Olivia Nguy from the Liverpool Migrant Resources Centre says utilities draw many complaints.
People whove recently settled in Australia can be extra vulnerable to questionable deals.
CEO of Westjustice, a community legal centre in Melbourne, Denis Nelthorpe says they mostly assist new arrivals.
Denis Nelthorpe warns that there are unscrupulous businesses which he believes target newly arrived migrants because they assume they do not know about consumer rights.
Olivia Nguy says that a combination of low English language skills, as well as a lack of in-language information can lead new migrants to accept misleading claims.
Australian Consumer Law provides protection for shoppers that compel businesses to provide guarantees for the quality of their products.
Guarantees cover goods under $40,000 and those over that amount used for personal or household use.
Products must be safe, lasting and not come with faults.
Services must be provided with acceptable care and skill and be fit for service.
If you need to make a complaint, there are step-by-step processes which start with contacting the seller or service provider to explain the problem.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - also known as the ACCC - promotes fair trading under the Australian Consumer law.
The first important one to know about is consumer guarantees. And what these do is when you buy a product or a service and it doesnt do what they said it would do, is not of acceptable quality, it turns out to be really dangerous, you have rights to go back to where you bought it from and get either it repaired, a refund or a replacement, ACCCs Deputy Chair Delia Rickard explains.
The ACCC acknowledges that a lack of English can be a disadvantage but Delia Rickard says that information about consumer rights is available on the ACCCs website in many languages.
If your justified complaints are being ignored you should go to your local Fair Trading agency, if they refuse to deal with you, I would go to the Human Rights Commission because that sounds like it might be racial discrimination.
A mobile phone App, launched by the ACCC, provides useful consumer information in a portable format.
It has answers to questions like When can I get a refund? what are my rights and helps with writing a complaint letter or email to a company.
If that doesn't work, says Delia Rickard, then its best to go directly to the ACCC and lodge a formal consumer complaint.
