Is This Maryland Power Company Committing Mail Fraud?
January 12, 2008 · Print This Article
Over the last month or so our local MD power company, Allegheny Power has sent us 2 small boxes containing 4 of the CFL light bulbs and a small brochure on the benefits of using this new type of lighting. I thought wow what a great idea that is of them to do that. It impressed me they would go to that distance to educate us consumers. STOP. not so fast.
Apparently, without the knowledge of us customers, Allegheny was sending those bulbs and charging us 0.96$ a month over the next 12 months to pay for the bulbs !!That’s $12 for each one, meaning I am going to pay $48 for 4 light bulbs !! To be honest, I have a monthly payment plan and never even see a bill. It gets paid right out of my bank account. If I had not see this post from Frederick Maryland Online, I, and I am sure many others, would have had no idea. According to one customer who called to complain
So when Munck called Allegheny Power’s toll-free customer service number Wednesday morning to let the company know she had no intention of paying the 96-cent surcharge for the next 12 months for receiving two compact fluorescent, energy-efficient light bulbs, she was understandably taken aback by the company’s response.
“They threatened to turn off my power if I didn’t pay this 96 cents,” said Munck, one of 220,000 Allegheny Power residents to which bulbs were sent.
When Munck told the customer service representative she didn’t need the bulbs - her home already is “full of those bulbs” - she was told she could give them to a neighbor but, regardless, she’d be charged for them.
“That was really underhanded what they did,” Munck said. “It’s unconscionable.”
This is unacceptable behavior on Allegheny’s part. Not to mention that what they have done is bordering on, if not totally in, mail fraud. The used the US Postal system to deliver a unsolicited product to our homes and charged us for them. Some customers tried to send the bulbs back and were told they were being charged in any case. I cannot and will not stand for this behavior. This blog will be my medium to spread the news of this foolishness. I need all of you to help us residents out and spread the word on this. I will post it anywhere I can, and I ask you to do the same. You might be saying, “$12 isnt that bad”, but where does it end.
Please DIGG or StumbleUpon this story so we can get the word out.
UPDATE: @kejaja pointed us to this article in the Baltimore Sun about the light bulb issue.
Many would just say, “hey, some free light bulbs” and look no deeper. Thanks for bringing this to light (pun alert).
I’m not served by Allegheny Power, but I’ll keep an eye out here in VA in case I get a “gift” from them or any other utility. There’s a huge push to get these new CFL bulbs into common use (although they are expensive and the light they produce makes your home look like crap…even if they are energy efficient).
I’d expect similar actions by other power companies, as their hearing from the same advocates and they all talk to each other and share tactics. If you can spread this word quickly, maybe others across the country can be spared of such fraud.
[...] Posted by Andrew on January 12, 2008 Jimmy Gardner from East Coast Blogging posted an item this morning regarding what many would dismiss as a nice, welcome gesture by one of their utilities. UPS delivered to Jimmy four energy-saving light bulbs without informing him ahead of time or letting him know that he will be charged nearly $50 for the bulbs - hidden in his bill. Mail fraud? (does mail fraud occur on UPS? I guess this isn’t “interstate” fraud…) [...]
I lived in Florida for quite a few years and they have a law that states if you receive any product in the mail with out requesting it you have the right to either return it or keep it and not pay for it. It is considered a gift from the company sending the product to you.
Might there be a similar law in Maryland?
Here’s the Maryland solicitation complaint form in PDF format: http://www.oag.state.md.us/Forms/gen.pdf
Regards,
Chuck
I just checked out my bill after getting a set of these bulbs myself. There’s definitely a $0.96 Energy Conservation Surcharge. This is absolutely lovely.
My coworker passed this info on to me and im glad he did because sure enough i got the bulbs last month and looked at my bill today and have a .96 charge. I have filed a complaint with better business bureau and contacted msnbc and the Herald. I ask you all to do the same
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaysection§ion_id=670&format=html&edition_id=2077
‘letters@msnbc.com’
‘business@MSNBC.com’
I plan on continuing to check around on what can be done about this.
