2007
Consumer Direct North East, the region’s consumer advice service, is celebrating its first anniversary on Tuesday 20 February 2007.
Since its launch last year, the 16 trained advisers at Consumer Direct North East’s contact centre in Redcar have taken over 60,000 calls from the region’s consumers, answering questions on anything from a £30 pair of jeans to a £30,000 house repair.
Consumer Direct offers pre-shopping advice, information on consumer rights and advice on how to resolve disputes with shops and traders. In addition to helping users save significant amounts of money through refunds, replacement and repairs, Consumer Direct North East has also helped people minimise the stress of dealing with disputes.
Consumer Direct North East works in partnership with the region’s Local Authority Trading Standards Services. Consumer Direct provides first tier advice, allowing Trading Standards to focus on more serious cases.
In 2006, the top three complaints from consumers in the North East were about home maintenance (9 per cent), furniture (7.3 per cent) and second hand cars (6.5 per cent).
Cllr Joyce Benbow, Cabinet Member for Community Protection, who’s portfolio covers Trading Standards said
“The Consumer Direct service is very popular! My son has called Consumer Direct regarding a problem he had with his car and the issue was resolved within a matter of days. The trained advisors offer great advice, I would recommend this service to anyone who has any consumer problems. Congratulations to CD North East on their first year! ”
Christine Cryne, Director for Consumer Direct at the Office of Fair Trading said:
‘Consumer Direct is proving to be a very popular service nationwide, and we are delighted that it is having such a positive impact on consumers in the North East.’
Consumers in the region needing advice can contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506
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