Lawton informed her he was in route, but when he arrived at the shop, he would look at his records. Turner arrived at First Class Wireless shortly after their phone conversation and discovered Lawton had quickly gone inside and paid her bill. He came out, providing her with a confirmation number of the transaction. Duke Energy also confirmed they had just received the payment; however, Turner was left with a $50 cut-off fee, due to Lawton's supposed negligence in paying her bill on time. When she requested Lawton credit her account with funds to pay the cut-off fee, for which she felt he was responsible, he refused, claiming he did not owe her anything. "I was devastated," said Turner. "I couldn't cook so my children could eat."
Upset, Turner turned to social media, posting a video informing the public of her experience. Since Thursday, Sept. 20, the video has been viewed over 5,000 times. However, Turner isn't the only person to complain about customer service at First Class Wireless. In fact, stemming from Turner's video, multiple citizens called the Greene Publishing, Inc. office in order to make their own statement.
"I went to First Class Wireless to pay my personal light bill, as well as the bill for the company I work for," claims local, Sonya Earnhardt. "The next thing we know, Duke Energy is threatening to cut us off. I brought my receipt to Lawton and asked what was going on. He went on the system and paid the bill. I figured it was a one-time mistake, so I did business with him a second time and went in to pay the bill for our company the next month. This time, I asked for a receipt from Duke Energy, not a receipt from his store. He told me he couldn't provide that to me, so I asked for the money back and left."
Madison County resident, Mickey Starling, claims First Class Wireless was unfairly charging him an additional $9.95 for every payment he made for his Boost cellular service. "I began a Boost account at First Class Wireless," said Starling. "When I first signed up, he [Lawton] told me that I had to come into the pay station to pay my monthly bill and that there was no online payment method. I was charged $59.95 every month. I began to notice that the commercials on television advertised a $50 flat fee and I found that strange. When I asked him about it, Lawton informed me that the extra $9.95 was taxes and fees that were added on. When I went out of town, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to pay my bill, because I couldn't make it to First Class Wireless to pay it. So I looked online to see if there was a way to pay. There was, in fact, an easy online payment option on Boost's website, and it was a $50 flat fee, contrary to what I had been told by Lawton. I have never been back. He lied to me and told me I could only pay at his pay station, when I could have been paying online the whole time. He was making an extra ten dollars every payment for no reason."
Numerous complaints have been reported to the Madison Police Department (MPD). Greene Publishing, Inc. investigated multiple offense-incident reports from the MPD. The following chronicles several of the reports filed at the MPD in the past nine months:
On Dec. 13, 2017, Ptl. W. Walker interviewed a citizen in reference to a complaint she wished to file against First Class Wireless. According to the citizen, on Nov. 20, 2017, she delivered a check for $255.43 and on Dec. 2, 2017, another check of $190.54 to First Class Wireless to be paid to Duke Energy and Xfinity. The total amount of $445.97 was never received by Duke Energy nor Xfinity. On Dec. 12, 2017, the citizen made contact with business owner, David Lawton, and he agreed to pay the needed amount for Duke Energy to make sure the account remained in compliance. He then made an oral agreement with the victim to refund her money for Xfinity due to unhappiness with the customer service. When the victim returned to collect her reimbursement like they agreed to do, the owner was not at the business location, which prompted the victim to file a complaint with the MPD.
On Jan. 5, 2018, a victim reported to Officer J. Alexander that she paid her light bill on Nov. 27, 2017, at First Class Wireless, making her payment to business owner, David Lawton, who gave her a receipt for her transaction. The victim returned on Jan. 3, 2018, to pay her light bill again. She complained to Lawton that her light bill was too high; a grand total of $263. The victim reported that, at the time, Lawton agreed that her bill was too high. He failed to mention he was no longer a Duke Energy provider. The victim claims that Lawton took her money without informing her he was not authorized by Duke Energy. Later that evening, she called Duke Energy and they informed her that November's payment was never received. The representative also informed her that David Lawton was not an authorized agent to take money from Duke Energy's clients. On Jan. 4, the victim confronted Lawton, who gave her $142 in cash, claiming the money was from a Duke Energy refund for over paying her account (it was later concluded that Duke Energy does not provide refunds). The police report states that, after reviewing the facts of the case, it was determined that Lawton did with willful intent temporarily deprive the victim of her money that she paid to him on Nov. 27, 2017. This was a violation of criminal statute 812.014: when a person knowingly obtains or uses the property of another with intent to either temporarily or permanently deprive that person.
