Who’s at your door? Consumers complain about ‘aggressive’ company selling water systems | Newz9

For Natalie Lent, day by day in her house appears like a boil water advisory since she solely makes use of bottled water, even for cooking. 

But there was no official warning. In reality, the Nova Scotia lady has three new filtration systems for her nicely water, valued at almost $12,000, gathering mud.

“It’s really just an ornament at this point for me,” Lent mentioned, pointing to her water softener system.

She purchased them final July from Atlantic Environmental Systems, a water filtration company primarily based in Dartmouth, N.S., that’s now beneath scrutiny. At the time, Lent had simply moved into her rural house alongside the Minas Basin and referred to as the company to inquire about their merchandise. 

“There was a sulphur smell, the water was quite hard. So that was one of the priorities on the list of things that I had to do was to put in a water system because water is a necessity,” she mentioned.

After a salesman got here to her house to pitch merchandise, she agreed to the sale. The 53-year-old modified her thoughts a couple of days later when the installers arrived and didn’t reply her questions, comparable to what to do if she had been to lose energy.

“When I asked them to stop, all of a sudden there’s more people in my basement helping them speed up the process to put this in,” Lent mentioned.

“Since then it’s been a nightmare.”

She isn’t alone together with her considerations about Atlantic Environmental Systems. Newz9 has realized the provincial authorities is analyzing whether or not the company has violated the Direct Sellers Regulation Act. It has given the company a possibility to reply earlier than deciding within the coming weeks if Atlantic Environmental’s vendor’s allow ought to be cancelled or suspended.

It comes after receiving a sequence of complaints from householders throughout Nova Scotia, and follows a P.E.I. determination final August that revoked the company’s licence. Atlantic Environmental appealed that decision and lost in April. 

“The evidence in this appeal clearly shows that the appellant and its salespeople repeatedly engaged in exploitative and high-pressure sales tactics while direct selling to P.E.I. residents,” mentioned Bloyce Thompson, P.E.I.’s justice minister, in his written determination.

In Nova Scotia, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued an alert for the same sample of complaints alleging the company “targets senior citizens and does not clearly or transparently notify customers about its policies.” The BBB additionally cited considerations that Atlantic Environmental allegedly conducts poor after-sales service “with the intention to surpass the cancellation window date.”

‘Manipulative’ presentation

CBC News has interviewed a number of former Atlantic Environmental Systems salespeople, who all expressed unease about an “aggressive” gross sales tradition. In specific, they described the in-home gross sales presentation as “manipulative,” saying it makes use of “fear-mongering” to frighten householders into believing they must “invest in their health” on the spot.

The current P.E.I. enchantment determination cited 10 complaints. Thompson mentioned in his report that some residents felt “threatened and scared by the salespeople.”

“Many of these residents were seniors, and some were suffering from debilitating diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and dementia. Their age, coupled with the fact that these salespeople were present in their home — often at night and for several hours — made them particularly vulnerable,” mentioned Thompson in his determination. 

Owner Danny Goldman disputes any wrongdoing by the company he based 5 years in the past. He instructed CBC News that Atlantic Environmental Systems is moral and “does not target certain age demographics.”

“Ninety-nine per cent of our customers are happy. You can’t make everyone happy. It’s just part of being in business,” mentioned Goldman. 

Corrine Pothier of Wedgeport, N.S., considers herself one of many sad clients. In February, the 81-year-old acquired a cellphone name saying she had not too long ago accomplished a survey and gained a primary help equipment.

But with a purpose to declare the prize, she needed to conform to a water take a look at in her house.

“I thought it was probably the Department of Health [that] wanted to check the water,” mentioned Pothier. “[The agent] came and she started demonstrating all of this and it sounded great.”

Four hours later, Pothier was “mesmerized” by the presentation and agreed to just about $8,000 value of kit from Atlantic Environmental Systems. She didn’t get the promised first help equipment. 

The installers arrived two days later, however by no means completed the job. Her daughter, Michele Pothier, stopped every little thing when she realized about the 12.99 per cent rate of interest and 15-year finance settlement.

“I’m like, what? You’re going to end up paying like 15 grand for this stuff by the time it’s all said and done. And not even that, you’re 81-years-old … what the heck?” mentioned Pothier.

Then she learn the phrases of the contract and realized her mom consented to having Toronto-based monetary company, Financeit, register a lien on her father or mother’s property.

“If they do pass, then the estate has to pay for that. The money comes out of the estate,” mentioned Pothier. “That is unacceptable.”

Financeit didn’t reply to a request for remark from Newz9.

Goldman mentioned in an interview he not too long ago made modifications for purchasers over the age of 70. The financing settlement will now be restricted to a 10-year settlement. Clients over the age of 72 may also require a co-signer beneath the age of 65.

Pothier turned to social media to alert the group about her mom’s expertise, solely to study her buddy’s mother and father additionally acquired hooked.

