Pittsburgh-area plumbing and HVAC company Gillece Services has agreed to pay $700,000 in restitution to customers and put its technicians through outside certification programs to settle a consumer protection case brought by Pennsylvania's attorney general (via Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General).
The consent order, dated Oct. 21 and filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, covers Gillece Services LP, Gillece Plumbing and Heating Inc., owners Thomas Gillece Sr. and Thomas Gillece Jr., and two former technicians, James F. Hackwelder and Joseph A. Nikoula. Along with the $700,000, the companies will pay $50,000 in costs, and $250,000 in civil penalties is suspended. The two former techs are barred from the plumbing industry for five years. The settlement isn't an admission of wrongdoing.
The state's case centered on how the company sold work. According to the AG's office, Gillece drew customers in with a "$93 or Free Clog Crusher Special," then pushed expensive and allegedly unnecessary sewer excavation, sometimes for pipe defects that turned out not to exist. The office also alleged scare tactics, including gas leak and cracked heat exchanger diagnoses that utilities later discredited, plus shoddy work, missing contracts and cancellation notices, refused three-day cancellations, and misleading advertising and flat-rate pricing claims.
"Gillece pressured consumers to undergo expensive home repair work that was oftentimes unnecessary," Attorney General Dave Sunday said.
The case has been running for years. The office sued in 2020, and in 2023 an Allegheny County judge found the company had violated the state's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act and consumer protection law, Patch reported at the time, ordering it to honor cancellations within three business days and clearly disclose offer terms. This spring, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with the AG on a key question in the case: customers can cancel a home improvement contract within three working days by any method, including verbally, as long as the contractor actually gets notice, abc27 reported.
The new settlement goes further than money. Under the order:
Technicians who sell sewer excavation or hydro jetting have to hold NASSCO's Lateral Assessment Certification, and sewer repair recommendations have to document defects that meet NASSCO severity standards.
If a line can't be opened, techs have to make multiple attempts with a snake and tell the customer they can get a second opinion.
HVAC techs have to be NATE-certified, and a cracked heat exchanger or similar dangerous-condition call has to be confirmed by two NATE-certified techs.
Gas leak diagnoses generally have to be confirmed by the customer's gas utility before any repair is sold, and carbon monoxide meters have to be calibrated on the manufacturer's schedule.
The company has to keep records backing up its repair recommendations and give contracts and cancellation notices at signing.
Customers eligible for restitution will be contacted by the AG's office and don't need to do anything, the office says.
Why it matters for Contractors
Most service shops don't run the playbook described here, but this order is a preview of what Pennsylvania regulators think good practice looks like. Document the defect before you sell the big job: camera footage, photos and notes that a second contractor could look at and agree with. Make a real effort with the snake before you quote excavation. Have dangerous-condition calls double-checked, and let the gas utility confirm a leak.
And take cancellations seriously. After this spring's Supreme Court ruling, a customer who tells you, by phone or any other way, within three working days that they're cancelling a home improvement contract has cancelled. Give contracts and cancellation notices at signing, train your office staff on the three-day rule, and log every cancellation request.