In addition, according to the same report, it was found that on Jan. 3, Lawton did with willful intent, represent himself to be a valid and authorized provider of Duke Energy when he had knowledge that he was no longer a valid nor authorized provider with Duke Energy. Lawton did, with willful intent to deprive the victim of her light bill money, take $263 from her. After reviewing the facts in the case, it was determined that Lawton did with willful intent violate statute 817.11: to obtain the property of another by fraudulent promises, as well as statute 812.014, mentioned previously. After reviewing the facts in the matter, it was determined that Lawton did defraud the victim by misleading her that he was a valid and authorized provider of Duke Energy. However, the victim did not file charges.
On May 1, 2018, just four months after the previously mentioned report, at approximately 15:45 hours, Officer J. Alexander was called to 682 SW Range St. to investigate the theft of money. Upon his arrival at the scene, he made contact with the complainant, who stated that on April 11, 2018, he entered First Class Wireless and paid David Lawton $89 cash for his April light bill. The complainant stated that his bill was $85 and Lawton charged him a $4 service fee. The complainant added that, on May 1, 2018, Duke Energy disconnected his electrical power due to no April payment. He produced the receipt where he paid his bill to First Class Wireless on April 11, 2018. According to the police report, the complainant was very angry and claimed to have a freezer full of meat that was going to spoil due to the loss of power. At approximately 18:15 hours, Officer Alexander made contact with David Lawton, who informed him the situation had been corrected. At approximately 18:24 hours, the victim claimed the situation had not been worked out and he was still hot. The victim wanted to press charges for theft.
On July 5, 2018, Sgt. J. Smith was dispatched to the MPD in reference to a possible theft. Upon arrival, the officer made contact with the complainant, who stated that she had gone to First Class Wireless to pay her power bill on June 12, 2018. The complainant stated that she received a receipt from Lawton for the amount of $173.11. She later received notice that her bill had not been paid due to insufficient funds. The complainant stated that she made contact with Wells Fargo to inquire as to what happened and found that the payment for her power bill had not been posted by the authorized payment associate (David Lawton) until June 20, 2018. The complainant stated that by the time the payment had been turned in to Duke Energy, the funds were no longer in the account. The complainant had received notice that her power bill was overdue and was in danger of having her power disconnected.
On Aug. 20, 2018, Ptl. R. Sanders made contact with a complainant at the MPD. She informed the officer that David Lawton, of First Class Wireless, had fraudulently taken money from her. According to the complainant, she paid her Duke Energy bill through Lawton's business. She informed the officer that, on Aug. 10, she paid Lawton $240.32 in cash for her electric bill. On Aug. 14, she received a late payment notice from Duke Energy advising the payment she had given to Lawton had not been posted. Later, contact was made with an operator named Christian, with Duke Energy, who advised the payment was received by Duke Energy on the 18th of August. Christian advised the time delay is normal due to Lawton's business not being an authorized payment center. Christian then advised that, although Lawton's business was not an authorized payment center, he could still make payments to Duke Energy since he possessed the software.
MPD Police Chief, Reggie Alexander spoke with Greene Publishing, Inc. in regards to the complaints they have received. "Our job is to make sure we have physical evidence. When this started happening, we reached out to Duke Energy and, at that time, they informed us that unless they are subpoenaed, they would not give us any information," said Alexander. "At that time, he [Lawton] was certified. All we could do was to tell customers to reach out to Duke-- we had no crime, and all arrangements being made [between First Class Wireless and customers] were civil. The complainants would always come back to us saying everything was good and had been worked out."
