There are many different reasons why people are motivated into buying a product or service and sometimes these motivations can overlap. It is clear that many people will be looking to improve their home and increase the value of their property. Other people will have a fear about the condition of their property worsening, causing problems and greater financial issues. It is easy to see that both of these problems can sometimes be resolved in the same manner, and this means that there is a great deal of interest in products or services that promise to improve your home while minimising your risk of problems. If you can throw in the chance to save money in the long-run, you will find that there is a queue of people looking to snap up this solution.
Of course, great solutions that provide short and long term benefits are not always that affordable. This means that there is a decision to be made with respect to the price that is paid and the value for money that is on offer from the return. The thing is, even though most people will appreciate that there are great benefits to be gained, it may just be that they cannot afford the actual price, leading them to turn down the offer. Some companies accept this and focus their time and energy on the people who are likely to buy the product whereas some firms are unable to take no for an answer.
Aggressive sales tactics can force people into making poor decisions
Some of the stories about the level of pressure that some sales staff have applied when looking to clinch a sale can be quite frightening and two bosses of a firm who have been operating in this manner have recently been sent to jail. Therma Seal workers were said to have utilised fraudulent and aggressive strategies to sell a product which ultimately was unable to provide the results that employees were claiming it could. Countless property owners found themselves tricked into buying thermal roof pain, which was fake, in a con that has been reported as being worth £8m.
Alan Wilson and Christopher Wilies are both directors of the firm and they have been found guilty of fraud and have been sentenced to five years each in jail. There is a third defendant who has been found guilty of fraud, Julie Barrett who is a sales woman for the company and she is due to be sentenced on the 1st of April. While you don’t want to be sentenced for a crime of this nature on any day, it may be that a sentencing which takes place on the 1st of April is unlikely to raise any smiles.
Most people are keen to save money on their energy bills
The firm claimed that the coating they offer could reduce the level of heat loss in a property by up to 25%. This sort of heat retention, if valid, would provide significant savings on heating bills while also making the home a more attractive proposition for anyone that buys the property at a later date. The promise of short and long term benefits is often enough to have people interested and with the sums of money involved, it is easy to see why so many people decided to pay the additional cost for the roofing paint to be applied.
Investigations have shown that a 91 year old woman paid £13,000 to have the coating applied to her roof. Another example was given of a male who paid over £3,000 for the work to be carried out.
The Trading Standards cabinet minister for Dudley Council, Rachel Harris, spoke out after the case was held at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Rachel said; “This was a large scale fraud netting over £8m in three years involving a significant number elderly and vulnerable customers. To mis-sell a product with so many false claims is despicable, and it left many victims out of pocket by tens of thousands of pounds.”
It is important to remember that there are many different ways in which Trading Standards operating and when it comes to receiving the highest standard of Trading Standards services law, there is a need to work with an experienced and specialist firm. Anyone that is facing this style of charge needs to know that they will be defended in the best possible manner.
Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.
