‘Bitumen bandits’ spotted in South Australia

“Itinerant tradies often go door to door in regional areas, claiming to have leftover bitumen from another job and offering to do cheap work on the premises,” revealed the watchdog in a public statement.

They warned that these tradies often use “high-pressure tactics to try and get money from consumers, either failing to do the work or doing a substandard job that leaves the consumer in a position where they have to pay even more money for repairs to the work”.

So far, consumers in Waitpinga near Victor Harbor have reportedly paid thousands of dollars to tradies who had been going from door to door offering to do bitumen work.

Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Dini Soulio, warned: “Unsolicited offers to do bitumen work are, in itself, a huge red flag and consumers should never accept offers of this nature without doing their homework first.”

“Before agreeing to anything, people should check to make sure the business is licensed and get multiple quotes. If any one quote comes in at a considerably lower price than the rest, there is often good reason to be sceptical,” Mr Soulio said.

“Importantly, no matter how much pressure someone places on you, never agree to an offer on the spot,” the commissioner urged.

South Australia is not the only Australian state to have been targeted by the so-called “bitumen bandits” this year. In September, Western Australia also delivered a warning against eight road construction companies that had been scamming consumers.

Trish Blake, the Western Australian Commissioner for Consumer Protection, described the bitumen bandits as “an international organised scam” with directors frequently based in the UK or Ireland.

Common characteristics of the scam include use of substandard materials, demand for a higher fee than originally agreed to, and threats to destroy the work if invoices were not paid.

Consumer and Business Services South Australia warned consumers to “be wary of anyone going door to door offering to do work of this nature”.

South Australian consumers who encounter these unlicensed road construction workers are urged to contact Consumer and Business Services on 131 882.