A quick browse on Google for double glazing related news stories pointed me to this headline:
“Lying Birmingham double glazing salesman duped cancer sufferer”
Great. This was actually the story on the front page of Birmingham Mail yesterday. The story is as follows:
A LYING Birmingham salesman who duped a cancer sufferer into buying double glazing has walked free from court – and been told he can keep his job.
Nadeem Yasin was hit with a 12-month community order, ordered to do 240 hours’ unpaid work, and told to pay £500 costs when he was sentenced yesterday.
The 30-year-old, of Hodge Hill Road, Hodge Hill, had pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and seven charges of breaching consumer protection laws.
Yasin is a salesman for Summit Roofguard Ltd, which trades as Status Glass UK and in Sovereign Road, Kings Norton. Despite the court case, the firm has said he can keep his job.
Coventry Magistrates Court heard Yasin had enticed seven pensioners and vulnerable people – including the cancer sufferer – into buying double glazing on the promise of huge discounts that did not exist.
The victims were aged from 60 to 80 and lived across Birmingham and Coventry.
Andrew Burton, prosecuting, said customers were led to believe they were eligible for grants of up to £2,500 through a government scrappage scheme, or via a project by a charity called Age UK, neither of which existed.
He added: “They were led to believe by the defendant that the price they paid was a reduction, but there was no subsidy, it was simply an inducement, he created a false illusion.”
Yasin even purported to phone officials to verify the funding help in front of customers.
On one occasion he came off the phone and told an elderly victim that Age UK had told her to “shake on the deal”, added Mr Burton.
He also told a leukaemia sufferer she was eligible for a grant from Age UK.
Mr Burton said: “When she asked to speak to the Age UK representative because she wanted to thank them, Mr Yasin ignored her and ended the call.”
Yasin, who has previously been cautioned for fraud after changing the amount on a cheque in an unrelated incident, told the court: “I sincerely apologise, what I did was completely wrong.”
Mr Burton said the salesman used his dodgy sales tactics throughout September and October 2010 before he was caught by Coventry Trading Standards, after a tip-off from the suspicious carer of one of his elderly victim.
Yasin earned Summit Roofguard Ltd £15,435 in sales and £487 commission for himself during the two months.
Last month, directors at the company admitted seven Consumer Protection offences and the firm was fined a total of £3,500, with court costs of £2,552.
Kevin Preston, representing Summit Roofguard, said the company pleaded guilty to the charges only on the grounds they failed to do enough to prevent them.
He said Yasin was still being employed as all staff were “valued”, and added that he was one “rogue” in a company of 35 good sales staff.
He said the salesman had since been disciplined and bosses had introduced more training to prevent future offences.
Coventry Trading Standard’s Principal Officer Allan Harwood welcomed yesterday’s sentence. ‘‘These offences were of a deliberate and dishonest nature perpetrated face-to-face with customers in their own homes,” he said.
“We are committed to taking action against dishonest sales practices that mislead consumers and harm law abiding businesses.”
Michael Vincent, chief executive of Age UK Coventry, said: “It is absolutely despicable that others should attempt to use our name and reputation to deceive anyone, and especially those vulnerable people we are striving to serve.”
Meanwhile, Birmingham Trading Standards said they have had three complaints about Summit Roofguard Ltd in the last six months, which they are continuing to investigate.
Two things astound me with this. First, the ridiculously small amount of fines Nadeem Yasin received when taking into account the money he scammed and the amount of stress he caused his victims. Secondly, how the company has still given Nadeem his job back despite his criminal record and the bad press the company is now bound to receive. They said he was a ‘rogue’ within their 35 staff. Well surely with all those employees they can afford to get rid of one, this ‘rogue’ one!
I’m posting this to make a point to the public more than anything really. I want to make the point to potential buyers of double glazing that the majority of salespeople and double glazing companies are not this crooked. There are many, many companies out there doing their utmost to do the best and most honest job they can. Don’t be duped by those saying there is a scrappage scheme to take advantage of, or any other discount or grant schemes. There aren’t any at the moment. I can also promise you all that the rest of the industry is united against this sort of practise and these sorts of sales people.
