INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) -- Indiana Attorney Greg Zoeller's office filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Fort Wayne-based snow removal company and its owner for allegedly failing to provide promised services to its customers.
Fort Wayne Snow Removal Corporation and Brian Thornton, the company's owner, allegedly charged 16 consumers a total of $3,429 upfront for snow removal without providing any or all of the services.
The company also allegedly failed to provide customers a required written contract explaining the terms of service.
"In this case, consumers were led to believe that the company had adequate resources available to make good on its promises," Zoeller said in a statement. "Unfortunately, these customers were left with snow covered driveways and many without refunds.
"My office will diligently pursue consumer restitution to ensure customers are made whole again."
While two of the 16 complainants allegedly received some services from Fort Wayne Snow Removal Company, all of the other customers did not receive any services. Five of the 16 customers were able to retrieve their payments via credit card chargebacks.
At least one resident of Allen County allegedly received a robocall from the company, which would constitute a violation of the state's Do Not Call law and the Automatic Dialing Machine Act.
Zoeller's lawsuit alleges Fort Wayne Snow Removal Company violated the Home Improvement Contracts Act and the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.
The Attorney General's Office is seeking to void the 16 consumer contracts, obtain consumer restitution and civil penalties, and keep the company from not supplying written contracts to consumers going forward.