Sales reps for a company selling outside wall coatings are told to 'scare' elderly people into buying their products, according to a former worker.

Ex-salesman Ben Bridgestock claims training at Midland Coatings Co Ltd included making householders believe their home was in desperate need of repairs.

The former Bradford and Ilkley Community College student said: "They will try to sell to anyone but they realise the easy option is the old person who lives alone and has no family support."

He claimed the company, which has been selling in Bradford, told trainees it had lists of people who had just retired and of old properties in different areas which were likely to be occupied by the elderly.

During his week's training programme from August 17, he claims new recruits were told:

Create a sense of "fear and urgency" in the householders by getting them to think something terrible will happen to their home unless the work is done straight away.

Leave immediately if the elderly householder has "third party interference" - a son or daughter who visits regularly or gives advice on financial matters.

Spend six to eight hours in the house making the sale.

Get as big a deposit as possible.

But the company claims Mr Bridgestock was dismissed for "gross misconduct" and denies all his claims.

Last month the T&A highlighted the company after complaints from relatives of elderly people in Bradford who had been persuaded to spend cash on their homes. Two claimed the company had threatened to sue their mothers, who were 91 and 89.

The Leeds-based company denied it specifically targeted old people. But Mr Bridgestock, 26, said: "We used damp detectors which let out a real screech when there is damp around," he said.

"We were told to find a wet spot on the outside wall - where there was a plant pot or hanging basket - and put the probes in there so it would screech.

"It even went off if you pressed it against your skin when they weren't looking. They said we should basically scare the hell out of the people when we were examining the property.

"They said you should spend as long as possible on it until you had created a sense of fear and urgency in the customer. You make them scared about their house and suddenly there is a market for your product. They gave an example of one of the reps who wasn't happy until the wife was in tears during the survey.

"You have one afternoon on surveying - they have no qualifications as a surveyor or builder but they are going out advising people about spending thousands of pounds on home improvements. Some of the people didn't even know what pointing was.

"They want a deposit there and then and always ask initially for 50 per cent of the sum and then they bring it down.

"They say the bigger the deposit the bigger the commitment from the customer and the less likely they are to cancel. They teach you how to handle old people - you ask them about their finances and the family to find out if they have got money and if there is third party interference.

"If there is you leave straight away - if there isn't and they have the money you get your camping gear out until you have sold.

"If we didn't stay at least four hours we got into trouble - the average stay is six to eight hours. If you did stay less than four hours several times you got a formal written warning."

He said he started trying to sell on Monday, August 24, after five days of training. "The last straw came on Wednesday when I was sent to an old lady in Great Horton Road in Bradford. She was 72 and she had the money - I was told to stay and get a sale.

"She asked me if she should spend the money on holidays, enjoying herself before she died, or on the house. I said she should spend it on herself.

"I stayed a little while, then I phoned the office and told them I wasn't going back. I just couldn't do it. It's the first I've heard that I was dismissed for gross misconduct."

Mr Bridgestock, who lives in York, said he answered a company advert offering a £20,000 basic salary and five per cent commission on each sale and was a member of one of the two 20-strong teams operating from Leeds.

But he claimed the company tried to force the new recruits to leave or sacked them after a few weeks to avoid paying them the salary and commission.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards officer Graham Hebblethwaite said: "All this ties in with the information we have received already. There is concern all along the line - not only from customers.

"It is appalling but there is nothing to stop people canvassing by phone and making follow-up visits. The phrase 'fear and urgency' has been described to us before."

He said officers had now received about 70 calls about the company since the beginning of the year.

Criticisms unfair, says solicitor

Midland Coatings Co Ltd solicitor Philip Hirst said his client denied sales training or selling techniques were "inappropriate".

Mr Hirst, of Bradford firm TI Clough & Co, said: "My clients don't accept the criticism of their training procedure or selling method. They believe their training procedures are correct, as are their selling methods.

"It is a very high turnover and very successful business with really a very small number of complaints given the size of the company.

"I think one disenchanted former employee is being taken as being representative of the whole and this is not appropriate. To base a story on this is unwise because you are taking one instance within a very large company and trying to purport that these criticisms are representative of the criticisms of a large number of salesman or clients and we think they are not."

Mr Hirst said he was unable to comment on the circumstances surrounding Mr Bridgestock's departure from the company.

Help is on the way if you want to cancel

People considering a timeshare contract will have extra help to understand their rights if Government proposals are approved.

Consumer Affairs Minister Kim Howells has published a consultation paper which will force companies to make cancellation rights clearer and more understandable.

"When they agree to buy a timeshare, consumers have a right to a cooling-off period," he said.

"To make this protection effective, it is vital they know they have a cooling-off period, how long it applies and how to cancel the agreement if they wish to change their minds.

"In the UK many timeshare purchases are made at presentations where consumers may be vulnerable to the pressure some touts apply.

"Many agreements also involve a credit arrangement.

"People need time to look at the detail of the agreements - including any credit arrangement - and have an opportunity to review their decision free from pressure.

"They also need to understand their cancellation rights.

"These proposals will improve customer protection by providing consumers with clearer explanations of their rights to cancel and how to exercise them, set out in words than ordinary customers - rather than just lawyers - understand."

As previously reported in Rights and Wrongs, some householders in Bradford have been telephoned by a firm telling them they have won a free holiday.

They are told that, to claim the vacation, they have to visit a Lancashire resort.

When they get there, they find they have to listen to a presentation.

Representatives then try to get them to join a holiday points club where they buy enough to stay in the accommodation they choose.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.