Friday, February 24, 2006

Telemarketing, Door to Door Sales

The East Algoma OPP wish to remind seniors to be wary of telemarketers. Some will offer prizes for completing a telephone survey or poll. This method is used in order to get into your residence to sell you a product.

Recently the Seniors Issues Office has received a number of complaints concerning companies that phone potential clients asking them to participate in a survey. Several days or even weeks later when the companies sales agents are in town the person is called and told that they have won a free gift for participating in the previous survey. They are asked if a representative can come to their residence and drop off the gift.

A sales person then shows up at the door and may or may not have the participants “free gift”. The sales person then enters the residence and attempts to sell the person a product or a trip.

Elliot Lake has just recently passed a by-law requiring all door-to-door sales people to acquire a “Mobile Vendors” permit. Before even letting a sales person in your residence make sure that they produce this permit to show that they are properly licenced to conduct business in the City of Elliot Lake.

It should be noted that not all telemarketers and door-to-door sales people are high-pressure. It is not illegal to use this method to sell a product but should be considered mis-leading. Remember you have the right to say “no”, hang up the phone, close the door or ask the person to leave. If they decline your request to leave then call the police.

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If you are having a problem with a telemarketer or door-to-door sales people you can contact the Seniors Issues Office at 705-848-3009, the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services at 1-800-268-1142 or the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

Heyden Break And Enter

Sault Ste Marie OPP were called to a Heyden home yesterday after the owner discovered property missing from the house.

Yesterday afternoon police were called to a home on Hwy 17 in Heyden. Sometime between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon thieves entered the house and removed a quantity of property. The owner is compiling a complete list of stolen items.

Weather Causes More Problems At Montreal River Hill

OPP officers from both the Sault Ste Marie and Wawa Detachments had to closed Hwy 17 at the Montreal River Hill yesterday for several hours.

At about 10:30 a.m. yesterday morning, high winds and blowing snow off Lake Superior caused about twenty transports to get stuck on the hill. Officers from both OPP detachments closed Hwy 17, in the area of Montreal River, until about 1:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon. The highway was re-opened as soon as the transports were able to make it off the hill.

There were no reports of any damage or injuries.

Man Charged With Driving While Under Suspension

Sault Ste Marie OPP charged a Heyden man with driving under suspension after being caught behind the wheel of a vehicle last night.

At about 8:00 p.m. the officer stopped a southbound vehicle on Hwy 17 in Heyden. Investigation revealed that the Ministry of Transportation had suspended the mans driver’s licence because he hadn’t paid all his fines.

As a result of this stop 46 year old Roger Vienneau of Heyden has been charged with Driving While Under Suspension. He was given a summons to court and his vehicle was towed.