ELDERLY CONNED BY ROGUE TRADERS
From the BHTA Website:
Four hours and twenty minutes - is the time one mobility scooter salesman, refusing to give up on a potential sale, spent in an elderly lady's home - not leaving until after 10pm - when she finally agreed to buy a scooter that was actually unsuitable for her.
This and much more was featured on BBC One's Rogue Traders programme (10
October) on which Ray Hodgkinson, Director General of the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) was also invited to give expert advice and comment on the activities of the 'salesmen'.In the programme, which featured sales representatives from an adjustable bed and a scooter company, elderly and disabled people were pressurised in their own homes into buying products they did not need or want. They were given false medical information, told fabricated stories about other buyers and basically ground down by constant sales patter until they gave in and bought products at hugely inflated prices.
Says Ray Hodgkinson: "It's outrageous that some companies stoop so low to sell. It's almost like highway robbery and I don't know how some people sleep at night. Our Code of Practice is designed to stamp out this type of behaviour and in April, new European legislation will be introduced that will make some of these practises illegal. People will be able to challenge companies in court if they believe that they are being dishonest." Ray Hodgkinson believes that every member of the public should beware of pressure selling tactics. By going to a BHTA member company they will have the security of dealing with a company that has committed to providing high standards of service (as set out in the Code of Practice) and BHTA Registered Persons are committed to a personal Code of Conduct as well.
But, in relation to companies using the sharp practices shown on the programme, he says: "Manufacturers and suppliers of these businesses need to think carefully whether they want to be associated with retailers whose sales techniques are way outside the Code of Practice that they themselves have signed up to."The Rogue Traders programme finished with a recommendation to consumers to contact the British Healthcare Trades Association "to get a steer in the right direction".
You can also view the BBCs website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/rogue_traders/
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