Ok all, first off. This is a friend of mine. She is the nicest and kindest i know.
Have a watch of this and see if you think this is fair.
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8519633/tv-reno-disaster 
If you agree that this doesn’t seem fair then maybe put your view out there via social networks and comments on the aca web page that this shouldnt happen. You never know what kind of response there might be and maybe Vicki can get some assistance to fix the disaster.
cheers barls

Sorry, but that story just didn't add up.................why is she spending the money on the reno when it was for a TV show ?

Why doesn't she let them come in and fix it ?

what she won wasnt the reno but the so called mentor that ended up organising all the tradesman and screwing vicky over.
seriously if you had someone do such a shit job in the first place would you let them anywhere near the place.

I agree that the story doesn't make much sense. The fact that A Current Affair just happen to get the chance to do a dodgy builders story relating to a show on a rival TV network is just too convenient!

Why would you even consider putting $40 grand into a fibro shack in the first place? Who would spend that much cash without a contract? Why would you have building work organised by a 'stylist' and not a builder?

sending CASH in a pre addressed envelope...

they were crooks... and not tradesmen
by the look of the work....

If its all been videoed .. take them to court

Not all you see on TV is real... as this shows..

Lee

The world is full of them, the clown inpersonating the builder says it all, rough enough good enough,

In this poor ladies defence, I have seen the ads that this so called expert has in the mags such as Money and other real estate advice mags.
She advertises well as being self made in spending small amounts for high percentage returns before selling houses.

I am also a builder with a very good reputation and return bussiness. I got this from helping home and bussiness owners to avoid the pitfalls. There are so many that are easy to chew up lots of cash, and people can read all the mags and books they want but they still fall for them. It is just a shame that this lady got a dirty buch of people working there that did the wrong thing to her.

BARLS - Is she in QLD? If so get her to go to the BSA (Building Service Authority) for advice. If not then the state equivalent.
Also, if she has paid cash, get her to drop a line to the tax office and let them know everyone she paid cash to and if there was an official Invoice given. The taxman is red hot on the construction industry at the moment due to all the dodgy cash workers about.

Yep, I saw this on ACA when it went to air, just couldn't believe what I was seeing, if they were licenced tradesmen then she has a claim against them through Fair Trading (was it in NSW?), BUT. if there was no contract with the builder / tradesman (was she an owner builder and had the required permit?) then she has NO CLAIM, seems unfair I know but that is the law, at least here in NSW, but maybe she can take them (channel 10) to court and at least recover costs, surely she had something in writing from the channel 10 producers. Seems its time to contact the lawers. Maybe ACA can fund that as they so conveniently found out about the problem, it just amazes me that these TV stations go out of their way to bag each other, cheap shots I reckon, hardly worthy of the term "journalism". On the other hand I'm amazed that she handed over the CASH in envelopes without getting receipts, just plain dumb, would you hand out that sort of cash without evidence of payment? sorry Barls, she may be the nicest kindest person in the world but surely she is aware of the dangers inherent with those actions. and didn't she say she had paid out a sheeet load of cash for a few vids of this so called "stylist", what sort of title is that for someone who professes to be a wiz in the art of renovating? sounds like a con to me, and just because a person is "nice" and gulible doesn't mean that conning them is allowable. $40,000 into a "fibro shack" is not a big spend these days, could add far more than that to its value, but have a budget and stick to it (with a bit of room for blowout) but not an additional $20,00 pluss, crazy crazy.
My $2 worth

Even if paying cash the BSA in queensland will assist and I would hope other contruction regulatory bodies in other states too.
So long as the person doing the work is licenced as it is not the home owner who is trained and legally responsible to have all the work carried out in compliance with the relevant Australian Standards and Building Code of Australia (now National Construction Code).

As I said above they are on a big crack down at the moment to catch small operators without workcover and dodging tax.
It is making it so hard for use guys that do the right thing and pay the right taxes cause we cannot use 70% of aour regular tradesmen anymore cause their bussiness is not set up quite right.

Ha ha 68bus, I know where your at there, didn't mean to infer that cash was grounds for no claim but a receipt would be good otherwise how do you prove you paid them if they deny receiving the money, now owner builders are another story for another day, can you just go out and get a Taxi licence if you just want to take fares for a day?

she is nsw, il pass on what you have said about the tax man to here.
i also warned her to be careful when she was telling me about winning this chance. also it had to be better than the previous place she was renting.
im not sure if there was a builder involved or or not, by the looks of it id say no

If there were licened contractors involved there should be combackance to someone. I would head to the building authority first and chat with them and see if they can advise how to proceed. There may be sparky / plumber etc bodies.

The other thing I just remembered,
In qld we pay BSA (building service authority) insurance on every job we do. Its not much but it goes into a kitty and is for the BSA to help home owners when things go wrong. Not sure if there has to be a contract or not.
For all there fees and pain in the bum rules, our qld BSA is really well set up to help others, hopefully she can find the same down there.

the latest part of this saga
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8522987/celebrity-renovation-nightmare 
i still cant believe that this has happened
there is a half hour reply from cherie on you tube but i fell asleep half way through as it was so boring.
cheers donn and 68bus for the advice, ive passed it on.

I too have been subjected to the eternal rip off ...long story but beware .....there are so many of them around and they will pray on the weak!