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Consumer issues
Headings on this page :
Introduction
- The broader picture
- Scams and cons
- Consumer issues - eg Consumer Direct, Which?, BBC1 'Watchdog'
- Consumer issues - Related pages and Useful links
Introduction
The broader picture
Much of the CharityBags website focuses on a single issue - misleading and bogus charity clothing collections (see Our aims page). However, to understand the problem (and to find solutions), it helps to see the issues in context - in other words, look at the broader picture.
So, on the website we've included a number of pages on related, but more-general topics - such as law, government, regulation, licensing, recycling, charities, charity shops :
- There are links to these pages in the 'General & background' section of the drop-down menus.
- Most of these pages have a Useful links section (at the bottom of each page).
Most information on the problems of charity clothing collections is produced by organisations with a broad remit - such as Consumer Direct , the Charity Commission and local councils. CharityBags appears to be the only organisation dedicated to the issue.
Bogus clothing collections are often featured in the media
(broadcast and print). These are
valuable in publicising the issues - but alas they're usually one-off efforts,
without any
Scams and cons
A crucial general topic is scams. Misleading and bogus charity clothing collections are a type of scam. We readily accept that the issue is small compared to many scams, but it's still a matter for concern. We've added a page to the website on Scams, cons etc - this deals with scams in general.
We've found that most websites on scams have a section on 'charity' clothing collections. The best sites are Consumer Direct and www.SafeFromScams.co.uk .
Consumer issues
Scams in turn are one of many 'consumer issues'. We've produced an annotated list of links to useful sources of information on consumer issues - this forms the Useful links section at the bottom of this page.
The list of links below includes :
- organisations - such as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), Consumer Direct, Which?
- broadcast programmes - such as 'Watchdog' (BBC1) and 'You and Yours' (BBC Radio 4)
- some interesting (but less well-known) sources of information - such as the Plain English Campaign and 'Rip-Off Britain'.
Consumer issues :
Related pages and Useful links
Note: There are no red double-arrow symbols next to the external links below.
Related pages on CharityBags website :
Consumer issues
Scams, cons etc
Law
Government
Regulators
Advertising - regulation section of the
Useful links page
Information section of the Useful links
page
Consumer Direct
www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
Help and advice for British consumers.
Website and
Their remit includes scams.
The organisation is funded by the DTI *
Consumer Focus
www.consumerfocus.org.uk
Launched 1 October 2008.
Formed from the merger of the National Consumer Council (NCC), energywatch and Postwatch
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) *
www.dti.gov.uk
In 2007, became: Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR)
National Consumer Council (NCC) *
www.ncc.org.uk
Independent public body. Most of its funding came from the DTI *.
Now part of Consumer Focus (Oct 2008+)
Office of Fair Trading (OFT) [part of
DTI *]
www.oft.gov.uk
Trading standards departments (local councils) (TSDs) - see the Government - local section
Government A-Z above
Non-Government A-Z below
BBC - Watchdog
www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog
BBC1 TV weekly consumer programme Tel: 020 8535 1000
See also:
Watchdog - BBC1
TV - Feature on bogus charity collections
BBC - You and Yours
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/
BBC Radio 4 consumer programme (weekdays 12:04-12:57pm).
Tel (free): 0800 044 044 (Radio 4 Action Line)
Money Saving Expert (MSE)
www.moneysavingexpert.com
By Martin Lewis (journalist/broadcaster/financial advisor)
Independent website and free email newsletter. High quality, website updated
daily.
Martin also presents "It pays
to watch" on Channel 5
Plain English Campaign (PEC)
www.plainenglish.co.uk
Plain Language Commission (PLC)
www.clearest.co.uk
Rip-Off Britain
www.rip-off.co.uk
Trading Standards Central
www.tradingstandards.gov.uk
"A one-stop shop for consumer protection information in
the UK. The site is supported and maintained by TSI, the Trading Standards
Institute."
Website includes a good 'useful links' page
Trading Standards Institute (TSI)
www.tsi.org.uk
Professional body for trading standards officers
Which? (formerly the Consumers'
Association until 2004)
www.which.co.uk
A charity. Researches, campaigns etc on consumer matters, including scams.
Publishes Which? magazine monthly (available
in larger public libraries).
Also publishes other magazines and a wide range of books.
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