Thread: Dont do business with SpookyPlanet

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Originally Posted by Brckee1

I did complain to my credit card as well as everyone else I could think of. Small claims is not worth while for me. He lives in another state and it would cost me more than the $500 he stole to sue him, not to mention the time I don't have to spare.
My money is gone for good. The authorities don't give a crap. All I can do now is try to keep other people from becoming victims via threads on the various forums.

Jim H
Dark Raven Productions

Negative! There are customer advocacy groups in almost every state that will fight on your behalf. Most importantly, your state's attorney general! Please contact their office, if they cannot help you they will know who can. This information goes for everyone else- report this man to your credit card company, and request information from your attorney general.

Anyone who doesn't fight him enables him.

Just a reminder that while it is o.k. to vent about the situation, taking actions under false pretenses could be construed as illegal.

Posting about such actions, therefore, is not allowed on this forum.

Well, I checked out the site. They advertise everything the manufactures have and other suppliers are selling. They advertise as supplying merchandise for 7 years. From this site it's hard to tell they won't deliver. How do you know?? Seems pretty deceiving.

I am glad I don't have the money to buy these items from this guy.

Originally Posted by Mikon

This add showed up recently and caught my interest until I checked Halloweenforum for any info on it. Sooo glad I did...

http://houston.craigslist.org/bfs/1795752997.html

Wow, that's a big price drop from $40,000: SpookyPlanet scam

But I wonder how many times he will sell the exact same site to different buyers.

BEWARE!

I put on a charity Haunt every year and spend my own hard earned money to grow it ever year. Two years back, I spent 4500 on my credit card to get a couple big props from Spooky Planet and got screwed hard!

I admit I was nave at this and should have known better. When threaten to get the charges disputed, and after many many phone calls and time wasted, I was promised different props to make up for the ones that did not arrive. Needless to say I GOT SCREWED!

I could go on and on, but I have wasted enough time on this. I should have posted before now, to keep this guy from pulling his crap again, but life got in the way. Eric even had the nerve to email an offer to buy SP, what a %$@*hole!

Be Warned...do not buy or have anything to do with the scam artist, you will be sorry.

Phantom Blue.

HHP, Erik Carlson has been posting and emailing people for years with bogus offers (at various prices) to sell Spooky Planet. I still get spam emails from him advertising the site for $35K, which makes the info you posted about the sale of the business a bit suspect. While I agree that due diligence is strongly recommended, you have to keep in mind that this guy was/is a pro at running online scams. His web site looked slick and legitimate. And he had what sounded like reasonable explanations for some of the bad press he's gotten. Insulting those who have been taken in by a very good swindler is probably out of line. The only person who deserves your disdain would be Erik.

Originally Posted by HalloweenHouseParty

New to this thread.

Here's where it gets weird. There is a Erik Carlson who is trying to get into the Film industry. Check this Ad from 2009: http://www.listown.com/computer/ny/200908/503989.htm
Yes, there is a cell phone provided in the Ad. No idea if it's the right guy, or still a valid number. There's also a LinkedIn profile for Erik Carlson, President at Riding Hood Motion Pictures, LLC in Amesbury, MA. The Erik who ran spookyplanet was (or still is) living in Amesbury, MA. Same person or just a coincidence?

Personally, I'd say your money is gone and can't be recovered. Finally, this is just public info found on the web. Don't go harassing these people unless you're sure it's the right person. If my data is wrong, don't come crying to me.

No, that is the same Erik who thinks he's destined for greatness in the movie industry - that was one of the reasons he was giving for selling this "incredible money-making business." If the Jason guy in Texas actually bought the rights to Spooky Planet, he didn't do his research and I'd assume he was also on the shady side, and even if he's perfectly innocent I wouldn't touch anyone or any site remotely connected with this whole mess.

If you type in spookyplanet, it takes you to Costumecouture, so Erik either found someone that is also a scammer to buy or trade off the site and mailing lists to, or found a very níave individual to sucker into paying for that in good faith.

Whoa... if I learned anything from this thread... I have learned to never mess with a forum member....

To respond to SkipWires thread, it's not hard to understand how this might happen:

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"Let's see who the players are.

Spookyplanet.com Maine

Costumecouture.com Texas

According to the Internet domain name registar they are two different people operating two different web sites using the same web host provider in Chicago. Hope this info helps out."
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This is an ad from craigslist in TX and appears costumecouture.com is just the new owner??

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SPOOKY PLANET HALLOWEEN FRANCHISE STORE FOR SALE
Please visit our web site at spookyplanet.com to fill out our application!

We wanted to let you know that we are very excited to announce our newest partner in Washington state! Spooky Planet Halloween Stores are the fastest growing Halloween retail stores of its kind in the Industry!

We are contacting you to let you know that we are offering an amazing, one time offer to have you sign on as a Franchisee/JV Partner for the 2008 season! We have reduced the Franchisee Fee so you can lock into your market NOW to open your store NEXT YEAR, 2008 and have a whole year to concentrate on your new FRANCHISE!

To lock in your area so NO OTHER FRANCHISEE GRABS IT, WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND you signing NOW to be a SPOOKY PLANET FRANCHISEE and gain instant PROFITS ON WEB SITE SALES while you have a whole year to start your new store for 2008! Remember you get 10% of ALL WEB SITE SALES from your area as a Franchisee!

YOUR FRANCHISE/JV FEE $12,500 (LIMITED ONLY)

Please contact us at: SpookyPlanet@aol.com TODAY with the area you are interested in opening and a contact phone so our Franchise Director may call you to discuss!

Very Best


Erik P. Carlson
President/CEO
Spooky Planet International, LLC
WWW.SPOOKYPLANET.COM
WE DO HIGH-END HALLOWEEN!

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Phantom Blue

A quick search of Washington State's business registry finds NO BUSINESS NAME WITH "Spooky Halloween" or "Spooky". Appears there's no "Spooky Planet Halloween" businesses in Washington State.

In Texas..

Texas Comptroller is responsibile for corporate tax collection. Comptroller has a searchable database. Spooky Planet International, LLC is not listed.