Edna died waiting for scooter with a battery
Trader hides identity before saying mobility aid wasn’t useless
A CANCER sufferer has died while locked in a legal battle with a mobility scooter outlet she branded “absolutely appalling”.
Edna Carroll paid Protec Mobility Trading Limited £1,450 for a Roma Yoga scooter in November 2019.
The 72-year-old said she used it twice, putting it on charge after each short journey, and on the third journey the battery died, forcing her to walk home.
Edna contacted Protec Mobility and said that she was told that the range of such a scooter would be less in hilly areas, and if the user weighed 17 stone or more.
To which Edna responded that she weighed 12 stone and where she lived was “as flat as a pancake”.
She sent the battery to Protec Mobility to be forwarded to the manufacturer for testing in January last year.
A test result form later sent to her by Protec apparently proved that there was no fault with it, but Edna said there was nothing to show that this form related to her battery.
In any case, she said she never got the battery back, leaving the scooter sitting uselessly in her home.
She said: “People don’t buy these scooters for fun, they are a lifeline for people with mobility issues and many like me with terminal illness.
“It is absolutely appalling. We haven’t got a lot of money and worrying about something like this is the last thing I need in the situation I am in. I know from the Trading Standards people that I am not alone, and I’ve taken the matter to the small claims court.”
Protec Mobility’s director is Jonathon Ward,
41, and contacting him proved to be an odd experience.
A notice on his shopfront in Grantham, Lincs, directed enquiries to John’s Hairdressers next door – I went in and asked for Mr Ward but the hairdresser claimed not to know when he might return. Later I established that John the hairdresser is the same person as Jonathon Ward of Protec Mobility, and went back to ask him to comment on Edna’s complaint.
He insisted that he did return the battery to her, sending it via a courier firm which has since gone bust, so he cannot get any proof of delivery.
“We got the battery tested by the manufacturers, they gave me the report saying it was fine and I sent it back to her, that’s all I need to say,” he told me. “If she’s passed away I’m very sad, but I’ve not heard nothing about that so I’m just waiting for the court to let me know what’s happening.
“I know that I have not done anything wrong.” When I asked if he’d had dealings with Trading Standards, Mr Ward replied: “Yes, but I don’t want to discuss them with you, that’s all sorted now.”
Lincolnshire Trading Standards manager Mark Keal said: “We looked into a number of complaints, including Mrs Carroll’s, as part of our investigation.
“Trading Standards has given business advice to Mr Ward, to remind him of his legal responsibilities and his customers’ rights.
“By their nature, mobility products are often sold to the most vulnerable in our society, and so we monitor complaints across this sector very closely.”
When buying a mobility scooter, check that the seller is a member of the British Healthcare Trades Association, whose code of practice is approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.
Protec Mobility is not a member of the BHTA.