill up today to save money. FuelWatch advises that on Tuesday 16 October 2018, most Caltex sites are increasing their ULP price to 169.9 cpl (a hike of 18 cpl). Most Caltex Woolworths, Coles Express and Puma sites are increasing their ULP...

Baby bath aids such as plastic recliners, cradles or seats, have become increasingly popular with parents as they provide support for babies and young children in the bath. But it is important to remember that they are not safety devices or a substitute for adult supervision and support. Children have drowned while using a bath aid as they can easily slip off and become submerged under water, tip...

The average price of unleaded petrol is set to increase by around 14 cents per litre (cpl) to 163.9 cpl tomorrow, so FuelWatch is encouraging Perth drivers to fill up today to save money. FuelWatch advises that on Tuesday 9 October 2018, all Coles Express and most Caltex sites are increasing their ULP price to 167.9 cpl (an increase of between 18 and 19 cpl). Most Puma, BP and Caltex Woolworths...

Upcoming changes to pre-estimated liquidated damages From 1 January 2022, the maximum amount of pre-estimated liquidated damages that a dealer may charge will reduce from 15 per cent to five per cent. Consumer Protection is concerned about reports of significant charges being imposed by dealers on WA consumers who cancel motor vehicle purchase contracts. Under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, the...

A Perth motor vehicle dealership has lost $65,000 after being stung by a ‘man in the middle’ scam involving the payment of an invoice to a bank account that had been changed. The dealership recently made a purchase from a supplier and received an invoice with correct bank details. A week later an email request, sent by scammers, was received asking to direct the funds to a new bank account. The...

A motor vehicle repairer has been disqualified from holding a certificate by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) and ordered to pay costs of $500 after failing to meet an important condition placed on his certificate by Consumer Protection. Stephen Jeffrey Sokol of Aveley had breached the Motor Vehicle Repairers Act by failing to comply with a condition to provide Consumer Protection with a...

A Perth car dealership which specialises in selling vehicles on consignment as well as a salesperson involved in managing the business have been banned by Consumer Protection from conducting consignment sales. The move to restrict the licences to prevent consignment sales comes as charges are to be heard against the company, its Director and the employee/manager. PAG (WA) Pty Ltd , trading as...

Consumer Protection wants the WA community to be aware that there are legal restrictions applying to the owner of a Narrogin massage business as a result of a Supreme Court order which was made permanent on 21 January 2011. The order, originally issued on 25 November 2010, requires the Commissioner for Consumer Protection to pre-approve any recruitment advertisements before they are posted by Bon...