Sponsored by
Budget shop raided after customers complain of being conned
A budget Christmas shop was raided after angry customers claimed they had been conned into buying empty boxes and fake electrical goods.
The authorities were alerted after receiving complaints from shoppers about the store in Hull city centre which only opened last week.
A team of police and trading standards officers raided the first floor of the Christmas Clearance Shop in King Edward Street, where sales were being held three times a day.
Signs on the windows and on leaflets advertised cut-price items, including Nintendo Wii for 80 and Tom-Tom sat navs for 25.
In the first floor sales room, people would be shown goods, which they could bid on and if successful, the goods would then be taken behind a screen and boxed.
Customers claim it was at this point that the goods were swapped with unbranded and faulty replicas or nothing at all.
Disappointed Kane Downs, 17, of Hull, says he spent his first pay packet on what he thought was an iPod and docking station for 80 and a Bluetooth hands-free car kit for 40 as Christmas presents for his dad.
He also bought a PSP games console for himself, for 80. But when he got home and checked the items, the iPod was allegedly a Tobishika MP4 player and the other items were unbranded and broken.
Kane said: "I wanted to surprise my dad with the iPod, but now I can't. I am gutted. Now, I will just have to save up and get him something else.2
Officers are now urging anyone who shopped at the store to check their purchases before wrapping up for Christmas – and to contact the police if they feel they have been short-changed.
Officers are specifically focusing on electrical items bought on the first-floor of the shop, which was being sub-let, rather than the Christmas gift shop on the ground floor, which is not under investigation.
Chris Wilson, of Hull Council's trading standards department, said those who had already complained to them should also contact Humberside Police so claims could be investigated by both.
He said: "We received quite a few complaints the shop was drawing people in with offers of bargain branded goods, but selling inferior and unbranded products or empty boxes."
The Government funded service Consumer Direct advises Christmas shoppers to think twice about buying from street traders or one-day sales.
A 49-year-old Leeds man has been charged on suspicion of fraud and will appear at Hull Magistrates' Court next Wednesday.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
