{"id":680,"date":"2004-09-16T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2004-09-16T20:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lee.org\/blog\/archives\/2004\/09\/16\/9-16-04\/"},"modified":"2008-09-03T11:19:52","modified_gmt":"2008-09-03T19:19:52","slug":"total-remodeling-of-union-nj-is-bad-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/2004\/09\/16\/total-remodeling-of-union-nj-is-bad-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Total Remodeling of Union NJ is bad people"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The short form: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.totalremodeling.com\/\">Total Remodeling<\/a> of Union NJ  (the same people are at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.totalrenovationcenter.com\">Total Renovation Center<\/a>) called me even though I am on the National &#8220;Do Not Call&#8221; list. I did some followup research and found they have been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nj.gov\/cgi-bin\/governor\/njnewsline\/view_article.pl?id=2885\">successfully sued<\/a> by the state of New Jersey concerning their Do-Not-Call practices.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Total Remodeling has agreed to pay $123,500 to settle the alleged telemarketing violations and $23,000 to reimburse the state for its investigative costs and attorneys\u2019 fees. The company also agreed to pay $5,000 to settle alleged violations of the state\u2019s Consumer Fraud Act and\/or accompanying regulations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This announcement in it&#8217;s entirety appears at the end of this post.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>At 1:57pm today, 9-16-04, I got a call&#8230; Here&#8217;s how it went:<\/p>\n<p>[click click&#8230; autodialer pause]<br \/>\n<strong>Me:<\/strong> Hello?<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>Him:<\/strong> Hi, is this Mr. Sunco [slightly mispronounced]?<br \/>\n<strong>Me:<\/strong> Yes.<br \/>\n<strong>Him: <\/strong>&#8220;Hi, this is [I missed the name] from Total Remodeling. [Something about their company wanting to remodel my home].<br \/>\n<strong>Me:<\/strong> [putting on a chipper voice, hoping to scam the scammer] What was your name again?<br \/>\n<strong>Him: <\/strong>It&#8217;s [grunt] [click. hangup]<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>*69 &#8220;The number of your last incoming call was 908-686-1443&#8221;<\/li>\n<li> Google for &#8220;908-686-1443&#8221;. Nothing<\/li>\n<li> Google for &#8220;908-686&#8221;. Found several businesses in Union, NJ.<\/li>\n<li> Google for &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?sourceid=navclient&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;q=%22Total+Remodeling%22+NJ\">&#8220;Total Remodeling&#8221; NJ<\/a>&#8220;. Found their company in Union NJ.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Contact Information:<br \/>\nTotal Remodeling<br \/>\nNeil Parsons<br \/>\n1767 Rte. 22, West<br \/>\nUnion, NJ 07083<br \/>\nPhone: 908-686-5788<br \/>\nFax: 908-686-7810<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donotcall.gov\/default.aspx\">Donotcall.gov<\/a> and file a complaint.<\/li>\n<li> Call 908-686-5788<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Me:<\/strong> Hi I was just on the phone with someone from Total Remodeling and we got disconnected.<br \/>\n<strong>Happy Woman&#8217;s voice:<\/strong> Maybe I can help. What was this about?<br \/>\n<strong>Me:<\/strong> Actually, it was about an unsolicited call I got. You see, I&#8217;m on the National Do Not Call List.<br \/>\n<strong>Happy Woman&#8217;s voice:<\/strong> Ok. Hang on just a minute.<br \/>\n[music on hold]<br \/>\n<strong>Greg:<\/strong> Hi, this is Greg. Can I help you.<br \/>\n<strong>Me:<\/strong> I just got a call from someone at Total Remodeling. The trouble is, I&#8217;m on the National Do Not Call List.<br \/>\n<strong>Greg:<\/strong> Sorry about that. We&#8217;re still working the bugs out of that system. Are you at [he recites my phone number].<br \/>\n<strong>Me:<\/strong> Yes.<br \/>\n<strong>Greg:<\/strong> I&#8217;ll make sure we take you off the list.<br \/>\n<strong>Me:<\/strong> Alright. Have a good day.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Curious, I do a little more homework <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/search?hl=en&amp;safe=off&amp;q=%22total+remodeling%22+%22do+not+call%22&amp;btnG=Search\">online<\/a> and find that Total Remodeling has been named in a Do Not Call list lawsuit in the year 2000.<\/li>\n<li> I call back Greg.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Me: <\/strong>Hi Greg, I just did a little homework and found that your company has been making unsolicited calls for a long while. You really shouldn&#8217;t be doing that. So I filed a complaint at DoNotCall.gov and I&#8217;m making a web page to tell everyone about my experience with you.