Company changes name, not practices
Complete Eco Home Services sells AC systems to seniors.
Green Club Home Services, a company that contacts elderly homeowners, sells them air-conditioning systems and signs them up for loans, has changed its name to Complete Eco Home Services and is still operating, local air conditioning contractors say.
In July, The Palm Beach Post reported on a 97-year-old North Palm Beach woman who paid $9,250, twice as much as she should have, for a 3-ton system after she signed a contract offered to her by a Green Club representative.
Florida Department of State Division of Corporations’ records show that Green Club Home Services LLC at 1750 N. Florida Mango Road, West Palm Beach, changed its name to Complete Eco Home Ser-
vices on Aug. 5.
Although the Florida Attorney General’s Office did not confirm it, the company is said to be under investigation, sources say.
Michelle Sokoloff is listed as an officer of the business. Sokoloff did not return calls to The Post last week. Susan Mintz, Sokoloff ’s mother, resigned from the business June 1, according to a document filed with the state on Aug. 16.
David Braun, an attorney based in Pembroke Pines, said he represents a number of South Florida air conditioning contractors who did business with Sokoloff.
“Several companies I represent were misled by Michelle and didn’t realize what Michelle’s business practices were until they were done with the installations. They all ceased doing business with her. They themselves were victims,” Braun said. “These companies have parted with money to try to make people whole again.”
Russell Held, the son of Berta Samartino of North Palm Beach, said that following The Post’s coverage, Synchrony Financial canceled the loan, and the contractor had to pay the money back to Synchrony. Samartino ended up paying the contractor $4,500.
Held said that, initially, someone claiming to be with Florida Power & Light Co. contracted his mother by phone and said she could save her money on her electric bill, but she needed to evaluate Samartino’s air conditioning system first.
A woman who called herself Lily showed up, and told Samartino she could get her a new sys- tem for free. Held later found out the woman was with Green Club.
FPL officials have said the company does not sell air conditioners. Its employees wear identification badges, and consumers should check with FPL to verify whether someone is an employee
Alice Higginbotham, 86, of suburban West Palm Beach, said last week that Sokoloff contacted her in March, and she paid $7,500 for a new air conditioning system, but what she really wanted was new duct work. Her paperwork shows the installation was performed by South Florida Heating & Cooling at 1300 N. Florida Mango Road.
South Florida Heating & Cooling is at the same address as air conditioning firm ACS Home Services. Both list the contractor as Matthew McClellan, according to Palm Beach County contractor certification records.
McClellan did not respond to request for a comment after The Post contacted his office.
Higginbotham said Sokoloff told her that her electric bill would be lower, but it is now “considerably higher” at $350 a month for a 1,400-squarefoot house and her AC doesn’t cool her house. She said she has tried to get South Florida Heating & Cooling to fix her system, and even drove to the company’s office to demand its employees do something.
“Someone followed me to my house and looked around. They said I owed more money,” Higginbotham said.
David Sosa of A.E. Sosa Air Conditioning in West Palm Beach said he heard about Higginbotham’s plight and is trying to help her. The entire situation is upsetting and bad for the industry, he said.
“It’s horrible. It makes AC guys look like used car salesmen. It is what puts a bad name on our industry. It is a real shame there are people out there doing things like this. The best thing that can happen is that these people get exposed,” Sosa said.
Consumers should always get a second or third opinion and not believe it when they are told they are being given something for next to nothing, Sosa said.