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  MA AG Enters into Paid Settlement with Two NY Area Telemarketing Companies
  

  The following describes a government action that has been resolved by either a settlement or a decision by a court or administrative agency. If the matter is being appealed, it will be noted below.

  On 7/08/2020, two New York-based companies and their owners and presidents have paid $850,000 to settle allegations that their high-pressure, misleading telemarketing operation victimized cities and towns across the Commonwealth. Under the legal agreement reached with Attorney General Maura Healey and Inspector General Glenn Cunha, the companies are also banned from doing business in the state for one year. 
  
  In an assurance of discontinuance filed in Suffolk Superior Court, the Commonwealth alleged that over the last ten years Pioneer Products Inc., Noble Industrial Supply Corp. and their owners and presidents, Richard Weber and Benno Schubert, used high-pressure techniques and misleading statements to induce municipalities to spend large amounts on supplies that they did not want or need.  Pioneer and Noble sell cleaning supplies, specialty products for fire departments and other chemical products through telephone sales calls.
  
  As alleged in the assurance of discontinuance, an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that the companies misled cities and towns, getting them to pay for products they did not want or need. The companies started with a cold sales call to a potential municipal customer.  During that call a Pioneer or Noble salesperson would persuade a municipal employee to place an order.  At a later date, Pioneer’s and Noble’s salespeople would call back and say that they were sending the next order, even though the municipality had not placed another order.  If a customer disputed the order, the Pioneer or Noble employee engaged in misleading and high-pressure sales tactics to get the municipality to agree to the next shipment. 
  
  The companies misled cities and towns, falsely saying that they had agreed to purchase the product in an earlier sales call. They also told municipalities they would be subject to retroactive price increases if they did not pay for the next order. Pioneer and Noble even threatened to take legal action and refer cities and towns to debt collectors. These high-pressure sales calls caused municipalities to pay for more merchandise.
  
  Weber and Schubert directed all operations of the companies and even personally communicated with cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The OIG and Attorney General’s Office (AGO) will return nearly $400,000 to 43 cities and towns misled by Pioneer and Noble. The municipalities will also be able to keep all merchandise that Pioneer and Noble shipped. The OIG is in the process of notifying the 43 communities that are receiving funds from the settlement. A total of $385,000 will be allocated to the state’s general fund.  The assurance of discontinuance also bans the companies from doing business in Massachusetts for one year and requires Pioneer and Noble to implement new policies and practices and retrain their employees.
  
  Pioneer, Noble, Weber and Schubert denied the Commonwealth’s allegations, make no admissions of wrongdoing and deny all liability arising from the Commonwealth’s allegations.  Pioneer, Noble, Weber and Schubert cooperated with the investigation.

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