South Gloucestershire | Archive | 2005 | September | 30
From the archive, first published Friday 30th Sep 2005.
RESIDENTS of South Gloucestershire are being urged to exercise caution when employing a business to carry out block-paving work at their homes.
The warning has been issued by South Gloucestershire Council's trading standards team following a tip off that a rogue business, specialising in the block paving of driveways, has recently started targeting households in the area.
Senior enforcement officer Neil Derrick said people needed to be aware of anybody offering what appeared to be a bargain.
"Residents should be aware that the majority of block paving specialists operating in this area are reputable businesses, but caution should be exercised, especially if they are cold-called by this type of business," he said.
"What may initially appear to be a bargain may turn out to be anything but that."
Trading standards officers are concerned by the practices that the business is alleged to be employing, including failure to make people aware of a "cooling off" period and giving a false business address.
There are also concerns regarding the standard of workmanship carried out by the business, which may mean that the driveway looks fine on completion of the job, but may begin to crumble within a matter of months of completion.
The jobs may appear to be competitively priced when compared with quotations supplied by other block-paving specialists but the business may try to increase the price after initially agreeing it verbally or to add huge costs for slight alterations requested by the customer.
Quite often, residents are being warned, the business will promise that the work is guaranteed for ten years but as false address details for the company are often given, the customer will find it impossible to trace them to invoke the guarantee.
Mr Derrick added: "Common sense should always be applied in this type of situation and at the very least we would recommend that you check to see that the business is at the address which it claims to be and bear in mind that, just because your neighbours have employed the same trader, this does not guarantee that they are reputable."
Anyone wanting further advice should call Mr Derrick on 01454 634009.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008