Carol Nicol trusted the builder she had hired to renovate her home to do a good job while she shuttled her teenage son, who has cystic fibrosis, to and from hospital.
The builder did an acceptable job of ripping things out, but Sam Robinson's next steps caused her great grief.
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How to avoid dodgy builders
NSW Fair Trading offers some tips and things to look out for to avoid being scammed by shonky builders.
He had removed the bulkhead in the bathroom ceiling, which voided her home insurance, failed to replace door handles, which left her stranded outside, and had not passed on payments for the stacked stone fireplace, which left a debt collector on her back.
"I have to regularly take my son Tony to hospital, and he took advantage of that, not doing any of the work we paid him to do," said the mother-of-three from Hinchinbrook, in Sydney's south-west.
"Every time I questioned him, he had an excuse, a sob story: someone was sick, he had a slight heart attack, the stores were closed."
NSW Fair Trading is urging the public to not deal with Mr Robinson, also known as Bassam Marouche, who might be seeking building work despite not possessing a licence.
He has two companies: ATS Group (NSW) Pty Ltd and BMF Building Consultants Pty Ltd.
The consumer watchdog issued penalty notices to Mr Robinson in 2014. In 2015 and 2016, it prosecuted him in court.
In August, he was ordered to pay $28,800 in fines and costs and $28,000 to a consumer by Parramatta Local Court.
He will soon appear again in court for a final sentencing in relation to an offence under the Crimes Act.
"He has a track record of defective work, failure to carry out work, and failure to return money, and anyone transacting with him may end up having to pay a whole lot more," said Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe.
"We want people to have nothing to do with him. We've had nine complaints about him [in the past five years]."
Ms Nicol made 21 payments totalling $39,000 to Mr Robinson – 30 per cent more than the original quote – between November and March.
His main job was to renovate two bathrooms. Despite four months of work, they were left unusable – the taps fell off, the toilet leaked and shoddy wiring in the ceiling short circuited the house.
She is now forking out another $40,000 to repair the damage and realise her dream home.
"I'm lost for words, how can another human being do that? How does he sleep at night? He's done this before, so hasn't he learnt his lessons?" she said.
"What's worse is that he knew I was regularly taking my son to the children's hospital, so he knew I wouldn't be home, and he'd lie about when he arrived or the work he was doing."
Increased enforcement action saw 200 defendants hit with $1.4 million worth of fines and penalties for 463 offences under the Home Building Act last year, up from $1 million the previous year.
Mr Stowe reminded the public to only deal with licensed builders. Consumers can visit Fair Trading's website to check builders' licences, see what type of work they're authorised to carry out, and view their track record.
"The top warning signs are builders asking for deposits above that mandated by the building act, asking for continuing payments when work hasn't started, and making constant excuses," he said.
"Anyone who has had problems in their dealings with Mr Robinson and his companies, or has information about his continued operation, should contact Fair Trading."