 |
| Issued By North Yorkshire County Council |
|
| Issued By North Yorkshire County Council |
TRADING
STANDARDS
officers in North Yorkshire have revealed that two thirds of all consumer
complaints they receive about cars relate to out of county dealers.
Consumer
complaints in relation to cars is consistently one of the highest categories
received by the trading standards service operated by North Yorkshire County
Council. In the last financial year
the service received a total of 1,394 complaints in this area, with 19% of all
complaints relating to new cars,
52% of complaints about second hand cars, 22% concerning services and
repairs and 2½% of complaints relating to spares and accessories.
The
most common problem reported to the trading standards service concerned either
the poor quality of the car which was bought or the poor quality of the service
undertaken (49%).
The
trading standards service was also concerned to find that 24% of all car-related
complaints were caused by unfair selling techniques undertaken by the garage
concerned.
Stuart
Pudney, head of North Yorkshire's trading standards service said: “We
regularly analyse the performance of various trade sectors to highlight consumer
concerns. The surprising fact that
has come out of this analysis is the extremely high level of complaints that we
receive from North Yorkshire residents about garages outside of the county.
"The
message which appears to be clear from this statistic is that you are likely to
have less problems if you buy from local dealers within North Yorkshire.
Bargains which may appear to be attractive at first sight can turn into
nightmares for consumers if things go wrong and the garage concerned does not
deal with the consumer’s complaint appropriately.”
Councillor
John Dennis, who has executive responsibility for the trading standards service,
said: “If any consumers are having difficulties resolving a problem they have
had with a garage they are advised to contact the trading standards service
which has a dedicated team of consumer advisers.
"They
will be given advice on how to deal with their problem and, in addition, the
information will be used to help target the enforcement work of the trading
standards service."
For
anybody thinking of buying a car there are a number of important steps to take
which are all detailed in a guide available from the trading standards service
on 01609-780780.
Contact:
Richard Flinton on 01609-766400
Executive
member: Councillor John Dennis (Con) 01609-883349
Group
spokespeople: Councillor Mrs Caroline Seymour (Lib-Dem) 01642-710382; Councillor
Steve Shaw-Wright (Lab) 01757-708849.