Michele Tabb mentioned her mother and father, of their late 70s, had been additionally impressed with the gross sales presentation by Atlantic Environmental Systems. 

“Yeah, it worked on them,” she mentioned. “And now they feel kind of embarrassed about it, and you know, it makes you feel sad.”

CBC News obtained a duplicate of the script utilized by gross sales brokers, which options 10 totally different shows. The aim is to indicate hardness and style comparisons between faucet water and the company’s purified water, then element how their water system “removes chlorine and all the heavy metals like lead, mercury, copper and arsenic.”

The precipitation take a look at is without doubt one of the first demos specified by the script — one the gross sales brokers are to return to all through their time within the house as they describe the outcomes as a “mess.” The take a look at exhibits a chemical response that makes any mineral in individuals’s faucet water seem cloudy even when it is not a well being concern, in response to two water specialists who spoke with CBC. 

Former staff mentioned they had been anticipated to finish the whole presentation and keep within the house for no less than two hours, all whereas nodding and smiling with enthusiasm. 

Goldman mentioned he encourages his staff to observe the script as a result of it follows a “strict code of ethics” by the Canadian Water Quality Association.

However, the affiliation voted “unanimously and immediately” to revoke the company’s membership following the P.E.I. enchantment determination. President Shelley Peters instructed CBC News that the affiliation doesn’t endorse the precipitation take a look at.

Ron Hofmann, a professor at the University of Toronto who focuses on water high quality, mentioned householders ought to be cautious when anybody needs to check their water high quality with the clear intent to promote a tool.

“I would be very skeptical because while there are certainly legitimate tests that you can do in a person’s home to measure certain things, it’s also very easy with a bit of knowledge of chemistry to fix a test to make the water do all sorts of different things and make it appear that the water is very bad when, in fact, it isn’t,” mentioned Hofmann.

In the case of Atlantic Environmental Systems, it is not all the time instantly clear they’re even selling a product. Last fall, the company distributed a mass mailout of bingo scratch tickets in a number of communities outdoors of Halifax. The tickets included flashy prizes comparable to a motorbike, tv and laptop computer — with the situation {that a} “home care product presentation” have to be booked.

Aline Thibodeau of Herring Cove mentioned she instantly assumed it was fraudulent. An avid bingo participant, she acknowledged that B91 and I79 usually are not professional bingo numbers.

“I called the local police, spoke to an officer and he called them, and when he came back on the line, he said he can’t say that it’s illegal but it’s highly suspicious and please do not call them,” mentioned Thibodeau.

Goldman instructed CBC News his company has totally different strategies of acquiring leads, which he does not plan to cease.

History of concern

Goldman, also called Danny Shamon, operated a water company in Ontario referred to as Eagle Water. In June 2017, he pleaded responsible to committing an “unfair practice contrary to the Consumer Protection Act.” He was positioned on probation for 2 years, fined $4,000, and ordered to pay a $1,000 sufferer high-quality surcharge. He additionally needed to pay roughly $11,000 in restitution to 3 customers, a few of whom had been seniors.

“I took accountability for my actions. I made sure those customers got a refund, made sure they got all their money back. I paid the restitution and moved forward. I paid my dues,” he mentioned.

“I had to learn as a business owner, and that’s why I made changes to the way I do business.”

For Natalie Lent, it is probably too late. Her deferred funds are set to start this month on three systems she mentioned “don’t work,” a declare Goldman refutes.

The company has been again to her house to check the water and regulate the degrees on two totally different events. Lent mentioned her water continues to go away a white residue on her dishes, {hardware} and counter tops. She can not afford to pay for one more system.

“It’s like a bad dream that I wish I could wake up from because it’s affected me on so many levels,” she mentioned. “I do need to have something in place because I do have hard water. It makes me nervous. Who do I trust now to put a system in?”

On the day of her set up, Lent mentioned she referred to as the principle workplace 4 instances after asking the installers to cease their work. She mentioned she additionally referred to as at least as soon as extra throughout the 10-day cancellation window and spoke with the operations supervisor. She did not notice the contract mentioned she needed to put her request in writing.

Goldman mentioned the contract makes it clear the best way to cancel, and he denied that his installers would refuse to cease or go away when requested. He mentioned he will not give Lent a refund.

“Should she grant us permission to return to her home, we are happy to go above and beyond to provide exceptional customer service. This is our unwavering commitment to her and her family,” Goldman instructed Newz9 in a textual content message.

Kelly Wyer, registrar for the Nova Scotia Direct Sellers Regulation Act, mentioned her recommendation to customers is to take time to analysis a product earlier than deciding to purchase it.

“We understand it’s difficult when there’s somebody at the door that has an aggressive sales pitch or some type of sales pitch that makes it appealing to the people at the door to the consumers,” she mentioned.

“Read the fine print. Just don’t make decisions right away, and they need to take the opportunity to ask people to leave at any point that they’re not comfortable.”