You get a knock at your front door.
You open it and there’s a man.
He has his van parked at the edge of your driveway.
He’s offering to sell you a mattress.
It seems like a good deal.
It’s much cheaper than the one you were thinking about buying.
But there’s a reason for this…
There’s been reports around Wrexham of people selling mattresses from the back of vans and it’s important to be aware that this is a scam…don’t get tempted into making a big mistake.
A potentially fatal hazard
That’s because these mattresses aren’t what they appear to be. Sometimes the mattress you’re being offered was made from used spring units and dirty fillings, even if it looks fine on the outside.
Or the mattress was made for less than £50 from a very basic spring unit with a polyester fibre pad or a layer of cheap foam over it, and covered in a cheap material…but that’s if you’re lucky.
Either way, the mattress almost certainly hasn’t undergone testing to see whether it meets the UK mattress flammability regulations…and we’re sure you don’t want this potentially fatal hazard anywhere near you or your family.
“A low quality, substandard product”
Roger Mapleson, Trading Standards and Licensing Lead, said: “If someone turns up at your doorstep offering to sell you a mattress, it’ll almost certainly be a low-quality, substandard product that won’t have been tested against UK mattress flammability regulations.
“The mattress was probably put together for a fraction of the ‘cheap’ or ‘bargain’ price you’re being offered it for, so it’s really important to be aware of this type of scam so you don’t fall victim to it.”
Extremely convincing
The people selling these can be extremely convincing too – they have company names very similar to well-known brands, with professional looking logos blazoned on their vans and polo shirts – but their products are far from what they seem.
If they sense you’re not sure, they’ll tell you how it’s all legit and it’s just excess stock from a store that was closing down, or perhaps from a cancelled order.
The mattresses might be wrapped up in plastic to look nice and shiny with labels showing their supposed recommended retail prices, but it’s not what it appears to be.
Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it usually is 🙂
If you want to complain or get any advice about goods or services you have bought please contact Citizens Advice Consumer Services on 03454 040506.
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