Letter: Rogue traders? What about the customers?

Letter: Dom Littlewood, Matt Allwright and the irritating Clive Holland have a lot to answer for.

Whenever we turn on the TV these days we are being subjected to programmes warning us of falling foul of cowboy builders, decorators, plumbers and the like.

This is all very well and good, but it has put the general public into such a flux that they don't trust anybody anymore.

I appreciate that there are a few dodgy tradesman out there but most who are just trying to make an honest living are now being subjected to unreasonable demands by their customers.

The best way is to threaten the tradesman with Trading Standards or legal action.

Shropshire Trading Standards have told me that they have had to rewrite the rules as to how they deal with customer complaints for this very reason.

I've worked in the building trade for some 30 years and have noticed this change of customer attitude only in the last five years - the same timeframe as the plethora of programmes started.

I have thought of a wonderful idea for a new programme: Rogue Customers where each week a presenter pursues someone who has failed to pay for services completed, double-booked in case one tradesman doesn't turn up, or cancelled a job the night before the start for no genuine reason leaving the poor chap without work.

I offer my services as the presenter.

I've had enough of the building trade and am looking for a new career. Do you think it will catch on?

Steve Wilkinson

Shropshire