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Trading Standards - Advice For Consumers

Consumer guidance

There are some excellent websites providing consumer guidance in the form of factsheets on a wide variety of subjects from buying a used car to a double glazing installation. You can visit these sites at the links below.

Trading Standards Central
Office of Fair Trading
Advice Guide
Consumer Direct

We refer our consumers to the national consumer helpline called Consumer Direct . This organisation can give you 'pre-shopping guidance' which may help you to make a wise choice when you are deciding which trader to use. However, they are not able to recommend traders.

You can also visit the UK Statute Law Data Base which is a site which gives free and easy access for all to UK Statute Law.

For details on how to avoid being scammed see bottom of page, and look at the latest Trading Standards Alerts.

From whom can I seek Consumer Advice?

If you need advice about goods and services that you have bought, you can ask for free consumer advice from Consumer Direct . They can:

• advise you which law covers your contract and how this affects your legal rights.
• supply you with sample letters on which you can base your own to a trader with whom you have a dispute.
• inform our enforcement team where there appears to be a breach of criminal law such as false or misleading descriptions or prices.

If there are criminal breaches of law that we can investigate, you will still need to pursue your own civil claim. This is because criminal and civil laws in the UK work independently. This means that we cannot take a trader to court on your behalf. We can only take traders to task for criminal breaches of law which affect the community as a whole.

If you need to contact Consumer Direct

• have all your paperwork with you, that is relevant to the issue that you are enquiring about.
• keep all original documents and items in a safe place in case they are needed in the future.

Consumer Direct also issue press releases on topical subjects to give precautionary advice to consumers.

Pre-shopping advice

• Do your homework before buying goods or services.
• Don't forget that agreeing to something in person or during a telephone call can be legally binding.
• Contracts do not have to be in writing but it is safer for both parties if they are.
• To find companies who have signed up to an Office of Fair Trading approved code of practice, visit their website .
• Trustmark is a new scheme supported by the Government, the building industry and consumer groups to help you find reliable and trustworthy tradespeople to make improvements and repairs to your home, visit their website .
• The attached links give sound precautionary advice for when you are thinking of buying goods or employing a contractor to do work for you. They also advise you of your legal rights.
• buying goods
• buying services
• buying a pet - your legal rights are the same as when 'buying goods' (see above)
• concerning the 'digital switchover' for the provision of television services you can obtain guidance from http://www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk/

How we try to ensure a fair trading environment

• we enforce a wide range of legislation to protect consumers and honest traders
• we enforce laws covering the quality, quantity, safety, price, description of good and services e.g. short measure beer, unsafe toys, falsely described holidays and "clocked" car. 
• we enforce laws to prevent children buying cigarettes and fireworks
• we investigate complaints from the public about traders
• we advise consumers and traders about their rights and obligations e.g. refunds for faulty goods
• we visit trade premises and undertake projects to make sure they keep to the law
• where appropriate, we warn or prosecute traders
• we also administer street trading and markets. We give a range of licences including entertainment, night cafes and fireworks. We deal with food premises, health and safety and infectious diseases.

Who else may be able to help me?

Trade Association:   if the company is a member of a trade association or other regulatory body or see Trustmark they are likely to set service standards. You should contact them - they may run a mediation service.

Ombudsman:  if you have written to the company concerned and are not happy with the reply, or have not received a reply then you may be able to refer your complaint to an Ombudsman. Usually the company needs to be a member of the ombudsman scheme. To see whether there is an ombudsman service available for your category of complaint click on the following link to the British and Irish Ombudsman Association .

The Courts:  Court action should only be taken as a very last resort after you have followed all other avenues available in order to resolve the issue. If you are considering taking out a small claim through the courts you can visit the Court Service website for further information.

Phonepay Plus:  Phonepay Plus is the industry-funded regulatory body for all premium rate charged telecommunications services. They regulate services in their entirety - their content, promotion and overall operation - through their Code of Practice. Their role is to prevent consumer harm.   They  investigate complaints, and have the power to fine companies and bar access to services if the Code is breached. They can also bar the individual(s) behind a company from running any other premium rate services under any company name on any telephone network for a defined period.

ABTA -  information  received about holiday companies that have ceased trading will appear on thier website at http://www.abta.com/consumer-services/travel_problems/ceased_trading

Shopping in Europe

European Consumer Centres may be able to give you advice and information on your rights as a consumer in the European Union, and help you to solve problems with goods and services that you may have bought there.

Try using 'Howard' - an 'Online Shopping Assistant' , that will be able to provide you with the information that you need to make a qualified decision whether to use a certain website or not. Howard will research a particular website for you, just enter the websites name, and Howard will find the information about that site.

Get SCAMWISE!

Download or print off your own copy of our Get Scam Wise leaflets:

• General Get Scam Wise leaflet
• Basic Get Scam Wise leaflet
• On the Doorstep - Get Scam Wise
• Internet scams - Get Scam Wise
• Postal scams - Get Scam Wise
• Telephone scams - Get Scam Wise
• Get Scam Wise Window Sticker to help deter unwanted sales people at the doorstep.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched a "Scams Awareness" campaign in 2008 to highlight the plight of elderly victims who suffer in silence.

They have produced

• a new leaflet for carers and care professionals which called \"Can you stop the person you care for from being scammed?
• a new leaflet for residents on how to avoide becoming the victim of a scam called \"Don't let them con you\"

   You can find more information on types of scams at the OFT website .