Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Derek on February 17, 2005, 06:03:20 pm
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I am now at liberty to inform you that Trading Standards have successfully prosecuted a company for illegally using the NCCA logo and name.
John Claydon (NCCA Trading Standards Director) has been working tirelessly for many months writing witness statements and providing other various evidence to assist them in the conviction... there are other cases in the pipeline
Derek
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Thats good news but what about companies that are stating ncca qualified but have not been members since 1997 ??? They completed the course but did not keep up there membership and still advertise ncca qualified which they are because they did the course ???
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They fall under the banner of misleading the public just as someone who advertises who has never been a member and I would expect the NCCA to treat them no diffirently.
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As this company has been sucessfully prosecuted , why not name and shame them.
It will then stop others being tempted,
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Derek,
Go on then , what was the judgement and sentence?
Cheers,
Doug
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Woodman when i contacted the ncca about this chap there was nothing they could do.They had checked with the legal dept who confirmed nothing could be done as he was ncca qualified
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Doug
You will have to wait for the general release through the various media
Trevor
Anyone using the NCCA logo or name without being a member is trading illegally and should be reported to the NCCA office...we automatically notify their local Trading Standards office.
All are looked.... and where there is clear evidence we ask Trading Standards to take action
Derek
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Steve was the wording - NCCA trained or was it the NCCA logo?
Shaun
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Shaun
Both the logo 'AND' name are registered Trade MARKS
Derek
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what makes them think they can get away with it?
was it an old ad that they had been running from years ago when they were members or were they never members?
Shaun
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Steve,
There may be no conflict with what you say if it is the same case. The NCCA forum has more details (rightly so). More information will follow.
To avoid risking members money, John has worked very hard on Trading Standards to do the work they are obliged to do on behalf of consumers. Unless we were prepared to take individual cases to court we had to sit tight and feed Trading Standards with whatever we could in the hope they would follow through on their obligation.
It was at the last board meeting we learned that an arrest warrant had been issued against this rogue trader for failing to turn up to court. It was also at the last meeting we decided to commit funds for prosection where Trading Standards were unwilling.
The Trading Standards people are very slow as they try to resolve these issues by getting the trader to comply first without going to court. Of course the practiced cheat is able to come up with umpteen half plausible excuses as to why they haven't been able to, so last chances are often repeated.
This was John Claydons baby. It is hard to work on and on for over 3 years without success and then....click. This was a true mission!!
We hope this sets a pattern now.
We will eventually resolve the "trained by the NCCA" claim but, following legal advice, we are acutely aware that it is not as straight forward as Woodman suggests.
Adam Jankowski
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Shaun
It is his current ad that he runs in the local paper it states NCCA qualified don't know about the logo never seen his van.John Claydon did contact me and said nothing could be done as technically he is not telling lies he is ncca qualified as he did the course.It was upto me to contact my local trading standards to purse the matter as the nccas hands were tied.It was a loophole and something they were looking at.
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Steve,
If a claim is true then what can someone be prosecuted for?
If the NCCA changed its membership so that it was MNCCA i.e member of the NCCA then this could be protected , but still would not stop someone saying NCCA trained, if true.
It would also be possible to have different grades such as Fellow i.e FNCCA as other institutes do .
Cheers,
Doug
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Doug
I am not disputing the fact he is ncca qualified it makes a mockery of NCCA members paying their yearly membership if you can still advertise that your associated with the ncca all be it in a roundabout way.
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Steve,
It is annoying but what about all the 'most thorough clean ever ' adverts often next to each other.
Only one clean can at any time be the most thorough clean ever and it was the one I did yesterday ;)
Cheers,
Doug
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Steve
As it stands at the moment I believe that the offender is only allowed to refer to the letters NCCA in terms of once having had a relationship with that institution. I am aware that Derek Bolton has just said something different so I could I could be wrong. I will refer back to John Claydon who's the "head of department" on this. However the use of the logo or using the letters in a way that intends to reflect similarities to the logo would be illegal.
One of the ways to ensure you are different to that rogues adverts is to ensure your logo is clear and has your membership number clearly stated beneath it and the registered trade mark "R" in the top right hand corner as per the rules of the association.
I know it seems to you that John is not working on this but we are all very unhappy about it. But if trading standards doesn't think it is a winner then we might be unwise spending members money on a case like this. We have had estimates of the order of £5k thrown at us in terms of the cost of taking action.
Regards
Adam
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Adam
I am not at odds with you and my previous comment stands....
It really is all down to what the Trading Standards Dept feel.
Any use of logo's when not authorised to do so is illegal, downright dishonest and in my opinion (for what its worth) a deliberate attempt at conning the consumer... sounds reasonable to me.
When the 'solids hit the air conditioning' which is what happened with the guilty party in this instance, then the Association will fully support the consumer in seeking a prosecution.
Derek