INDUSTRYNEWS
Trade and Consumer Federation welcomes Bonfield Review
National Federation of Glaziers was founded in 1991. It is a Trade and Consumer Federation representing individuals and organisations engaged in the glazing industry and consumers who purchase from them.
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AS A SOCIAL BUSINESS IT IS A NOTfor-profit business that has a social purpose( to serve the Common Good); any profits that are generated are, after tax, retained in the business, used for the development of the Federation and used to keep Membership Fees( it’ s only source of income) to a minimum. Its sole employee is a Membership Secretary, all other office holders are retained on an honorary basis, receiving minimal expenses.
Here is the Federation’ s response from Chairman, Anthony C Jones FIAM FinstSMM, to the Bonfield review submitted earlier this year:
1. The Federation welcomes the Bonfield Review and agrees that impartial, unbiased information is urgently needed to ensure consumers receive correct advice when purchasing energy improving measures for their homes. Therefore, the proposal of an Information Hub is extremely welcome.
2. The current situation is that the glazing industry has, through Building Regulation revisions since 2002, led to accept Energy Efficiency Labels as the principle means of certification of an installation being compliant to Part L( Energy Efficiency) of the current Building Regulations. a) The Energy Efficiency Labels are easily recognisable by the consumer, having been used for some time on white goods. Using this advantage an inaccurate system( which in the eyes of many well informed members of our industry is regarding no more than a“ sales gimmick”) has evolved, has become discredited and in our view is misleading to the consumer. We hope than when the Information Hub is established this standard will be replaced with meaningful and accurate energy saving information relevant to the home in question.
3. Of major concern to this Federation are what has been described as Customer Interfacing Skills. We are, as an industry, unfortunately, burdened by the use of( mostly self-employed) salespeople trained and incentivised to obtain sales with misleading information, bogus claims of performance and spurious discounts to pressure consumers into placing orders immediately. This anti-social activity may be termed as high-pressure or intimidatory selling. a) Under our Commitment to Good Practice( established in 1999), to which all members are bound, this kind of so-called salesmanship is prohibited. Unlike other codes of conduct, we do not permit lengthy visits to potential consumers. b) It is true that the consumer has a“ cooling off” period, but it is the experience of those established members of industry, this does not work for the most vulnerable. Often attempts to cancel a contract result in further telephone calls or visits using further high-pressure sales techniques. Few people in this situation complain; it is too stressful.
Sadly, the feedback we receive from both organisations in our industry and from consumers lead us to believe that conditions in this respect have not improved since the 2013 OFT Report. c) We agree, therefore, that a Consumer Charter and Code of Conduct is urgently needed. We are most interested in having a positive and unbiased input to this document. Our Commitment to Good Practice, although produced for the glazing industry, may provide a good starting point. It covers every area of operation, but there may be a need for greater detail in some sections.
‘ Too often in the past Government departments have been reluctant to fund awareness campaigns, with the result that consumers are not properly informed’
4. We feel it is absolutely essential that the Quality Mark, which is proposed, is given maximum publicity. Too often in the past Government departments have been reluctant to fund awareness campaigns, with the result that consumers are not properly informed. Relying upon members of the industry, when there are commercial pressures, to provide full information of regulations has not worked. a) Building Regulations were brought in 2002 for replacement windows and doors. There are many consumers who are still ignorant of these regulations( 15 years after the event). b) Construction( Design and Management) 2015 regulations are mentioned at various points of the report. Our recent survey has found that very few installers and even fewer consumers have heard of these regulations and have no idea that the extended scope of their application.
8 » MAR 2017 » CLEARVIEW-UK. COM