Don’t know about anybody else but I’m fed up of seeing Agencies advertising non existent job just to get you to sign up.
The latest ad from DriveLink is offering immediate start on either days or nights. There is NO work from them and they ain’t supplied a night driver for over a month.
Could we report these to the ASA for misleading ‘punters’■■
You make a good point there,to me it is just false advertising.It’s a simiair situation round here,hundreds of agencies promising immediate starts on all shifts,yet when you ring to say you can start today,all you get told is to sign up with them and wait for a call that never comes.Ain’t there some rule that’s just changed regarding adverts,basically they can’t be bullturd,so surely if these so-called employment agencies are advertising jobs that don’t exist they are in breach?
Ifyou could report them I think it would more likely be Trading Standards than the ASA. If they have premises and the misleading information is in the window of these premises then it would definitely be Trading Standards. That’s who deals with misleading adverts in shop windows.
Coffeeholic:
If they have premises and the misleading information is in the window of these premises then it would definitely be Trading Standards. That’s who deals with misleading adverts in shop windows.
Got to be worth looking into,plenty of them round here have bloody great windows full of C+E jobs promising immediate starts but when you walk through the door you get the “Sign up and we’ll call you” crap
Coffeeholic:
Ifyou could report them I think it would more likely be Trading Standards than the ASA. If they have premises and the misleading information is in the window of these premises then it would definitely be Trading standards. That’s who deals with misleading adverts in shop windows.
Ummmm, shop windows, that’s another one, for another time.
My gripe is with ads in local papers. 
dinosteveus1:
My gripe is with ads in local papers.
Try saying that in your original post then
TezzDemon:
dinosteveus1:
My gripe is with ads in local papers.Try saying that in your original post then
Yea, soz 
To be honest it’s harder to prove the window advert, unless to take a picture, at the time.
Yeah proving it is the difficult bit,my guess is soon as an agency got wind they were being looked at,a certain type of advert would mysteriously stop appearing for a bit.Needs the powers that be to pose as someone looking for work so they can rumble all these time-waster agencies
I could be wrong here but I think the ASA have more teeth than trading standards so if an agency is advertising falsely then I would go to the ASA
ROG:
I could be wrong here but I think the ASA have more teeth than trading standards so if an agency is advertising falsely then I would go to the ASA
Yea, I think I will. It’s about time this was sorted.
Not long ago one Agency advertised a Weekend job, I went for a chat and it was BS. The “I’ve been in the ‘business’ for 20 years” ■■■■■■ wouldn’t even let me sign up cos I’m with a few Agencies and he wanted me just to be with him. Saddo. Anyway, the advertised weekend job was bs, any weekend work gets offered to his regulars who ain’t worked that week or wants extra hours.
For any prosecution to be successful, the agency must be advertising a specific job with a specific company.
Adverts along the lines of “HGV 1 always wanted” and “immediate start” which do not name a company (they never do) are perfectly legal. Shop window ads have slightly different criteria to newspaper ones, but it’s marginal.
They’ve been doing this for as long as agencies have been around; it’s no different to pubs having adverts for “bar staff always wanted”, then when you ask there’s “nothing at the moment”. Since the very nature of agency work makes disproving their claims virtually impossible, time we got used to it, frustrating though it may be.
I’ve said on here before (and I speak from experience as a consultant, TM and driver) most successful agency drivers start with the right attitude. Agencies are based on sales. That’s the language they speak; so sell yourself to them and you’ll get better results. I don’t mean crawling, I mean a positive “can-do” approach combined with good initial presentation.
i have been out of work now for 9 weeks cos i wont work for agencies they are all liers with out exeption and as drivers if we boycotted them then there would be more perm jobs with cpompenys and not just cheap labour i would reather be out of work than put money in thier lying theiving pockets
ROG:
I could be wrong here but I think the ASA have more teeth than trading standards so if an agency is advertising falsely then I would go to the ASA
But the ASA don’t investigate all types of advertising They are limited in the type they can investigate, including those appearing in shop windows which fall under the remit of Trading Standards.
