Locksmith firms agree to correct addresses
MARIAN GAIL BROWN [email protected]
Article Last Updated: 01/03 11:26: 46 PM EST
Advertising by two locksmith companies operating in Connecticut will have to list the address where they do business, state Department of Consumer Protection officials said Thursday, following nearly a yearlong investigation that revealed the locksmiths' telephone directory ads listed them as being in places they were not.
Under the voluntary compliance agreement the companies entered with the DCP, neither Champion Locksmith of Jackson Heights in New York nor Liberty Locksmith LLC in Orange admitted to any violation of law. The agreement with DCP settles the department's charge that the two locksmith companies misled consumers into believing they ran their businesses out of various locations in Connecticut.
From 2005 forward, print ads that appeared in local telephone directories listed Champion as being in Stamford, Middletown, West Hartford, Rocky Hill, New London, Mystic and Norwich. During that same period, Liberty Locksmith LLC's ads identified the business having presence in those same towns when it fact, neither business was situated there.
"Using deceptive advertising to sell services to consumers constitutes an unfair trade practice that may be prosecuted under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, " state DCP Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. Said. "If the companies were found guilty of these unfair deeds, stringent administrative sanctions were at our disposal. Wisely, both companies came forth immediately to meet with our attorneys and forged an agreement that immediately halts their questionable activity and continues to hold them accountable."
Both businesses will pay the state DCP a $500 penalty.
Locksmiths in Connecticut are not required to be licensed or registered by the state. Only Illinois requires them to be licensed. The General Assembly considered similar legislation several years ago, but that bill failed.
"We received a complaint that these locksmiths weren't really where their ads claimed they were based, " Richard Maloney, director of DCP's Trade Practices Division, said. "When we sent our people out to investigate the addresses that were in the ads, we found variety shops and other businesses that had no knowledge that their addresses appeared in these ads."
By including a local address, the locksmiths gave consumers the impression that they were in the neighborhood, Maloney said, which may increase the likelihood that consumers would call them if they were locked out of a building and in need of urgent service.
No consumers filed any complaints about either of the locksmith companies, Maloney said, adding that there was never any allegation of shoddy workmanship or overcharging.
Both businesses are owned by Bradley Steitz, and the general manager of the businesses is Paul Mantini, according to DCP records. Mantini said the addresses reflected in the ads were old addresses for the business, where it once dispatched locksmiths from. "We don't do that anymore, " he said. "I used to have locksmiths in certain areas. I've never had any complaints against my business. There's a locksmith who worked for me once and I know who he is and where he is who is trying to put me out of business. I'm just a small person trying to make a living. We have warranties on all our locks. I give senior citizens discounts. I give crime victims discounts, too."
From now on, Mantini said, all of the firms' ads will reflect their current addresses. It was a mistake, he said, not to have updated that in the locksmiths' former advertising. "And now I've got it corrected. There are no problems with our ads, " he said.
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