Undercover sting salesman is now warning others
Former MD appeared on BBC’s Watchdog
A businessman who found himself being filmed undercover when BBC ‘s Watchdog investigated pressure-selling to elderly customers now wants to help others fight back against pushy salesmen.
Will Blakey, 28, from Downswood, was the former managing director of MyHome Installations Ltd, in St Leonards Road, Maidstone.
The company installed in-home security systems, including fire alarms and medical response systems. It featured on the Rogue Traders section of the consumer rights programme in 2016 for selling security systems at vastly inflated prices and often giving people no time to consider the quotes.
It was the second time the business was on the programme, appearing under its previous name, Landmark Securities, in 2012.
Mr Blakey left the company three years ago, just before the second programme aired and recently set up a Facebook group to provide advice for people who think they may be a victim of pressure-selling.
He said: “I am setting the record straight and want to share some manipulation tactics to make people aware these things are still happening. “I have wanted to do it for a long time but my lawyer told me not to as I was trying to get my 25% share of the business.” He started at the company after leaving Loughborough University during his second year, where he studied business, economics and finance.
He set up two firms while at university and admits he got a taste for earning money. Mr Blakey joined the team at MyHome Installations, with Liam Walsh, who ran the firm, promising to teach him everything he knew about business.
Starting as a salesman, Mr Blakey broke every target given to him. He became managing director within five years and became a millionaire at 25. He said: “We were taking advantage of elderly people and making them make a decision without speaking to their families first.
“They didn’t have the confidence to express that it didn’t feel right.
“We weren’t cowboys, we were just expensive and justified it because we always provided the service.”
He said as a young person stepping into a business, he wanted to achieve and that resulted in him often not questioning the things that were happening. “I was convinced I was right and created stories to defend what I was doing.
“I don’t believe in having regrets. I take responsibility for everything that has happened in my life”
The businessman, who now owns myofficemove.co.uk, urges people in a similar position to question what they are doing for money and why it might feel wrong. He reminds people not to remember they don’t have to allow anyone into their homes.