Pop up event in Thame to highlight consumer advice service

The town’s office of the Oxfordshire South and Vale Citizens Advice (OSAV) will be setting up a stall on Tuesday, March 20, outside their premises at Market House, North Street, from 10.30am until 1pm.

The advice team will be joined by Oxfordshire Trading Standards and The Affordable Warmth Network, and they will welcome local dignitaries to the stall too.

A spokeswoman said: “We will be setting up our stall to provide information and advice to the public - in particular targeting the three most common consumer problems that we see - scams and cold calling, buying a secondhand car and energy issues.

“We will be joined by representatives from Oxfordshire Trading Standards and, for energy advice, the Affordable Warmth Network.

“This event is also a chance for us to promote the Citizens Advice consumer helpline - the one-stop shop for all consumer advice on 03454 040506.””

Visitors are welcome to call by and seek advice on all consumer issues and learn more about protecting your consumer rights.

The spokeswoman added: “The aim of this event is to provide people with tips to avoid common consumer problems.

“When faced with a problem it is often hard to know where to go for help. This event will increase awareness of the support available from Citizens Advice and will also signpost other local organisations as sources of support.

“Increased knowledge of help that is locally available will help to make people feel less isolated and powerless when they face a consumer problem.

“Every year millions of UK consumers are affected in some form by substandard services. Although this is a common problem the knock-on effects are more far-reaching than often acknowledged.

Data collected by Citizens Advice for 2017 shows the South East to have the highest number of cases concerning consumer problems of all the regions in England and Wales.

Citizens Advice offices in the South East dealt with 24,598 matters from January to December 2017.