TO the householder from Clement's End who complained about excessive call out charges.

I am sorry to hear of your experiences with the greedy individuals who fleeced you for an estimate for your leaking chimney.

I needed a ballcock replaced on my header tank and couldn't get hold of the very reliable and fairly priced lady plumber who lives locally as she was away

I found a colour advertisement in the Local Pages and explained to the wife of the individual advertising plumbing services that this wasn't an emergency but that I did need the ballcock replaced as it was wasting water.

I was offered no quotation but I was told that they were in the area that day.

I wonder if they were the same individuals who dealt with you, as the rogues were round in a flash and had nipped into the local building supplies and replaced the ballcock and demanded £180.

I was on my own, there were two men in my home and I felt pressured into payment.

Further, a month later I had no hot water because they had failed to measure the ballcock and it was sticking. I know this from the lovely lady plumber who identified this, fitted a correctly sized ballcock and charged me only £50.

The Local Pages only listed a telephone number and an email address for the rogues, but on closer examination had run nine colour advertisements for the firm. They were unwilling to pass on the individual's address unless I went through Trading Standards which I duly did.

A helpful young man took up the case, but stated that as they had had no other written complaints about the firm they would only be warning the individual and giving him an opportunity to change his ways.

They also supplied me with his home address, which is where I sent a bill to cover the cost of the remedial work. Needless to say that was not paid, and I only get rather menacing self-justifying messages on my answer phone.

My message to you is however, put pen to paper. Trading Standards is based at Hillfield House, Denmark Road, Gloucester GL1 3LD. If there is sufficient evidence they will take action against rogue traders, and we need to take action as these sort of individuals will prey on the elderly and anyone they think they can fleece.

Once they are in your house demanding money it is very difficult to refuse to pay, particularly if you are on your own as I found to my cost.

They should inform you both of their call-out charge and the cost of the job before they visit or start work.

There are some excellent honest and straightforward tradesmen and women in the Forest but there are also some rogues, but it is up to those of us who have been victim of these traders to provide the evidence for a bulging file to be used against them by Trading Standards.

Perhaps in the future you will then have the satisfaction of reading about a successful prosecution, and you can then afford yourself a smile because finally the *@!!$%^s has finally been exposed.

– Penny Ballinger, Drybrook.