News

Midland Electrical falsely listed on Find A RAT website

By Max Stainkamph

Jan 13, 2022

Slammed: Midland Electrical was falsely listed as having rapid antigen tests on the Find A Rat website, with a deluge of people desperate for tests.

Shepparton company Midland Electrical has been listed on a website designed to help people find businesses stocking rapid antigen test kits, despite never stocking or intending to stock RATs.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

Midland Electrical’s Tom Kielty said his parents, owners Pat and Catherine Kielty, woke up to nearly 50 voicemail messages and have had hundreds of calls early on Thursday, as well as a deluge of people coming into the business asking for tests.

“We had someone camping out the front from 5.30am and have had people driving from Echuca and Seymour,” Mr Kielty said.

“We were the only ones listed in regional Victoria aside from Chemist Warehouse.”

Twitter

He said he had no idea how the business was listed but said they didn’t have any tests and — as an electrical company — had no plans to stock them.

The findarat.com.au website is an independent site which allows members of the public to list businesses which have rapid tests in stock.

It was created in response to the astronomical demand for tests and how quickly they went out of stock across the country.

However, it doesn’t offer a way for businesses to verify whether or not they have them in stock, and also doesn’t require people submitting entries to verify their listings.

Hillsong Church in Sydney was listed as having rapid tests on sale for $6.66 last week before the listing was taken down, while other reports of inaccuracies have surface during the past week.

Mr Kielty said he wanted to let people know they didn’t have any rapid tests in stock.