Electric Mobility, manufacturer and seller of the Rascal line of mobility scooters settled allegations by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General that it engaged in deceptive marketing.
Pa Attorney General Corbett stated:
“The agreement settles allegations that Electric Mobility completed sales by telephone without being registered as a telemarketer with the Office of Attorney General; failed to clearly explain insurance coverage and payment to consumers; failed to provide some consumers with a properly dated “Notice of Cancellation” as required by the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law; may not have followed terms of their written guarantees or warrantees; and did not have a Certificate of Authority to conduct business in Pennsylvania.”
Furthermore:
“the company must refrain from stating that a consumer can purchase a Motorized Wheelchair “for little or no out-of-pocket expense” unless it is made clear that not all consumers are eligible for these benefits because they are based on Medicare paying 80 percent and other insurance covering the remaining costs.
The company must also provide a 14-day money-back return period for most of their products and provide contact information for the Attorney General’s Health Care Section on their website.
According to the agreement, Electric Mobility will pay $15,000 for costs, future public protection and educational purposes. Additionally, the company will provide refurbished Power Chairs to 10 needy Pennsylvania consumers.
Refurbished power chairs? I don’t get it? But anyway, I hope these aren’t some hosed down low-enders and I sure hope that they come with a few years of free repairs.
It looks like consumers in Pennsylvania ultimately came out on top of this deal. Yet the get off hit does not seem hard enough to discourage industry players from utilizing these practices in pursuit of today’s elusive profit dollars.
The old Caveat emptor (Let the buyer beware) still stands as very good advice so here are some resources that can kick-up your beware-ability and your recourse-ability:
Better Business Bureau Reliability Report
Type the company details into this online form and up comes a BBB report that includes such things as BBB Rating and customer complaint history.
Consumer Action Website
This site is run by the U.S. General Services Association (GSA) and is loaded with solid consumer advice and information. You can also grab up a copy of the Consumers Action Handbook while you are over there.
Consumer Action
Publishes educational materials, refers consumers to complaint-handling agencies through their free hotline. Be sure to check out the “How To Complain: Guidelines for Resolving Complaints“.
Federal Trade Commission Consumer Protection Division
Accepts complaints online and provides consumer tips.
List of State Attorneys General
Contact information for each state.
Read it all at : http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=4179
