Citizens Advice East Berkshire shares its top shopping tips for consumers, as new data reveals a complaint is made about disability aids every hour
- Faulty goods make up more than two thirds (69%) of disability aid issues reported to the charity’s national Consumer Service
- Citizens Advice East Berkshire charity is sharing top tips for buying a disability aid and what to do if there’s a problem
New data from Citizens Advice reveals that the charity helped someone with a disability aid complaint every hour in the last year.
Items like mobility vehicles, stairlifts and hearing aids are relied on by disabled people, and are designed to help them navigate their everyday lives.
But Citizens Advice has found that more than two thirds (69%) of complaints to the charity’s national Consumer Service in the last year were about defective goods. This includes products that were unsafe, poor quality, broke shortly after purchase – or never worked to begin with.
With 7.4 million people having bought a disability aid in the last year, Citizens Advice East Berkshire is sharing its top tips with consumers so they know their rights and stay safe when buying.
To mark the start of its Consumer Awareness campaign (Wednesday 18 June – Tuesday 24 June), Citizens Advice East Berkshire is giving advice to people looking to buy a disability aid. The annual campaign is run by national Citizens Advice in collaboration with the Consumer Protection Partnership (CPP), which includes Trading Standards and the Department for Business and Trade.
Nicola Miller Chief Executive Officer of Citizens Advice East Berkshire (CAEB), said:
Disability aids such as mobility scooters, stairlifts and bath hoists give people a lifeline when navigating their daily lives, offering them a sense of independence.
But broken products that don’t work as needed, batteries not lasting as long as advertised, and problems getting a refund or repair have wide-reaching negative consequences for consumers’ financial, emotional and physical wellbeing.
In this growing market, it’s vital consumers are armed with the correct information before making a purchase. We urge people across East Berkshire to do their research, know their rights and stay safe when buying – and remember we’re here to help.
Head of Advice Claire Oughton offers Citizens Advice’s top tips to follow when buying a disability aid and navigating problems:
- Check trader reviews
If you’re buying from a trader you should look for an established firm you can trust, with a good reputation. There are organisations that can give you a list of traders which sell disability aids or help you in choosing one:
- Your local council Trading Standards will have an approved traders scheme –
Buy with Confidence - The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) operates the Approved Code Scheme which aims to guarantee high standards of customer care and added levels of protection from traders who are signed up to an agreed code of conduct – such as the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA)
If you’ve already got a trader in mind, they might claim they’re a member of a trader association – check the association’s website to make sure.
- Returning faulty goods
If something’s gone wrong with the disability aid you’ve bought, you might be entitled to a refund, repair or replacement, whether the item is new or second-hand.
You’ll have legal rights if the item you bought is:
- Broken or damaged
- Unusable
- Not what was advertised or doesn’t match the seller’s description
You won’t have any legal rights if the item was damaged by wear and tear, an accident or misuse, or if you knew about the fault before you bought it.
- Solving an ongoing dispute
There are steps you can take if you’ve approached a business seller about a problem with your disability aid, or the service you received, and you’re not getting anywhere.
- Make a formal complaint by email or post for your records. Before contacting the seller, check if they have a complaints procedure, which can usually be found on their website – make sure you follow this.
- If you’re not happy with the response, ask the seller for a final response (often called a ‘deadlock letter’), which will confirm they haven’t been able to resolve your complaint.
A final response is proof you’ve already tried making a formal complaint – you’ll need it if you try other ways to sort out the problem. These can include:
- Checking if the seller is a member of a trade association – meaning they might have to follow certain rules. If they’ve broken them, you could get help from the association.
- Checking if you can get your money back if you paid by card or PayPal. If your card or finance provider doesn’t help, you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- Checking if the seller is a member of a trader scheme – there may be an ‘alternative dispute resolution’ (ADR) scheme available to use.
To find out more information or advice, visit caeb.org.uk.