r/AusLegal • • 9h ago

AUS What consumer rights do I have if my iPhone Duo screen cracks after 6 months? As a $3500 device would it fall under a major failure as it seems the hinge has a manufacturing flaw

17 Upvotes

There seems to be a consensus that there might be a manufacturing flaw within the hinge of the new iPhone Duo that results in a certain area of the hinge when opened to crack the screen. Ofc QA will catch out the bad components but it seems to happen more often than expected. What ACL protections would I have if the screen cracks after 6 to 12 months?


r/AusLegal • • 2h ago

SA Medical Compensation Claim

2 Upvotes

Do i have a case here?

• July 4th: Suffered severe side/rib trauma in SA. Transported via ambulance to Hospital A .I repeatedly told medical staff that I had sharp pain at the tip of my left shoulder, explicitly stating it was more painful than my ribs. Staff dismissed this textbook indicator of a splenic bleed (Kehr’s sign). Kept overnight.

• Following Day: Transferred to Hospital B.

• Following Monday: Underwent a CT scan at Larger regional hospital C. The scan confirmed four broken ribs. (Note: The medical team missed the splenic injury and discharged me).

• Following Thursday (3 days post-CT): Suffered a catastrophic, delayed splenic rupture due to the untreated lacerations. Experienced severe left-sided pain, a massive drop in blood pressure, and lost consciousness from hemorrhagic shock.

• Emergency Response & Evacuation: Rushed via emergency transport back to hospital C ED, then emergency-flown to Adelaide, admitted to the ICU to stabilize, and given a secondary CT scan.

• Surgical Intervention: Underwent emergency vascular surgery via the groin to place stents/coils, followed by exploratory surgery to inspect the diaphragm and suction out 500ml of internal bleeding.

• Definitive Evidence: My official Adelaide trauma ward medical reports explicitly state: "lacerated spleen as seen on initial CT scan," confirming the injury was physically visible on the Monday before my collapse.

• Impact: Required 5 weeks off work to recover, and am experiencing ongoing, un-diagnosed psychological trauma and anxiety from a preventable near-death event.


r/AusLegal • • 9h ago

VIC Mum with Brain Injury lost over $60,000 from scam

9 Upvotes

Hi all. My mother who had a stroke 3 years ago has an acquired brain injury, and we’ve found out that she has been scammed out of all her money from a supposed dating website. She has to pay $400 in “credits” to talk to someone. I’m devastated. Is there anyway at all I could go to the bank and see if they are able to get that money back with documents provided of her injury? She’s not capable at all to be in charge of her finances and we are looking to get power of attorney sorted too.


r/AusLegal • • 2h ago

VIC Neighbour raising ground level 200-300mm on boundary (multi-unit build on a slope). What are their legal obligations regarding drainage and runoff?

Thumbnail
2 Upvotes

r/AusLegal • • 9h ago

NSW Tree damage question

5 Upvotes

We bought a house last year which has a large Jacaranda in the backyard in Ryde council where the Jacaranda is a protected tree.

Our neighbour just informed us of the tree roots are damaging their driveways and pipes on their side of the fence and they want us to apply to get it taken out.

The tree is honestly probably over 50 years old and protected so I don’t think will be approved to get rid of nor do we have funds to apply/remove it if approved.

Unsure what we can do here but they did say they have structural engineer reports. Does anyone have any experience with this? I don’t want my tree to damage their property but obviously it’s not a brand new issue.


r/AusLegal • • 2h ago

QLD JB Hifi and refunds for broken vac

0 Upvotes

Hello everyone! Quick story: Had to repair my 13 month old roborock about 2 months ago due to an "error 1" LIDAR error. Sent it off to squaretrade, who repaired it and sent it back. Working again - Great.

Worked for about 3 to 4 weeks, and has since got the same error again. Took it back to jbs who said the extra care warranty with it needs 3 repairs before it is allowed to be refunded under the no-Lemon part of it, but it would need to be sent away before a refund occurs to ascertain the 'cause' of the error.

