Surrey County Council Trading Standards TS Alert! Did you know that you can view the latest three alerts on our website? Just follow the link! surreycc.gov.uk/business-and-consumers/latest-news-for-business-and-consumers Rogue Traders & Scams Guildford resident has reported a scam telephone call in which the caller claimed to be from Guildford Social Services and when challenged changed this to Guildford Social UK. Please spread the word and look out for vulnerable family members and neighbours. Epsom resident reports paying builder £1000s who has then disappeared. We are advising but would like to remind you to say no to doorstep traders, get several quotes and consider a trader who is Trading Standards approved by using a Buy With Confidence member ... buywithconfidence.gov.uk Council tax refund scam emails - Fraudsters are sending scam emails claiming residents are eligible to a refund on their council tax. The emails that are being sent from [email protected] offer a refund on your council tax and claim to be from local government. News & Advice Award Winners! This week in addition to Harrogate in Yorkshire buzzing with the excitement of the Tour De France, it was also buzzing with Trading Standards Officers from all over the country as it was our annual Conference. We are proud to announce that in addition to learning, discussing, sharing best practice and networking we won 3 awards! 1. A Surrey pensioner scammed out of more than £200,000 over 56 years has been dubbed a national hero for speaking out to help others. Sylvia Kneller hit the headlines in January after revealing she paid around £100 a week in deposits for phoney prizes to lottery or horoscope tricksters until Surrey County Council trading standards convinced her to stop. Ms Kneller, from Farnham, told people her experiences and how the county council helped her via the front page of The Sun and other national media. 2. Congratulations to our Business Team - winners of the 2014 Primary Authority Award for innovation! Surrey’s innovative and responsive approach is a beacon for others. Judges were impressed by the commitment to engaging with other regulators and the relationship formed with Surrey Fire and Rescue. For more information about our Primary Authority Partnership work please have a look at our brochure surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/649812/BA-DO3-Brochure.pdf 3. Surrey Trading Standards have been commended for their outstanding work raising awareness of the dangers of loan sharks as category winners of the Stop Loan Sharks Champions awards. The England Illegal Money Lending Team elected Surrey Trading Standards as the Local Authorities/Education/Schools category joint winner, for “utilising many different ways of engaging residents in communities of high risk and deprivation. Surrey Trading Standards are now in with a chance of becoming the national winner and receiving £1000 worth of proceeds of crime money to fund further awareness raising, an online public vote. To show your support for Surrey Trading Standards vote online at https://surveymonkey/s/SLSChampions before 7th July 2014 Companies that have ceased trading or gone into administration La Senza (national) and CT Conservatories (local trader) If there’s a problem with something you bought or ordered from a limited company that’s stopped trading, you may find it difficult to get things put right. For example, you might have bought something which is faulty, ordered goods which havent been delivered or paid for work that hasnt been carried out. You may be able to get help from the company’s administrator, receiver or liquidator. If you’ve got store credit or gift vouchers you should spend these while the trader is still trading. If you dont do this youll have to try claiming their value back from the administrators and may not get anything. adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_common_problems_with_products_e/trader_stopped_trading_e/problems_with_a_trader_who_has_stopped_trading_limited_companies.htm Before you buy tickets for an event When you buy a ticket for a sporting, music or theatre event, there are things you can check in advance to get the best possible tickets and to avoid problems later. This link to Advice Guide looks at what to check before you buy tickets, and what kinds of ticket sellers there are. adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/travel_leisure_and_food_e/consumer_event_tickets_e/before_you_buy_tickets_for_an_event.htm Are retailers selling e-cigarettes to young people? A new report reveals the results of a test-purchasing project involving young people aged under 18 attempting to buy e-cigarettes and related products from a variety of retailers. Whilst there is currently no legal restriction placed on the age at which e-cigarettes may be sold, the majority of these products carry a voluntary age warning that they are not for sale to under 18s. New powers in the Children and Families Act 2014 allow for the introduction of a ban on selling e-cigarettes to under 18s. These regulations are subject to future consultation and this report was commissioned by Public Health England to assist this work. tradingstandards.gov.uk/extra/news-item.cfm/newsid/1551 Could your film-making talent help others and win you £1000? The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) is calling all amateur