Wood pellet company must fill orders

WELLSVILLE, N.Y. (WIVB) - State investigators are turning up the heat on a western New York wood pellet company accused of defrauding hundreds of customers. The company has been ordered to put up or shut down.

Jon and Sandra Wilkinson are paying a steep price to stay warm this winter after getting burned by a wood pellet dealer.

Back in the spring, Jon and Sandra preordered $4,500 worth of the wood bits from Allegany Pellets of Wellsville, a good deal, they thought, since they were supposed to be buying direct from the manufacturer.

But once the weather turned, and it was time to crank up the furnace, all they got were excuses. So the Wilkinsons ended up buying their pellets from a big box store, on a credit card, so they wouldn't freeze.

That is why Deputy Attorney General David Sampson told News 4, the Consumer Fraud Bureau got a restraining order against Allegany Pellets, and its owners, Paul and Iasia Ceglia.

As their website states, the Ceglias are barred from taking any money from new customers until they fill their existing orders, amounting to about $200,000.