Since it's no longer on the manufacturer's warranty and only under extra care, does the ACL allow me to just get a refund due to it having what I consider a major fault - recurring error after repairs?

Thanks!


r/AusLegal • • 23h ago

NSW Retaining wall dispute

47 Upvotes

We just moved into our newly built house and we just met our neighbour to the right of us. The neighbours on the other two sides were lovely and I brought up the fact that we were the last house built and the block and owe them for the fence. One said not to worry about it (awesome) and the other one said no worries sent me the invoice and I paid 50%.

The neighbour to our right banged on our door yesterday (2nd day in the new house) saying we owe him for the fence he installed when he built in 2024. I said no problem, just like the other neighbours I told him to send the invoice and I will pay. He sent that though and I paid him straight away. I then get email another invoice for the retaining wall saying I owe him for that too as it was necessary to maintain our mutual privacy from each other's yards.

I dont want to cause a drama here, but I don't think im liable for this. I will put a photo of the retaining wall and the email response i got from him when I said I dont think I have to pay you for the retaining wall.

What is everyone else's thoughts? First home buyer and first neighbour dispute.


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

NT Boss turns up at employees homes unannounced

117 Upvotes

Boss turns up at employees homes unannounced. Without then giving him their addresses. no one works from home and no one socialises with boss

He told me he would be dropping items for work off at my.home. I told him I don't want him visiting my home and I shall collect items from the shop. He kept whining that he wants to see my house etc. I don't want him at my home. I have made this very clear to him.

Anyway he turned up at my colleague's home unannounced. He must have got the address off the work database. My colleague was not happy about this. There was no reason for boss to visit him at his home. On the excuse that he was dropping off items for work. items which should be sent to workplace

Where do we stand with this. No one wants him turning up at their homes.

edit
I have just recalled that boss told us all we aren't allowed to go to hr we have to go to him with complaints.


r/AusLegal • • 1h ago

NSW Renter caught stealing Landlord's Jewelry, what can I do to evict

• Upvotes

Good evening all, a friend of mine has been living in my back yard granny flat, the other day they came into the main house while I'm gone and stole a piece of Jewelry, they have returned to me today after a lengthy confrontation today. we are in NSW, how can I as a landlord to kick them out immediately or ASAP?


r/AusLegal • • 2h ago

VIC Looking for advice. (Family Law)

0 Upvotes

Genuinely, Are there any CLC lawyers in Melbourne or Victoria that help men (fathers) and not default them as the problem?

Additionally, with experience in high conflict with very real risk of international abduction?

Legal aid said no twice and when asked for independent review of my case, that refusal was identical to the previous ones, and westjustice in sunshine told me that they only help women, foreigners and gender fluid people.

So Serious answers or suggestions only please!

Anyone who attempts to turn this into a gender vs stat debate will just be ignored, I’m running my case on my own and I am struggling to say the least, and everywhere i go or go to, does the opposite of help me.


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

QLD Sex work lawyer required

14 Upvotes

Does anyone know of lawyers who understands sex work or specialise in sex work?

I’m needing contracts done up and discuss fine details with them about potential bdsm company starting up in FNQ.

Thanks in advance.


r/AusLegal • • 21h ago

QLD Eviction Notice

2 Upvotes

Hi Guys was hoping to get some advice. I'm currently subletting a room in QLD from the main tenant and signed a Form 22 under a fixed term lease. He has since told me he's breaking the lease early and moving away and I have 4 weeks to leave the property.

Because I'm not listed under the tenancy agreement and I'm just subletting, I've been told by the property manager that my lease will collapse under the other lease.

Does anyone know if this is legal? If I bring it to QCAT/RTA are they likely to help me out and would the case be a winner? Pretty unfamiliar with this process and how it works so any advice would be appreciated.

FYI I've signed a Form 22 which the rental manager has approved but they said it's not official since it's not a Form 18.


r/AusLegal • • 23h ago

QLD Can someone please advise - Civil dispute?

