Matthew Joshua Gregory, Helen Woods, fined for taking money but failing to deliver services

A floorer and a business trainer have both been fined thousands of dollars in court on the Gold Coast for taking customers’ cash and failing to deliver the service they promised.

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TWO Gold Coast business owners have been fined thousands of dollars for pocketing money without providing the service they promised.

Floorer Matthew Joshua Gregory on Tuesday was found guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court of failing to supply goods and services to a consumer within a reasonable time.

The court was told Gregory in February this year agreed to remove existing tiles and install a new timber floor in a Varsity Lakes home for $10,000.

Southport Courthouse. Picture: Scott Fletcher.

The Office of Fair Trading said the customer paid Gregory a $6000 deposit on March 7 and he began removing the tiles.

However, he left at lunch time that day and never returned.

Magistrate Pamela Dowse said the matter was an outrage and it was despicable that Gregory didn’t pay any money back to the customer.

Gregory was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $6,000 in compensation to the customer. No conviction was recorded.

Fair Trading executive director Brian Bauer said traders risked consumer confidence in the marketplace by failing to supply goods or services.

“Traders must not accept payment for products or services if they are not able to supply them within a reasonable time frame,” Mr Bauer said.

“This consumer paid a deposit expecting to receive a service within a reasonable period of time and this did not occur.”

In another case, a Burleigh Waters business trainer on Tuesday faced the same court for taking money for training but failing to provide it.

National Institute of Management and Training principal Helen Woods, who is also known as Helen Liddle and Helen Parkinson, was fined $15,000. Picture: LinkedIn.

National Institute of Management and Training principal Helen Woods, who is also known as Helen Liddle and Helen Parkinson, was fined $15,000.

The court was told Woods was paid $495 for a management course in October 2019 to be delivered the same month.

The customer was sent an email which said the course had to be rescheduled to November due to staffing issues. The course failed to go ahead on the rescheduled date.

It was the second time Woods was prosecuted by the Office of Fair Trading.

In 2016, Woods, then trading as H. Woods and Associates, was found guilty of eight counts of breaching the Australian Consumer Law and ordered to pay more than $18,000 in fines and restitution.

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