Southampton City Council fact sheet
Trading standards for consumers
We provide consumer advice and information to the residents of Southampton. We may also provide information to residents of other areas if the trader concerned is in Southampton.
Initially we will provide information and advice to enable you to address a dispute or problem; we may also be able to offer additional help.
You can contact us by calling Consumer Direct, a regionally based advice service. You can also email your enquiries to us (see contact details below).
If your enquiry is complex we may need to see documents such as invoices and credit agreements. We will ask you to send these to us by post or to make an appointment to visit.
If you visit Gateway at Southampton Civic Centre, we will provide brief advice but if you need to talk with an advisor you will need to book and appointment, which we will try to make as soon as possible
Buy with confidence
Trading standards operates and accredited membership scheme of businesses that allows consumers to buy with confidence from our members.
It provides businesses with:
Independent recognition of good business practice
Proof of membership with a certificate and the right to use the logo
Membership listed on the website
It provides consumers with:
An assurance that member businesses have been audited by Trading standards
A list of businesses committed to trading fairly
However we cannot say that there will not be any problems, but if difficulties occur then the business has agreed to treat the matter fairly.
Trading standards for businesses
We can provide you with the information you require to ensure that your business complies with the laws we enforce. We will also assist you in creating and maintaining procedures to ensure ongoing compliance.
We recognise good business practice through the Buy with confidence business partnership.
We operate a planned inspection programme and visit businesses within Southampton on as risk-assessed basis. Businesses are not pre-warned of our inspections; however we will identify ourselves and inform you of our actions.
In the event that offences have been committed we will act in accordance with our enforcement policy; copies of which are available from all our officers.
We can also provide you with advice on consumer’s rights and what your liabilities might be.
Age-restricted sales and rogue traders
These are two important areas that affect the well being of Southampton’ residents.
Certain products including cigarettes, alcohol, fireworks and spray paints cannot be sold to persons under specified ages. We operate a programme of enforcement and provide point of sale material to businesses.
By rogue traders we mean those businesses that set out to avoid their legal responsibilities or act in a way that harms consumers.
We have an ongoing project aimed at doorstep traders that provides support and information for consumers. We will also enforce relevant legislation, taking legal action where necessary.
Our aim is to provide a safe and secure trading environment for all.
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Last updated: 4 January 2008