Summer 2010 Newsletter - Trading Standards Institute

Doncaster pubs closed for
selling booze to youngsters
CONTACT DETAILS
Successive Governments have
recognised and share public concern
that crime and disorder associated with
irresponsible alcohol consumption
amongst young people is unacceptable
and needs to be tackled rigorously.
The Licensing Act 2003 provides a
strong framework of powers designed
to regulate the sale of alcohol and deal
with irresponsible premises. Section
147A of the Act creates the offence of
persistently selling alcohol to children.
Persistent sales are deemed to have
occured if on two or more different
occasions within a period of 3
consecutive months alcohol is
unlawfully sold on the same premises
to an individual aged under 18.
Police and Trading Standards now have
powers to issue closure notices where
there is evidence that a person has
committed an offence of persistently
selling alcohol to children and there is
evidence that there would be a realistic
prospect of conviction if prosecuted. A
closure notice proposes a prohibition
on sales of alcohol at the premises for
a period not exceeding 48 hours,
whilst offering the licensee an
opportunity to discharge criminal
liability in respect of the alleged
offence if the prohibition is accepted.
In making use of these new powers,
Doncaster Trading Standards recently
called time at two pubs for persistently
selling alcohol to underage customers.
Between December 2009 and March
2010, officers from South Yorkshire
Police and Doncaster Trading
Standards responded to tip offs about
underage drinking in Mexborough
pubs by conducting a series of test
purchase operations around the town
centre. The operations resulted in
alcohol being sold to underage
persons in nine separate public houses.
For first offences, staff responsible for
selling the alcohol to underage
customers were given an £80 fixed
penalty notice by Police officers. Advice
and assistance on preventing further
illegal sales to youngsters was also
provided to the seller, personal licence
holders and licensees.
Subsequent visits were made to the
pubs to test for persistent sales and
where alcohol was sold to under 18’s
on two or more occasions within a
three month period, as an alternative to
prosecuting the licensees, they were
offered a 48 hour ‘closure notice.’
The Montague Arms sold alcohol to
underage test purchasers on three
consecutive occasions, and the Old
Market Hall on two consecutive
occasions within the three month
period. Both licensees (Punch Taverns
and Wetherspoons) accepted the
‘closure notices’ which became
effective during normal opening
hours over the weekend of Saturday
24th to Monday 26th April.
Jane Miller, Director of Doncaster
Neighbourhoods and Communities
said: “We are concerned about the
effects that alcohol can have on
young people’s health and the strong
link between alcohol and anti-social
behaviour. Doncaster is the first
council in South Yorkshire to use this
tactic against pubs who serve to
under 18’s. 48 hour closure notices
are a quick and effective response to
circumstances where licensed
premises have persistently sold
alcohol to underage customers.”
Clear, practical consumer advice is only a phone call away...
Trading Standards
Regulatory Services, PO Box 602,
Barnsley, S70 9FB
Consumer Advice: 08454 040506
General Enquiries: 01226 772468
Fax: 01226 775699
e-mail:
regulatoryservices@barnsley.gov.uk
www.barnsley.gov.uk
Trading Standards Service
PO Box 257, The Council House,
College Road, Doncaster, DN1 1RN
Consumer Advice: 08454 040506
General Enquiries: 01302 862365
Fax: 01302 737950
e-mail:
trading.standards@doncaster.gov.uk
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/doncaster
Trading Standards
Reresby House, Bow Bridge Close,
Rotherham, S60 1BY
Consumer Advice: 08454 040506
General Enquiries: 01709 823151
Fax: 01709 823154
e-mail:
trading.standards@rotherham.gov.uk
www.rotherham.gov.uk
Trading Standards
2 - 10 Carbrook Hall Road,
Sheffield, S9 2DB
Consumer Advice: 08454 040506
General Enquiries: 0114 2736290
Fax: 0114 2736248
e-mail:
trading.standards@sheffield.gov.uk
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/sheffield
The South Yorkshire Trading Standards Services Newsletter is a
joint production by Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield
Trading Standards Services
You’ve got your hotel booked,
suitcases packed, hire car sorted, just a
few boring hours at the airport before
the fun really starts. With the summer
exodus well underway it comes as
little comfort to air travellers to find
exploding volcanoes and industrial
action joining the usual technical
hiccups and delays that can thwart
the best holiday plans. So with fingers
crossed for a trouble free flight and
Mother Nature behaving herself,
here’s our helpful guide in case of
cancellations or delays.
