1. In July 2002, Cincinnati Bell assigned the phone number (513) 947-1695 to my residential  telephone line in Amelia, Ohio. That phone number has been assigned to my residential phone  line ever since. Hereafter, all references to my residential telephone line are in regards to the line  assigned to (513) 947-1695.   10. After listening to the caller continue to talk for some time, it became apparent that his initial  premise for the call was false -- that he was not calling about something that was already a part  of my March Duke Energy bill or about a change to my account that had already occurred, but  instead he was calling to attempt to get me to switch my electric supplier to Censtar. When the  caller attempted to get my verbal consent, the call was terminated.   11. John Doe Company represents the company that actually initiated the telephone calls. The  identity of this company is not known at this time, despite due diligence, including pre-litigation  inquiries to Censtar. It is not known whether John Doe Company is Censtar.   12. John Doe Company is either the same company as Censtar, or Censtar appointed John Doe  Company as its agent and authorized and directed John Doe Company to make telephone  solicitations to numbers on the national Do Not Call registry under circumstances in which those  calls violate the TCPA. John Doe Company was acting within the scope of its authority as agent  when it made its calls to me.   13. John Doe 2 represents one or more individuals who personally formulated, directed,  controlled, had the authority to control, or participated in the acts and practices of John Doe  Company set forth in this Complaint. The identity(ies) of John Doe 2 is not known at this time  despite due diligence.   14. The complaint will be amended when the identities of the John Doe defendants are known.  4  Case: 1:17-cv-00047-MRB Doc #: 1-1 Filed: 01/17/17 Page: 7 of 14  PAGEID #: 10  15. On 10/6/2016, I send an email to Censtar which requested a copy of its written policy ,for  maintaining a Do Not Call list.   16. Censtar's corporate counsel responded to my email. However, to date, I have not received a  copy of Censtar's written policy for maintaining a Do Not Call list.  2. The phone number (513) 947-1695 is on the national Do Not Call registry  (http://donotcall.izov) and has been since July 1, 2003.  1  Case: 1:17-cv-00047-MRB Doc #: 1-1 Filed: 01/17/17 Page: 4 of 14  PAGEID #: 7  270 E MAIN STREET  BATAVIA, OHIO 45103-3040  2016 CVC 01716  7112 4369 4680 2804 366  3. The Defendants do not have an"established business relationship" with me as that term is  defined in 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(2) and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(4) and I have not given the  Defendants express invitation or permission to call me.   34. On information and belief, Censtar, either directly or through its agents, made telemarketing  calls substantially the same as the ones described herein to nearly all Duke Energy electric  v  8  Case: 1:17-cv-00047-MRB Doc #: 1-1 Filed: 01/17/17 Page: 11 of 14  PAGEID #: 14 customers in Ohio. Moreover, nearly all of these calls were illegal because the calls violated the  TCPA or the caller committed unfair or deceptive trade practices.   35. U.S. Bureau of Census estimates that there are 74,184 households in Clermont County, Ohio  alone. Nearly all these households are Duke Energy customers. Accordingly, on information  and belief, there are approximately seventy-four thousand persons just in Clermont County who  have claims against the Defendants for unlawful telemarketing.   36. The proposed class shall consist of all individuals in Ohio who received a telephone  solicitation by, or on behalf of, Censtar if such solicitation violated the TCPA. The class shall  exclude agents, employees, officers, shareholders, and attorneys of the Defendants.   37. I am a member of the class. My claims are typical of the claims of the class.   38. The class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable.   39. There are questions of law or fact common to all members of the class, for example, whether  the calls constitute "telemarketing" under the TCPA and whether the calls are unlawful under the  4. Starting March 2016, I received ten telephone calls to my residential phone line initiated by,  or on behalf of, Censtar Energy Corp. ("Censtar"). The purpose of each call was to sell me  residential electric services, namely to solicit me to switch my electricity supplier to Censtar.  The calls occurred on 3/18, 3/25, twice on 4/21, 4/28, 4/30, 5/3, and thrice on 5/10 of this year.  My caller ID displayed 937-249-0049 as the caller's number during each call.   5. During a call on 4/21, I spoke with a sale representative. The following was said during the  first minute and a half of the call:  Lucas: Yes  Caller: Hi, Mr. Lucas  Lucas: Uh huh  Caller: Hi, this is Ricky. I was calling you about the  Duke Enerev  account on 7  Arrowhead Drive. How are you today?  Lucas: Ok  Caller: Good, uh the reason why we gave you a call Mr. Lucas,  Duke  sent out a notice  for the month . of March inside your bill regarding the rate going down on the price  protection for the summer months. Did you receive anything regarding Duke's energy  choice program?  Lucas: Uh, let's see, in the bill?  Caller: For the month of March, correct. Uh huh.  Lucas: I don't remember for the month of March  Caller: Ok. And that's in Amelia, 7 Arrowhead Drive, Vincent Lucas?  Lucas: Yeah. Residential li.. um service.  2  Case: 1:17-cv-00047-MRB Doc #: 1-1 Filed: 01/17/17 Page: 5 of 14  PAGEID #: 8 Caller: Right. It was showing the notice that  they  did send out Mr. Lucas, it was letting  you know as of the next meter reading, the account did qualify for price protection for the  summer months. So what that mean in English, the rate will be going down from the  general market rate of 7.03 cent per kWh to a price protected rate of 6.69 and thev're  going to guarantee that not to increase. Now it does, also indicates that you're not  enrolled in any type of low government assistance programs like CAP or [unintelligible]  LIHEAP. Is that correct also?  Lucas: That's correct.  Caller: Ok. Well that qualifies you for the discount. And um, thev're going to be sending  out a confirmation letter in writing within 24 hours. Um, you did receive, did you receive  a bill for the month of March, by the way?  Lucas: Uh, let's see, I receive those things electronically, so uh ...  Caller: Ok, ok I see. Ok, that could explain it. And um, do you have something to write  with, I'11 give you a confirmation and we're going to send it out to you. Because it's gging  to ao down on your next meter reading.   6. The caller was using a script deliberately designed to deceive me by trying to make me  believe that the caller was calling on behalf of Duke Energy and that the caller was calling about  a change to the electric account that had already appeared in my Duke Energy March bill, that  the change was made by Duke Energy, that Duke Energy — not Censtar — was "going to  guarantee [the price] not to increase," and that the change would occur automatically without any  further action on my part. No mention of Censtar occurred up to this point in the call. The only  thing that "they" could refer to in ¶ 5 is Duke Energy. The caller told me that "they" (i.e. Duke  Energy) are "going to be sending out a confirmation letter in writing within 24 hours" and told  me that this change was "going to go down on your next meter reading" — as if the change was a  done deal — without even asking me if this is a change that I want.   7. On information and belief, Censtar wrote or approved the script that the caller used.  Ke  Case: 1:17-cv-00047-MRB Doc #: 1-1 Filed: 01/17/17 Page: 6 of 14  PAGEID #: 9  8. The caller did not mention Censtar until I asked who he was calling on behalf of. At that  point, the caller admitted that he was calling on behalf of Censtar.  9: Nevertheless, the caller continued to insist that he was calling about something that appeared  in my March Duke Energy bill.   BATAVIA, OH 45103  SUMMONS  Rule 4 1970 Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure 