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| Nicola Clay (Cumbria Trading Standards, Community Support Officer, Cumbria) |
Cumbria Trading Standards and Police are
warning elderly householders in the County to be wary of businesses cold calling
on the telephone offering to sell food supplements. Residents have reported
receiving unsolicited calls where they are offered sample packs of health
supplements at a low price and are then contacted at a later date to order a
large quantity and asked for their card details. It is thought that the company
are directly targeting older adults and using persuasive sales techniques in
order to sell the goods and in some cases taking lump sums of money instead of
agreed monthly installments.
Distance selling legislation allows consumers to
cancel orders that are made over the telephone, online or by mail order up to
seven working days after receipt of the goods. If anyone feels they may have
been pressured into buying goods or needs further advice they can contact
Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 08454 04 05
06.