Householders warned about bogus textile collectors

Leaflets are being left with homeowners in the Wirral purporting to come from a company called ASD Ltd and calling for donations of old clothing to send to developing countries.

ASD itself is a steel business with no links whatsoever to the scam, officers said.

”There are plenty of genuine, local charities who would be more than happy to receive your unwanted goods.“
– John Malone, Wirral MBC
Trading standards officers from the metropolitan borough are advising householders not to be taken in by the scam, and instead to give clothing to genuine charities.

The officers said the leaflets refer to two company registration numbers for Olonex Ltd and Help Line UK, both of which were dissolved in May 2004 and are not able to trade legally.

John Malone Trading Standards Manager said: “I strongly advise the public not to leave any clothing in response to this request. There are plenty of genuine, local charities who would be more than happy to receive your unwanted goods.”

Warnings about the Olonex leaflets have been issued by councils all over England over the last few years. This was because the leaflets were worded to give the impression householders would be donating to charity when this was not the case.

ASA
The Advertising Standards Authority ordered Olonex to withdraw similar leaflets in February 2003, commenting on the misleading advertising that “this company has shown it has a cynical disregard both for consumers and the truth.”

The leaflet in the ASA ruling had said to householders: “Please donate your unwanted clothes. Dear Householder, we are a small business who collect unwanted clothing for export to Eastern Europe. If you have any of the following items that you could donate we would be grateful. Thank you for helping us to help others”.

The ASA ruled that because it had asked recipients to “donate”, the leaflet misleadingly implied that the advertisers were a registered charity.

Other company names quoted in council warnings about similar leaflets include GV Clothing Ltd, Lugira Ltd, Kosta Ltd, LDK Ltd and Ecotex Collection Ltd.