Rapid Response

Wherever possible we will aim to attend incidents where elderly and vulnerable consumers are being harassed by bogus traders. If you or someone you know requires assistance in dealing with a problem trader you can call Consumer Direct on 08454 040506. If your case requires urgent assistance they will refer your details immediately to Lancashire Trading Standards Service.

If the situation is an emergency you should call the police on 999.

Typical scenarios of Doorstep Crime include incidents of cold calling where an initial price will be quoted for a particular job. The "hard sell" is generally used but with the initial bargain price agreed rising due to "unforeseen" problems.

In some cases householders will be fleeced of their entire life savings by these unscrupulous bogus traders.

Often householders will feel under pressure when the traders are demanding payment and will pay simply to get them off the premises as they don't know who to turn to. When we receive information that traders are on the premises and a householder needs support we aim to provide assistance to resolve the situation.

In this example the windows aren't open - just the wrong fit!

In this example of fascia work the consumer was left not only with a shoddy job and a big bill, but a door that he couldn't open as the fascia was overhanging it.

Some of our recent cases also include:

•  An 86 year old lady initially charged £700 for guttering work. Traders returned and wanted £20,000 life savings for unnecessary roofing work
•  76 year old man paid out £60,000 over 3 years for roofing work

The Trading Standards Service will always prosecute such cases whenever possible.

One of our prosecutions involved a Heysham man who was ordered to pay fines and costs of more than £3000 for failing to provide a 91-year-old customer with a notice of cooling-off rights, following a Trading Standards investigation.

The Regulations, are designed to combat doorstep traders who pay unannounced house calls and employ high-pressure, or even intimidatory, sales techniques to persuade consumers to enter contracts for goods or services.

In this case, a Preston pensioner giving evidence from a wheelchair, told the Court how he had been cold-called at home, as a result of which he agreed to work being carried out on his driveway by the defendant.

The consumer explained how the work, which had started as a £200 job, escalated to a final bill of £8750. The Court heard how the vulnerable pensioner had handed over £1000, before Trading Standards told him that the lack of a cancellation notice meant that, not only was the contract was unenforceable and he did not have to pay anything for the work that had been done, but also that the trader had committed a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £2500.

The District Judge in the case commented "It seems to me that going ahead with a contract like this is a very undesirable state of affairs. These Regulations are designed to stop people committing themselves to cold-calling contracts that they might subsequently regret".

Legal Officer, Nick McNamara said, "This conviction forms part of our ongoing efforts to combat doorstep crime. The law recognises the vulnerability of consumers in their own homes, particularly the elderly. For this reason, traders who turn up unannounced must provide written notice of cancellation rights for all contracts valued at more than £35. Traders who ignore the law risk not getting paid and a hefty fine."

In another case the organiser of an international business set up to deliberately target older people was jailed for over 8 years, and lesser sentences were handed out to a number of others involved with the company which had operated under a number of different names over the previous decade. The successful result followed a painstaking investigation led by Lancashire police, involving many of the most elderly and vulnerable of our society who had lost hard earned savings to this company.

Updated 30th April 2008

Lancashire County Council Trading Standards, 58-60 Guildhall Street, Preston, Lancashire PR1 3NU.
Telephone: 0845 600 1352 or (01772) 533573   Fax: (01772) 533591   Electronic Mail: feedback@lancashire.gov.uk

Web design: itsa Ltd