The tradie quoted competitively, took a deposit (or full payment “for materials”), and then either disappeared, did half the job and left, or completed work so defective it has to be torn out. This is one of the most enraging scam patterns — and one where Australian Consumer Law is on your side, provided the tradesperson is identifiable.
The legal context
Where a tradie supplies services in trade or commerce, the ACL imposes statutory guarantees of due care and skill, fitness for purpose, and supply within a reasonable time. If they took a deposit and never started, that is also a straight breach of contract. Most states additionally regulate building work — Queensland’s QBCC, NSW Fair Trading, the Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly the VBA) in Victoria, and equivalents — with their own complaints and dispute paths.
Realistic outcomes
Unlicensed cash-only operators with no fixed address are hard to recover from but not impossible — bank account details often reveal a real name. Licensed tradies, by contrast, have everything to lose: their licence, their insurer relationship, and their ability to bid on future work. A Letter of Demand to a licensed tradie puts your claim on the record.
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1. Who did the work?
2. How much is at stake?
3. Do you have it in writing?
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The document approach
The written demand goes to your own bank, not the tradie. It sets out the quote, the dates and payments, and when you reported the scam to the bank, and asks the bank to reimburse you within 30 days, citing its scam obligations. If the bank refuses or does not respond in time, the next step is a complaint to AFCA. You can still report the tradie to the licensing body in parallel.
What Claim Done delivers
For a flat fee, Claim Done drafts a written demand to your own bank to reimburse you, citing its scam obligations (the ePayments Code, the Banking Code of Practice and, where it applies, the Scams Prevention Framework), plus an AFCA complaint if the bank refuses. If the tradie is an identifiable Australian, a Letter of Demand to them is a separate option.
What to expect after
Send the letter, lodge a complaint with your state’s building or fair-trading regulator, and, if your bank refuses to reimburse you, lodge the AFCA complaint.
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What happens when you put the builder on formal notice
Same problem. What a prepared case looks like.