© 2005
Door & Access Systems
Publish Date: Winter 2005
Author: Carla Rautenberg
Pages 52-53
Atlanta Dealer Fined for Deceptive Practices
By Carla Rautenberg, DAS Special Correspondent
Want to talk to the owner of a garage door dealer doing business
in ten states and 18 major metropolitan areas? Just try.
Although he is nowhere named on the Web site of America’s
Choice Overhead Door Co., Peter Stephens owns the company.
He’s hard to track down, though, and didn’t return
our calls.
America’s Choice is just one of many Stephens operations,
including AA Able Door Company. You remember AA Able. In Jan.
2002, Dateline NBC exposed their practices of gross overcharging
for service work. Door & Access Systems reported that
story in our spring 2002 issue.
$20,000 Fine
They say that bad pennies always turn up again. Now, the
state of Georgia, in the form of the Governor’s Office
of Consumer Affairs (OCA), caught up with Stephens in 2004
and fined his Atlanta operation $20,000 for “unfair
and deceptive practices.”
Following a consumer complaint about a company initially
identified as “America’s Choice Discount Garage
Door Service,” the Georgia OCA launched an investigation
that apparently began in 2001. The OCA discovered that the
telephone lines advertised in the company’s double-truck
Yellow Pages ads were programmed to send all incoming calls
to BellSouth switching centers, where the lines were forwarded
to undisclosed, out-of-state locations.
Protecting the Public
“It’s pretty clear cut,” says Shawn Conroy,
spokesperson for the Georgia OCA. “You have a situation
where you have an ad in the Yellow Pages, and the number’s
going to another state or another place that’s not representative
of where you think it’s going.”
The practice of forwarding calls out of state violates provisions
of Georgia state law specifically prohibiting “deceptive
representations or designations of geographic origin in connection
with goods or services.”
The Stephens case is significant from a consumer protection
point of view for two main reasons, according to Conroy. “When
you have an ad that’s in the Yellow Pages in the Atlanta
area, it’s possibly going to be seen by four million
people, so you have the potential for a big problem. Another
challenge is that a Yellow Pages ad is going to be in there
for awhile. It’s not going anywhere soon.”
Yellow Pages Deceptive Practices
In a report dated July 2, 2004, the Georgia OCA outlined
its investigation of “Peter Stephens, d/b/a A AAA All
State Door Company, Overhead Garage Door Services, Inc., America’s
Choice Overhead Door Co. Inc., and America’s Alliance
Overhead Door Corp.” The summary on the OCA’s
Web site states that the company’s telephone directory
ads:
· Misrepresented the identity of the business the consumer
would contact in response to the ad;
· Misrepresented that the business had received a high
rating from at least two consumer product rating groups, including
Good Housekeeping;
· Misrepresented that the business is incorporated
in Georgia;
· Misrepresented an affiliation with merchant companies,
including Sears;
· Misrepresented that the business advertised is a
local business;
· Failed to disclose the non-local address for the
forwarded telephone numbers;
· Failed to honor the advertised price guarantees;
· Deceptively induced consumers with low misrepresented
charges;
· Confused the consumer as to the business name by
advertising in one name and billing in another name;
· Willfully violated the terms of a 2001 Assurance
of Voluntary Compliance
As a result of these violations, the “Respondents”
(Peter J. Stephens and his corral of companies) were ordered
to make every reasonable effort to act in accordance with
the requirements of the “Fair Business Practices Act
of 1975,” and to pay a civil penalty of $20,000.
Prohibited Practices
The 2004 Civil Action specifically prohibits Stephens and
America’s Choice from publishing or distributing advertisements
that:
· “Use the phrase ’Rated #1 in Customer
Service’ without identifying the business or entity
providing the rating”—like this:
· “Use ‘licensed,’ ‘bonded,’
or ‘insured’ without identifying the entity or
person who holds said credentials”—like this:
· “Use merchant logos, names or symbols without
clearly identifying the purpose of the reference”—like
this:
All of the examples illustrated above appeared in the America’s
Choice double-truck ads in the 2004 edition of the greater
Atlanta BellSouth Yellow Pages. They have been removed from
his ads in the 2005 edition.
Georgia consumers are fortunate to have a forceful advocate
in the form of their Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.
In other states, vague, unsubstantiated, and misleading advertising
may remain the stock-in-trade of less-than-reputable garage
door dealers.
Stephens’ Response?
What does Peter Stephens think of all this? Since he won’t
return our phone calls, we don’t know.
More to the point, will a $20,000 fine deter deceptive behavior?
Perhaps. But according to our sources, Stephens makes a cool
$60,000 per week in the Atlanta market alone and recently
bought a $325,000 2005 Mercedes Maybach.
Do the math.
-------------------------------
Where Is He Now?
Stephens’ operations appear to be active in the following
18 cities:
Atlanta, Ga.
Chicago/North Shore, Ill.
Denver/Boulder, Colo.
Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Houston, Texas
Jacksonville, Fla.
Las Vegas, Nev.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Orange County, Calif.
Orlando, Fla.
Phoenix, Ariz.
Sacramento, Calif.
San Antonio, Texas
San Diego, Calif.
Seattle, Wash.
St. Paul, Minn.
Tampa, Fla.
See his Web sites:
www.justgaragedoors.com
www.americaschoicedoors.com
www.firstchoicegaragedoors.com
www.garagedoorprofessionals.com
www.garagedoormasters.com
www.garagedoorsatlanta.com
www.garagedoorsdallas.com
www.garagedoorsdenver.com
www.garagedoorsjacksonville.com
www.garagedoorslasvegas.com
www.garagedoorsorangecounty.com
www.garagedoorsorlando.com
www.garagedoorsphoenix.com
www.garagedoorssanantonio.com
www.garagedoorssandiego.com
www.garagedoorsseattle.com
www.garagedoorstampa.com
www.affordablegaragedoorsvc.net
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