9:49am Friday 6th September 2002
By Victoria Birch
ROGUE traders are coming under the spotlight after Buckinghamshire County Council's trading standards department set up an undercover operation to root them out. VICTORIA BIRCH reports on the crack squad who have set up a house in Bucks to try to expose workmen who overcharge and mislead
STATE-OF-THE-ART hidden cameras, a team of trading standard officers and an innocuous looking semi-detached in Bucks is what it takes to try to snare rogue workmen.
Horror stories about charging homeowners thousands of pounds to fix a simple house maintenance problem has spurred the officers on to encourage traders into making their costly mistakes in their fault-riddled house.
An empty property was primed for a whole host of workmen from different companies to show off their plumbing and electrical skills by taking on challenges which officers have set up for them.
Among the tasks was a blocked drain, a wire pulled out of a boiler and a pipe missing on a tap.
A senior training standards officer, who cannot be named, headed the operation which was the first in Buckinghamshire. He said it was based on a television series which highlights the pitfalls of inviting the workmen into people's homes.
He said: "We set up various faults plumbing, gas, sink blocking and drains. We ask various traders in and we say 'We are doing the house and have a problem. Can you fix it?'"
The officer said that, in one case, an engineer looked at their boiler and said a new one was needed and added that there were various other complications.
The company quoted around £700 for the work. However, according to the officer, it was only a wire that needed to be re-connected.
In another fault, trading standards officers blocked a drain with fat and tissue which they say should have been a quick and inexpensive job. But the plumber called out told officers that despite his efforts to pour acid down the drain, the gunge could not be cleared and the whole drain would need re-lining.
Another incident saw a plastic bag being used as a washer, and our picture (left) shows an example of this.
Most of the complaints the trading standards department receive are about home improvements.
David Collinson, the principal trading standards officer, said: "That area of work was identified as a high priority for our work. We wanted to replicate real life situations. The trading standards department routinely test goods on the market place by visiting shops and take samples, but with services you cannot do that.
"We have adopted this approach with car servicing where we doctor cars and see what level of service they provide and we have done exactly the same with domestic traders. It is an area of high complaint. We get more complaints of house maintenance and repairs then any other complaint."
Mr Collinson says a number of investigations had arisen from the exercise. "Where it can be proved that people have acted deliberately to mislead in the work they have carried out, prosecutions will be considered," he said.
Another area of consumer concern is the sale of used cars and the descriptions of vehicles. Last year the trading standards team monitored car servicing and targeted a dozen servicing outlets.
The senior training standards officer added: "That was quite successful. We are going to do internet work which is looking at sites where there are mis-descriptions. Also counterfeiting. We are looking at preventing rather than catching people."
Mr Collinson would like the community to be aware that rogue traders are a high priority area for trading standards officers.
He said: "If trades people are thinking of ripping off people they should think twice about it and that they stand a good chance of being caught. The message we would like to get out is that if you are honest traders you have nothing to worry about. If you are setting out to mislead or over-charge it could be dealt with by trading standards officers."Who we are and what we do
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Trading Standards is a service provided by the environmental services department of Buckinghamshire County Council.
Its aim is to encourage a fair, honest and safe trading environment for the people and businesses of the county.
In order to achieve this it advises on and enforces a wide range of consumer protection legislation within the county including:
advising consumers on their consumer rights
advising and guiding traders on their responsibilities with Trader Advice
routinely inspecting trade premises to make sure laws are being complied with
investigating breaches of criminal legislation
advising, warning and if necessary, prosecuting traders who break the law
informing and educating consumers and traders on the requirements of legislation.
In addition to offering advice on civil law, Trading Standards main areas of enforcement work on criminal law include safety of goods, trade descriptions, food composition and labelling.
They also deal with weights and measures, consumer credit, prices, farm animal health and welfare, petroleum, road traffic overloading and under-age sales.
Trading Standards has a staff of 41 based at its office in Walton Street, Aylesbury, where it also operates a consumer advice centre.Get in touch
TRADING Standards, at 5-7 Walton Street, Aylesbury, opens between 9am 5.30pm Monday to Thursday. The Advice Centre opens between 9.30am - 5pm.
You can also call the Advice Line on 01296 383212 between 9.30am - 4pm, email at tsd@buckscc.gov.uk, fax on 01296 382017, or write to Buckinghamshire County Council, Trading Standards Division, County Hall, Walton Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP20 1UP.
There is also a confidential hotline to report under-age cigarette sales on 01296 382382.
For more information visit the Trading Standards website at www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/
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