The Malinauskas Government is warning people to be wary of anyone coming to their door claiming a tree on their property needs to be chopped down.
Reminiscent of the notorious ‘bitumen bandits’, reports have been received of teams of people going door-to-door saying they are ‘”tree loppers” and insisting that a tree on their property is dangerous and must immediately be cut down due to being a safety hazard.
A few residents have then contacted a qualified arborist who has said the tree is safe and in good health.
The reports have come from residents in Belair and Hawthorndene, however, we are warning South Australians across the metropolitan area.
Fortunately, we are not aware of any trees that have actually been cut down by these people but it’s important to be vigilant.
Anyone going door-to-door is an immediate red flag and the government is urging people to report any unsolicited “arborists” to Consumer and Business Services.
Making a false and misleading representation concerning the need for goods or services is a breach of Australian Consumer Law with penalties of up to $2.5 million for individuals.
These “tree loppers” potentially breach South Australian consumer laws as well if they are found to engage in coercing customers for payment, failing to observe the 10-business day cooling off period for door-to-door sales, known as unsolicited consumer agreements, providing false representations and wrongly claiming to be affiliated with reputable entities.
Chopping down a regulated or significant tree (trees with a trunk circumference of 1m or 2m respectively) without development approval can also attract fines of up to $120,000 under the Development Act.
Reports can be made to CBS on 131 882 or via the website.
As put by Andrea Michaels
It’s very alarming to hear of people going to people’s homes claiming to be legitimate arborists.
Anyone going door-to-door like that is an immediate red flag and should be reported to Consumer and Business Services.
I don’t want to see anyone conned out of their money or a healthy tree be cut down unnecessarily.
