I have thought very carefully before publishing this latest blog post. It is not necessarily a good idea to draw attention to the bad practices which sometimes take place within the industry that you are involved in. The thinking is that by highlighting the wrongdoings, you make people apprehensive towards buying your product or service. Consumers tend to become suspicious of an industry, just because of the actions of one or two ‘bad apples’.

However, I feel it is only right to give a response following some recent allegations of dodgy dealings within the private number plates industry. A couple of National tabloid newspapers have named and shamed two particular number plate dealers who, it is alleged, have taken money from customers, but failed to supply the personalised registrations paid for. I am not going to defend the companies involved. If what has been written is true then these individual companies deserve to have their reputations tarnished. What I strongly object to is the suggestion that all private number plate dealers are crooks and that this type of bad behaviour is normal amongst cherished number plate companies.

The people who are suggesting that the industry is crooked are readers who have published comments online in response to the original newspaper article. Unless you have dealt with every single company within an industry you are not in a position to make a general accusation. I can think of lots of other professions and industries which have received bad press over the years. It does not mean you should judge the whole industry just because of the actions of one or two individuals or companies.

There are several personalised number plate companies who are striving to promote fairness in the cherished numbers industry. A small group of dealers got together a few years ago and set up an organisation, one of the objectives being to offer consumers confidence, guidance and above all else, a fair deal. Members of this personalised number dealers organisation strive to ensure that every client is 100% satisfied and receives a truly professional service. Please note that the two companies accused of scamming their customers are not members of this organisation and probably never will be.

The purpose of this blog post is not to name the members of this trustworthy organisation, it is to point out that not every company involved in the buying and selling of private number plates chooses to operate in a dishonest way. It is not fair to say all number plate dealers are crooks just as it is not right to say that all accountants are bent, or that all builders are cowboys. Yes there are some rogue traders out there, but let us not forget that there are also some very honest and trustworthy businesspeople providing very high standards of service, some of whom happen to be private number plate dealers.