videographers, media students, filmmakers and directors to create a 90-second Good Neighbours Stop Rogue Traders informational video. The video should be designed to encourage friends, family, neighbours and carers to help protect vulnerable citizens against doorstep crime. Creators of the winning video will receive a £1,000 prize. tradingstandards.gov.uk/extra/news-item.cfm/newsid/1546 Recalls We know that returning a recalled product is not always convenient, especially if its an item that you use every day, but recall notices keep consumer safe! The small inconvenience of returning a recalled item is worth it when you consider that faulty products can electrocute or cause a fire and recalled food items may cause illness or anaphylactic shock. Why not bookmark these three sites and make a point of checking them every Tuesday #CheckItTuesday tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/advice-recall-list.cfm recalluk/ food.gov.uk/ Asda Smart Price Crisps - Ready Salted 12x18g - safety notice ALLERGY ALERT Milk, Barley, and Gluten In Asda Smart Price Crisps - Ready Salted 12x18g Date code: BB 06/09/2014 4163 Price: £0.66 Barcode: 505244963806 At a small number of Asda Smart Price Ready Salted Crisps 12x18g with a best before code of 06/09/2014 may have been incorrectly packed with other flavour variants which contain milk, barley, and gluten. Milk, barley, and gluten are not declared on the packaging and therefore this product has the potential to cause an adverse reaction to people who are allergic to milk, barley and gluten. If you have purchased Asda Smart Price Ready Salted Crisps 12x18g with a Best Before code of 06/09/2014, please bring them back to your nearest store where you will be given a full refund. You do not need your receipt If you would like any further information please contact: Asda Customer Relations — 0800 952 0101 Futaba/Ripmax Mains Chargers - recall Futaba/Ripmax Mains Charger Part number: P-FBC30D/4 and F-FBC35D/4 Follow up to recall of P-FBC32D/4 charger. As part of the recall process for the P-FBC32D/4 charger, we have been required to identify any similar products that could be at risk. The above two chargers use the same case design as the P-FBC32D/4 and have therefore been deemed to pose a similar serious risk of electric shock and fire because of the following factors relating to BS1363-1. Trading Standards have therefore requested us to make this recall today. Action: If you have purchased one of these chargers on its own or as a component of another product, stop using it immediately and please return it as soon as possible to the dealer that you bought it from. Ripmax will arrange to correct the charger as soon as components are approved by Trading Standards and production can be arranged. It is not possible to give a timescale for this as the approval of the modified charger is not fully within our control. Tern Link-OCL Limited Bicycles Tern is conducting a limited voluntary recall of select batches of Link frames manufactured between August 2011 and April 2012. The purpose of this page is to submit your bike information to confirm if your bike is affected or not. The recall is for select batches of bikes produced between August 2011 and April 2012. Models include: Link D7i Link D8 Link D24 Link P7i Coaster Brake Link P7i V-Brake Link P9 Link P24h Link Uno STEP 1: Check your Frame Number If you own one of the above models, the first step is to check your bikes Frame Number. Your Frame Number is a unique 10-digit alphanumeric number (e.g. AI11334567) stamped underneath the bottom bracket. If your Frame Number begins with AI, your bike MAY be part of the recall and you should follow the steps on the Tern Bicycle website here. If your Frame Number does NOT begin with AI, then your bike is NOT part of this recall. ternbicycles/2014-linkocl-limited-voluntary-recall-faqs Mothercare Mattress with Outlast Mothercare 60cm x 120cm x 12.5cm Cot Luxury Pocket Sprung Mattress with Outlast – Style No. X7547 and Mothercare 70cm x 140cm x 12.5cm Cot Bed Luxury Pocket Sprung Mattress with Outlast – Style No. X7548 A decision has been made to recall the above mattresses following notification from the supplier of a change in production methods which may affect the fire retardant performance and compliance of these products. These mattresses were sold from the 5th June to the 23rd June 2014. No other Mothercare cot or cot bed mattresses are affected by this notice. If you have one of these mattresses please return it to your nearest Mothercare store for a suitable exchange or a full refund. Alternatively if you require further assistance please contact the Mothercare Customer Care Team on 0344 8755122 ___________________________________________________ All reports of frauds or scams can be reported to us via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 040506 or online via their website For Textphone please dial 18001 followed by 03454 04 05 06 You have been sent this information as a subscriber to Surrey County Councils Trading Standards Service TS @lerts. If you wish to stop receiving these please email: [email protected] and type ‘TS @lert stop’ in the subject line OR Reply to the person who forwarded you this email if it wasnt sent direct from us
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 12:31:37 +0000
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