Although we live in a society where its not unheard of for people with disabilities to suffer verbal and even physical abuse when outdoors, its reassuring that there are many people who are happy to assist and respect others.

When it comes to receiving help from a member of the public, especially when you haven’t requested it there can be times when although a person means well you might simply not want assistance from them.

Plenty of people with mobility needs still prefer to do as much as they can themselves, for some it might be pride, determination, a desire to be as active as possible, to be as independant as you can.

Some people dont like too much fussing, maybe you dont want too much attention brought to yourself, theres the possibility of someone going too far, i dont believe that a person can be too kind or too polite but maybe go futher than most people would expect, or be comfortable with, especially as the other person will often be a complete stranger.

How do you feel about random help from members of the public? Whether its holding a door for you or something else.

Do you get asked if you would like assistance with something first or at times has someone gone straight ahead and attempted to help you without first checking with you?

Occasionally there can be situations where a building will be accessible for mobility scooters and wheelchairs and disabled toilets will be in place and for a time they will allow you to take your mobility scooter or wheelchair inside but then for various reasons they no longer allow you to take them inside and insist that they are left outside of the building.

Although there can be good reason to change the rules of what is allowed to be taken inside a building, sometimes the reasons might be vague or confusing if you see some people still allowed to take their mobility scooter or wheelchair inside or taken to certain parts inside a building.

Its understandable that you might be confused or even frustrated as to why you can no longer take yours inside and some places might do very little to actually explain why the rules have changed.

There is even the possibility of there being no good reason at all for them to have suddenly stopped allowing them in and to be used inside.

Any place that has previously allowed full access to mobility scooters and wheelchairs should be fully explaining to those affected by any change, either verbally, in writing or preferably both, this also helps to prevent any confusion over who and what is allowed access to a building and if there are any exceptions to this then it should be made as clear as possible to avoid any upset to anyone.

It is perfectly ok for rules to be changed regarding access but those setting any new rules should definately do everything that they can to make it as clear as possible why it is happening, who it will affect and even whether it is a temporary change or intended to be permanent.

Recently there was a news report of a father and son who were caught for using pressure tactics in order to get customers to buy mobility products from them, they were specifically targetting elderly people too and it was a situation of pure explotation, they were making enough money from it to afford themselves fancy cars and more.

You can read more about the Father and son mobility scooter conmen jailed

The majority of mobility aid dealers are very decent and offer advice and sell products that are most suited to a persons needs but unfortunately there are those like the father and son team who are out to take advantage of vulnerable people and seem to have no concern about anyone else but themselves.

Fortunately trading standards officers moved in on these two and put a stop to it but of course not before a number of people had becomes victims of these two men.

If you read the full article you will find that this is not the only mobility company that are trading in an unethical way and although this type of situation is not exclusive of mobility aid dealers it is quite sad that there are firms out there that are willing to take advantage of people who are often already in a difficult situation.

There are many types of businesses where pushy sales people will do everything they can to try and make a sale, they become almost like predators, from cold calling, to using pressure tactics once they have a conversation going and of course in some situations not even delivering products that have been paid for.

While its normal within business for a company to work hard at securing business and for sales people to work hard at getting a sale (theres nothing wrong with that) the difference between the ethical and unethical companies and people within them is that the ethical ones will then follow through professionally to ensure that the customer is treated appropriately, receives the product and quality of service that they paid for and is not sold something that they dont need or dont want in the first place.

The unethical ones, well we know what they are like, profits come first for them, unfortunately the customer to them is most likely not seen as a customer but a target which they will focus on with precision until they have got their hands on the persons money.

Always be on your guard to companies that phone you out of the blue, dont agree to unwanted appointments at your own home, when possible you should find out what you can about them and try and record as much details about them as you can.

Family and friends should be aware of this danger too and be alert to any unexpected calls, visits or funds taken from relatives or friends bank accounts.

While people like the father and son mentioned will exist in other parts of the country, a constant battle against this type of thing will not eradicate it but minimise the amount of people that get taken advantage of by these types of firms.

Fortunately trading standards do have the power to go in and make a difference and the fact that these two men were jailed goes to show that it gets taken seriously enough when people like them get caught.

Be aware as a user and buyer of mobility aids, and for those close to people with mobility needs you can keep an eye out for anything that seems not quite right, and dont hesitate to contact trading standards when a mobility aid firm is breaking the law.