Michael Cantrell

(129 votes, average 29.83 state company is a scam)
Sunday, 16 May 2010 19:34 written by anonymous
Tags: Pacific Dreams Paradise Blue Negative
Paradise Blue has opened another office in Maui. Paradise Blue has changed its name to Pacific Dream s on Maui. It has opened in Old Lahaina Center, a Harry and Jannette Weinberg Foundation property.

Any questions or problems concerning getting out of your contract with Destination Club Pacific Dreams / paradise Hawaii (Paradise Blue and Pacific Dreams) please contact: Attorney General
 Owner - Chuck Roubalard
Assistant – Michael Cantrell

Jeff D'Amato - Sales Manager in Maui 210-542- XXXX
Mike Balicki - Sales Manager in Honolulu 808. 222. XXXX
Seyi Faodu - Sales Manager in Honolulu 6 12.310. XXXX
RSI – RESERVATION SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL aka ACCESS RSI – Scott Carey, Jim Carey are at the head of this scam claiming to be a travel agency, they don’t even answer the phones.

Chuck Roubalard - Owner of the product and Leader of the entire scam. 763.772. XXXX
I’ve done a lot of research on both Destination Paradise Hawaii (DPH) and Global Escapes in Texas and these are the same people. Once they got shut down by the Attorney General in Texas, they came to Hawaii. These companies exist to scam unwitting tourists. The owners and employees left San Antonio and started working in Hawaii. I'd like to see them s hut down as a service to past, current and future victims. Here are links to the steps the Texas Attorney General took to shut them down. Just like they keep changing their name in Hawaii (Destination Paradise, paradise blue and now Paradise Dreams a ll within 18 months!), they used many names in Tex as also: Escapes Austin, Global Escapes, Blue water, Escapes Midwest, Sun Tree Escapes, Escapes Midwest. Etc...

IT IS THE EXACT SAME SCAM JUST A DIFFERENT DESTINATION - INSTEAD OF RIPPING OFF PEOPLE IN TEXAS THEY ARE RIPPING OFF PEOPLE IN HAWAII

Please, please, please read the injections websites below:

INJUNCTION: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/newspubs/releases/2009/040109globalescapes_pop.pdf

BANK ACCOUNT SEIZURE: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/newspubs/releases/2009/040109globalescapes_tro.pdf

Here is what an article in a Texas newspaper said about them:

A family of Florida-based travel companies doing business in Austin and San Antonio are facing charges of deceptive trade practices and other business and commerce code violations from the Texas Attorney General’s office.

The defendants, Escapes Austin LLC and Escapes Midwest LLC, which do business under the names Global Escapes, Blue Water, Sun Tree and others, are accused of using false gift giveaways to entice customers to attend sales seminars that marketed worth less travel-related software programs, according t o a news release from the attorney general’s office.

Attorney General Greg Abbott said his office is seeking restitution for some 5, 000 Texas consumers who may have been deceived into purchasing the software. In response to the attorney general’s actions, the 73rd District Court of Bexar County issued an order freezing the defendants’ assets.

Court documents filed by the state also name chief executive officer James Carey III and managing member Gwendolyn Carey. According to the state’s lawsuit, the defendants used direct mail and telemarketing calls to inform potential customers that they “won” free cruises, hotel stays, vehicles, flights or expensive watches. However, recipients were told that they must set up an appointment to attend a sales presentation in order to receive their prize.

Those chosen also were told they only needed to pay taxes due on the gifts. Recipients were not informed about restrictions, hidden costs, the prizes’ overall value or the prizes’ limited availability. According to state investigators, prizes were difficult to redeem, expensive to redeem, or unavailable during certain dates.

During the mandatory sales seminars, the defendants touted their “proprietary software search engine technology, ” which they claimed would allow purchasers to locate and reserve bargain travel deals online. “ The defendants then used high-pressure sales tactics to convince customers that their ‘software license’ opportunity surpassed all others in the industry, ” the release states. “The defendants’ sales representatives often purported to ‘negotiate down ’ from the software’s $12, 000 retail price to $7, 000, $4, 000, or to a ‘one-time price reduction’ of $2, 200.”

Customers who could not afford the purchase price were offered financing. Rather than retain the purchaser’s outstanding debt, the defendants frequently sold it to third-party debt collection or finance companies.

According to the documents, after purchasing the product, many customers were unable to log on to the Web site for at least two weeks. “When the defendants finally provided the necessary user IDs and passwords, many customers’ encountered technical problems. Customers who were able to fully access the system discovered that the bargain travel deals they were promise d did not actually exist.”

During the sales negotiations, customers were told they could return the product for a refund if they were dissatisfied with their purchase. However, when customers attempted to cancel their contracts, the defendants claimed the sales contract was binding. Concerned that the debt collection agencies could ruin their credit ratings, many customers also paid annual support “software upgrade” fees, even when they could not or did not use the system.

Under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the defendants face civil penalties of up to $20, 000 per violation, as well as a $250, 000 penalties if the conduct was designed to harm a person aged 65 or older.