Yourtrustedtradesmen Announces Sitehut/newsYourtrustedtradesmen.com has launched sitehut/news. These will be informative articles for consumers and tradespeople. The articles come from trading standards and other regulatory bodies.
By: Michael Andrews Warnings from trading standards 28/04/08. Unsolicited Direct Marketing Calls Trading Standards have received complaints from consumers who are getting unsolicited telephone messages from persons alleging to be Debt Clearing Agents, Banking Centres and Consumer Advisers. The content of the recorded messages left after these calls indicates that by pressing button 5 on the phone you can find out more. These calls appear to originate outside of the U.K. and therefore are outside of the scope of the Telephone Preference Service. On investigation, if you press any button you probably be charged for the call. Although the contact numbers left are not premium rate numbers there are no controls for marketing calls made within the U.S.A. - unless they are made on behalf of a U.K. company. Please be forewarned! Should advice on debt be required, see contacts below - Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) the help line provides free and impartial advice to people with debt problems. The free phone help line is open between 8am and 8pm from Monday to Friday. www.cccs.co.uk Fifty Reasons Why Cold Callers Should Think Twice Cambridgeshire County Council has launched its 50th 'No Cold Calling' zone - putting uninvited salesmen on notice that they will be wasting their time knocking on doors there. Nationally, more and more such designated cold calling control zones - spearheaded by the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) - are being set up with the help of £50,000 sponsorship from BT. Cambridgeshire Trading Standards Service and the local police first came up with the idea for such zones three years ago, after a spate of doorstep crime in a cul de sac of elderly people's bungalows. When schemes are launched, Trading Standards professionals team up with police and community groups, such as Neighbourhood Watch, to visit each resident in the area. The residents are given a pack, including 'We're not buying it' door stickers, advice on home security and information about what to do if an unwanted trader calls. Signs, headed 'Police Notice' with the message 'No uninvited salespeople', are then erected on lampposts. TSI promoted the scheme nationally at its Conference 2005 and the £50,000 sponsorship from BT has so far helped to fund the setting up of 23 'No Cold Calling' zones around the country. David Broughton, Head of Projects, Education and Information for Cambridgeshire Trading Standards Service, said: 'The aim is to empower residents to have the confidence to say 'no' to uninvited salespeople - and to warn potential rogue traders and cold callers that they are visiting an area where people will not buy at the door. 'Our original project worked so well in reducing the number of doorstep callers that the idea has now expanded throughout Cambridgeshire - and we have just launched our 50th zone, which is in the town of March. 'We target distraction burglary and rogue trading through a strong taskforce partnership from 30 organisations, as diverse as Victim Support, Anglian Water, Social Services and the Pensions Service - and the scheme needs the full support of the community to succeed. ' After the first year of the Cambridgeshire scheme, 86 residents were surveyed - and all welcomed it. Most felt that it had deterred uninvited doorstep salespeople and just two unsolicited visits were reported - one from an energy supplier and one from a double glazing company. Distraction burglaries in Cambridgeshire reduced by 11% in the first two years after the scheme was set up. Peter Mccarthy-Ward, BT's regional director for the East of England, said: "Research commissioned by BT last year found that 74% of those questioned regarded doorstep selling as an unnecessary intrusion into their private lives. Campaigns like 'No Cold Calling Zones' are to be welcomed and we are delighted to make available £50,000 to help fund the setting up of such zones throughout the country and provide local communities with what they need to prevent this infringement of consumers' privacy. ' BT's findings mirrored the results of a major TSI survey in 2003, which quizzed 9,000 people and found 96% of them did not want uninvited doorstep sellers calling. Ron Gainsford, Chief Executive of TSI, said: 'Cambridgeshire led the way in piloting these zones and this effective method of deterring those who use cold calling as a front for criminal activity is now being spread by other Trading Standards Services around the country. We know that there are some honest and properly intentioned cold callers, but we still hope that the Government will outlaw the practice of calling uninvited at private addresses to offer property repairs, maintenance and gardening. In the meantime, this scheme shows that communities can, with help, do a lot to protect themselves from the rogues. ' BT grants have recently been awarded through TSI for 'No Cold Calling' Zones to be set up in the Isle of Wight and the London Borough of Wandsworth. Ten zones have been set up in South Yorkshire and others include Nottinghamshire, Nottingham City, North East Lincolnshire, West Sussex, Redcar and Cleveland, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Surrey and North Yorkshire. # # # YOURTRUSTEDTRADESMEN.COM LOCAL TRADES SERVICES DIRECTORY FOR THE UK Welcome to the first one stop shop for a list of all accredited trades or services for your county.Allowing you a choice from the best. We are an independent family run business. This site has been put together after hearing of the growing number of horror stories and first account experiences we have had ourselves of bogus 'builders' and 'cowboy' tradesmen. We also have searched through papers, websites ect. looking for legitimate contractors and have been very dissatisfied with the services provided.The claims these websites were making about their so called 'self vetted' tradesmen is mostly untrue i suspect and in a lot of other cases. The number of complaints arising from 'bogus' trades is ever increasing. This site will give you a list of the top ten accredited trades or services for your counties and is therefore a good indication of the service you should expect and receive. End
Page Updated Last on: Apr 18, 2009
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