If you’ve booked your flight as part of
a package holiday, things should be
reasonably straight forward. In the
event of a delay or cancellation your
tour operator must offer an alternative
flight. If this results in a significant
change to the holiday then you should
also get the choice of a refund.
Remember, that’s a refund of the full
package holiday price, not just your
cancelled flight.
For the more independent travellers
who booked their flights separately,
things get a little more complicated. In
case of emergency there’s the snappily
titled Denied Boarding and
Cancellation & Delay Regulations to
clarify our rights.
If you are flying to or from an airport in
the European Union on an EU or Swiss
based airline you are entitled to a
choice between a refund, another
flight at the earliest opportunity, or one
at a later date, perhaps for another
holiday. Just remember if you choose
to accept a refund as soon as you hear
about your flight cancellation, you will
Issue No: 13 Summer 2010
Whoops, there goes
the holiday flight!
not be entitled to any further
assistance from the airline.
Choosing to wait for the next available
flight means the airline has to offer you
meals, refreshments and possibly hotel
accommodation if the length of your
delay makes this appropriate. If you
abandon your holiday plans and opt
for a flight at a later date, there’s no
time limit by which you must take the
rearranged flight and you shouldn’t
have to pay any extra.
However, taking matters into your own
hands (we don’t mean stealing the
plane!) and attempting to make your
own way to your destination won’t
give you an automatic right to claim all
your costs back from the airline,
although you should still be entitled to
the original cost of your flight.
Things get tricky if you are returning
home from a holiday outside
the European Union. With
a European Airline your
rights are protected,
however if the airline
operator is based outside
the European Union you
won’t get the protection
of the Denied Boarding
and Cancellation &
Delay Regulations.
As you’ve read, airlines have their
responsibilities, but consider some
decent travel insurance as well. It
might prove invaluable in a situation
where the airline is swamped with
complaints after numerous delays.
We know it’s boring but check the
terms and conditions when you book
your flights for details of compensation
offered and how to correspond with
the company should you have to
complain. You may need to be
persistent and be prepared to write a
second or third time if you are not
happy with the airline’s initial
response.
If you are still not satisfied with how
they handle your complaint, you could
try the Air Transport Users Council on
020 7240 6061 for further advice and
assistance. Their customer advice line is
open Monday to Thursday 9.30am to
2.30pm and offers helpful information
to air passengers on their rights.
Bon-voyage and have a great
holiday this summer.
SOUTH YORKSHIRE TRADING STANDARDS SERVICES - IMPROVING STANDARDS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
SOUTH YORKSHIRE TRADING STANDARDS SERVICES - IMPROVING STANDARDS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP

Just the Ticket...
or maybe not!
So you’re gutted that you’ve missed
out on seeing your favourite band in
concert. They only tour once every
five years and the tickets sold out like
lightening. But hey, wait a minute,
didn’t someone say that tickets are
still available on the Web for the gig
you wanted to go to.
A trawl on the internet might raise
your hopes of getting into that special
concert, because it’s easy to find loads
of sites guaranteeing to supply tickets
for popular music and sporting events
– even when they have already sold
out or maybe haven’t officially gone
on sale yet. Just beware before
purchasing those elusive tickets on
line - it might be a scam!
Trading Standards are trying to
increase awareness of fake ticket
websites and provide ticket buyers
with helpful and practical advice on
how to avoid being scammed. There
are many legitimate ticketing websites,
and scammers make their sites look
genuine, so it’s really easy to get taken
in unless you know what to look for.
The scammers don’t just limit their
activities to fake ticketing websites –
they also try to catch the unwary by
peddling those sought after tickets on
eBay and social networking sites.
