Complaint investigation

If you find that a product that you have purchased is faulty or that a company doing work for you has not done it properly our advisors are on hand to give assistance with all stages of a dispute with a trader. From advice on how a consumer may resolve the dispute themselves, through active conciliation/negotiation with the trader, to advice and assistance with the Sheriff Court Simple Procedure (claims up to £5,000); our advisors are there to help. Our services are provided free to South Ayrshire residents.

We will also assist consumers from other Local Authorities with complaints about goods and services bought from South Ayrshire businesses where the consumer's local Trading Standards service requests our help on behalf of their resident. We will only provide this assistance to those other Trading Standards services who have a reciprocal arrangement with South Ayrshire Trading Standards.

Where a breach of criminal legislation is alleged and the locus of the offence is in South Ayrshire, South Ayrshire Trading Standards will investigate the alleged offence.

If a criminal complaint is made from a non-South Ayrshire resident, we will deal with the criminal element only as per our enforcement policy. Any civil advice or redress sought by the consumer will require to be sourced from that consumer's local Trading Standards, Advice Direct Scotland or the consumer's local Citizens Advice Bureaux where these are available.

If during South Ayrshire Trading Standards' investigation of an alleged criminal breach the trader offers redress to the consumer we will relay that offer to the consumer's own local Trading Standards for consideration and to put to their resident. In the event that the consumer's home authority does not offer assistance to their local consumers we will advise the trader to correspond directly with the consumer.