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Consumer advice or make a complaint about goods or services


The Citizens Advice consumer helpline takes all enquiries on behalf of Trading Standards, across England and Wales.

The helpline can help you to:

  • get advice about goods or services
  • find information regarding your consumer rights
  • make a complaint

If you need to report an issue to Trading Standards, please direct these enquiries to the Citizens Advice consumer helpline. You should use the contact information detailed below:

Contact Citizens Advice

The Citizens Advice consumer helpline can be contacted by phone on 0808 223 1133 or you can contact them online by following the button below.

Contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline

Consumer advice guides

Citizens Advice also provide useful guides and templates on how to resolve common consumer issues.

You can find these guides on the Citizens Advice website by following the button below.

Citizens Advice consumer advice guides

What happens to my complaint?

Cornwall residents submit approximately 3,500 complaints each year.

The Trading Standards service at Cornwall Council uses a risk-based approach to decide which complaints we have the resource to investigate.

We monitor general complaint trends for businesses and traders in Cornwall, looking for patterns of unfair or fraudulent business practices. From the complaints and intelligence we receive, we prioritise the most serious for investigation.

When deciding which complaints we can investigate, we consider factors such as:

  • Vulnerability of the victim(s)
  • Financial impact and/or safety of the public
  • Harm to other legitimate businesses
  • Number of complaints relating to the business or trader

Where we decide to investigate, we will usually contact the person who made the complaint. It is often necessary to obtain witness statements from affected persons. We will also need a commitment that they will support us in taking a prosecution or other legal action.

Further information

If you would like more information on the role of Trading Standards, please follow the button below:

Business Companion Trading Standards guide

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