Pretrial statements were filed this month in a Commonwealth Court lawsuit accusing Electra Lighting owner Michael Free of violating the state's consumer protection law.

Nils Fredericksen, spokes-man for the state attorney general's office, said July 22 has been set for a pretrial conference, at which time a hearing date will be scheduled.

State Attorney General Tom Corbett filed a lawsuit in 2005 after a Bureau of Consumer Protection investigation into complaints from more than a dozen Western Pennsylvania consumers about Free and his two stores. The stores are located at 3820 William Penn Highway, Monroeville, and 10561 Center Highway, North Huntingdon.

The suit accuses Free of defrauding customers by providing deceptive information about their orders and deliveries and ignoring requests for refunds on damaged merchandise, items not as ordered or items delivered significantly beyond the contracted time period.

Corbett asked the court to require Free to cease violating the state's consumer protection law, pay about $2,500 in restitution to consumers who had filed complaints and pay civil penalties and the state's investigation costs.

Monroeville Historical Society has been added to the list of consumers that have filed complaints against the business. Society secretary Louis Chandler said he filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office around May 15 and has been told the group will be notified as the case progresses.

The Historical Society made a $1,000 deposit on Jan. 21 to purchase track lighting for the McCully Log House.

The group has not received a refund or the merchandise, despite phone calls, a May 12 letter to Electra Lighting and visits to the company stores, Chandler said.

The $1,000 deposit was part of a $2,000 community projects grant the historical society received last November from Duquesne Light.

"We have been trying for some time to illuminate the interior of the log cabin," Chandler said.

The society offers free tours of McGinley House and McCully Log House, both near West Penn Hospital-Forbes Regional Campus, from 1 to 4 p.m. each Sunday from June through August.

The Municipality of Monroeville recently held an auction of lighting equipment from the store to collect back business privilege and mercantile taxes. Municipal Manager Marshall Bond said it was unlikely that the auction, held last weekend, would bring in enough to cover the taxes due.

"There are, unfortunately, some businesses out there that consumers have problems with," Fredericksen said. "Delivery dates slip, stories change. We would prefer to hear early on when the problems are small."

Complaint forms are available at www.attorneygeneral. gov or by calling the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-441-2555. Consumers also can call the Pittsburgh office of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 412-565-5135.