allaboutwomen

As regular readers will know, there are few things I hate more than a cold caller. If any more debt management companies, mobile phone companies or wine investment companies send unsolicited calls in my direction, I will make every effort to track them and down and pop their offers where the sun don't shine.

It must be even worse when the scoundrels are masquerading as someone else - as hundreds of Dyson customers have found...

Dyson sevicing
It turns out at least 1,480 Dyson customers have been conned into buying expensive vacuum services they don't need. And it wasn't Dyson doing the dirty on them - but various bogus 'official' repair firms.

As reported here, Dyson has gone public about the scam this week, in an attempt to prevent more customers being 'had'.

People who have bought Dyson vacuum cleaners - one of the most respected, high-spec brands on the market - have then been contacted by people masquerading as official Dyson engineers. Typical tactics include high-pressure cold calling.

These firms have been offering to sell replacement parts and undertake Dyson servicing and repair work, often at 'special, limited offer' rates. On each occasion, the person in question gives the strong impression, either explicitly or obliquely, that they're an official Dyson representative.

It's thought that around 25 different companies have already tried to scam customers in this way.

Poor quality work
Predictably, the work carried out is usually poor-quality and overpriced, with lots of hidden charges. And once these people are inside customer's homes, they tend to also put pressure on them to take out pricy annual service contracts.

In a nutshell, if someone calls or turns up saying they are from Dyson, they aren't. As Dyson confirmed to the Guardian, the company never makes cold calls, and never visits homes unless a customer has asked them to do so.

A spokesperson emphasised: "We don't authorise anyone who isn't a fully trained Dyson field service engineer to repair our machines. This includes independent repair companies such as the ones operating these scams."

Dyson is currently working with council trading standards officers to try to shut these blaggards down. In the meantime, read this Consumer Direct advice about doorstep sellers.