83 yo gran has bought a £1295 Kirby vac!

lynx10

mjm3346 wrote: »

The article

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/Company-taken-cleaners-trading-standards-launch-investigation/article-2450987-detail/article.html

Further details, including specific offences, are here:

Lincolnshire County Council - Cleaning up the cleaner sellers, 23 July 2010
http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/section.asp?docId=89444

lynx10

fairplayannie101 wrote: »

All of a sudden it seems these guys killed Bambi. I think not.

A key concern is the abuse and exploitation of the elderly - especially those living alone and who may not be as (charmlessly) streetwise as the poster - and the prosecution brought by Lincoln Trading Standards was well-founded:

"By hiding the true commercial intent this company deceitfully got a foot in the door of the average consumer who would not otherwise have agreed."

propanejoe

Sorry to bump an old thread, but these guys have made their way to Newcastle now. Today a man extracted our ex-directory phone number from a child in the house in exchange for the Nissan Micra card. I left the house to go find this man and demand the number be scrubbed from his collection but by the time I found him he was making off in a car matching the description I have read from reports online.

What is the best course of action? If they try ringing up here they'll get a less than pleasant response, no chance of any money being exchanged, but I dislike that they have the number at all. I'm also wary of the reports of burglaries following these visits. I recorded the license plate no. just in case although it probably won't be much use. Is there any reasonable way to challenge this? Or was the moment the number handed over the moment we lost the right to not be inconvenienced?

Either way, I am still annoyed. It is less the inconvenience and more the fact they have got away with it and this man has a commission by conning a child.

lynx10

propanejoe wrote: »

What is the best course of action?

Pass all the information you have to the local trading standards office - ideally in writing (briefly) - also citing last year's prosecution in Lincolnshire, and requesting that any investigation be given some priority as the 'promoters' are currently active.

propanejoe

Excellent advice, thank you. I'll do that now.