So what can you expect if you order and
pay for tickets from a dodgy internet
supplier. At best you might get some
tickets sent to you – but there’s a good
chance that these may be counterfeit
copies and will be rejected when you try
to enter the venue. At worse, you’ll
never see any tickets. Your calls and
emails will either go unanswered, or
you’ll be told a representative will meet
you at the venue - but nobody will turn
up. You’ll be left out of pocket and
unable to attend the event.
Here are a few useful tips to help you
avoid falling victim to a ticket scam:
❃ Beware of sites selling tickets to
events that haven’t gone on sale yet
or guarantee tickets to events that
have been sold out for months.
❃ Put the website name into a search
engine like Google to see what you
can find out.
❃ Make sure the company behind the
website provides a full address for
their business, not just a Post Office
or mail box number. And be wary
of buying from a site that only gives
an email address or mobile phone
number.
❃ Ask for details. What type of ticket
are you buying? What is the face
value of the ticket and how much
is it being sold for? Are there any
additional charges? When will the
ticket be dispatched and how will
you be notified? What is their policy
on refunds if things go wrong?
❃ Pay by credit card. Under Section
75 of the Consumer Credit Act,
your card issuer is jointly liable for
the failure to provide goods or
services if the cash price of a single
ticket is over £100.
If you find you’ve been scammed,
recovering your money can be very
difficult. If you paid by credit card,
contact your card issuer in writing as
soon as you suspect you’ve been
conned. If you paid by debit card, you
are not covered by the Consumer Credit
Act, and there is no legal obligation on
the card provider to reimburse you.
However, you may still be able to ask for
money back under the ‘chargeback’
procedure operated by members of the
Visa and Mastercard schemes. Ask your
bank if this is possible. Also, check
whether your home insurance policy
covers you for fraud.
If you want further advice or think
you’re the victim of a ticket scam, call
Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.
Sheffield Food
Festival
The Sheffield Food Festival was held in
the first week in June with events
taking place across the city to
promote healthy eating and give local
producers the opportunity to display
their delicious foods.
Amongst the events which appealed
to all ages were a ‘Grow Your Own
Zone’, which aimed to encourage the
people of Sheffield to revert to the ‘au
natural’ way of life.
‘Deliciously Yorkshire’ hosted a good
food demonstration, with local chefs
giving top tips on how to produce
dishes like the professionals, and
offering sourcing and tasting
opportunities. Italian and Sheffield
food vendors provided an authentic
taste of the continent and a showcase
of fresh local produce.
Sheffield Trading Standards were
there to promote healthy eating and
encourage the public to reduce their
salt and saturated fat intake. Particular
emphasis was given to raising
awareness of the excessive levels of
salt found in take away foods. Officers
showed visitors to the stand the high
levels of salt found in some products
tested by Trading Standards. One
Chinese take away meal was found to
have an incredible 8.6g of salt in one
portion!
Adults should consume less than 6g of
salt per day, and children much less.
Excess salt consumption can lead to
serious health problems including
high blood pressure, strokes, heart
attacks, osteoporosis, cancers and
kidney disease.
High Saturated Fat intake can raise the
level of cholesterol in the blood over
time and this can increase your
chances of developing heart disease.
Men should consume no more than
30g of Saturated Fat per day and
women no more than 20g.
Make sure you look at the labels of the
foods you buy and try to make
healthier choices. More information
can be found at www.eatwell.gov.uk
and www.actionsalt.org.uk.
South Yorkshire householders are
being warned to exercise extreme
caution if they receive phone calls
from traders offering to fit “free”
burglar alarm systems.
Trading Standards have received
numerous complaints that certain
companies are both using scare
tactics - such as exaggerating the level
of crime in local areas - as well as
offering free burglar alarms as an
enticement to obtain an appointment
with customers. If customers agree to
an appointment, they are visited in
their home by a company
representative and pressured into
signing a contract for goods and
sevices reportedly costing thousands of
pounds. Calls to Trading Standards
indicate that those being targeted by
these unscrupulous companies are the
elderly and vulnerable.