<br \/>\n<strong>Greg:<\/strong> Sorry you feel that way [or some nondescript apology like that]<br \/>\n<strong>Me:<\/strong> Bye. [hangup]<\/p>\n<p>Here is the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nj.gov\/cgi-bin\/governor\/njnewsline\/view_article.pl?id=2885\">announcement<\/a> from the state of NJ in it&#8217;s entirety:<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>RELEASE January 12, 2006. Contact Kelley Heck, 609-777-2600<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Codey Announces First Settlement Under State\u2019s Do Not Call Law<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Company Agrees to Pay $151,500 to Resolve Lawsuit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(TRENTON) \u2014 Governor Richard J. Codey today announced the state has settled a lawsuit with a Union Township business for alleged violations of the state\u2019s Do Not Call Law, the first such telemarketing case to be resolved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe won\u2019t tolerate those who violate the law and intrude upon our residents when they are enjoying quality time at home with their families,\u201d Codey said.  \u201cPeace and quiet is a precious commodity in our fast-paced world, and it shouldn\u2019t be disrupted by unwanted intrusions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Total Remodeling, Inc. (\u201cTotal Remodeling\u201d) agreed to pay $151,500 and comply with provisions of the state\u2019s Do Not Call Law under terms of the settlement filed in State Superior Court in Union County. The state filed suit against the company last May.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to protect consumers from unwanted calls that disrupt important family time,\u201d Attorney General Peter Harvey said. \u201cNew Jersey consumers should not be harassed by telephone sales pitches, which are as annoying as door-to-door solicitations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey residents who registered for the No Telemarketing Call List filed complaints with Consumer Affairs alleging that they received telemarketing calls by or on behalf of Total Remodeling. The state also alleged that the company made telemarketing calls without being registered with Consumer Affairs as legally required.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Attorney General Nicholas B. Armstrong represented the state in this action. The Union County CALA office worked with the state on this matter.<\/p>\n<p>Total Remodeling has agreed to pay $123,500 to settle the alleged telemarketing violations and $23,000 to reimburse the state for its investigative costs and attorneys\u2019 fees. The company also agreed to pay $5,000 to settle alleged violations of the state\u2019s Consumer Fraud Act and\/or accompanying regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Under the settlement, Total Remodeling agreed to:<\/p>\n<p>-Register with Consumer Affairs as a telemarketer before making future telemarketing calls;<\/p>\n<p>-Refrain from calling customers on the No Telemarketing Call List;<\/p>\n<p>-Refrain from representing to a customer that intra-state telemarketing sales calls are not subject to provisions of the Do Not Call Law;<\/p>\n<p>-Train employees in telemarketing rules and procedures as legally required;<\/p>\n<p>-Establish and implement written procedures to comply with the Do Not Call Law as legally required; and<\/p>\n<p>-Disclose the name of the person calling, the name of the telemarketing entity making the call, the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made and the purpose of the call within the first 30 seconds as legally required.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me ask all the telemarketers who aren\u2019t complying with our Do Not Call Law \u2014 can you hear me now? Our message is simple: obey the law or face the consequences. As we\u2019ve shown in this matter, Consumer Affairs will investigate and take action on behalf of residents,\u201d Consumer Affairs Director Kimberly Ricketts said.<\/p>\n<p>The settlement entered by the state and Total Remodeling constitutes a dismissal of all claims asserted in the action, including those alleged against Matrix Management and Marketing Group (\u201cMatrix\u201d), a company closely related to Total Remodeling and named in the May lawsuit. Total Remodeling has represented that Matrix did not make telemarketing calls as alleged.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The short form: Total Remodeling of Union NJ (the same people are at Total Renovation Center) called me even though I am on the National &#8220;Do Not Call&#8221; list. I did some followup research and found they have been successfully sued by the state of New Jersey concerning their Do-Not-Call practices. Total Remodeling has agreed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-do-not-call"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}