CUMBERLAND, Maine — The abrupt closing of a Howland contractor handling natural gas connections in Cumberland, Falmouth and Yarmouth could cost many would-be customers the deposits they paid for the service.
Town Manager Bill Shane is among officials urging people who have paid Dave Ireland Builders the deposits – which he said have ranged between $1,000 and $3,000 – to contact Summit Natural Gas with their complaints, and to also contact the Maine attorney general’s office with as much information about the matter as possible.
Shane has also asked that customers have related contracts and paperwork ready to be inspected, and to have a copy available if possible to be distributed electronically.
Shane said he has sought assistance from Mike Minkos, president of Summit Gas of Maine, as well as the company’s director of business development, Mike Duguay. He said he is also working with the town’s attorney and police chief, and the Cumberland County district attorney, to see if residents should file “theft of services” complaints.
Minkos said Monday that Summit is sympathetic, is looking into the issue and is “trying to evaluate ways under which we may be able to continue to facilitate the customer converting to natural gas.”
Summit is the utility that has so far brought nearly 50 miles of natural gas piping into the three towns. From there, a pool of plumbing and heating contractors has been available for interior work needed in residents’ homes, including conversion of an existing heating systems to natural gas, or installation of new systems.
Ireland was one of those contractors. The package he offered included home energy audits, conversions or new installations, and air sealing. He absorbed the rebates for the audits and air sealing, while in other cases the homeowners must handle that themselves, Shane said Monday.
“So right out of the gate he had kind of an advantage,” Shane said, noting that as a Cumberland resident, he considered signing a contract with Ireland for $8,700, before deciding to go with a contractor with whom he has done business for 13 years, despite a higher cost of $11,000.
Shane noted that he did not have to give his longtime contractor any money in advance.
The situation has been “difficult for me to swallow, because we’ve worked so hard collectively as three towns … to get this utility to our towns,” Shane said. “And now (it’s unfortunate) to have one contractor … put a scar on this a little bit, because of what he’s done to folks. And especially right before the holidays, and especially before a potentially long winter, when people were hoping to start recouping some of their investment in their system.”
The town is working with the AG’s office to get the deposits back to residents, but such a process takes time, Shane said.
“Now folks that were originally scheduled to be converted may never convert,” he said, “because there’s also that trust issue.”
In an online announcement, Shane shared a letter to residents from Jason Lamb, a master plumber and gas technician based in Windham, who handled many local natural gas conversions.
“I was the former manager of the Plumbing and Heating Division at Dave Ireland Builders, and most likely met you at some point within the last few months in regards to your conversion to gas,” Lamb wrote.
He said he hooked up about 35-40 homes in the area so far, and estimated that the number of people who made deposits, but not have the work done, was “definitely in the hundreds.” He also said the deposits ranged from $1,000 to $3,500, depending on the magnitude of the job.
Lamb said he found out after work on Nov. 18 about Ireland abruptly closing his business, noting that he did not get a clear indication why it was happening.
“I am writing this to you make you aware of the above and to also provide you with my personal information, so that you can contact me directly for your heating installation and service needs moving forward,” he said in the message on Cumberland’s website. “I know there are still others in the neighborhood that need to be converted and (I) would like to help in any way I can.”
Lamb said he has heard from many customers whose conversions still had yet to be completed. About half want to proceed with the conversions, he said.
Lamb is able to continue doing the conversions, and said he could honor the prices quoted by Ireland. Still, customers will have lost the deposits paid to Ireland.
Ireland’s voicemail was full when he was called Monday for comment. The business has nearly 20 years of building experience throughout New England, according to its website.
“We are not only proud of our Better Business Bureau (Accreditation), but we are pleased with our A+ Rating!,” the website says.
Martha Currier, a complaint examiner in the AG’s Consumer Protection Division, said Monday that “at this point, we’re just monitoring (the situation), we’re asking people to send us their complaints,” and distributing complaint forms for the customers to fill out.
She said she had heard from “under a dozen consumers that have experienced this problem,” noting that the AG’s office would not reach out to Ireland to see if he is willing to mediate until it has received a formal complaint, which had yet to happen.
“Businesses go out of business all the time, so it’s hard for me to say what action we are going to take at this point,” Currier said. “It will depend on how many more folks I hear from.”