Monthly Archives: April 2012

This year Australia’s No 1 Building & Renovation Expo (HIA Sydney Home Show) will be held 10am to 7pm, from Thursday 31 May – Sunday 3 June 2012, at the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre, Sydney.

There will be over 300 exhibitors showcasing the latest trends in renovation, building, furnishing, home improvements, sustainable options and outdoor living. With such a large range of home related products and services available, visitors will get the opportunity to shop and compare prices all under the one roof.

Tickets may be purchased online at a reduced rate and more information may be found on their Website: www.sydneyhomeshow.com.au/index.htm

To achieve improvement in consumer outcomes, CHOICE has investigated six commercial energy switching sites that claim to help households find more competitive deals and their research has uncovered significant issues with transparency, accuracy and the range of deals offered by some operators.

Some sites are not displaying basic information about terms and conditions on late fees and pay-on-time discounts, whilst others appeared to only offer a small selection of the market. There have also been situations whereby more savings could be made if consumers used one switching site compared to another, and when the same data was entered into the sites, there were recommendations for different plans.

The Super Complaint system is based on a super complaints system operating successfully in the United Kingdom. The project will allow CHOICE to present evidence to NSW Fair Trading that a feature of a market for consumer goods or services is, or appears to be, significantly harming the interests of consumers. Fair Trading will then liaise with a range of agencies and regulators to research and assess the issue and report on actions that may be taken.

This is a welcomed initiative with the increasing numbers of consumers turning to these sites to relieve the impact of rising energy prices and the carbon tax

View or download the Choice report “Between a door-knock and cyber-space: The problems with electricity switching sites” at www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/About_us/Problems_with_electricity_switching_sites.pdf