The BBC have reported that elderly and disabled people are regularly targeted by door to door mobility aids salesmen who charge up to 50% more than on the high street or online.
The story highlighted the case of Mary Bell from Sheffield who was left £1800 out of pocket after her old stairlift was disconnected and a new replacement never arrived. As a result, she was confined to the ground floor of her home for a month. This is not an isolated case with the Office of Fair Trading receiving thousands of complaints.
Whilst the OFT are acting to cut out unfair sales practices via the removal of credit licenses and support from Trading Standards, there are steps you can take to ensure you are not paying too much which includes only buying from companies who are a BHTA member retailer who is signed up to the OFT and BHTA code of practice.
Many online retailers, including:
http://www.manageathome.co.uk
will demonstrate their adherence by visibly placing BHTA and OFT logos on their website.
To find out more, call 0800 910 1864.
