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Scam stopper: Residents turn to Hornell City Hall to fight US Energy tactics

Posted January 15, 2008 10:00 pm

Jen Carpenter

Many city residents are filing complaint forms against a company city officials claim is running a scam.

Residents were recently warned about representatives from US Energy Corp., an energy company based in Buffalo and Toronto, going door-to-door selling five-year energy service contracts. The problem with the contracts, according to Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan, is the prices are about 30-percent higher than what customers are currently paying. He said the company also operated without a city-issued permit.

City Clerk Rob Roberts said Tuesday 14 residents had come in to fill out complaint forms about the company, and more were on their way.

"I feel very bad for the people," he said.

Roberts said while it was easy to get the representatives to leave Hornell, he is worried about them targeting surrounding areas such as Arkport, North Hornell and Hartsville.

Jim Coleman, 50, has been a resident of Hornell his entire life, and was a target of the company at his home on Oak Street. He said a man and a woman came to his home dressed in a uniform and baseball cap.

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"They looked like NYSEG or anything else," he said.

Coleman said the woman told him and his wife their fuel bills could be locked in at a better rate than what they're currently paying. He said the woman also asked to see the couple's latest energy bills.

"They made all these promises," he said. "They looked legit, they sounded legit."

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Coleman said once he found out about the scam, he filed a complaint with Roberts. He said he also had to call an 800 number, which took 30 to 45 minutes to get through. He said once he reached a customer service representative, they sounded like they had no idea what was going on.

"It's outrageous," he said. "It's just crazy. It's just nice to know everybody looks out for each other in this town for the most part."

John Hillman, a resident of Glen Avenue, also had a representative from the company come to his home. He said a woman knocked on the door and told him she was with National Fuel.

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"She said this is just to protect the price from going up," he said. "I had no idea what it was to be honest with you."

Hillman said the woman briefly showed an identification card when she came into the home. He said he asked her three times if she was from National Fuel, and she said yes. He said the woman had a male partner who was across the street.

Hillman said he heard about the scam while watching an Elmira news channel. He said he called the police department in the morning and was able to cancel his contract.

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