Trading Standards have the power

beamerguy

Trading Standards have the power

You can locate your local Trading Standards at your council offices

The power of Trading Standards is probably underestimated by the public .
They can prosecute rogue traders and in severe cases, close companies down

Trading Standards must not be confused with Citizens Advice (CAB)
The CAB also run by your council is mainly run by part time staff
who are not clued up on rogue traders. They may be good for helping
with the barking dog next door or debt advice but when it comes to
rogue traders such as parking companies and the solicitors they use to
harass people .....
the CAB are totally useless

The job of Trading Standards is to investigate companies behaving
badly and misleading the public, especially lying and false representations including menacing threats.

Trading Standards have a national data base so your complaint
will flag up throughout the UK

Currently the rogue traders are private parking companies and
the debt collectors they use.
We must not forget the solicitors they use who are menacing
All three can be complained about to Trading Standards

REMEMBER .... Trading Standards is on your side, they are not
on the side of rogue traders.

The service is FREE to you

If you think something is wrong, report it to Trading Standards

https://www.tradingstandards.uk/consumers/support-advice

pappa_golf

however they failed miserably in scootland , lack of funding to fight the rich?

beamerguy

pappa_golf wrote: »

however they failed miserably in scootland , lack of funding to fight the rich?

They did indeed, lessons were learnt by them, it was actually
poor legal representation

Doubt they will fall into that trap again

Handbags-at-dawn

I wonder if they would do something about Wright Hassall?

Solicitors are officers of the Court and work under a strict Code of Conduct so you don't expect them to tell blatant lies. Which makes it all the more shocking when WH's template letters-before-claim tell people they will have a CCJ recorded against them for 6 years if they lose - missing out the vital words "if you don't pay it within 28 days".

I wonder how many innocent people have been "persuaded" not to exercise their right to be heard because they felt a bad credit rating was a risk they couldn't take.

I expect Trading Standards would say "report it to the SRA". But they're no better than the BPA. It needs an independent body with teeth to deal with it.

The_Deep

I have had good and bad results from TS Officers.

Once, I bought a new car from a slightly warm car supermarket in Slough, Trade Sales, who are still trading. There was some issue about the price and I went to Reading TSD. The result was they gave me a refund and the MD himself himself turned up at our door with a bunch of flowers.

Another time I bought a speaker on eBay which overheated and TS got the product withdrawn.

A third was a complaint against an Estate Agent who misrepresented a property, they were very thorough with that.

However, in my latest involvement with them over a dodgy appliance man, they have been totally ineffective, and they are not very interested in my son in law's PCN from APCOA at Tilehurst Station or UKCPS at Forbury in Reading..

The thing is, you must write to them, avoid CAB Helpline like the plague, they know next to nothing about SOGA, TDA. DSR, CPRs and BPRs or UTCCC.

bargepole

beamerguy wrote: »

They did indeed, lessons were learnt by them, it was actually
poor legal representation

Doubt they will fall into that trap again

But they already did.

East Riding of Yorkshire TS Dept took UKPC to court, over 13 charges of breaching consumer legislation by sending misleading letters.

Before the hearing, they dropped 12 of the charges, and UKPC were convicted on one count.

UKPC appealed, and were represented at the appeal hearing by Jonathan Kirk QC. TS were represented by a junior barrister from the same chambers. UKPC won the appeal, and the conviction was quashed.

Other County Council TS departments have received various complaints about PPCs over recent years, but generally don't see investigating these as a priority, compared with finding market traders selling fake branded watches and perfume, for example.

The_Deep

Confiscating fake Nikes and Rolexes is important as much of the money goes back to organised crime, but that is not what we pay council tax for.


I suspect that LAs would rather employ Diversity Co-ordinators and Parking Attendants tan TSOs.

beamerguy

bargepole wrote: »

But they already did.

East Riding of Yorkshire TS Dept took UKPC to court, over 13 charges of breaching consumer legislation by sending misleading letters.

Before the hearing, they dropped 12 of the charges, and UKPC were convicted on one count.

UKPC appealed, and were represented at the appeal hearing by Jonathan Kirk QC. TS were represented by a junior barrister from the same chambers. UKPC won the appeal, and the conviction was quashed.

Other County Council TS departments have received various complaints about PPCs over recent years, but generally don't see investigating these as a priority, compared with finding market traders selling fake branded watches and perfume, for example.

Yes I remember that as well ?

A lot has changed and we are all in a new era where nobody
knows what's going to happen next
We need to re awaken TS and constant complaints might just do that
Who would have thought that the Supreme Court would agree
with the unions over tribunal costs which will now cost the government
££££millions from the May magic money tree. ?

What happened in the past is history and as TS are there to protect
the consumer against rogue traders, then, there is no reason
why not, that these misleading and threatening letters should
be complained about in volume

The DCLG are a waste of time so much so that there is a private
members bill hopefully on it's way

If we don't do this, we will never know

beamerguy

Handbags-at-dawn wrote: »

I expect Trading Standards would say "report it to the SRA". But they're no better than the BPA. It needs an independent body with teeth to deal with it.

They probably will and as we all know, the SRA is just an
"old boys club"
The SRA's code of conduct, they term as "principals" can sanction
rogue solicitors but Trading Standards can prosecute

beamerguy

The_Deep wrote: »

The thing is, you must write to them, avoid CAB Helpline like the plague, they know next to nothing about SOGA, TDA. DSR, CPRs and BPRs or UTCCC.

+1 Mr Deep. EVERYONE who has received dodgy letters from
these rogue companies should complain to TS

Right now it's like having the Kray twins or Peter Rachman controlling
the government

The_Deep

I remember Mr. Rachman, an example to all of us landlords.