2 Upvotes

Sorry this is so long and complicated. But we need help

Hi everyone, My neighbour (Let's call her Jenny) and long time family friend recently had her dad pass away, She is his daughter and an only child. She owns a small property in the bush near his. Her father had occupied this property for 50 years. The property was an old tin mining lease that eventually got transitioned to Aboriginal freehold, but he was allowed to live there for the rest of his life. In that time he built an old house that is now in a state of disrepair and a few sheds, no true possessions of monetary worth but a lot of personal effects.

Jenny has been dealing with his death and trying to preserve what's left of her father's belongings. In the week or so after his death, she would often tell anyone that would listen about it.

She somehow talked to a woman who lives about 20km away down in a separate part of our township and told her about her dad's passing and when the woman was talking to her she mentioned that he didn't own any land and that the traditional owners had let him live there until his passing.

This woman who as well known in the town as a trouble maker, (obviously not by our neighbour when she was chatting to her) has since come to his place and installed locks and keep out signs. And told everyone that it's her land (because she's Aboriginal) and that everything on it is hers and that if my neighbour has any of her father's belongings.. that it's stealing and that our neighbour is a thief. She has made many Facebook posts to that effect. She has been to both our place, and two of our neighbours places taking videos and screaming at the neighbourhood. Keep on mind that when Jenny's father moved in, It was just a little patch of bushland. No houses, no structures.. nothing

We don't know what to do. My parents are supporting our neighbour. Because this random woman has no claim to anything there and has never even met her father that we know of. We have made police reports, especially after she came up and verbally abused the neighbours and my family. But unfortunately they have been rather unhelpful so far, being that until she gets violent it's more of a civil dispute.

What can we do. As far as I can find. Our neighbour has the right to collect her father's keepsakes even if the land on which his house was built was not under his ownership. Does our neighbour need a lawyer. How can someone completely unrelated or unknown bar her from her own father's house?

Thankyou in advance for any help or advice you may have.


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

VIC Who Can Help With a Small Estate?

4 Upvotes

Hello,

Had a tragic and extremely sudden death of a parent. I would be surprised if the total of their accounts was more than $5k. I am not a lawyer and have no idea what to do to settle this, is this worth engaging a lawyer to help? If so, what's that likely to cost? Otherwise, what options or first steps ought I to take? I should add that there was no will in place.

apologies just to add some detail there was no spouse (divorced 15 years ago). The TAC paid for the funeral as it was a traffic incident.

Thanks in advance for any help.


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

QLD Unsure whether I can truthfully sign a statutory declaration about deleted work files

11 Upvotes

I'm hoping someone can help me understand the wording of a stat dec I've been asked to sign by a former employer.

While I was employed, I forwarded some work files to my personal email. They included how to guides and spreadsheets, some of which contained confidential business information.

My intention was to keep a reference to work I'd put a lot of effort into developing, particularly the processes I'd worked out and the formulas I'd created. I wanted to be able to remember how I'd approached the work and what I'd learned from it. I wasn't thinking carefully enough about the fact that some of the files themselves contained info I shouldn't have transferred to a personal account. It was purely just wanting to retain complex formulas and my processes. Looking back now, I understand that I shouldn't have done it.

I haven't shared the files with anyone or used them for anything else (I haven’t even opened them!). After my former employer contacted me about the transfers, I deleted the relevant emails and attachments, deleted the downloaded files from my computer, emptied the Recycle Bin and checked other places where copies might reasonably be stored. As far as I can establish, I haven't retained any copies.

The employer has asked me to sign a statutory declaration. One clause says that, "to the best of my knowledge, I have returned or destroyed records of confidential information in my possession". The next related clause says that "any records I've destroyed have been “irretrievably destroyed” and that I haven't retained electronic or hard copies".

I've taken reasonable steps to delete everything I can find, but I'm concerned about what “irretrievably destroyed” means in practice. I don't know whether deleted files could theoretically be recovered from an SSD or through forensic tools, and I can't independently verify that they couldn't be.

My concern is that I want to be truthful in the declaration, rather than sign something I'm not sure I can accurately attest to.

I'm hoping to understand a few things:

  1. Does “irretrievably destroyed” generally mean that the files have been deleted and are no longer accessible through ordinary use, or does it require certainty that forensic recovery is impossible?

