Investigation launched after pensioner bought damaged TVs on car park
An investigation has been launched by Trading Standards after a pensioner was allegedly conned into buying two damaged TV sets in Walsall.
The 78-year-old handed over £240 to a man on the car park of Morrisons in Wallows Lane but when he returned home he found the TVs were broken.
They had been presented in new packaging with 'guarantees' taped on the boxes. They had been intended as a gift for his son.
When he discovered he had been duped, he took the TVs to Sertronics at Walsall Enterprise Park to see if they could be repaired.
Managing director Dave Ince said the sets were beyond fixing as they had broken screens.
The incident has prompted a warning by Walsall Council.
Councillor Adrian Andrew, deputy leader, said: "We would strongly recommend that residents be wary of strangers trying to sell any goods from the back of a van.
"If anybody is approached in this way they should avoid being tempted even if the price seems good.
"Just remember that if it's cheap there's a reason why.
"Buying anything in this way could mean people running the risk of losing large sums of money to rogue traders who will have disappeared should goods prove dangerous, faulty or stolen.
"Any information that residents are able to pass on about this type of activity enables trading standards to use the intelligence in the long term which helps everyone."
Staff at Sertronics felt so sorry for the pensioner that they arranged to give him a new TV set for free. The shop contacted Morrisons, who also contributed and Digiland, an electronic appliances firm in Telford, for a cost-price set.
Sertronics sales manager Lucy Ince said: "We were heartbroken for him. He was so upset after unwrapping the first box and finding what he did that he couldn't bear to open the second.
"He asked us to open it for him. He was very upset. We didn't want to see an old man in that situation so we decided to do something about it."
She said he was 'teary-eyed' when they presented him with the new TV and a hamper. He has since been back to the repair shop with a thank-you card and gift.
Morrisons said the matter had been reported to the police but it has now been passed onto Trading Standards. Anyone with information should call 03454 040506.