Complainants who contacted
Rotherham Trading Standards have
reported that one company claims to
be calling in connection with crime
research. Other callers have reported
that the particular trader claims to be
working with the Police or as part of a
Government scheme, neither of
which are correct.
Householders are strongly advised not
to accept appointments from traders
who use ‘cold calling’ methods. A
Rotherham Trading Standards
spokesman said: “Although it is not
illegal to cold call customers, we
advise residents not to be rushed into
purchasing alarm systems or any
goods from such callers until they
have taken our advice first. Residents
should take their time and do some
research by comparing lots of
different products and prices before
making a decision. We urge anybody
who has contact with an elderly or
vulnerable person to talk to them
about this issue.”
High pressure sales tactics
set alarm bells ringing
Consumers who sign such contracts
for cash purchases over £35 at home,
or away from the supplier’s business
premises, must be given a written
notice of their right to cancel. They
may then cancel within seven days
following the making of the contract.
If consumers agree in writing for the
trader to start work straight away but
then cancel within the seven-day
cooling off period, they may, in some
circumstances, have to pay for any
work carried out up to the time they
cancel. Consumers should seek
immediate advice from Consumer
Direct in these circumstances.
If Consumers sign a Credit Agreement
at home following face to face contact
with the supplier they must be given
notice of their cancellation rights.
These should be written into the
agreement which they sign and they
must be given a copy of the
agreement at the time they sign. They
should also then receive either a
second copy of the agreement
through the post, or a separate notice
of cancellation rights. Consumers
then have five days to cancel starting
from the day following the receipt of
this second posted copy or notice.
However it would be better not to
sign in the first place unless
consumers are absolutely sure they
are getting a good deal and wish to
be bound by the agreement.
If consumers have been misled by false
statements made by traders they may
in certain circumstances still be able to
terminate the agreement outside these
cancellation periods but would need to
take legal advice on their rights.
Consumers who have been contacted
by such companies should phone
Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06
as a matter of urgency, regardless of
whether they have made a purchase
or not.
Householders are also advised to
register with the Telephone
Preference Service on 0845 070 0707
if they do not wish to receive
unsolicited calls.
Shops sell
cigs to kids
Trading Standards officers
in Barnsley carried out a
series of test purchases for
illegal sales of tobacco during February
and March. Out of 30 premises visited,
seven shops sold cigarettes to the
underage test purchase volunteers.
Susan Dewar, Principal Trading
Standards Officer said “The 23%
failure rate is very disappointing. We
hoped that traders would have been
more vigilant when selling cigarettes
to young people. Some traders did
ask for proof of age from our
volunteers as we would expect, but
the ones that illegally sold cigarettes
did not ask for ID or try to verify the
ages of the young customers. Seven
sellers have been issued with a caution
and the others have been given
formal warnings. Some of the illegal
sales are still being investigated.”
Retailers should be aware of a change
in the law regarding persistent sales of
cigarettes to youngsters. Under the
Criminal Justice & Immigration Act
2008, Trading Standards can now
apply to the Magistrates Court for
either a ‘Restricted Premises Order’ or
a ‘Restricted Sale Order’. This means
that if a shop or a person is convicted
of selling tobacco to anyone under
the age of 18, and the same shop or
person has made a further two or
more illegal sales in the previous two
years, they may be banned from
selling tobacco products for up to one
year. If a ‘Restricted Premises Order’ is
placed on the premise the order could
remain in place even if there is a
change of ownership.
Susan Dewar went on to say “We take
the sale of cigarettes to children very
seriously, and will continue to test
purchase throughout the year to
ensure that the number of illegal sales
are reduced. A shop assistant who
makes the sale as well as the owner of
the shop is liable under the legislation.”
Retailers who want further advice on
the best ways to prevent underage
sales should contact their local
Trading Standards Service, details can
be found on the back page.
SOUTH YORKSHIRE TRADING STANDARDS SERVICES NEWSLETTER • ISSUE 13 - SUMMER 2010
SOUTH YORKSHIRE TRADING STANDARDS SERVICES - IMPROVING STANDARDS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP