A truck scale was found to provide readings that were short, state officials said.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Beacon Metals, a scrap metal company, has agreed to pay New Jersey nearly $128,000 to settle allegations that it used a faulty scale that could have shortchanged customers, authorities said Tuesday.
The company, with locations in Freehold and South Amboy, also agreed that it wouldn’t buy or sell goods based on weight on a scale that hasn’t been properly tested, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs said.
“Through this settlement we are showing all metal-buying businesses, whether scrap or precious, that their scales better be accurate, or we will catch them,” Attorney General General Matthew J. Platkin said in a statement.
Beacon, founded in 1971, buys and sells scrap metal. It settled a case that stemmed from an inspection at its South Amboy location by the Consumer Affairs Division’s Office of Weights and Measures in July 2021.
A truck scale was found to provide readings that were short, state officials said.
Authorities said the company that serviced the scale recommended to Beacon in January 2021 that it replace the device because of inaccurate readings. But Beacon didn’t do so until two weeks after the state’s inspection.
The Office of Weights and Measures said it identified 16,000 transactions in which consumers were shortchanged because of the faulty scale.
Bill Smith, Beacon’s president, said in an interview that the faulty scale was corrected. And he disagreed with the allegation that customers were shortchanged. He noted the scale weighed both the truck and the material inside, so the net weight of the material — and the payment for it — would have been the same.
“It was just a mix up,” Smith said. “Nobody got shorted or overpaid, either.”
Beacon in the consent order didn’t admit to wrongdoing. It agreed to pay $128,838, with $112,952 going toward civil penalties and the rest to cover investigative costs and attorneys’ fees.
The company agreed not to engage in deceptive conduct. And it agreed to maintain devices in proper working condition.
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