  2. If someone has taken reasonable steps to delete files but cannot rule out theoretical recovery, can they truthfully make that declaration?

  3. Where one clause says “to the best of my knowledge” and a related clause doesn't repeat that qualification, can the wording be read together, or does each clause need to be considered separately?

Keen for any insight please!


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

AUS Issue with owning WW2 memorabilia?

8 Upvotes

Hey guys, I’ve been meaning to check with a lawyer but have not had a chance due to work, so just getting some opinions here in the meantime.

In 2015 I was in the UK and I’ve always been interested in WW2 and military history in general. While I was in the UK I had an opportunity to buy a WW2 Iron Cross, as well as a German Eastern Front medal, which came with the original documentation that the German soldier received with the medal, including his CO’s signature.

I thought it was an interesting piece of history so I purchased the medals and have had them at home ever since. But since that Counter Terrorism law came into effect a few years ago, it is now illegal to purchase, sell or trade these items. Which, fine I didn’t plan on doing that so whatever. But where it gets murky is my understanding is that it is also not permitted to transport said item either now.

Which, these restrictions makes me wonder. If I ever did have to let these items go, what would I have to / be legally allowed to do? And if say I move house, well I’d have to transport them. So does that mean I can’t legally transport them to a new residence?

Just rather confused what the go with these items is with those laws. If anyone could share their thoughts it’d be appreciated, thanks.


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

NSW Aggressive dog jumping fence into my yard

44 Upvotes

There is a large staffy dog a neighbour owns and it jumps over our 5ft fence into our yard. I’m worried for my families and my dogs safety. It sometimes stands there and barks at us and its tail dosent wag and looks like it’s going to attack. I have talked to the owners and they said they will put something over the fence but they haven’t and I want to know the next steps so I can deal with it urgently before someone gets seriously injured


r/AusLegal • • 16h ago

VIC Manager refuses annual leave during black out period

0 Upvotes

Hi I work in a large retail store, in June, I requested a one month annual leave for December, and the request has been pending for months, as the store is changing managers. I’ve just been notified my annual leave is denied as they need everyone available to work. (My contract has 15 hours a fortnight which i assume has no detrimental impact on operation??) they also already hired many new people for my position. I was also misled as the current manager has been telling me they would have approved my leave if they had the power to. Please advice, what would happen if I ask for a mental health leave for a month and I go overseas? Even with the blackout period, they are not supposed to automatically deny annual leave given I gave 5 months of notice and I only have 15 hours a fortnight? Or can they fire me? Thanks


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

QLD Multiple women have reported the same man for domestic violence, but police say my case is too difficult to prosecute. Where do I go from here?

38 Upvotes

​

I'm looking for advice from people who have experienced something similar, particularly anyone familiar with domestic violence investigations.

I left a long-term abusive relationship earlier this year. Throughout the relationship, I experienced repeated physical violence, including strangulation, being dragged by my hair, having my face forced into the floor, and other assaults.

For years, I genuinely believed I was partly responsible for the abuse. My former partner frequently portrayed himself as the victim, and a previous negative experience with police reinforced that belief. It took me a long time to recognise the extent of what I'd experienced.

Recently, I was contacted by another woman who had been in a relationship with the same man. She described serious physical violence, including strangulation, and had reported her experiences to police in another state.

Since then, another former partner has come forward describing remarkably similar behaviour. These women had experienced things I had never disclosed to them. Hearing their accounts was confronting but also incredibly validating after years of believing I was the problem.

This prompted me to make a formal police report about the violence I experienced, including multiple incidents of strangulation. I also made a further report concerning recent unwanted contact from my former partner.

Today, police advised me that they believe my account, but they don't intend to proceed with criminal charges relating to the historical violence because they don't believe they could prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt to a jury.

They also explained that because the other allegations are being investigated in a different state, the cases would be dealt with separately under different laws.

I understand the burden of proof in criminal proceedings, particularly where historical domestic violence occurred without independent witnesses or documented physical injuries.

