IT’S still business as usual in cyberspace for Albury reception centre Betty and Muriel’s of Adamshurst, which, in reality, has been closed since January 8.
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The defunct venue’s website is running with a working phone number for bookings and email links to operators Brock Phillips and Graeme Austin.
A message on the phone yesterday said:
“Hi you have contacted Betty and Muriel’s. Our opening hours are Tuesday through to Saturday from 10am through til close.
“You have unfortunately called outside these hours, if you wish to leave your telephone number, your name and also a short, brief message we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you very much.”
The message was no longer playing yesterday afternoon after several calls by The Border Mail, but the phone was still ringing.
The reservations page of the website says “you can email us and one of our staff will contact you to confirm your details’’.
There is no information on the website to indicate the business is not operating.
The owner of Adamshurst, Garry Morgan, said the internet site was probably continuing to operate because it was based on a computer inside the building, where items belonging to Mr Phillips and Mr Austin have been left.
A spokesman for the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates internet content, said it was unlikely to issue a takedown notice for the website, because it did not breach the classification system which the authority polices.
He said child pornography, instructions on criminal behaviour and violence-related matters were the areas it was most concerned about.
The new owner of the Betty and Muriel’s restaurant at Junee, Janette Lynch, said she knew of bookings made on the website for her business but she had been unable to access them because Mr Phillips and Mr Austin oversaw it.
“I have not had any contact with them since November 29, they have full control of the website, we have none,” Mrs Lynch said.
Albury police are no longer investigating the closure of Betty and Muriel’s, saying any inappropriate behaviour was subject to civil proceedings instead of the Crimes Act.
The Office of Fair Trading’s Albury branch has received numerous complaints and claims have been lodged in the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal.
However, the impact of any rulings by the tribunal will depend on whether the respondents in the case, Betty and Muriel’s of Adamshurst, appear.