TrustATrader, one of the UK’s leading
directories of accredited and reviewed local traders, has launched its own
Rogue Trader campaign in a bid to make a stand against rogue traders who
exploit vulnerable people and give traders a bad name.
The online directory was established in
2005 following CEO Gary McEwen’s personal bad experiences with traders during
his home renovation project. Since then, the service has helped millions of
people to find local traders who have been accredited by TrustATrader and reviewed by customers.
However, for CEO Gary McEwen, simply helping people to find great traders is
not enough; he wants to help protect people from predatory cowboy traders too.
Gary and his team have launched a Rogue
Trader campaign, designed to let cowboys know that they are not welcome. The
campaign offers people information and advice about choosing the right trader,
how to spot a rogue trader and victims’ stories and advice. In addition, there
are free anti rogue-trader posters available to download; it is hoped that
these will act as a deterrent in much the same way as anti-theft posters are
shown to.
Gary McEwen said “It is hoped that by
raising awareness of rogue traders and how to avoid them, the campaign will
help people to acknowledge the high incidence of people being duped every day.
Although official figures show that there are over 1.5 million complaints about
traders every year, we believe the actual figure is much higher, as many people
don’t complain about the trader, either because they think that there is no
point or because they are embarrassed.”
As is often the case, it is usually the
most vulnerable people who are exploited by rogue traders, with one of the
primary groups being the elderly. As an element of its Rogue Trader campaign,
TrustATrader are supporting Friends of the Elderly’s “Be A Friend”, pledging
to support the elderly in fundraising and by continuing to be a source of
trusted, regulated local traders.
To find out more about the Rogue Traders
campaign, to download free posters or to support the Be A Friend campaign, go
to www.trustatrader.com/rogue-traders
