Trading Standards Approved
What is TSA?
TSA list of member traders
Consumer guide to the scheme
How can I find out more?
TSA Customer
Feedback Form (PDF; new window)
TSA Customer
Feedback Report 2008-09 (PDF; new window)
Trade guide to the scheme
TSA Members
Feedback Report 2008-09 (PDF; new window)
TSA Member
Application Form (PDF; new window)
What is TSA?
Trading Standards Approved (TSA) is run by
Bedford Borough Council Trading Standards Service. The aim of the
scheme is to improve business standards and increase customer
confidence in member businesses. Approved businesses have agreed to
abide by the terms and conditions of the scheme and have been
checked by Trading Standards to ensure compliance.
Each year the Trading Standards Service
receives thousands of complaints about local businesses. The scheme
is a positive move to improve the way in which traders deal with
consumers. There is no place in it for rogue traders who do not
care for customer satisfaction or compliance with the law.
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Trading Standards Approved List of Members
For a complete list of traders approved by Bedford Borough TSA
scheme, please click on the link below.
Please note! The complete list is 29 pages long, so
we strongly suggest you copy the category of traders in which you
have a current interest and paste them into a seperate
document before printing.
Trading Standards
Approved List of Members
For a list of those traders approved by the Central Bedfordshire
Council's TSA Scheme, please visit the
TSA page of their website.
Have you used a TSA trader? If so, please
tell us about your experience. You can
download the Customer Feedback Form by clicking here.
Then simply fill it in and post it back to us (freepost).
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Consumer guide to the scheme
Consumers can check with Trading Standards to
see which businesses are members of the scheme before purchasing
goods or services.
The scheme is voluntary. By joining the scheme
businesses are demonstrating a commitment to customer care and
fair-trading.
Trading Standards will continue to work
closely with scheme members, and will carry out monitoring
exercises to help make sure high standards are maintained.
The requirements include:
- The business complies with the
law.
- Contract terms are fair, in plain English
and clearly legible.
- Pricing is clear, and information about
payment methods is provided.
- No repair or servicing work is carried out
without the customer's permission.
- Parts replaced during repair or servicing
are made available for inspection.
- Itemised invoices are
provided.
- The business operates an effective
customer complaints procedure.
Approval of a business does not mean that the
Trading Standards Service:
- Can guarantee its financial
stability.
- Has individually checked the quality of
any goods or services provided.
- Gives any guarantee or warranty as to the
value for money of goods or services compared with a competitor, or
that they will be satisfactory.
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How can I find out more?
Our list of member traders covers only those
Bedfordshire traders that do business within the Bedford Borough
Council's boundaries. However, there is a sister TSA
scheme run by Central Bedfordshire Council Public Protection and
Trading Standards Service.
For a list of those traders approved by the
Central Bedfordshire Council's TSA Scheme, please visit the
TSA page of their website.
If you live closer to Milton Keynes and would
like to find approved traders in that area, please go to:
Milton
Keynes Buy with Confidence Scheme (new window)
For more information on Bedford Trading
Standards Approved or to request a hard-copy list, please
contact Trading Standards.
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Trader guide to the scheme
Great benefits for businesses:
- Independent recognition of your business
standards.
- Potential for increased business with
consumers encouraged to use local traders.
- TSA membership certificate for display and
use of the scheme’s logo.
- Pre-entry vetting to make sure your
business meets the scheme’s high standards.
- Promotion of your company as a TSA
business with your company name on the Trading Standards Approved
list and on the County Council website with a hotlink to your
company website.
- Improved consumer confidence in your
business or service.
TSA businesses will be able to establish a
relationship with the Trading Standards Service based on
co-operation rather than enforcement. Member businesses will
have a contact in the Trading Standards Service and you can obtain
information on consumer civil law and legislation enforced by the
Service. In addition, we will assist you in staff training
where resources permit.
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Are there membership fees?
Businesses pay an annual subscription fee to
join the scheme. We review these subscriptions each year. For
the current fee structure and any other information please contact
the service.
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Approval procedure
- An application for approval must be made
on the appropriate form or via the Internet.
- The Trading Standards Service will
acknowledge membership application requests
- Assessments of applicants will in most
cases involve an inspection of the business premises, procedures,
documents and products.
- Any business that does not meet the terms
and conditions of the scheme will not be eligible to join
it.
- The Service may also carry out the
following to assess the applicant's suitability to join the
scheme:
- Require the production of customer details
in order to seek references for the business.
- Carry out criminal record/County Court
judgement checks
- Checks on your business’s legal compliance
during an audit.
The Service will give due consideration to any complaints/
enquiries made by consumers about you to the Service along with
information gathered through the Services normal market
surveillance operations.
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Appeals procedure
- Scope
This procedure will apply to appeals against a
decision to refuse membership of, and revocation from the Trading
Standards Approved (TSA) scheme.
- Procedure
- Any decision to either refuse or revoke
membership by the Trading Standards Service will be communicated in
writing to the business concerned. Reasons for the decision will be
given, along with information about how to appeal against
it.
- A business may appeal against a decision
to refuse or revoke membership to the Head of the Trading Standards
Service.
- An appeal must be made in writing and
received by the Trading Standards Service no later than 21 days
from the date of postage of the letter refusing or revoking
membership.
- Appeals are to be addressed to:
Craig Austin
Head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards
Town Hall, St. Paul's Square
Bedford MK40 1SJ
- Following the receipt of an appeal the
Head of Trading Standards will review the decision to refuse or
revoke membership.
- The findings of the Head of Trading
Standards will be confirmed in writing with reasons to the business
within 21 days of receipt of the appeal.
- If the appeal is unsuccessful a further
appeal can be made to the Head of Legal Services whose decision is
final.
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Sanctions procedure
Sanctions for failure to comply with the terms and
conditions of the Scheme:
- Where a member fails to comply with the
terms and conditions of the scheme we will investigate the
non-compliance and then write to them.
- The letter will identify the nature of the
non-compliance and as appropriate what we will do and/or what we
require the member to do.
- Letters will fall into three categories
advisory, warning or termination.
- It is open to the member to follow the
appeals procedure if they do not accept our findings.
Advisory letters
- This will apply were non-compliance has
not resulted in any customer detriment.
- The letter will identify what corrective
action the member must undertake and the date by which this should
be completed.
Warning letters
- This will apply where non-compliance has
resulted in customer detriment but some action or offer has been
made by the member to offset the detriment.
- It will also apply when a previous
advisory letter has been sent for the same
non-compliance.
- The letter will identify what corrective
action the member must undertake and the date by which this should
be completed.
Termination letters
- This will apply where non-compliance has
resulted in significant consumer detriment and no reasonable action
or offer has been made to offset the detriment.
- It will also apply when a previous letter
of warning has been sent for the same non-compliance.
- The letter will state that as a
consequence the member will be removed from the scheme with
immediate effect.
Definitions
- Consumer detriment: This includes
inconvenience as well as financial loss resulting from the
non-compliance
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Getting the seal of approval - contact us
If you are interested in participating in the
scheme and have any queries please contact Trading Standards.
An
application form for the scheme is available by clicking
here.
Tel: 01234) 227 270
Email: business@bedford.gov.uk
Bedford Borough Council
Environmental Health and Trading Standards
Town Hall, St. Paul's Square
Bedford MK40 1SJ
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