P.E.I. regulator strips licence from 'high-pressure' water treatment sales company
CBC
A P.E.I. regulator has cancelled the licences of Maritime Home Services and its salespeople to sell products door to door on the Island, saying letting the business continue to operate here "would reduce public confidence, expose Island consumers to potential harm or exploitation… and not be in the public interest."
Maritime Home Services is also known as Atlantic Environmental Systems Inc. The Nova Scotia company's salespeople promote water treatment equipment, sales and services.
Michael Daniel Goldman is listed in Nova Scotia as the sole director and president of the company.
Steven D. Dowling made the decision to remove the company's capacity to operate in Prince Edward Island in his capacity as Registrar of Direct Sellers and Director of Financial and Consumer Services with the province's Department of Justice and Public Safety.
"I find the reported conduct of the licensee demonstrates that the licensee is not suitable to carry on business under the Direct Sellers Act," Dowling wrote in the Aug. 31 decision.
Maritime Home Services has the right to appeal the decision.
Dowling's ruling said he was acting on a May 2021 written complaint saying the company was "installing/selling water treatment systems in P.E.I. at inflated prices and using sales tactics to pressure seniors into buying systems they did not need."
Consumers were quoted prices of between $2,400 to over $10,000 for water systems that were either unneeded or available from other sellers at a much lower price.
READ THE RULING:
They described salespeople becoming aggressive if they refused to sign a long-term contract or extended financing arrangement, and many of the seniors involved ended up hiring lawyers to get out of the contracts.
"In one case, an elderly female, living on her own, reported yelling back and forth with a salesperson, and was about to call police as she started to fear for her personal safety," the ruling said.
"Another instance revealed an elderly woman, who was terminally ill, had a salesperson at her residence for over six hours, and finally agreed to pay approximately $7,000 for a water treatment system." The ruling said the woman died two months after the purchase.
Dowling's ruling said that first complaint in May 2021 was filed by the owner of a local water treatment system business who was passing on stories he had heard from several Island clients about the tactics of Maritime Home Services.
"The complainant further noted he went public with his concerns by publishing a notice in a local newspaper and subsequently received a 'cease and desist' letter from the licensee, a copy of which he provided to staff," Dowling's ruling said.
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