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Grande Prairie Garage Door Company Pleads Guilty to Unfair Practices

EDMONTON, April 9, 2003 - Overhead Door Co. of Grande Prairie (1979) Ltd. has pleaded guilty to a charge under the province's Fair Trading Act for misrepresenting the type of garage door openers it sold to consumers.

The company was fined $3000 and will pay another $3000 to cover the costs of the investigation by Alberta Government Services. The department laid the charges after investigating allegations that Overhead Door had altered 1/3 horsepower (HP) garage door openers by relabeling them with 1/2 HP stickers. The units were then sold as 1/2 HP openers.

In many cases the manufacturer's specification plates were also defaced so that the horsepower rating and model number could not be discerned.

The company has also signed an undertaking with Government Services promising not to engage in any unfair practices, such as misrepresenting the standard, quality, style or model of a product.

As part of the undertaking, Overhead Door must replace the garage door openers owned by all consumers identified in the charges within three months. The company must also replace altered door openers for any additional consumers who come forward by June 30, 2003.

The charges stemmed from complaints involving 18 consumers who had bought 23 altered units. These relate only to the Grande Prairie company and do not apply to any other provincial Overhead Door locations.

Any other Albertans who believe they purchased altered door openers from this company after September 1, 1999 are encouraged to contact Government Services toll free at 1-877-427-4088 to determine if they qualify for a replacement.

The Fair Trading Act specifies that any untrue representation of a product constitutes an unfair practice, which is a chargeable offence. For more information on examples of unfair practices, a tipsheet called Unfair Practices: The Fair Trading Act is available on Government Services' web site at www.gov.ab.ca/gs or by calling the department's Consumer Information Centre.

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Gwen Vanderdeen-Paschke - Alberta Government Services - (780) 415-6051 - Gwen.Vanderdeen-Paschke@gov.ab.ca