A man has been ordered to fully compensate nine people he defrauded while trading as Midlothian business Discount Bathrooms Scotland.
Michael Patterson, formerly of Straiton, had pled guilty under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 to running a fraudulent scheme, following an investigation by Midlothian Council Trading Standards.
In 2021, Patterson took 35% deposits for bathrooms ordered on Facebook Messenger and failed to provide any goods or services, offering instead various Covid related excuses. Patterson, who now lives in Great Yarmouth, is to pay back a total of nearly £11,000 over three years.
Speaking after the judgement last week, one of his customers, Jim MacLeod from Gorebridge, said, “After a survey and payment in August 2021, I never saw Patterson again until in court today. After a couple of missed appointments he agreed to refund me and pretended he was in the bank getting cash. After that he claimed to have paid it into the wrong account.”
Councillor Stuart McKenzie, cabinet member with responsibility for Trading Standards, added, “I welcome this judgement and warn local residents to be wary of potential scammers. It’s saddening to see people being tricked out of their money in this way. Especially in these hard financial times. Please be assured the council’s Trading Standards team will do all that they can to investigate concerns about local companies and if necessary as in this case take action on behalf of local consumers.”