There must be consumer law for this. There is no way that what they did can be legal. Unsolicited services with obligatory payment, thats nonsense. They have gone way beyond their contracted services and are on very shaky ground legally. Just imagine for one second the precedence that this sets if it was legal. I myself never use direct debits for this exact reason…
[...] More from: An Allegheny Power customer in the thick of it, Jimmy Gardner reports at East Coast Blogging. [...]
It is lawful to send the bulbs unsolicited, (unless the mercury within them is considered hazardous… or something) but billing you for them is completely unlawful.
Title 39, United States Code, Section 3009:
TITLE 39–POSTAL SERVICE
PART IV–MAIL MATTER
CHAPTER 30–NONMAILABLE MATTER
Sec. 3009. Mailing of unordered merchandise
(a) Except for (1) free samples clearly and conspicuously marked as
such, and (2) merchandise mailed by a charitable organization soliciting
contributions, the mailing of unordered merchandise or of communications
prohibited by subsection (c) of this section constitutes an unfair
method of competition and an unfair trade practice in violation of
section 45(a)(1) of title 15.
(b) Any merchandise mailed in violation of subsection (a) of this
section, or within the exceptions contained therein, may be treated as a
gift by the recipient, who shall have the right to retain, use, discard,
or dispose of it in any manner he sees fit without any obligation
whatsoever to the sender. All such merchandise shall have attached to it
a clear and conspicuous statement informing the recipient that he may
treat the merchandise as a gift to him and has the right to retain, use,
discard, or dispose of it in any manner he sees fit without any
obligation whatsoever to the sender.
(c) No mailer of any merchandise mailed in violation of subsection
(a) of this section, or within the exceptions contained therein, shall
mail to any recipient of such merchandise a bill for such merchandise or
any dunning communications.
(d) For the purposes of this section, “unordered merchandise”
means merchandise mailed without the prior expressed request or consent
of the recipient.
(Pub. L. 91-375, Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 749.)
[...] I wanted to post a follow to my recent post on Allegheny Power, the Maryland power company that got itself inot a bit of hot water recently. Reference my original post here. I want to start by thanking everyone who read the post and passed it on. We generated a lot of page views (thousands) and a lot of support. It really was, as my friend Andrew said, a case study in social media and using it as a tool. [...]
According to the patriot act you must use these light bulb and be happy or you’re a terrorist.
You see, this is a big cover-up sting operation to ferret out anti-corporation sleeper cells.
NOT A VICTIM OF ALLEGHANY POWER? BE PRO-ACTIVE, DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!
Allegheny Power is not my utility company,I use NYSEG in upsatate NY. I am going to foward this information to all my friends who use NYSEG and my local state representatives before it happens here. I encourage everyone else who does uses another utility company other than Alleghany power to become pro-active with thier utility company and do the same. Power to the people ; )
Allegheny Power is heinous. MD would be better served if some right thinking people started blowing up their offices.
Just kill the scum! At most Animal Control will complain; it’s not like they deserve to be considered human.
Of course this is just sarcasm and hyperbole. I could not legally advocate the commission of such acts.
Update
I made a complaint on better business bureau and the bureau took on the case. here is the response they got back from Allegheny
On January 21, 2008, the business provided the following information:
Contact Name and Title: Rosemary Spoljarick, Mgr
Contact Phone: 724-523-1028
Contact Email: rspolja@alleghenypower.com
As of January 16, 2008, customers will no longer be charged for Demand Response initiatives which included compact flourescent bulbs. In addition, customers will be in receipt of a credit for monthly surcharges previously assessed.
Dear Sir, It is not just Allegheny power abusing this mail order business. I have been trying to get a company called crafterschoice to NOT send me any of the products that they wish to send to my mother. The products were never ordered and for her to be billed for them or to have to go to the hassle to try and return them to the post office when she does not drive is obsurd. Now they do not even have to get out of their cars to solicit you. They simply send anything they want to your home and it is your problem. I have to believe that if we do not stop this unwanted sales practice then we are in for more headaches in the future. As one of your bloggers put it “where will it all end”? This has to stop and the government and the postmaster general has to get more involved.
[...] More from: An Allegheny Power customer in the thick of it, Jimmy Gardner reports at East Coast Blogging. [...]