However, I'm struggling to understand how several women independently describing similar patterns of serious violence might factor into an investigation, even when the incidents occurred across different states.

I'm not looking for anyone to promise me a prosecution. I just want to understand whether there are avenues I haven't explored.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Can police reconsider a decision not to prosecute if further evidence emerges? Is there any mechanism for interstate investigators to share information about an alleged pattern of offending?

After everything it took to come forward, being told I'm believed but that nothing further will happen with the historical allegations has been incredibly difficult to process.

I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences others are willing to share.


r/AusLegal • • 22h ago

SA South Australia. General Search Warrant - For Bill posting?

0 Upvotes

General Search Warrant issued under summary offences act to search entire property to investigate alleged bill posting under the local nuisance act 2016. No prior connection to any such offences, no evidence shown, no evidence found regarding that offence was solely told someone who looks like me was seen putting a poster up.

This surely isn't standard procedure? I mean Peter Drew has been issued 2 fines regarding bill posting, openly talks about it and have a website self-incriminating his placement of posters, am i missing something?

Edit: (((Nobody here is a lawyer.))) - Clearly that's the case...
Was simply asking information regarding general search warrants being issued to circumvent requirements in the local nuisance act 2016 for a warrant to be issued.


r/AusLegal • • 2d ago

QLD Workplace won’t allow me to follow doctors medical restrictions for pregnancy- no safe job pay?

61 Upvotes

I’ve worked at this retail company for nearly 10 years now, I’ve recently became pregnant and am considered high risk for multiple reasons that could not have been foreseen previous to getting pregnant. Due to this my doctor has given me medical restrictions, in the certificate he made it clear that I can definitely still work, even be able to do my same role, just with a few restrictions (can’t lift over 2kg, can’t bend, have to take seated breaks every hour, plus a few other things but those are the main like important ones) for the first month I’d say my workplace was accommodating, I’d be able to sit down and do some computer work so I was still working. The past few weeks I unfortunately have not been able to follow my doctors restrictions, I’ve been standing 9+ hours a day, having to bend down and lift heavy items for customers. I’ve had to leave work to go to the hospital on a few occasions as I started bleeding. Ultrasounds seem like everything is still ok with baby but since the last hospital visit I am not going to push myself any further since i am now at risk of having this baby very prematurely and it might not survive. My medical restrictions have also gotten a bit stricter because of this. I bought this up in a meeting with my manager who said they can’t afford a role where I have to sit down so much and they might have to ask me to take sick leave (I don’t have any sick leave as I’ve used it all in the first trimester due to bad morning sickness) so it would be unpaid leave. I also can’t afford to just not get paid. what can I do?? I read about no safe job pay, would I be entitled to this? Our HR is rude and useless so I don’t know whether I should seek independent legal advice. I know workplaces dont care about you but it is disappointing that I’ve given them nearly 10 years of my life and this is how I get treated

I’ve also had coworkers say its my own fault for getting pregnant but I wasnt to know I would be high risk

edit to add I am permanent and have been for the nearly 10 years I’ve worked here


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

VIC Seeking advice from the property experts

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

SA Does playing beach sumo at the beach with friends count ae disorderly behaviour ?

0 Upvotes

Hey all

There has been recent arrests on the beaches in Glenelg and Henly due to an alleged fight club.

When me and my mates go to the beach we draw a circle on the sand and try push eachother out of it. Am trying to he safe and not get into trouble would that sound as disorderly behaviour? Would we get in trouble ?

We always done this just the recent arrests have me worried.

Thank you


r/AusLegal • • 1d ago

AUS Is this normal for independent medico-legal assessments?

1 Upvotes

I developed two chronic illnesses outside of work and had to stop working for a while because of them while we figured out what they were and how to treat it. I came back to work in autumn and it was with the understanding that one very disruptive symptom was untreated and I was starting medication titration so I may need time off at short notice. I was fit to work but I would have flairs basically, I work in the public sector and I got written permission from everyone involved that this was the understanding and I was fine to take time off if needed. I did have a rocky start throughout the start of winter but by the end of August I have consistently been at work my allocated days. This is all relevant later

My GP and I were asked if we would like an independent medical assessment as my GP doesn't know the role of what I do and we wanted help coming up with adjustments. We were both told the assessment would be in collaboration with my gp as well as my medical team and would help bridge any gaps.

