Rogue traders and scams reported to Trading Standards by Warwickshire residents and others
Rogue traders take advantage of recent storms
Warwickshire Trading Standards has received complaints from North Warwickshire residents after they were approached by rogue traders on the doorstep. The rogue traders were falsely claiming that damage had been caused to resident's roof, guttering or in some cases trees or fences, that required immediate attention. Rogue traders exaggerate or lie about problems to people's homes in order to encourage them to make a quick and ultimately unwise decision. They may for example claim that a tree is about to fall on a neighbour's property! Rogue traders also charge high prices for unnecessary or non-existent work.
Trading Standards advise residents not to employ unexpected doorstep traders, whatever they may claim. Use traders you know and trust and ideally go on recommendation or consider using a Trading Standards approved trader: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/approvedtraders
7 out of 10 people have experienced potential rip-offs online
The Government has launched a new campaign “The Online Rip-Off Tip-Off” to help shoppers spot and avoid misleading online practices that could result in them being ripped off.
Shoppers were surveyed and their biggest concern was about hidden charges (85% of respondents), followed by subscription traps (83%), fake reviews (80%) and pressure selling (50%).
The aim of the Online Rip-off Tip-Off campaign is to make consumers aware of these misleading online practices and provide tips on how to avoid them. Find out more at www.gov.uk/ripoff-tipoff
Additional help, advice and guidance
- Please feel to share this information as you feel appropriate
- To make a consumer complaint, obtain consumer help and advice or report an issue to Trading Standards, please contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.
- For consumer or business help and advice, including details of our approved trader scheme, please visit our website: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards
- Sign up to our business advice and guidance (sector specific) email alerts: https://tinyurl.com/TSbusinessemail
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