A Mener Group advertisement. Camila and Christo Meyer chose Mener Group to build their two-storey home in Scarborough in 2015. Mrs Meyer estimates they lost about $180,000 to Mener Group and would have ended up living on the street if it weren’t for their well-paid jobs. They became aware of a problem with the building process when the home reached lockup stage and work stalled. The couple were not able to access the home, which was legally under the builder’s control. Mrs Meyer said they engaged a lawyer and gave Mener a deadline to finish the build. Mener failed to meet the deadline and the Meyers were left with their unfinished home.

“We got access to the house last year in February, and when we went inside both my husband and I were in tears,” Mrs Meyer said. The house was just a shell, she said. They have filed a complaint with the Building Commissioner which states $176,000 worth of work was not finished by Mener. The couple have paid to finish the home themselves. “We had paid so much money,” she said. “This has been the worst time of our lives.” Mrs Meyer said graffiti scrawled on her home alerted her to claims of payments owed to contractors who were hired by Mener. Since moving into their house, several tradies had knocked on the door asking for monies owed.

Camilla and Christo Meyer. Gosnells man Glen Wilkins, who signed with Mener to build three units in 2015, said his story was similar. He had hoped to build three investment properties that would generate a rental income to allow him to retire. Instead, he says he is facing potential bankruptcy. Mr Wilkins said his project stalled and he was left with unfinished properties. “It has been hell,” he said.

The build dragged out, then he says he was left to fix defects and finish the home himself. His father mortgaged his own home in order to help Mr Wilkins see through the complaints process. Mr Wilkins has been fighting Mener Group in the State Administrative Tribunal for what he claims he is out of pocket - about $270,000 - which included rental income he would have generated and interest costs and fees paid for independent inspections. Glen Wilkins outside his property. He said he could no longer afford a lawyer, and missed tribunal deadlines resulting in his case being dismissed although he is now completing the necessary paperwork to re-start his claim. Now Mener is seeking a progress payment from him. “It’s been hard, it’s taken over my life,” Mr Wilkins said.

“If I’d gone with another builder my life would be completely different.” Sarah McQuade says her situation is similar, but her home in Hilton is still unfinished. Her family paid more than $200,000 to Mener only for the process to stall at lockup. She has been quoted another $150,000 to finish the home herself. She had made a complaint to the Building Commission alleging the building service was not carried out in a proper or proficient manner. In another case Dave Curic, his wife and two young daughters handed over their $55,000 deposit to Mener to start building their new home in Sorrento. But the build never began. A painter, Mr Curic said what happened from there had caused undeniable financial and emotional stress.

"We have had to start all over again," he said. Mr Luric said the family ultimately decided not to "throw away" more money on lawyers. “There is nothing I can do," Mr Curic said. "It’s sickening. We are just normal people, we have got two little daughters.” Allen Redfearn wanted to build a new house to retire in.

“A bigger and better house to suit us and our grandkids,” he said. “We bought a block and hunted around for a builder. We ended up with Mener.” He paid a deposit plus more for variations, a total of between $40,000 and $50,000. He said Mener took much longer than anticipated to get the plans to the local council, then submitted a site plan that he believes was never going to be approved.

“We pulled out, served notice on them. We said, fair enough we’ll pay your costs,” he said. But Mener would not give the rest back. “We can’t really afford, and don’t want to pay for lawyers,” Mr Redfearn said. He raised the matter with his local member Lisa Baker, WA Police and also has a complaint with the Building Commissioner. “I’m going to keep on battling away in the background until something is done about this,” he said.

In another case, a young couple who preferred not to be named said they were in the process of building their first home with Mener when they reached lockup stage. Building stopped, and they say they ended up with losses of about $180,000. "[Mener Group] banned us from the site. We broke the contract, then we had to use our life savings to finish the house ourselves," they said. Mener Group’s WA builder’s registration ceased on October 16, 2018. New Home Building Brokers managing director Tristan Kirkham said he had been approached by several homeowners looking for advice after signing with Mener Group.

He said the government needed to design a fast-track process where the State Administrative Tribunal and Building Commission could ensure consumers were not left waiting long periods for resolutions to conflicts with builders. Tristan Kirkham. “The process for dispute is just far too long and costly for the consumer,” Mr Kirkham said. “A fast-track system needs to be put in place for these situations.” A Mener Group representative said Mener was no longer building homes.

In response to the allegations, they said three homeowners had terminated their contracts during the construction phase. They had their deposits applied against the costs incurred by Mener for each project, but the terms of each settlement were subject to confidentiality agreements. "Mener has only claimed for progress payments as per the contract,” they said. “Mener is not able to obtain any monies without providing photos and proof of stage completion to the bank, who then releases the funds. "Mener has commenced legal action against [some] clients.