Pittsburgh Contractor Violated Multiple Consumer Protection Laws

HARRISBURG, PA — A judge has found Pittsburgh home improvement contractor Gillece Services to be in violation of the Pennsylvania Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act and the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law.

The Allegheny County Common Pleas Court decision was announced by Pennsylvania Attorney General Attorney Michelle Henry. The attorney general's office filed a lawsuit against the company and its owner, Tom Gillece Sr., in 2020.

“We are pleased with the court’s findings and injunctive order regarding Gillece’s deceptive and unlawful treatment of consumers,” Henry said in a statement. “We have more work to do in this suit, but the court’s recent order offers immediate relief and protection to consumers.”

The lawsuit followed an original investigation in which the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection discovered that Gillece’s technicians allegedly failed to make a good faith effort to unclog consumers’ sewer pipes with a sewer snake before recommending costly excavation work to clear up any clogs.

The court found other violations as well. Here they are:

• Refusing to honor customers’ requests to cancel their home improvement contracts;
• Penalizing consumers who cancel contracts;
• Failing to disclose and misrepresenting the right to cancel;
• Utilizing advertising materials that make false or misleading statements regarding the qualifications of Gillece’s technicians, including that these technicians were “certified,” “licensed,” and “background-checked;”
• Utilizing advertising materials that fail to clearly and conspicuously disclose material terms and restrictions on Gillece’s advertising offers of the “Clog Crusher” and “Same Day or You Don’t Pay;” and,
• Misrepresenting to consumers that Gillece was prohibited by law from providing itemized invoices to consumers or charging by parts and labor and misrepresenting that Gillece was required by law to use flat-rate pricing.

The court also issued several injunctions against Gillece and its owner, which requires them to comply with the law.

Specifically, the Court required Gillece to permit consumers to revoke their contracts within three business days, provide timely refunds to consumers who cancel within three business days, and clearly and conspicuously disclose in its advertising and all materials the terms and restrictions for any offers.

Finally, the Court also prohibited Gillece from:

• Misrepresenting that consumers’ deposits are non-refundable unless that consumer signs a valid emergency work authorization form when there is an emergency; and
• Misrepresenting that Gillece is prohibited by law from providing itemized invoices or prohibited by law from charging by parts and labor, or that Gillece is mandated by law to use flat-rate pricing.

Any civil penalties and/or restitution will be assessed at an upcoming trial.

The remaining issues in the lawsuit, including allegations that Gillece has recommended unnecessary work and utilized scare tactics, will be tried at a later date.

Gillece's website advertises that it is Pittsburgh's top-rated plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical company. Even if that claim is accurate, that status likely will change.