Warwickshire News Mine

On Monday 20th November the Trading Standards Service will be focusing on buying new and used cars and on car servicing and garages.

On Tuesday 21st the focus will be on houses and home improvements. What consumers can do to get the job done right and avoid those cowboy builders and rogue traders.

On Wednesday 22nd the focus shifts to holidays and covers issues including timeshare, bogus holiday clubs and DIY holidays.

On Thursday 23rd furniture and household appliances are covered.

And finally, on Friday 24th we look at audio-visual equipment and service.
Have a go at our consumer quiz:

1. Upholstered furniture, including second hand items, must bear a label showing it conforms to a standard. What is the standard?

A. Comfort B. Fire resistance C. Colour

2. Consumers may have additional protection when making purchases on a credit card if the price of the item is more than what amount?

A. £100 B. £1,000 C. £500

3. What should you do if a new TV breaks down when you get it home?

A. Contact the manufacturer B. Return it to the shop C. Listen to the radio

Answers 1:B 2:A 3:B

Don’t Be ‘Taken For a Ride’ When Buying a New or Used Car

Buying and maintaining a car can be expensive, and complaints and enquiries relating to vehicle purchases and servicing topped 600 in Warwickshire in the last 12 months.

In National Consumer Week Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service are providing consumers with some top tips when it comes to buying and maintaining vehicles.

Shop around. Visit a number of different dealers to see what they have in your price range.

Test-drive the vehicle and inspect the tyres and bodywork carefully.

Complete an HPI check on the vehicle before purchasing or signing any finance agreements. This can help you avoid buying a car that may have been written off, stolen, cloned, clocked or have outstanding finance on them.

Check the service history/MOT documents if they are available - look out for mileage discrepancies that might indicate the car has been clocked.

Before you commit to buying a car, make sure you understand fully the conditions of sale and any finance agreement, including deposit terms and interest charges. Make sure you know how much you will end up paying in total. Remember garages make a lot of money from finance agreements, payment protection policies and warranties. Consider shopping around for your credit deals and ask yourself ‘is it worth paying for payment protection and is a warranty worth the paper it’s written on?’

If you buying from a private seller, you need to be extra careful and remember you have fewer legal rights. Some dealers pretend to be private sellers to avoid their legal obligations and to get rid of faulty or over-priced cars.

If you are getting your car serviced, do not just take your car to a garage and ask them to ‘fix’ it! You are asking for trouble as a disreputable garage could literally repair any faults they find. Discuss the symptoms and the likely costs of the repair with the garage, clarify whether the price is just for the materials or includes the labour and also whether VAT is included. Try to obtain a written quotation, and write on any paperwork ‘no work without prior authorisation’

For more information visit our website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/consumerweek

For clear, practical, consumer advice phone: 08454 04 05 06

Cowboy Builders and Home Improvement Horrors

Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service receive more complaints about homes and home improvements than almost anything else, almost 800 in the last 12 months.

So, in National Consumer Week, Trading Standards Officers are providing consumers with some top tips to help ensure Warwickshire residents don’t fall foul of cowboy builders.

Before employing a builder, always remember to:
Write down a full description of exactly what you want doing.
Obtain at least three written quotations for the work.
Check whether VAT is included or to be added.
Check that the builders are qualified and capable of carrying out the work.
Make sure they have a permanent address, telephone number and use headed notepaper.
Ask for references and names of previous clients. Speak to them and look at their previous work, if possible.
Find out how long they will take and when they can do the work. Get this in writing.
Ask about guarantees.

For larger or more complex work you may need to:

Employ an architect or surveyor to specify and supervise the work.
Check membership with the organisation if a builder claims to be a member.

Agree a written contract with the chosen builder which covers price, the extent of the work, working arrangements, start and completion dates, guarantees, quality, payment arrangements, the use of power, builders insurance and what happens if extra or unforeseen work is required.

Never pay anyone until you are satisfied that the job has been done properly and never trust the ‘expert opinion’ of someone who calls uninvited.

Beware the Rogue Trader!

Don’t be tempted to employ the first person who calls at your home uninvited. Doorstep callers may try to persuade you that something is wrong with your house that needs urgent attention. They may say that they can do the job quickly and cheaply for cash. It can be hard to distinguish the good traders from the cowboys; it might be easier to keep the door closed.

For more information visit our website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/consumerweek

For clear, practical, consumer advice phone: 08454 04 05 06

Holiday From Hell?

Whether you have experienced the ‘holiday from hell’ or want to try and make sure you don’t have one, in National Consumer Week Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service have some advice for you.

In the past year over 100 Warwickshire consumers contacted Trading Standards with complaints and enquiries about holidays. So whether you are booking with a travel agent, ‘creating’ your own holiday experience, or have been targeted by timeshare or holiday club reps, follow our advice.

