An alert has been issued in Melbourne regarding a 'serial scammer' in the construction industry, who has reportedly cost innocent victims tens of thousands of dollars.

Meet Tomislav 'Tom' Jankovic, the Director of Big Tom Construction, who is supposed to be a seasoned professional in his field. However, recent allegations suggest a different story.

Melbourne residents claim that Mr Jankovic has left numerous customers devastated, each out of pocket by thousands of dollars, and more cases are continuing to surface.

What's especially troubling is that these customers paid for deck, pergola, and bathroom renovation jobs that were either poorly executed or not carried out at all. Even worse, some of these victims are retirees relying on their pensions.

The joists that Gemma has to step on to enter and exit her home. Credit: news.com.au.

Among those affected is retiree Gemma, whose name is kept private for her safety. Gemma invested $10,200 in a promised deck and pergola contracted with Big Tom Construction.

However, her yard remains incomplete, and she's now forced to navigate unsecured joists just to enter or exit her house—as she cannot afford to engage a new tradesman to finish the job.

'It's a dangerous mess he has left me in,' she said.

'He turned up, he was very nice, and he was very polite. He needed a 50 per cent deposit,' she recalled.

Initially, she gave the contractor the benefit of the doubt, considering his excuses for the delays, such as various family issues, an injured hand, and unfavourable weather, to be legitimate.

As time went on, though, doubts began to creep in.

Unfortunately, Gemma is just one of many victims of this tradesman, who has already taken money from other disgruntled customers.

Trent Thomason is another victim. He paid a substantial $31,500 upfront to Mr Jankovic to renovate two bathrooms. However, a year later, Mr Thomason found himself drowning in a sea of excuses, with only minimal work completed.

Initially, things were smooth sailing. Mr Thomason's confidence in Mr Jankovic was such that he even recommended the tradesman to his neighbour, who has sadly also found themselves out of pocket.

The tradie used various excuses to justify the delayed work, including a false claim about his 'sick wife'.

'He was basically telling us she was on the verge of death,' the customer recalled. However, Mr Jankovic is not even married.

The state of the bathroom the Thomasons' bathroom was in. Credit: news.com.au.

Myrilla Nelthropp is another victim of the builder's conduct. She took Mr Jankovic to court and successfully secured a judgement.

In a ruling handed down by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in July, Mr Jankovic was ordered to reimburse her $7,000 and an additional $220 to cover Ms Nelthropp's application fee.

However, to date, she has not received any payment. Ms Nelthropp has stated that her next step is to take the judgement to the magistrate's court to enforce the order.

This judgement came after enduring an 18-month ordeal in her efforts to have her deck constructed. It all began when she initially engaged Mr Jankovic in February of the previous year.

No work was ever completed.

Sandy and Peter Jahnke's story is equally disheartening. After promising to construct a deck and pergola for $27,000, Mr Jankovic left them with a partially finished renovation and a $15,000 demand for a refund.

Apparently, the tradie bombarded them with a barrage of excuses for the project's delays. These included claims that the supplier had mishandled orders, that he was ill, that his entire family was unwell, that his 'wife' was sick, that his apprentice was sick, and even that it was raining—even when the weather was clear.

Key Takeaways

• Melbourne residents have claimed that tradie Tomislav 'Tom' Jankovic of Big Tom Construction has scammed them, leaving the customers tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
• Victims, including retirees and families, have reported paying substantial deposits for construction and renovation jobs that were never completed or even started.
• Several customers have taken legal action against Mr Jankovic; one customer, Myrilla Nelthropp, won a judgement order to repay her deposit plus costs, though no money has yet been received.
• Customers have reported Mr Jankovic used a series of excuses for failed or delayed jobs, including the supposed illness of both himself and his 'wife'. However, Mr Jankovic is not married.

Members, if you've fallen victim to this scam in the past or suspect you may have been targeted, please don't hesitate to contact your state's consumer protection agency or contact a lawyer for assistance.

To prevent such situations from occurring in the first place, our top recommendation is to collaborate exclusively with trusted professionals and conduct thorough research beforehand. Be sure to obtain references from their previous clients; this way, you can better assess the tradesperson's professionalism and reliability.

We extend our best wishes for all your future interactions with tradespeople, whether it's a DIY endeavour or a professional project!

What are your thoughts on these stories? Have you experienced or heard of similar scams? Please share your experiences with us in the comments below; we'd love to hear from you and learn more.

 

[mylittletibbies]

I employed a handyman? Who was supposed to do painting and a deck and yes he was very nice. In the first week he wanted $8000.00 which was half the quote and I paid. Next he wanted another third and I did not pay. The whole time he was here I had to keep telling him things were not right with the painting. Stupidly I did not check what the outside was like and only saw the inside of my kitchen window. I told him not to come back on a Saturday for the Monday and demanded my money back. He offered me about $2000.00. I said not enough I would take him to court and he would end up paying even more. I had another person inspect his work and was pointed out a lot of things he did wrong. After one week he agreed to giving me $5000.00 back. I agreed as I could not argue anymore. I employed a new person to fix everything but I didn’t know about more things he did wrong.
The fence not painted properly and paint on the outside bricks which had to be removed. These cost me $1,000.00 to fix. I was told the paint on other things like windows and door handles was not the responsibility of the new painters to remove and I had to argue with them to remove it. The original guy said he went home every night and cried because I always had something to complain about but mind you this was only my kitchen window. He said he hated coming back.
I had paid him in cash and expected to get my bank account details which I would not give him. He put the money over two days in my letterbox after messaging me it was there.
He had told me when he first got the job the place would be beautiful. I wish I had registered his name so that nobody else employs him. I have been dealing with the new ones and I got told we don’t clean windows only the paint we put on. Also they put nothing back they had moved. I queried why my things were not put back on the deck and was told it would stain the deck.

I have never, nor will I put money up front to any body. I have paid for receipted materials and on completion of the job tell the contracror that the remaining materials are mine. If need be Ill get a list of materials required.

Did you have the deck stained, this could be the reason he said it would have stained, it needs to be allowed
to dry properly
When getting quotes for jobs people need to understand that tradies are not furniture removalists.
If you are hiring someone to do new flooring or laying carpets you need to have the room cleared before they arrive.
We did a job once to put new skirtings in a lounge and dining room On arrival all the furniture was still in the room against the walls.
Buffet full of China, lounge suite, heavy bookcase full of books and endless ornaments. The client expected us to unpack these items, move the furniture and then put them all back again. This is not the tradies job, if you want this done then you need to check with the tradies first if he is prepared to do it and how much more it would cost or make arrangements yourself .
I recently had new flooring done. No longer able to do it myself anymore, arthritis in my knees. I must admit I hate having to pay to have these jobs done when only a few years ago I could have done it myself.
I could not find a company who would move the furniture for me, had to hire a handyman and even they charge a fortune these days.
The joys of getting older!!!