Coventry Trading Standards has received a report of vulnerable residents in Eastern Green being targeted by cold callers who are offering to jet wash driveways.

The report was passed over by vigilant staff from Coventry Building Society who became concerned when a customer requested a significant cash withdrawal to pay for work in their garden.

When asked, the resident said they had been cold called by a trader who had originally offered to jet wash the existing back garden path and patio, but had gone on to persuade the resident to have a new front path laid.

A substantial amount of money had already been paid in cash and the balance was now due as the work had been completed.

Trading Standards attended but unfortunately the traders had already left. The new ‘path’ had been laid on loose sand and not compacted. There was a significant amount of debris from removal of the old concrete path that had been left on the grass.

The trader had not provided any paperwork or contact details.

Although money had already been handed over to these traders, thanks to the prompt action of bank staff, a significant amount was saved.

Our advice as always is not to deal with cold callers as this is a favoured approach used by rogue traders whose sole intention is to extract as much money from residents as possible.

We would also ask that if you have any elderly or vulnerable neighbours that you keep a look out for rogue traders especially if you notice cold callers in your area or anyone acting suspiciously. It would also help if registration numbers of vehicles being used by the cold callers are noted down and reported.

If you have any information that may help us track down these unscrupulous cold callers or you wish to report any incidents involving a rogue trader or doorstep crime, contact us on 03454 040506.

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Trading Standards is warning residents after a report of an elderly resident having received a telephone call, purporting to be from Coventry Council Tax Department.

They were advised that they had overpaid their council tax and a refund was due.

The scammers asked for both bank card details and the 3 digit security number in order to facilitate the ‘refund’.

Although these were initially given, the resident immediately felt uncomfortable and a call to a family member allowed prompt appropriate action to be taken. Thankfully it was in time to stop monies being taken from their account.

We would advise that if any resident receives a similar call, do NOT give out any personal information, and hang up on the call. We are anxious for people not to be caught out, so please be on your guard for this or any other bogus caller.

If you feel your property has been placed in the wrong band and you may be paying too much, you can make an appeal to the Valuation Office for free.

Our Council Tax team does not charge people a fee for appealing against their banding

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Trading Standards is warning of a telephone cold call delivering a recorded message claiming ‘your computer and ISP will be disconnected in the next 24 hours’ and giving the option to ‘press 1 to prevent this. This was reported by a Coundon resident who received such a call.

These calls are not genuine and are likely to be used to seek remote access to computers, gather personal, account or financial details or attempt to take payments.

If you receive one of these calls do not press any keys if prompted, hang up and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

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A Coventry shopkeeper has been fined for selling dangerous gun-shaped laser pointers and stocking out of date food.

Mr Nazeer Kogyani, 39, of Stoney Mini Market on the Stoney Stanton Road was fined £500 and ordered to pay over £1200 in Council costs by Coventry Magistrates Court (19 September).

He was prosecuted for offences under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.

Coventry’s Trading Standards team visited the Stoney Mini Market in November 2017 and identified a number of keyrings on sale in the shape of toy guns that were not CE marked and didn’t have any details as to the manufacturer or importer.

These items contained laser pointers that were worryingly strong. As a result, officers seized the items in question. On further inspection of the fridges in the shop a number of packs of beef sausages were also found beyond their use-by date and removed from sale.

Trading Standards later submitted the laser pointers for testing and the results showed it had the potential to cause an eye injury. Public Health England, The Health Protection Agency and the World Health Organisation guidelines all specify lasers of such strength should not be available to the general public.

The court heard that Mr Kogyani was unable to provide any receipts or identify where the laser pointers came from.

Additionally, Trading Standards officers had previously verbally advised and issued a written warning to Mr Kogyani regarding stocking out of date food, and he had also previously accepted a simple caution for similar matters.  

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The average success rate of an electrical product recall in the UK is just 10-20%.

This means that there are potentially millions of recalled electrical items still in UK homes. As most of these products have been recalled because they offer a risk of electric shock or electrical fire, they present a serious risk.

Unless products are registered, it is very difficult to track them down.

Trading Standards advise you can stay up to date with the latest safety issues about your products by registering them with their manufacturer or by checking the latest recalls.

Register your products

Registering a product with its manufacturer is the easiest way to stay informed on any safety issues you should know about.

To get a product registered, you can either:

• go to the manufacturer website
• use the Register My Appliance service

More information on all types of product recalls.

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