How Media Is Made

Countering Rogue Traders

THE WILD WEST

Unsuspecting members of the public being scammed by ‘rogue’ and ‘cowboy’ traders are often featured in consumer TV programmes in the hope that the public will better protect themselves from these criminals. Yell has built a reputation for being a source of quality contact details for local businesses such as plumbers, decorators and pet shops and takes it responsibilities towards consumer protection very seriously. So how does Yell reassure consumers that the ads it publishes are advertising reliable tradespeople and services?

FILTERING OUT ROGUE TRADERS

Many trade associations in the UK have developed strong consumer reputations for providing a system of accreditation of bona fide, quality traders. Yell has developed close links with them to help counter the risk of ‘rogue’ traders advertising via its products and services, looking specifically for a system of:

- membership qualifications
- membership vetting
- codes of conduct
- complaint/arbitration procedures
- member disciplinary procedures

Yell currently works closely with more than 40 trade associations, representing those that are acknowledged by consumers as having strong reputations. Yell meets regularly with these associations and actively supports their various conferences, awards and exhibitions.

One key initiative Yell uses to protect the consumer is a system of checking that advertisers who want to use certain trade or professional association logos within advertisements are entitled to do so. This activity is the cornerstone of its work to reduce the incidence of traders wrongly passing themselves off as trade association members. The trade associations involved are extremely supportive of the logo verification work undertaken and have confirmed that Yell’s logo verification activity is considerably more extensive than others in the market.

Yell also backs young people entering the various industries by supporting a number of apprenticeship awards. The aim of the sponsorship is to reinforce the value of trader professionalism.

LESSONS LEARNED

The value of media is governed by how much faith media consumers have in the quality and accuracy of it. Yell’s work in improving consumer protection ensures that users of its services know that the company has made this the highest priority. Highlighting Yell’s work on countering rogue traders improves public understanding of how advertising media operates ethically.

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