The government has announced that it will put together a committee to clamp down on doorstep selling and cold calling after research revealed consumers didn’t like being visited by salespeople.
The committee, created by minister Gerry Sutcliffe, will look at the problems caused by doorstep selling, especially fraudulent activity by conmen who prey on vulnerable customers and tarnish the name of legitimate businesses.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said that it will press the committee to look into a ban of cold-calling altogether, banning small firms from selling their products or services from door to door.
The government announcement was prompted by research by the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), which found that 96 per cent of householders did not like cold calling at all, while 21 per cent of residents had bad experiences at the hands of a doorstep conman.
The OFT said that around 16,000 cases of fraudulent doorstep activity are reported each year, although the true number could be far greater.
Illegitimate doorstep sellers include plumbers and builders, although some cold callers are involved with burglaries by distracting householders while accomplices steal money or possessions.
Ron Gainsford, chief executive of the TSI, said that he was delighted that Sutcliffe had set up the committee.
“In addition, the Office of Fair Trading’s recommendation that further serious consideration and consultation rake place on a ban on cold calling for property work gives us all we could possibly have wanted at this stage.
“With the exception of crimes against children, nothing fills me with greater anger and disgust than the actions of those who cynically target and exploit vulnerable older people.
“They rob them not only of their pensions, their savings and their treasured possessions, but of something far more damaging – their pride, their self-respect and in some cases their independence. No criminal better deserves the description of ‘scum on earth’,” he said.