Detective Sergeant David Spicer weighed in, stating, "At one point, he [Lawton] was an authorized agent. This is hands-down a civil matter. We have received no details on the agreement between Duke Energy and First Class Wireless."
After being contacted about the community's negative experience with First Class Wireless, the business claiming to be a Duke Energy pay station, Duke Energy released an official statement to Greene Publishing, Inc.: "Duke Energy removed First Class Wireless as an authorized payment location agent in December 2017. There is not an active Duke Energy authorized payment terminal for this location and our records show that the location hasn't accepted any payments for Duke Energy since it was removed from our payment system. Customers can visit our website: duke-energy.com/payments for information on authorized payment methods, which include online options, by phone, in person through authorized payment location agents and by mail."
Despite Duke Energy's claims that First Class Wireless was removed as a payment location in December, payments have still been made to Duke Energy through First Class Wireless for the past nine months. In fact, as of Sept. 24, 2018, upon walking through the doors at First Class Wireless, Duke Energy official pay station signage is displayed for customers to see. According to business owner, David Lawton, the signage and payment software cannot be removed without Duke Energy's permission. In fact, Lawton explained the situation from his point of view, in an effort to clarify the public's concerns.
"One of the biggest complaints we receive is that the [payment] system is dated," said Lawton. "We have no way of knowing whether or not a customer's payment has posted unless they come back and tell us. First Class Wireless isn't the only business that has had this issue. Cash Advance is another pay station that has received complaints and we have had customer's come to us who were disgruntled with Cash Advance. The influx in people coming to us, caused us to receive more complaints."
According to Lawton, the complaints have stemmed from the slow process in which the payment software processes payments, causing problems with customers meeting their payment deadlines. Lawton continued: "Places have slowly stopped taking bill pay and, as of Friday [Sept. 21], we are no longer a Duke Energy pay station. We have tried to sever ties several times but when a contract is involved, it's hard to do. We don't make a lot of money off of taking payments, as many people assume. We started doing it because it generates traffic into our business. The old owner did it, and I inherited it, knowing little about the billing business. We charge a $4 to $6 fee, but you're not getting rich off of that. We maintained bill pay in here to generate traffic."
In response to Turner's disgruntled video posted to social media, Lawton claims it is not the full story. "The issue was that she had only paid a portion of her bill," said Lawton. "Approximately $140 had been posted already, but she had a $412 and some change remaining balance. I tried to explain this to her when she got here. She was disgruntled, on the phone with Duke Energy, and I said, 'If you want me to help you, please get off the phone.' I don't do business like that. I offered to assist her in the best way I knew how, and she walked out. After I left my business to run an errand, she proceeded to make the video at my storefront."
Lawton claims, the times bills have not been processed, his business has done everything possible to fix the situation. "There's not one person who has come through here that I didn't try to help," said Lawton. "To have that video posted, it's just embarrassing for one African American person to say something about another African American business owner. That's not the way to carry yourself. We as African American business owners try to thrive to the best of our ability and it's always embarrassing when one slanders and ridicules another. I would have helped her, but I couldn't based on her demands."
The public has made many complaints about paying their bills at First Class Wireless--from Duke Energy, to other services, such as Boost Mobile. There are inconsistencies between the public's accusations, Duke Energy's statement and Lawton's account. Some of the issues in question include: the exact time at which Lawton's business became unauthorized to accept Duke Energy payments, as well as the numbers presented to us by Sydreaka Turner and David Lawton pertaining to the same electric bill.
According to Madison Police Chief Reggie Alexander, there is no current investigation involving Lawton and First Class Wireless. Therefore, as of now, the situation remains a civil matter. If you would like to weigh in on the situation or have a similar experience involving First Class Wireless, Boost Mobile or Duke Energy, Letters to the Editor can be sent to editor@greenepublishing.com, mailed to P.O. Drawer 772, Madison, Fla. 32341, or dropped off at 1695 S SR 53, Madison, Fla. 32340. You may also call our office at (850) 973-4141; business hours are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.