Firstly it astounds me that the general public still fall for old fashioned discount selling tactics. I was always brought up to believe that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. On the other hand, i cannot understand how companies get away with the tactic aswell, why are there no rules to regulate them? In my experience double glazing salesman are on the whole, not the nicest people in the game, (apologies!!) and will say anything to get the sales, but reading things like this show that rogue traders are still operating within our industry.
I can not get over the fact that the company are still employing him. This gives the message that the company are protecting him more than their current and new customers. This just tells me that the company are just as crooked as him and like Ben says their should be rules to regulate them. It is very frustrating when you are a saleswoman in the industry and then this happens. Lets hope that people’s opinions can change but they wont if this keeps happening.
Its just greed! I’m sorry but for anyone to be so deceitful but still be employed by the same company is beyond me. There might be a work force of 35 but im sure dropping it down to 34 would not have been half as much hassle as supporting the worker through these deceitful lies. Age concern deserve good press, and not to have been used as a ploy to gain money.
Thanks for all your comments. I’m hoping that the MD of this company will realize the error of his ways and sack this guy. He does not deserve to keep his job after that.
The only crime here is the amount of commision he earnt, under £500 for over £15 k’s worth of sales no wonder he was doing what he was doing.
Dave – I had to moderate the last part of that comment. I won’t allow racist jibes like that on here.
So Dave thinks that its ok to swindle old people and the ill if your not earning much money? Im guessing he works for Anglian or Everest ……
DIscounts in the DG business have been around for ever—trade price lists are loaded to reflect various offers of negotiation, retail companies major on 40 – 50 per cent discount offers.TV advertising from bedding and furniture firms are always offering “double discounts”etc.
NO, its not the way things should be, and no , “it isn’t cricket”but I guess nothing will change {unfortunately}.,
I reported the same story when I saw it and want to stress the massive majority of the industry does not behave like this. However again I can only again assume that these despicable tactics employed here to secure a sale stem largely from the way the industry chooses to pay it’s sales people – commission only!! I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again – commission only is wrong! Nobody accepts it and it’s about time we did. On the one hand it suits us financially to have self employed sales reps on the other we expect them… Read more »
The tactics employed to obtain these sales were undoubtably wrong, however, I took the effort to look into this further. It became significant and obvious that the Trading Standards had no complaint with the quality of the work or the actual price charged. These goods were found to be of high quality, well fitted and with a genuine 25 year guarantee. It was purely the misrepresentation of how the reduced price was achieved. If he had just told them that it was a discount, he would have been ok.
Statusglass.com repeatedly cold call us, we even had them over to quote to see if that would get rid of them …it didn’t. They are amateurs and expensive – use them at your peril.
The trading standards are always trying to take livelihoods away from people salesmen are out there earning a living, he may have used wrong selling tactics but did not overcharge the customer and he did not know that she had cancer he is a salesman not a doctor, we need to give more credit then just blame them all. I used status glass and had a lovely experience very professional and high quality work.
Luck you, im one of many who didnt
And in June next year the company faces serious charges in Wolverhampton crown court as well as investigations taking place from HM inland revenue
Nice windows but wish I had read reviews, Iwill be short and sweet too much negative to say , never again would I have this window company.
I would advise everyone go elsewhere for your windows, they are overpriced but nice , my experience bunch of jokers
Very interesting comments about Status I have worked with them on the marking, firstly I don’t think there is anything wrong with their windows in fact I would say they are better than most This salesman is just that a salesman selling a product, has he overstepped the line between being a professional ? maybe he has, I personally think that telling customers stories is weak selling, sell on the quality of your product and the service, but this type of selling is all over the TV,,,,,,,, YOU BUY ONE YOU GET ON FREE what a load of balls, you… Read more »
If you look on the official Fairtrades website there is not one bad review regarding products
by Status Glass. In fact there are ovedr 100 reviews