Global sweep finds 40% of firms’ green claims could be misleading
A CMA co-ordinated global review of randomly selected websites has so far found that 40% of green claims made online could be misleading consumers.
From:
28 January 2021
The International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN) hosts an annual sweep of websites, which gives consumer authorities across the world the opportunity to target fraudulent, deceptive or unfair conduct online. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) led the latest sweep, focusing on misleading environmental claims for the first time.
As part of the international sweep, ICPEN members have so far analysed almost 500 websites promoting products and services across a range of sectors, including clothes, cosmetics and food.
Defeat devices are tools which sit in the car’s engine management system and trick emissions tests to show lower rates of emission than the real number.
This allows cars to meet tough Euro Standards before pumping extra pollution into the air when the car is being used on the road.
Millberg London claims Vauxhall owners have been “mis-sold” cars which were less than what drivers paid for them.
They say drivers were promised a combination of environmental impact and performance which could never be reached under real driving conditions.
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Lawyers say the claim affects a range of popular models such as the Corsa and Astra built between 2009 and 2019.
Homeowners who were left thousands of pounds out of pocket at the hands of their cowboy builders have revealed the emotional turmoil they have experienced at the hands of their constructors.
Their accounts come amid growing calls for the Government to introduce a statutory licensing scheme which regulates builders and protects customers seeking redress for poor workmanship.
Claire Paladino, 38, and her husband Leo, 43, from Northamptonshire, were keen to build a two-storey extension with a garage on their property in August 2019 when they hired their builder after seeking several quotations.
Describing her experience as absolutely horrendous , Mrs Paladino, who was pregnant at the time with her fourth child, claims she lost the sum of £39,000 to a builder who did not complete work, used cheap materials and whose construction did not pass building regulations.
A ROGUE trader has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting charges relating to work done at homes in Herefordshire and unfair trading practices. Builder Gerald James Smith, of Credenhill, was sentenced to 32 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work and pay £7200 in court costs. The 53-year-old director of GJS Carpentry and Building Contractors Ltd, had pleaded guilty to three charges, one involving false use of the Guild of Master Craftsmen logo on his vans, website, paperwork and on an advertisement sign. Smith’s membership of the Guild had been terminated in 2018 due to failure to engage over complaints.