Dec. 29--A locksmith and door contractor whose work and sales practices angered some Lehigh Valley homeowners has agreed to pay customers restitution and fines to settle a state lawsuit.
Always In Service of Abington settled its case with the state attorney general's office last month prior to trial.
I told you about Always In Service last year when the state alleged in its lawsuit that the company did poor work, took money for jobs it didn't do, inflated estimated prices, and misled people into thinking it was a local company by advertising under different names in phone book ads that listed local numbers, including several in the Lehigh Valley.
Always In Service denied the allegations in court papers.
I wrote about several homeowners who had problems with the company, and their complaints mirrored the state's allegations.
One of them, Larry Geiger of Upper Macungie Township, told me he was pleased the company must pay.
"Wow, what an outfit," he said.
Geiger told me he had paid Always In Service $267 to fix his garage door. He said the door stopped working again less than a week later, and Always In Service wouldn't return to fix it. He called another company and paid another $146 to do the job right.
Always In Service gave him his money back after I wrote about his problem.
Frank Geosits Sr. of Northampton told me that when he needed a new kitchen door, he called Lehigh Valley Doors, which he presumed to be a local company based on its name and listing in the local phone book. He said Always In Service was the company that showed up in response. He said it gave him a more expensive door than he had ordered, never provided a written estimate, did poor work, and did not satisfactorily fix mistakes.
Like in Geiger's case, Always In Service made amends with Geosits after I wrote about his complaint. It returned to his home to fix the door, and gave him a $1,700 refund.
"I am glad they were held accountable for their actions," his daughter, Sharon Geosits, told me in an email. She had alerted me to her father's problem last year.
Always In Service did not return my call. It hadn't returned previous calls, either.
The lawsuit settlement, approved by a Philadelphia judge, requires Always In Service to pay $15,000 in restitution to customers; a $50,000 fine; and $45,000 for future state public protection and education efforts.
The settlement requires the company to abide by the state's consumer protection laws, including honoring the terms of guarantees. Always In Service is prohibited from saying or suggesting it has a business address other than its address in Abington, unless it has other physical business locations. It cannot use the home addresses of mobile technicians as business addresses.
The state's lawsuit alleged Always In Service lied about being members of the Better Business Bureau and employing certified master locksmiths.
The settlement prohibits Always In Service from saying it is accredited by the BBB, and requires the company to prove accreditation by sending copies of the paperwork to the state.
"These activities, including the bogus business names with the use of local telephone numbers, and exaggerated claims, were allegedly intended to confuse or mislead consumers, leading potential customers to believe that they were dealing with a local business that was highly regarded and well qualified to handle their projects," Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a news release.
The settlement requires Always In Service to provide estimates that reflect the actual cost to customers and to "honestly and accurately value the goods and services to be provided, and cease giving an artificially low price and then stating 'and up' when providing price estimates."
Customers must be given detailed contracts and invoices that include information about the materials and products being ordered, and the company must honor all advertised discounts and coupons.
The settlement requires Always In Service to respond to customer complaints within two days. The company must keep written records of complaints and any settlement offers, and must have a separate customer service unit to address complaints.
You can read the settlement on my blog at http://blogs.mcall.com/watchdog/.
Update: The criminal case against another area contractor, James Carpenter III, owner of Multi-Phase Construction in Whitehall Township, inched toward resolution last week when Carpenter waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He faces two felony counts of home improvement fraud. He is accused of taking $152,000 from two customers and completing only about $54,000 of work. My columns about Carpenter also are on my blog.
The Watchdog is published Thursdays and Sundays. Contact me by email at [email protected], by phone at 610-841-2364 (ADOG), by fax at 610-820-6693, or by mail at The Morning Call, 101 N. Sixth St., Allentown, PA, 18101. Follow me on Twitter at mcwatchdog and on Facebook at Morning Call Watchdog.
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