A Border man who has spent the past 16 months trying to regain his money from a tradesman who never completed the work he was paid to do, believes there needs to be stronger protection for consumers.
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Thill Dissanayaka took his dispute with Colin Basil Vincent to Victoria Consumer Affairs and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal but seven months after VCAT ruled in his favour and ordered Mr Vincent to pay him $3000, Mr Dissanayaka is yet to see a single dollar.
"What I've learnt is they're just time-wasting processes," he said.
"The authorities have said he's wrong, he should give you the money but it's just documents, paperwork, they don't seem to have any power. I've lost my money and I've wasted my time because of him."
In October, Mr Dissanayaka and fellow Wodonga resident Mick Gribble told The Border Mail they had both hired Mr Vincent months before to construct retaining walls and paid him $4000 and $5000 respectively, but he never completed the work.
Both men had to pay for other companies to complete the jobs. Mr Gribble has since been repaid $2500.
At the time, Mr Vincent was using the business name B-Con Concreting and claimed he was the one out of pocket. Using the same ABN, he also operates under, Lilvinny Concreting.
On January 17, VCAT ordered Mr Vincent, who did not attend the hearing, to pay Mr Dissanayaka $3000 and to reimburse him for the VCAT application fee.
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Seven months on, Mr Dissanayaka said the only option left to him was to register the lack of payment with the court.
After 16 months contacting bodies from Consumer Affairs Victoria to Victoria Police and then VCAT hoping someone would hold Mr Vincent accountable, Mr Dissanayaka said he's 'exhausted' by the system and 'frustrated' Mr Vincent was still working and advertising online as of June 25.
He believes there should be a more straightforward system in place and warned other residents to double check the people's accreditation and ensure they were fully licenced so they could be held accountable.
"Don't trust anyone," he said. "If there's someone coming to you saying I have an ABN I can do this, don't give them any jobs."
Mr Vincent was contacted for comment.
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