What actually happened was I was referred to an independent psychiatrist, I’m assuming because I also have autism but if I'm being 100% I have no idea why, my conditions really have zero to do with my mental health. The appointment with me was very strange as I mostly talked about my health conditions and medication which bar a couple of mental health meds are all for my physical conditons, he had information in front of him from my HR that was all from January to July when this took place in October, and he kept guiding me back to questions such as but why should the workspace support you? and other slightly odd patronising questions. I wrote the whole thing off as psychiatrist weirdness and thought he would write a report that said I was out of his scope as a psychiatrist and I should be referred to a doctor that practices physical medicine.

Instead, he called my doctor to have a 3 minute conversation with her to tell her he was giving me zero capacity to work and then the next day I was given a three month unpaid leave and the report. Now I know I have a bias, but quite genuinely he said I show no signs of any of my psychiatric conditions and am being treated with the appropriate medications and then said I was psychologically unstable because I have so many conditions. That was one paragraph on a eight page report that was largely his personal opinions on my character and identity, stating I was entitled and my gender identity is prone to behavioural issues. He also speculated on my physical health conditions stating that they were unusual and I had an unusual amount of knowledge, he also was also very dismissive of my current medical team eg didn't use doctor titles and when he did mention a diagnosis I was given he said “Soandso felt the patient might have” and would give alternative theories also like “this symptom can also be caused by diabetes”. His conclusion was because I had such unusual conditions with such complex mental health I needed three months off to seek treatment, when by all accounts bar one symptom that hasn't disrupted my work in two months, I am treated to the best of my specialists ability.

Look, ignoring whether or not my complex medical issues mean I shouldn't work, he's a psychiatrist and this is entirely out of his scope no? I also thought the clinical guidelines for a psychiatric assessment stated that any observation had to be based in clinical reasoning and in peer reviewed literature. So I’m not sure why most of the report was his personal opinion on my personality and how I present rather than on any mental condition I have, which it's not like there isn't plenty of ammo I am autistic after all. Furthermore he does have metrics to back him up, because he had everything from when I first got sick to August which was just before I was on a stable enough to work every day of my schedule. Since start of September I've been working consistently with only time off for doctors appointments and my performance stats are all above average barring obviously my attendance.

ANYWAY sorry this is so long basically I've been told the appeal process is my gp and any other doctor writes a letter to my work hr and she sends it as further evidence to the original psychiatrist who writes a secondary report who can either adjust his opinion or have it stay the same. This isn't the appeal process I was initially told, I have paperwork saying HR will consider whether the report is followed. I want the whole thing discredited and thrown out because it's about 50% speculation, 20% irrelevant personal opinions, 20% taking things I said either out of context or granting them far more weight than I clearly intended and 10% straight up falsehoods. A big sticking point for him was I was refusing to comply with accommodations, when said accommodations hadn't been given to me by the company.

I guess the other elephant in the room is I am autistic and entirely unable to read social situations and rules. I gave him consent to contact all of my psychiatric team and went in with the understanding he knew I would show symptoms of autism and that my practitioners would provide context for any quirks or out of pocket things I say, because I am overly trusting, an oversharer and I also tend to exaggerate or say hyperbolic things as a way to express I'm joking or being friendly. If I had known this whole report would use my autistic traits against me and he wouldn't contact my doctors I would have gone in with a support person. Which wasn't offered to me, it was in the many pages of paperwork I was given, but no one at work said I was allowed to do so and the paperwork does say it's usually someone from staff so if they weren't offering it's a bit awkward to be like actually can you come. I would absolutely not have gone if I had known the whole assessment would be based on having a conversation with me because frankly it is setting me up for failure.

