The tradesman then calls her a “Karen in the wild” before another gets on the phone to his boss to explain the owner thinks the cement in the garage is “hers apparently, not ours”.

Another Nicheliving customer, Abhishek Binani, said the builder took his oven from inside his Willetton house, which was at lock-up stage. When he emailed to complain, the oven was returned the following day.

“We have dealt emotionally, financially for the last two years with them, I just hope that it comes to an end pretty soon for everyone else and myself,” he said.

Another customer, Sarah Azziz, claimed Nicheliving took her air conditioning unit.

“I was checking on my house … and it appears somebody came in from the front, went all the way to the back and then cut off my air con and took the unit and removed it,” she told ABC Radio.

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She said Nicheliving told her they took the air conditioner because she had missed a payment, which she was not aware of.

Owners who have terminated their contracts with Nicheliving can now begin the process of finding a new builder to complete their homes, with costs to be covered by the state government.

A Nicheliving spokeswoman said the company had not been stealing from unfinished homes.

“We have Nicheliving team members on site de-mobilising the sites as we hand over the homes to the customers,” she said.

The claims made by the customers have not been investigated, and it is not clear whether Nicheliving was entitled to take the materials from the work sites.

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