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Trading standards officers have called for a ban on
doorstop selling by certain types of tradesmen.
The announcement
was made by the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) after its research
revealed that 96% of people resent the attention of door-to-door salesmen. The survey - of
nearly 9,000 householders - found that 61.5% had received a cold call in
the last three months and a quarter had been troubled by sellers'
aggressive tactics. ITS said salesmen
offering property repairs were the most bothersome, with 10% of people
claiming to have had a bad experience with one. On a national
scale, it means that about 2.4 million people have faced problems with
these types of callers. Just 0.1% of the
survey pool actually welcomed door-to-door salesmen. The elderly are
most vulnerable to tricky sales techniques, said ITS, and some have been
duped into giving up their savings because of intimidating sales pitches
by shady callers. The organisation
said that while it would be good for people to learn more about conmen,
the government should go a step further and introduce extra rules to
protect consumers. Its chief
executive, Ron Gainsford, said pensioners are particularly vulnerable to
criminals passing themselves off as roofers, gardeners, or plumbers; who
often leave false names and addresses so that they cannot be traced. "With the
rising aged population and increased home ownership, this is an area long
overdue for strict legal control," said Gainsford. "The public,
honest businesses and enforcement authorities are unanimous in their view
that it is time to take firm action and ban the cold calling of property
repairs, maintenance and improvements." The Office of Fair
Trading is investigating doorstop selling techniques and is expected to
report its findings by the end of the year. In the report it could
recommend new controls to tighten up the trade. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