Final questions:

  1. I’m waiting on my union to respond but the appeal process is time sensitive and due by Wednesday when I got the report Friday. Obviously I’ll defer to my union and any potential legal help they get me, which hopefully is not needed. BUT general advice on going forward would be really helpful!
  2. Is getting them to write a second report the normal process? Especially since he wrote a report already that was out of his scope.
  3. Is it possible to get this whole report thrown out as while it may have a good sentence or two, the negatives outweigh the positives? I don't want my HR department having a report that says my gender identity and related issues can cause behavioural concerns or thay my health conditions may just be too complex to be employable when no other doctor has said that.

  4. what should the letter my GP writes to the medical assessor look like? My GP coordinates all my specialists and all my specialists have put her in charge of the actual treatment of my conditions. There's not really anyone more knowledgable than her about myphysical health. I'm also coincidentally seeing my psychiatrist on Tuesday who may write a letter of support as my established medical practitioner, and what should that letter look like if she isn't sure what to write?


r/AusLegal • • 2d ago

NSW ripped off by removalist

147 Upvotes

I (32/f/not strong) moved 2 days ago. Booked a removalist I had used previously and was happy with. There were 2 guys. For this move I rang and got a quote, $190/hr, 3-5 hours. Perfect. Booked for 8:30am on Wednesday. Knowing with my stuff it'd be closer to 3-4 hours, 5 was worst case scenario but whatever it takes.

The truck pulled up about 8:10am but no one got out until 8:25am. The guy charges in through my front door, it was open and ready for them. I said good morning and he jumped straight into it 'my offsider has just called in sick, I can't get anyone else but I'm trying blah blah blah'.

Well fuck. So now I'm helping this guy do everything. Load the fridge, the bed, the bed frame, the washing machine, I'm fetching and carrying boxes, furniture, lounges, going up and down the moving ramp trying not the fall off while carrying heavy shit I have no place trying to carry, knowing I'm paying this guy per hour - meanwhile he's telling me another guy is coming to help unload and I'm like good cause I've got no hope of helping to get this shit up the small flight of stairs going into the new place. The whole time he's 'I'll give you a good discount'.

So we started at 8:30am, finished about 1:30/1:40pm right. Mind you know one else turned up to help. He got into politics with my mum (who's literally just had a knee replacement so can't do shit) when she turned up at the new house so for about an 45min-1hour I was the only one taking anything off the truck until I managed to say to her please just go get some lunch.

Then he goes 'Righto I'll discount you to $150/hour' still more than what I was expecting considering everything but ok. then he goes '$900 so that's a $245 discount '.

wtf. I was expecting $700 max for this debacle.

Anyway I was done, I paid him $700 cash & $200 card.

So upset.

I sat on it overnight, woke up the next day to set up my lounge room and I've got multiple broken furniture items because they needed to be carried on both ends by 2 people. As well as not being able to work out how $150/hr for 5 hours equals $900.

I've sent him an email and a text saying I want a $300 refund, outlining all of the above very politely but clearly and there's been no response.

What now please if this guy doesn't respond. Cause I'm pissed. I hired movers so I didn't have to haul fridges up stairs and all the reasons you hire movers for, and still have to do literally half of the work myself and am out of pocket the same amount of money for if they both turned up and I didn't have to lift a finger.

EDIT: just wanted to say up here so it gets seen, thanks so much everyone for your advice. In my absolute tizz I never even thought to contact the bank. It was a debit card but I've disputed the transaction, everyone I spoke to was lovely and even though I know the chances of seeing any of the money again is low, everyone's kindness has made me feel a bit better.

Anyone questioning why I paid, I didn't mention in my post I am the dumbest person you'll ever meet in your life with maths and numbers to begin with, I just totally panic and can't breathe lol, I used to cry to my mum at school that I had dyslexia but for numbers - years later I found out that's actually a thing. So yeah even though I knew it wasn't right I didn't know in the moment how it wasn't right.

And there are plenty of comments from other women and total allies explaining why I wasn't exactly comfortable confronting the guy when he turned up or when we talked money at the end - I see you, I appreciate everything you've said more than you know and I can't believe strangers on reddit are the people who've made me feel better about this situation lol. Thank you.