The Buy with Confidence scheme is an initiative by Trading Standards to help businesses comply with the law, while improving consumer protection through a partnership approach.

The Buy with Confidence scheme brings together a list of local gardeners, plumbers, builders and many other types of businesses, which have been individually checked for trustworthiness and compliance with consumer protection laws. Trading Standards Officers visit and vet every applicant and only if they pass stringent checks are they accepted onto the scheme and can they display the Buy with Confidence logo.

And it doesn’t stop there, once a business becomes a member of the scheme they are constantly monitored by Trading Standards to make sure that their standards aren’t slipping. Feedback is invited from customers and re-visits are carried out.

You can Buy with Confidence knowing that each company has signed up to the standards of customer service set out in the scheme rules.

While it is never possible to ensure that nothing will ever go wrong, if you have a problem with a member of the scheme they are required to deal with any complaints in a fair and equitable manner. If the complaint cannot be resolved, then Trading Standards will attempt to assist in reaching a solution.

The scheme was first launched in 1999 and the Buy with Confidence website now details hundreds of businesses in over 150 trade categories. It has proved so successful that all 19 Trading Standards Authorities in the South East have agreed that it’s an ideal way to combat the problem of rogue traders. East and West Sussex, Surrey, Southampton and the Isle of Wight have already adopted the scheme and now it has moved to the London area, where the London Boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Redbridge and Greenwich have now all joined, with other London Authorities set to follow in the next few months.

You can give us your views on how members of the scheme are performing, or if you have had good service from a business not on our scheme why not recommend them to us for membership.

To get details of firms you can trust or to apply to be a member you can visit the interactive website at www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk   or call 08454 04 05 06 and remember to look out for the Buy with Confidence logo below to identify scheme members.