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Page 4 The Moorabool News – 3 May, 2022
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Deal wasn’t set in concrete By Lachlan Ellis A Beremboke man is wanting to warn the community to be careful about paying out large monetary deposits on projects, after he was ripped off thousands of dollars. Jody Smallacombe employed a local Ballan concreter to do some work at his rural property in January, and said he was pressured into paying a deposit of around $5,000. Not long after paying the deposit, Mr Smallacombe said the concreter stopped coming to work at the property, and wouldn’t answer calls or text messages about when he would return to finish the job. “I needed some concrete pads put down, quite large, 4.4 metres in diameter, for water tanks to go on. I rang some different concreters up and ended up settling with probably the worst one I could’ve employed,” Mr Smallacombe told the Moorabool News. “He started hounding me for half the deposit money...the job was worth about $11,500 all up. He kept on hounding me all the time, saying things like ‘you need to book in, I’ve got a lot of work on’…I said to my wife, ‘what do you think?’ and she said ‘he seems alright, we’ll go along with him’. I ended up transferring $5,000 into his account. “As soon as he’s got the $5,000, I didn’t hear from him for two weeks. I sent about 20 text messages, I rang lots of times, didn’t get any response at all… as soon as he got the money, he just dropped me like a hot scone.” Weeks went by without a response, and Mr Smallacombe contacted the police, who then called the concreter
Jody Smallacombe at two of the three concrete pads now completed by another concreter after losing more than $2000 to a local concreter, who “took my money and ran”. Photo – Helen Tatchell for an explanation. “He was all apologetic, had all the excuses under the sun…the copper asked him if he was going to do the job. That afternoon, straight away the concreter rang me and said sorry, and that he’d come around that weekend,” Mr Smallacombe said. “He rocks up on the Sunday with some reo mesh that goes in the concrete. He dug some holes with an excavator, went away and said he’d be back that week. He didn’t come back, two weeks passed, still nothing…I sent 20 text messages again, no response once again. “One day he showed up with four blokes, made a bigger mess and dropped some gravel, and then walked
off without telling me where they were going…that was the last time he was on the property.” The Moorabool News contacted the concreter for comment however he declined. In the end, Mr Smallacombe had to hire another concreter, who thankfully did a much better job and fixed the original concreter’s mess. “What this guy’s doing gives all concreters a bad name in the area. The guy I got to fix the job couldn’t be nicer, he was a really good bloke, he came when he said he would,” he said. Local police were also contacted for comment but declined to comment on the matter as “it is a civil matter”.
Wise up on driving rules If you’re over 55 and want to refresh your knowledge of the road rules in Victoria, Moorabool Shire Council is offering a series of free sessions that could help you out. The ‘Wiser Driver Information Sessions’ will run for 2 hours each, through each week in May. From 10 am to 12 pm on Friday 6 May, Friday 13 May, Friday 20 May, and Friday 27 May, attendees will be informed about topics such as changes to road rules, safety tips for difficult driving conditions, and the impact of medication on driving. No driving lessons or tests are involved, and every attendee will be provided with morning tea and a Victorian Driving handbook. The sessions will be held at North Wing Meeting Rooms 2 and 3 at the Moorabool Shire Council Offices at 182 Halletts Way, Darley. For more information, contact Niki Efstratiou on 5366 1381, or via email at nefstratiou@moorabool.vic.gov.au. The sessions have been funded by the Department of Transport’s Community Road Safety Grant.
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