More complaints of rogue traders

By Brian Milligan
Business reporter, BBC News

The Office of Fair Trading says it has received a record number of complaints about rogue traders - builders who overcharge or do shoddy work.

Figures to be released on Monday are expected to show that the number of complaints across the UK has gone up to 4,000.

That is a new record and an 18% increase on last year.

The most common complaints relate to roofing work, driveways, and cavity wall insulation.

Rogue trader victim: 'I was robbed'

Jean McAlone, 73, from Cumbria was a victim of a typical roofing scam.

Two men came round to her terraced house in Whitehaven, and offered to replace the slates on her roof.

By the time she returned from getting their money, they said they had finished the job.

In fact, what they did was to paint her slates black, so they looked like new.

"I was robbed of £1,700," muses Jean.

And as is usual in such cases, the men were very convincing.

"They were very nice lads. I'm one that trusts people. But never again," she says.

AVERAGE AMOUNTS LOST TO ROGUE TRADERS London £1198 North £774 East £694 Wales £571 South £303 Midlands £260 Scotland £165 Source: OFT

Psychological Tactics

The Office of Fair Trading says such tactics are commonplace.

Often traders will try to make friends with their victims before offering services.

Michele Shambrook, from Consumer Direct, which is part of the OFT, says, "We hear of salespeople who come with a gift or who try and find common interests.

Others try to impose some sense of urgency, telling you that if you don't have the work done immediately, something terrible will happen."

As a result, householders across the UK lost at least £8m in the last year.

Worst-hit were Londoners, who on average lost more than £1,000 each.

People living in Scotland appear to have got off the most lightly, losing £165.

The OFT is not certain why the figures have risen so sharply.

It rejects the idea that it has anything to do with the recession, and suggests it may well be because consumers are more aware of their rights.

Cowboys

Some of those most aware of the scams being practised are the builders who have to make good the work.

We met Paul Downer, a landscape gardener, while he and his colleagues were laying a new driveway at a £2m house in Essex.

Paul runs a company called Oak View Landscapes, which is registered with two trade associations, and has a good reputation in the business.

"We often hear stories of people knocking on somebody's door, saying they've got spare tarmac. This would entail them putting tarmac over an existing driveway, that clearly fails very quickly."

Using his ruler, Paul demonstrates that a decent driveway should have three separate base layers, of at least a foot deep.

Trading standards officers inspect the work on Jean McAlone's house

Campaign

The Office of Fair Trading is now launching a new campaign to warn people about the dangers of Rogue Traders.

It's called "Your Doorstep, Your Decision."

The publicity material includes a piece of card to hang on the front doorknob, reminding people not to feel pressurised by builders who call at their doorstep.

Householders are being advised that if they pay £35 or more for a service, and sign a contract on the doorstep, they have seven days in which to cancel.

If the trader doesn't tell you, in writing, that there is a cooling-off period, then he or she is committing a criminal offence.

Other advice includes not handing over a cash deposit, shopping around, and getting a second opinion before you let work go ahead.

Consumer minister Kevin Brennan welcomed the campaign,

"Unscrupulous traders who break the rules time and time again are a blight on society.

"That's why I'm fully behind this campaign, which supports the plans we announced in July to bring in powers for courts to ban persistent rogue traders."

Caught

Meanwhile, the two men who conned Jean McAlone out of £1,700 in Whitehaven have now been caught.

One was given a prison sentence of two-and-a-half years.

They have been ordered to pay her back £9 a month.

At that rate, and given the fact that she is a pensioner, she'll be extremely lucky to recover the full amount she lost.

Further help is available from Consumer Direct 08454 040 506 or www.consumerdirect.gov.uk