Rooco Ltd., an Alberta-based company that fought drivers’ traffic tickets in court, has shut down.
In a statement posted to its website Tuesday, Rooco said it has “ceased substantially all operations and has begun providing notices to customers of the termination of the company’s services.”
Global News interviewed one of the founders in May 2018 when the start-up company was launching. At that time, Adam Ashton described Rooco as a ticket-sharing service. It charged customers a fee equal to 85 to 90 per cent of their fine, then assigned an agent to appear in traffic court to get the fine reduced. Rooco would succeed in some cases and overall, expected to profit.
On Tuesday morning, several Rooco customers contacted Global News to report concerns with the company.
“I got a ticket and my daughter recommended Rooco because they used it before and never had any problems,” Marcel Chamberland said. “Yesterday, we ended up getting an email from them saying my ticket had not been paid and that I had to look after it myself.
“I paid them on Dec. 31… $349, and now they’re telling me that I have to pay it myself. So basically it’s going to be over $700 by the time I finish paying.”
Global News reached out to Rooco for a response. The company’s phone lines were inactive and its social media sites had been taken down. Global News also notified Service Alberta and the Better Business Bureau, both of which are looking into this case.
In a statement posted on its website early Tuesday afternoon, Rooco said it has ceased operations because of changes to the way Alberta traffic courts and Edmonton Crown prosecutors operate that no longer allow them to represent clients as authorized agents.
“I believe we have done everything we could to resolve this situation and regret that we are unable to continue to provide support to our over 5,000 satisfied customers in Alberta,” CEO Andrew Ashton said in the statement.
Rooco has started sending termination notices to customers with imminent traffic court appearance dates, the statement said, and the company expects all termination notices will be disseminated in the coming days.
Alberta Justice said Wednesday there have been no changes to the Crown prosecution service’s practices.
Carla Jones, spokesperson for Justice and Solicitor General, told Global News that Crown prosecutors in traffic court follow Traffic Prosecutions Guidelines.
“Individuals with a traffic ticket may attend court and request to speak with a Crown prosecutor in the traffic division. If the individual has a valid reason for requesting a reduction, the prosecutor will consider it.
“Individuals are not — and have not ever been — entitled to automatic reductions,” Jones explained.
She added that courts and individual judges are independent and make their own decisions on a case-by-case basis. Alberta’s traffic court rules also state: “paid agents who are not lawyers are not allowed to represent persons in some court locations in Alberta.”
The Better Business Bureau said it received 12 complaints about Rooco between Tuesday and Wednesday. It is processing the complaints and will be trying to reach out to the company. No complaints were filed in past years.
This January, there have been 33 inquiries to BBB about Rooco. To compare, there were 11 in all of 2019. As of Feb. 5, BBB had received 72 complaints about the company. It had not received a response from the owner(s).
BBB always recommends consumers review a contract prior to paying any company for any service.
“If there is no clause of how the company will handle if it’s not able to fulfil its end of the contract, that’s a red flag. If there is a clause but one that will leave you at a loss/in an uncomfortable position, the BBB would advise caution when engaging such companies,” said Shawna-Kay Thomas with BBB.
Complaints about companies can be filed online at BBB and Service Alberta.
“When a company goes out of business, there are few remedies available for consumers.
“Albertans who used Rooco’s services can file a complaint with the Consumer Investigations Unit to evaluate non-compliance or they may use the courts to seek reimbursement,” explained Tricia Velthuizen with Service Alberta.
Without a contract, it will likely be difficult for customers to get a refund from Rooco, she said.
Service Alberta has an online tool that allows people to search enforcement actions against a specific business. Service Alberta investigates contraventions of Alberta’s consumer protection legislation and takes enforcement action according to the relevant legislation. The results of any actions are listed online. Unfounded reports are not published.
People can regularly check for consumer alerts and tips through Service Alberta as well.
Chamberland said he tried contacting Rooco about a refund.
“We had emailed and asked them if we were going to get paid and we never got a call back from them,” he said. “We tried phoning them twice and everything’s out of service.”
Chamberland said he’ll pay the ticket and take some steps to try for a refund later on.
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