Thousands of customers reported receiving dozens of calls each from the company, officials said. The telemarketers allegedly lied about being affiliated with a utility company or a government agency and misrepresented how much money customers could save by installing solar panels on their houses.
Vision Solar, based in Blackwood in Camden County, is also named as a defendant in the case and has been ordered to pay the imposed penalty “jointly” with the telemarketing company. “Solar Xchange was faced with protracted litigation and extensive legal fees to defend itself against a government agency with unlimited resources and accepted a nominal settlement in lieu of having to spend millions of dollars defending itself,” Gabriel said.
The Federal Trade Commission also announced complaints and fines against four other telemarketing companies — in New York, California, Florida, and Ontario, Canada — last week as part of a nationwide effort to stem the tide of illegal calls to U.S. consumers.