When booking your holiday, confirm with your travel agent that the brochure price is the price you will pay, and that there are no hidden charges. Check facility availability, and ask about proximity to building work and noisy roads etc.

Shop around for holiday insurance.

Make sure that your travel agent or tour operator is a member of a trade association, such as ABTA.

Booking a traditional package holiday with a bonded tour operator where flights and hotel accommodation are included means that your money is protected if things go wrong.

If you are putting together your own version of the package holiday by booking their own flights and accommodation, usually via the Internet, remember, you will not be afforded the same level of protection that is provided by a traditional package tour. Think about paying with your credit card as this will give you some additional protection if things go wrong.

When you arrive at your holiday destination, if you are not satisfied, complain straight away to your tour operator. Fill out a complaint form and gather evidence. When you get home, write a letter of complaint and be persistent

Unless you are seriously considering buying timeshare, do not go to a timeshare presentation -high pressure sales techniques are often used. If however you do sign a timeshare contract in the UK, you have a cooling-off period of 14 days in which you can cancel the contract.

Be even more wary if you are told ‘it’s not timeshare’, you could be being offered holiday club membership. Holiday clubs offer discounted luxury holidays for life. Some are reputable businesses, but many only provide last-minute, limited availability accommodation that is usually low-star rather than luxury and there are no automatic cancellation rights for those who sign up (unlike timeshare).

For more information visit our website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/consumerweek

For clear, practical, consumer advice phone: 08454 04 05 06

Don’t Buy a ‘Death Trap’ Sofa

In National Consumer Week Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service are warning consumers about potentially lethal sofas and suites of furniture are being offered for sale across Warwickshire.

Imported from Poland, the ‘bargain leather suites’, (that are actually PVC), meet none of the UK fire safety standards and in tests a cigarette dropped on one ignited spectacularly within 30 seconds and became a roaring inferno within three minutes.

In Warwickshire, the sofas have been sold door to door through small advertisements in local newspapers where the sofas are often described as ‘unwanted’ gifts), and off the back of lorries.

A Warwickshire resident paid £700 for two sofas, after he was approached by a man driving an old white ford transit van with yellow writing. On examination, the sofas carried only crude bubble jet copies of the fire safety labels that should be affixed to all new furniture.

That together with the manner in which they were being sold would suggest to the Trading Standards Service that they may be imported sofas that do not comply with the regulations and as such could pose a potential fire hazard.

Trading Standards Officers are warning that many types of foams give off poisonous gasses when they burn and that in a domestic fire situation, death by asphyxiation is likely to occur within four minutes.

Consumers are warned that the sofas often display swing tags claiming to be UK compliant. However, they are not, and the majority would not pass UK furniture fire safety regulations. Many are also very badly manufactured, with poor stitching, and the use of staples to keep the foam filling inside the furniture.

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations were introduced in 1988, following publicity after a number of deaths in house fires over the Christmas period.

For more information visit our website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/consumerweek

For clear, practical, consumer advice phone: 08454 04 05 06

Know Your Rights

On the last day of National Consumer Week, the focus turns to audio-visual equipment. Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service received over 400 complaints in the last year about TV’s, DVD’s, computers and similar equipment, but what are your rights if you buy something that turns out to be faulty?

Warwickshire Trading Standards has the answers.

If you buy something from a shop, for example a DVD player, and when you get it home is fails to work properly, or breaks down within a few days or short weeks, as long a you have not damaged it yourself you should be able to reject the DVD player and have your money back. Alternatively you can request a repair or replacement and, failing that seek a full refund.

You can also seek a refund if the item you purchased wasn’t as described or fit for the purpose. For example, if you bought a TV that was advertised as HD ready and capable of taking a ‘freeview’ digital signal when it could do neither. But again, you need to act quickly.

If however something you buy goes wrong after a number of months, you are usually only entitled to a repair or the cost of a repair. You could also ask for a replacement but you would probably be expected to contribute something towards this to account for your use of the product. If neither of these remedies were delivered you could claim compensation.

If after you buy something from a shop and then simply change your mind, then the law does not give you the right to ask for your money back. However, if you shopped for the item from home, for example on the Internet and from a UK trader, then in most cases you have seven working days after the day on which the goods are received to reject them and ask for a full refund, for whatever reason.

For more information on your consumer rights, visit:
http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/consumerweek

For clear, practical, consumer advice phone: 08454 04 05 06

Complaint and enquiries received by Warwickshire Trading Standards Service between 30/09/05 - 30/09/06 relating to:

Car buying and servicing (new and second hand) = 613
Houses construction, home improvement and double glazing = 797
Holidays and time share = 104
Large electrical appliances = 176
Furniture = 226
Audio visual and personal computer etc.= 421

Link to WCC