erik carlson.ceo of spookyplanet is a scam artist,BEWARE

[wipp]

7 mths after i baught an electric chair from him that i didnt recieve.he responds in an email.i will give you 2 props that you dont need for your money on the electric chair,but first you need to send me 374.00 more dollars.what a deal huh?this has been going on since august 06 and he responds on feburary 3rd with that.I AM ONLY POSTING THESE UPDATES TO PREVENT OTHERS FROM GETTING SCAMED.

[wipp]

im sorry heres a correction on the shipping he requested,$212.39

[Hell American Freak]

How did you send payment? How was it purchased? Is there any way to dispute it with a third party...

[Rich Hanf]

Unfortunately, this guy has a reputation that is pretty much second to none. Had a long conversation with John Denley recently and it was just amazing what this guy did. John ws finally able to get his attraction back by going to court and while having lunch with this dirtbag actually had the Sheriffs marshal come in and serve Carlson papers effectively taking back his show. Received an e-mail from Liz Foral about this guy as well as apparently he ripped her off as well.

I would use EXTREME CAUTION in dealing with this guy as apparently this is not the first series of complaints about him. Personally, I wouldn't recommend him to ANYONE as in my opinion you will have your money taken and never receive what you are paying for. Talk to John Denley for the complete incredible story

[wipp]

i sent the payment by check.he cashed.i will get my money back because of that check,but i have to wait on the law.just an all around hassle

[bodybagging]

I just want to say that I am glad that you have been posting this info relentlesly, I was contacted by SPOOKYPLANET not very long ago with a inquiry about selling my products. seemed like a legit offer, but will never happen Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanx for saving me headaches

[Warren Vanderdark]

I'm also reminded of the time that SpookyPlanet bombarded another message board with what could politely be described as a ridiculous amount of spam. Suffice it to say, there were a great many indivduals plotting this person's untimely demise...

[Jim Warfield]

In a small town , everyone finds out who not to trust pretty quickly, the haunt community is a "small town", connected via this medium.

[Brckee1]

As a victim of Erik Carlson and SpookyPlanet myself, I also strongly suggest staying away from this guy and his phoney company. I sent him payment and never received anything. Never got my money back and Erik will not answer emails or phone calls. Aside from being out money, I was out an item that I really needed for my haunt this year.

Not only is he stealing from his customers, he is stealing from the companies who's products he "Sells". Making money from their hard work. If someone buys a product from Erik, and he just keeps the money, that is one less sale for that company. I can't imagine why any company would tolerate this. I am considering contacting all the companies who sell through Spookyplanet. I doubt that they would willingly take part in this kind of thing. He needs to be in jail. At the very least, he should be out of business. I don't want to see other people going through this, it really sucks when this happens to you.
Jim H
Dark Raven Productions

[xxxdirk]

Anyother vendorsanyone wanna talk about? I have heard Scarefactory is bad. Never bought anything from them but that is the word and so I never will. On the positive side Unit 70 is a great company and so is Gore Galore. Only boughta few things from Distortions and had NO problems.

[Spookyfinder]

Has anyone contacted the Attorney General yet? Or maybe a class action law suit. It sounds like there are enough people who have gotten screwed over by this guy.

Or maybe just take care of it the good old fashioned way if you know what I mean.

Howie "Slobber" Erlich
Deadly Intentions Haunted House
www.deadlyintentionshaunt.com

[Brckee1]

Has anyone contacted the Attorney General yet? Or maybe a class action law suit. It sounds like there are enough people who have gotten screwed over by this guy.

Yes, I have contacted the Attorney General's office. Apparently I was not the first to do so. Also filed a complaint with the FBI's internet fraud dept. Filed with the BBB for what that's worth. I am considering calling the police at this point because it couln't hurt.

Anyother vendorsanyone wanna talk about?...........

I have had a couple other bad experiences, nothing even close to spookyplanet.
On the good side, the 2 top companies I have dealt with are Unit-70 and GhostRide productions. Unit-70 has awesome stuff and has always delivered, easy to deal with and they are really great guys. Ghostride also has very nice products. They really bailed me out this year filling a last minute order placed after their ordering deadline. They actually shipped it a week faster than they said they would.
Other good companies I have dealt with, scareparts, distortions, Oak Island and GilderFluke.

Jim H
Dark Raven Productions

[wipp]

i think these companys and middleman companys should have the product on hand rdy to ship before they collect any money.thats bs to have to wait for a product to be built.if its on your webpage and says for sale then we should have our prop within 10 days.im speaking of other vendors not people like erik that are downright crooks

[Hell American Freak]

My experience with Scarefactory is that their products are just not reliable. Every product of theirs I've dealt with has needed repairs within the first week of heavy use. For that matter, two years in a row I've seen their products breakdown in the second day of Transworld.

[Greg Chrise]

Any electronic gizmo has a likely hood of taking a crap in the first hours of operation. Consumer electronics are generally time tested and "burned in". So they assemble all of this stuff and send it out untested and the new owner is the guinea pig, thousands of miles away. Then no way to get spare parts even if you really knew what was wrong. Of course then this is in season and no one is answering their phones.

I went through one attraction that had about 6 high dollar props. Not a single one worked and only half of them were pushed forward to see the latex part. Of course there was no actors at all as this and some static sets were supposed to be the show. It was so great. I think I saw one actor coming back in through the exit hall on there way somewhere.

The problem with rip off artists is that the FBI wants to watch them for a few years and see if it leads them to MR. Big. Or somewhere along the line they forget about them unable to connect the dots.

I think what ever county he is in and that sherrifs department is the way to go. Anything over $800 is a felony and that means at least 4 years real time in prison. If he doesn't pay at the moment of being approached by the sherrif to resolve the issue he will just steal from someone else to pay you. And like you say, your bank will eventually return your money. Only once a case is closed.

And while he is being hauled off someone or a group of people needs to go "save" any props in his possesion. I think I have been hearing about this guy for years and years.