Tag: Grifters

How about some Trip Advice on Trout Point Lodge: A mostly guest post from comments by Finisterre.

“Sounds to me like Trout Point is beating TripAdvisor at their own game” ~ ChronicleHerald reporter Bill Powers after he picked up the Trout Point Lodge Privacy policy press release and ran it as a news story.

“Sold out and clueless does not begin to describe the media here.” ~ Nova Scotia resident on the Nova Scotia main stream media and the ChronicleHerald in particular.

“Since this post initially went up, I have gotten numerous emails, ranging from apologetic to threatening, from Charles Leary. He alleges bad behavior on my part. He also says the long-running lawsuit filed against Trout Point and him by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) has been settled. In addition, he says the man I talked to who was identified by his staff as Charles Leary was not, in fact, Charles Leary. But he will not produce the document showing the lawsuit was settled and he will not identify the man he claims I spoke to. Finally, he reaffirms his belief in his policy of attempting to own all his guests’ thoughts, observations and opinions about Trout Point.

(image)” ~ Story Worldwide CEO Kirk Cheyfitz, would be Trout Point Lodge guest, on his horrible experience trying to check into the Lodge. The link to Leary’s picture was broken by Charles Leary after Cheyfitz pointed out via the link that Leary lied to him about the person that treated him and his wife so badly was not Leary himself.

“The girls are doing a great job putting themselves out of business :-)” ~ Sop to an outraged reader in Nova Scotia regarding the glowing Canadian Main Stream Media reviews published in exchange for free visits to the Lodge.

From my post Thursday Music: This is why the girls are still trying to sell that bogus “privacy policy” Finisterre made some great observations:

From the “policy”: “In exchange and consideration for TPL protecting the privacy of TPL guests from unwanted publicity while on the property…”
Ok, what steps do they actually take to? If the person registering neither seeks nor needs nor, especially, receives such protections, isn’t the policy then null and void, without effect, unenforceable? Or, what do these protections consist of? Apparently this was not an issue when Millie Ball was on the property, then they were more than happy to advertise who was there. Continue reading “How about some Trip Advice on Trout Point Lodge: A mostly guest post from comments by Finisterre.”

Camp Coastal Crooks Mike Sweeney & Sandy Molenhouse: Welcome to Slabbed

One thing us Slabbers learned in the aftermath of Katrina is the astonishing number of various and sundry grifters, scammers, fraudsters and old fashioned crooks that blow into town after a major storm, or, in the case of Dollar Bill Jefferson ramp up the family crime ring to include skimming post Hurricane charity.

But we’ve also been blessed with a much larger group of people in the multitude of volunteers that came here from every corner of the country and others like my fellow Mississippian Nowdy, who was asked to come here and who answered the call staying several months in Katrina ground zero away from her family.

This topic has been forced on us today because the scammers that set up and ran Camp Coastal are in the news and it makes my stomach turn. Not only did they fail people in need here at Ground Zero they fleeced the people who opened their hearts and wallets to help the less fortunate who lost to Katrina’s wind and waves. We can only hope a lengthy trip to the Graybar Hotel is in their future. WLOX has the story:

WLOX News began getting complaints about Camp Coastal in Hancock County early this year. As Action Reporter A.J. Giardina investigated the claims, he found the Secretary of State, which regulates Mississippi charities, was also checking into claims that Camp Coastal’s directors were using some of the millions donated to rebuild homes for large salaries and expensive trips. In an exclusive interview, the Secretary of State told A.J. that Camp Coastal is out of business and the search is on for the missing money. Continue reading “Camp Coastal Crooks Mike Sweeney & Sandy Molenhouse: Welcome to Slabbed”

Camp Coastal Crooks Mike Sweeney & Sandy Molenhouse: Welcome to Slabbed

One thing us Slabbers learned in the aftermath of Katrina is the astonishing number of various and sundry grifters, scammers, fraudsters and old fashioned crooks that blow into town after a major storm, or, in the case of Dollar Bill Jefferson ramp up the family crime ring to include skimming post Hurricane charity.

But we’ve also been blessed with a much larger group of people in the multitude of volunteers that came here from every corner of the country and others like my fellow Mississippian Nowdy, who was asked to come here and who answered the call staying several months in Katrina ground zero away from her family.

This topic has been forced on us today because the scammers that set up and ran Camp Coastal are in the news and it makes my stomach turn. Not only did they fail people in need here at Ground Zero they fleeced the people who opened their hearts and wallets to help the less fortunate who lost to Katrina’s wind and waves. We can only hope a lengthy trip to the Graybar Hotel is in their future. WLOX has the story:

WLOX News began getting complaints about Camp Coastal in Hancock County early this year. As Action Reporter A.J. Giardina investigated the claims, he found the Secretary of State, which regulates Mississippi charities, was also checking into claims that Camp Coastal’s directors were using some of the millions donated to rebuild homes for large salaries and expensive trips. In an exclusive interview, the Secretary of State told A.J. that Camp Coastal is out of business and the search is on for the missing money. Continue reading “Camp Coastal Crooks Mike Sweeney & Sandy Molenhouse: Welcome to Slabbed”