BEWARE of "WORLD PET EXPOS"

Beware of this company that is planning PET EXPOS all across the U.S. They have taken my money and not provided the show!

I got a telephone call in early December from a David Davis from "World Pet Expos" out of Sarasota, Florida. They say they are the company that has previously put on the Ice Capades. They told me of a scheduled Pet Expo in Tallahassee, Florida for Feb. 28 through March 1, 2009. It was to be held at the Civic Center which is a nice venue. It sounded interesting and I would likely be one of the few vendors with reptiles. I signed the contract faxed to me and paid the fee of $325 for the 10 x 10 booth plus facility fee and tax to the total of $365.41. In early February the Civic Center schedule was emailed to me as they do each month. No Pet Expo was on the schedule. I called the Civic Center and talked to a gentleman who told me that the promoter for the Pet Expo did not provide the required deposit and no show was scheduled. He also stated the guy told him that it was partly a "home show" and since the Civic Center already had a Home Show scheduled in early February, they did not want this conflict of interest.

I called John Whitfield at World Pet Expos in Sarasota. I told him I was just informed that there would be no show and I wanted a refund. He said it was a "non-refundable contract" ! What? You will not provide the show at the venue on the scheduled dates and no refund? He said he would talk with the "owner" and get back to me. Well, you guessed it.....no he has not gotten back to me and he now has someone screening his calls. There are likely lots more folks like me who have been ripped off by this guy.

He now has a Tallahassee show scheduled on his website... "www.WorldPetExpos.org" ...for June at the Fair Grounds. There is no comparison between the Civic Center and the Fair Grounds. I have done Repticon shows at the Fair Grounds many times for $90 per table. This guy is really going to charge $325 per table for the Fair Grounds??

BEWARE of this company because they will likely be calling others like me who have websites or have done other pet or reptile shows in the past.

did you read the contract for this show? You signed it... So if it said it was non refundable, they are, technically covered. ( you would probably have to bring them to court, and just have to prove they had no intention of doing the show, so i would be talking to the civic center and getting a written signed statement that they never paid the deposit for the show.

How did you pay? If you paid by credit card, you could do a chargeback.

could you perhaps scan a copy of the contract signed? If it's a case of not reading something before autographing it then....

I would suspect that the non-refundable clause is for if you back out not if they don't have the show. But I haven't seen the contract. But it doesn't appear to have been completed. IMO

To be legally binding, a contract needs two essential components: 1) an agreement, and 2) consideration. Within the agreement and consideration lies an assortment of provisions that add to the legality of a contract. These include the offer, performance, terms, conditions, obligations, payment terms, liability and or default or breach of contract.

Possibly you could try and find out if there are others that were duped into giving a deposit. Together you may be able to get you deposits back. Good Luck.

Sorry about the "buts" but you get my point.

Susan

Definitely post the contract. A non refundable clause is not enforcable if they do not provide the service contracted for. The only possibility is if the contract gives them the right to substitute a "like kind" service in the event the service contracted for does not occur.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I am posting the contract for you to see. Perhaps I can get a consensus of opinions on whether you think I have a chance to get my money back.

I still have not received any call from this company regarding the fact that there will be no show in Tallahassee on Feb. 28th at the Civic Center. But then, he did get a call from the Sarasota Police Dept on my behalf, so he knows that I am aware of what he is trying to do here. I will not accept the "old switcheroo" from a show Feb. 28th and March 1st at the Civic Center to be replaced by a show at the Fairgrounds in June!

Susan Sentman
SSNAKES Reptiles

I see you paid with a Visa card, can you get a charge back through the CC company?

Susan, you may not want to have your CC number on there fully viewable.. You may want to edit it out.

Your card number is visable there you might want to have the picture removed from the thread or delete it yourself if possible.