Login
Mending fences: Qld tradie to pay home owners $200k following probe
A tradie and his company have pleaded guilty to 36 breaches of Australian consumer law after failing to deliver and provide services for three dozen consumers.
Tradie Brendan Hawxwell and Cre8tive Construction Group Pty Ltd appeared at Wynnum Magistrates Court on Thursday, 12 March, following an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation.
The probe found that in 2023, Hawxwell and his company received tens of thousands of dollars in deposits, ranging from $1,100 to more than $17,000 over a nine-month period.
However, they failed to supply the goods or services within a stated or reasonable time, with the investigation finding 36 complainants were owed $196,833.
The goods and services they failed to provide included Colorbond and wooden fencing, decking, roofing, automatic sliding gates, letterboxes, and a roller door.
According to the state’s Department of Justice, one consumer paid a deposit of $11,207 for a 31-metre timber post, a wire-mesh fence and a concrete retaining wall, but nothing was supplied.
On a different occasion, a consumer paid a deposit of $17,797 for decking, a fly roof and a privacy screen, but the services were not provided.
While handing down the sentence, Magistrate Zachary Sarra fined Hawxwell $15,000 and his company $30,000, ordering them to repay consumers a total of $196,833.
Following numerous complaints about Hawxwell and his company, the OFT issued a public warning to Queenslanders in March 2024, advising them not to deal with the trader.
Acting Fair Trading commissioner, Craig Turner, warned tradespeople that the watchdog was taking breaches of the Australian Consumer Law extremely seriously.
“Let this be a warning to all operators that you need to treat consumers with respect and follow the Australian Consumer Law, otherwise you run the risk of being investigated, taken to court and prosecuted,” he said.
“The Office of Fair Trading will always do what we can to assist consumers who have been affected by breaches of the Australian Consumer Law,” Turner concluded.