A heat pump servicing company has been fined $75,000 for tricking home owners into paying for repairs that were not needed.
The court heard most of the heat pumps were fully functional and where there were problems, they were nothing to do with gas levels. Photo: 123RF
The Commerce Commission brought the proceedings against Ocean Contracting, which told 10 customers across Otago and Southland their heat pumps needed to be topped up with refrigerant gas, and that the pump would stop working if this was not done.
Some victims were shown a gauge purporting to record low gas pressure and all were charged between $180 and $400 for the fake top-ups.
During the Commission's investigation an Ocean Contracting technician admitted falsely diagnosing refrigerant leaks.
Commission chair Anna Rawlings said the company should rightly be held to task for its technician's dishonesty.
"Any business which cold calls or door knocks for customers should note that Ocean Contracting was held liable for the representations made by its employee because its technician made the false or misleading representations within the scope of his employment and as a representative of the company.
"Staff should be properly trained and systems should be in place to ensure that they do not mislead customers about the need for any services or about the kind of services actually delivered."
The court heard most of the heat pumps were fully functional and where there were problems, they were nothing to do with gas levels.
"The victims in this offending had no way of knowing whether or not the claims made about servicing their heat pumps were accurate. They relied on the expertise of Ocean Contracting and they were misled into paying Ocean Contracting for services they did not need.
"Several complainants later incurred more unnecessary costs because they hired another company to check the claims made," Rawlings said.
In sentencing Judge Raoul Neave said a number of the complainants were financially vulnerable and the top-up procedure was a significant expense for them.
Ocean Contracting agreed to pay reparation to the victims identified in the charging documents for the expenses they incurred as a result of the conduct.