All agencys have only their own interests at heart,you are just a number i have worked with a dozen agencys over the years and at my latest one which is probably the main one in kent was promises every day if i wanted it even though i specified no supermarkets 2 weeks got good work and good pay then after that i was told supermarket for toscos only available, now i only get offered weekend work at toscos for minimum 6=8 hrs shift for the rotas their drivers cant/wont do,so i now treet them as they treet me and i ring them at the last minute and cancel because the sun has come out and i cant be assed i would rather sit in the garden
Coffeeholic:
ROG:
I could be wrong here but I think the ASA have more teeth than trading standards so if an agency is advertising falsely then I would go to the ASABut the ASA don’t investigate all types of advertising They are limited in the type they can investigate, including those appearing in shop windows which fall under the remit of Trading Standards.
As the ASA now deal with adverts on the internet then perhaps that would be the route to follow as many agencies advertise in that way
Sounds like an interesting idea. So interesting, I’ve sent the following to the ASA;
"This is a query that could lead to many compliants regarding the advertising of temporary work by employment agencies, particularly as regarding HGV driving work. The query has arisen from a discussion on a lorry drivers online forum (trucknetuk.com) as to whether a compliant to the ASA is suitable regarding the honesty of many of these ads.
These ads are often seen in local newspapers, online job search websites (particularly Jobcentre Plus) and in shop fronts at agencies premises. These ads often leave the impression that they have a high demand for drivers by using such phases ‘major new clients’ and ‘drivers urgently needed’. However, many qualified and experienced drivers go on to the books of these agencies and find that the provision of work is sporadic at best. Often these ads are indistinguishable from ads for full time temporary jobs and include the phrases ‘recruiting for’ and ‘temporary ongoing’. Drivers are most often left with the impression that by going onto the agencies books they will work most days of a working week, for a specific end client, but instead find they are only required one or two days a fortnight, for no specific client, and possibly not at all. It does seem that such practices would qualify as exaggeration under CAP 3.11.
The reasons this happens are well know; transport is a highly cyclical industry. and agencies wish to fill their books with available drivers for peak periods. Aware that they will not attract drivers by advertising highly sporadic work, they instead attempt to make every ad sound like there is regular work for a specific client to entice drivers in.
So my query is as follows; would ads such as these make valid grounds for complaints to the ASA? What would be the burden of proof for ASA to up hold a complaint? Also, what, if any, powers of investigation does the ASA have? eg Could the ASA demand to see an agency’s inventory of available drivers if they advertise for drivers but have little or no extra work?
Thank you for your time.
Best regards"
I’ll post any reply they send.
Biscuits:
Sounds like an interesting idea. So interesting, I’ve sent the following to the ASA;"This is a query that could lead to many compliants regarding the advertising of temporary work by employment agencies, particularly as regarding HGV driving work. The query has arisen from a discussion on a lorry drivers online forum (trucknetuk.com) as to whether a compliant to the ASA is suitable regarding the honesty of many of these ads.
These ads are often seen in local newspapers, online job search websites (particularly Jobcentre Plus) and in shop fronts at agencies premises. These ads often leave the impression that they have a high demand for drivers by using such phases ‘major new clients’ and ‘drivers urgently needed’. However, many qualified and experienced drivers go on to the books of these agencies and find that the provision of work is sporadic at best. Often these ads are indistinguishable from ads for full time temporary jobs and include the phrases ‘recruiting for’ and ‘temporary ongoing’. Drivers are most often left with the impression that by going onto the agencies books they will work most days of a working week, for a specific end client, but instead find they are only required one or two days a fortnight, for no specific client, and possibly not at all. It does seem that such practices would qualify as exaggeration under CAP 3.11.
The reasons this happens are well know; transport is a highly cyclical industry. and agencies wish to fill their books with available drivers for peak periods. Aware that they will not attract drivers by advertising highly sporadic work, they instead attempt to make every ad sound like there is regular work for a specific client to entice drivers in.
So my query is as follows; would ads such as these make valid grounds for complaints to the ASA? What would be the burden of proof for ASA to up hold a complaint? Also, what, if any, powers of investigation does the ASA have? eg Could the ASA demand to see an agency’s inventory of available drivers if they advertise for drivers but have little or no extra work?
Thank you for your time.
Best regards"I’ll post any reply they send.
Red bit should be complaint? 
schrodingers cat:
Red bit should be complaint?
Thank you for volunteering to be my proof-reader. I shall email my badly written 1,500 page proof “History of the Paper Clip” to you shortly. 
Biscuits:
1,500 page proof “History of the Paper Clip”
Not actually an authority on the subject then 
pain in the arse they are agencies… I will gladly sign a petition to improve their advertising habits… (and plenty of other ones…)
I am not sure though why the lack of work is taking this long this year…