OAP warning on rip-off alarm firm

May 4 2008 By Marion Scott

ELDERLY people are at risk from pushy salesmen flogging rip-off burglar alarms, trading watchdogs warned yesterday.

A firm exposed for their dodgy tactics down south have moved into Scotland and are cold-calling at OAPs' homes.

The salesmen from European Environmental Controls Ltd wear official-looking badges with the lettering EEC.

And some pensioners say they are using scare tactics.

Glasgow City Council trading standards are urging the public to contact them if concerned.

And East Dunbartonshire Council have issued advice over cold-calling after a tip-off about Merseyside-based EEC.

One pensioner, from Bearsden, near Glasgow, said: "I was approached by a salesman wearing a badge which gave the impression he was from some kind of official body.

"When it became clear he was trying to flog an alarm and I wasn't interested, he asked if I knew about the recent trouble nearby. But there hasn't been any. It sounded like a scare tactic to spook elderly people."

EEC boss John Ball, 50, featured on BBC's Watchdog after complaints another of his firms sold "overpriced and unsuitable" fire safety equipment to OAPs.

In 2003, Surrey Police said a pensioner was visited more than 20 times by EEC before parting with £10,000 for products.

Ball did not respond to repeated requests for a comment.