Issue Date:  -  Friday, 19 May 2000

Scrap merchant fined over inaccurate scales

The Ministry of Fair Trading has prosecuted a Canning Vale scrap metal merchant for using scales which were inaccurate in its favour. The scales were also unverified.

Cougar Nominees (WA) Pty Ltd of Nicholson Road was fined a total of $400 plus costs in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions yesterday, relating to two charges under the Weights and Measures Act.

The charges followed a check by Ministry inspectors in August last year, which found that a platform scale used for weighing scrap metal was inaccurate in the firm’s favour.

Magistrate Debra Bennett-Borlase told the court that the firm’s manager had made no effort to prevent the machine from being used even though he knew of its condition.

Commissioner for Fair Trading Patrick Walker said that customers had every right to expect that weighing instruments used for trade were accurate.

"If businesses suspect any scales or trade measurement instruments they use are giving incorrect readings, they should contact the Ministry’s Trading Standards Branch for advice," Mr Walker said.

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