Residents across the state warned of ‘bitumen bandits’ who provide dodgy driveways
Residents across the state have been warned to be on the alert for “bitumen bandits” with a former MP and Mount Compass dairy farmer slugged $5000 for a dodgy driveway.
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Residents are being warned to be aware of “bitumen bandits” offering to do work for cash after a spate of dodgy jobs reported to Consumer and Business Services.
The Commissioner for Consumer Affairs Dini Soulio has issued a public alert about the itinerant tradies, who go door to door offering to work on a resident’s driveway for a cheap fee, claiming to have leftover bitumen from roadworks.
“These people aren’t licensed, and the work they do is always of a poor standard,” Mr Soulio said.
“In recent days, we have received reports of sightings in Ferryden Park, Unley, Mount Compass and Windsor Gardens.
“We have also been advised that they may be advertising around Verdun.”
The department had logged more than 50 such reports over the past two years.
Former state government minister Rob Brokenshire was one of those stung by the dodgy tradesman, after paying $5000 to have a 150m driveway at his Mt Compass property sealed.
Mr Brokenshire, a dairy farmer, told The Messenger he was the victim of a “smooth and pressuring” operator with an English accent – claiming to be working on a State Government road project for a company called National Asphalt – on January 24.
He said he was pressured into making a decision and did not ask to see the any identification.
“You had to make your mind up then,” Mr Brokenshire said of the offer.
“(It’s) probably the most pressurised I’ve ever experienced.”
He said the tradie offered discounted bitumen at only $25sq m.
“He probably got me because we’ve got a lot of (farm) tracks and we were looking to seal (them),” he said.
Mr Brokenshire said he got a “far inferior job” to what he expected, with potholes not adequately filled in or gravel correctly rolled into the bitumen.
“It’s probably not going to last the time that a normal bitumen seal normally would,” he said.
“It appears to be inadequate in the way it was prepared and laid.
“It was the fastest job I’ve ever seen. (There was) virtually no preparation.”
He warned property owners to ask for some kind of registration or documentation before agreeing to work getting done.
“They had no logos on their vehicles or on their shirts,” he said.
“Be careful if they come in ... they’re smoother than silk.”
Mr Brokenshire, who served as SA’s Minister for Police from 1998 to 2002, said he might now have to seal the road again.
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A spokesman for the Attorney-General’s Department said it received reports of bitumen bandits “fairly often”.
“It tends to come in fits and starts, but the practice itself has been going on for years,” the spokesman said.
“Properties involved in this most recent batch were residential properties, farming properties and small businesses.”
Police are also investigating reports of a man, with an Irish accent, last Wednesday claiming to work for the local council offering to lay cheap bitumen in Mt Barker.
Anyone with information about the men is urged to contact Consumer and Business Services on 131 882.