Trading Standards Warning

Driveways and Tarmacking - Cold Callers

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Trading Standards attended a home in Lewis this week to assist a family where workmen had laid a driveway earlier that day and were returning to collect payment.

The cold callers from the mainland stated they had ‘left over material’ from an earlier job but had not been given permission to commence any work. Nor had they provided a price for the job or any of the legally required paperwork, including legally required ‘cancellation rights’. They had simply undertaken the work in the home owner’s absence after having merely been asked for a quote.

Jay Moran from Trading Standards said:

“The traders were challenged for this specific incident and were questioned and given advice on their business practices that evening. However, following our recent post on social media to warn the public we are now aware of further complaints and so have been working with affected parties, partner agencies and relevant others to take measures to help prevent these situations occurring in future”.

Trading Standards would advise islanders who may be considering having any work done at their properties to take the time to seek a number of quotes and ask for references. Do not feel rushed into making decisions on the spot. Jobs undertaken by cold callers can often be expensive and of poor quality and for driveways, if not laid correctly, they may not last very long.

Jay Moran said: “We would like to thank the local police and others for their support in dealing with these issues.”

Trading Standards can be contacted directly for issues such as this by email: ts@cne-siar.gov.uk (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) or by calling 01851 822694 (please leave a voicemail with full name and contact number)