Gold v Cahill [2023] NSWCATCD 77

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Gold v Cahill [2023] NSWCATCD 77 Hearing dates: 02 June 2023 Date of orders: 05 July 2023 Decision date: 05 July 2023 Jurisdiction: Consumer and Commercial Division Before: J Drennan, General Member Decision: 1. The respondent Simon Cahill aka Simon William is to pay the applicant Danielle Gold $7322.00 immediately. Catchwords: CONSUMER- Breach of Consumer Guarantees – Compensation. Legislation Cited: NSW Civil & Administrative Act 2013 Australian Consumer Law (ACL) Surveillance Devices Act 2007 Cases Cited: Nil Texts Cited: Nil Category: Principal judgment Parties: Danielle Gold Simon Cahill (aka Simon William) Representation: The parties represented themselves. File Number(s): GEN 23/00732 Publication restriction: Unrestricted

REASONS FOR DECISION

Background 1. This is a claim made by Danielle Gold who alleges that hair treatments/services provided to her own hair by Simon Cahill were not performed with due care and skill. She claims a refund of all monies paid and compensation in the sum of $12920.75 to rectify the condition of her hair. 2. Simon Cahill denies the claim. Mr Cahill made no submissions and provided no documents.

The Proceedings 1. This matter was listed before me on 2 June 2023 for a formal hearing having had two earlier listing dates. At the first hearing the matter was listed for conciliation as is the normal practice of the Tribunal. The matter did not settle. On the second occasion the applicant arrived on the hearing day 22 March 2023 and presented documents. The respondent received a copy of those documents the day prior to the hearing and the presiding Member determined that an adjournment was appropriate in the interests of procedural fairness. 2. At the final hearing on 2 June 2023, the respondent arrived and asked for an adjournment. The respondent at this stage had provided no documents despite having been given extra time by the member on the previous occasion. Some discussions ensued and ultimately the parties, who both wished for the matter to be expeditiously resolved, were given the opportunity to provide any further documents prior to the matter possibly being heard on the papers with relevant directions made for that purpose. This course of action was taken by me to ensure adherence with the guiding principle of the NSW Civil & Administrative Act 2013:- "36 Guiding principle to be applied to practice and procedure (1) The guiding principle for this Act and the procedural rules, in their application to proceedings in the Tribunal, is to facilitate the just, quick and cheap resolution of the real issues in the proceedings. 1. Pursuant to the directions made by me on 2 June 2023 Ms Gold provided a quote to rectify alleged defective works. Mr Cahill did not provide submissions about the matter being heard on the papers, did not provide submissions as to the substantive matter and provided no documents to the Tribunal.