Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/03/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  - ***************** did not collect the vendor application fees from the people that were no shows and the people that came and left the event during set up on the day of the event and or before. - ***************** did not collect the other vendor application fees before the event and he did not collect the waivers that the lawyer made before the event. He went around asked everyone to sign the waiver during the event. - I did tell certain vendors and booths that they could come in for free because I was told by them in person or over the telephone that they could not be charged due to their special business status, political affiliation, and national origin. At the end of the day that the lawyer told me that no one has an exemption to come into the event for free. - About 4 times throughout the month *** was asked to send me the electronic vendor application forms and the copies of the waivors that he collected he has not yet sent me those documents yet. My lawyer wanted the documents because my lawyer's stance is that no one is exempt and he still wants to review the contracts where people agreed to pay the vendor application free. My lawyer and I are waiting for the documents. - *** could have known that no such exemptions and special circumstances existed. - In the meantime, *** had sent me out to talk to venues in a 30 mile radius. I made telephone calls, sent out e-mails, and I have now 4 venues that are waiting to hear from him. He has not contacted them and I am wondering why I have not heard from them? - People are asking me where is the venue for The Grappler's Summit which was formally called the ******************************** and Tie Dye Fashion Show. - ***'s work is incomplete. - There are people that are asking me about the second event and because they want to know where the venue is. - There is one venue that *** did not want me to say his name too at ****** and *****. - I informed *** that his work is incomplete and venues waiting.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/09/2024

  Dear *****,
  
  We are writing in response to your recent complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau regarding the services provided by The Event Agency for The Grappler's Summit event. We appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention, and we apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.
  
  After carefully reviewing the details of your complaint, we would like to address each of your concerns individually:
  
  Your concern is for an event that was never under contract, and we did not have the time to work for you with such short notice and the changes currently happening.  We started working on this event after your last event. You must be confused. We completed your first event at Seven Feathers, and then Seven Feathers canceled your next event, which left you looking for a new venue to hold the Summit with little time for planning or to have a successful event. You have never paid us for this event. You paid for services at a previous event, the Mental Health and Wellness Conference. After this event was complete, we had multiple calls. In each of those calls, you stated how happy you were with our service and all the accomplishments we had completed. The Event Agency made your event successful. You stated this multiple times and said you would write a review based on how great it was. 
  
  We then sent you a contact and proposal for your new event and worked with you to help secure a venue and finalize details. After multiple weeks of no contract or deposit sent and then sending a collection letter to vendors using our name, we decided that it was best not to work with you. After we told you we could not work on your second event, you messaged paragraph-long texts begging for us to come back. After I told you I was best, you found someone else and then put a complaint out in the BBB, trying to get my attention. 
  
  Collection of Vendor Application Fees: It appears there may have been some miscommunication regarding the collection of vendor application fees. The Event Agency responsibility was to manage the vendor application process, and any issues related to fee collection should be addressed directly with the vendors and your organization was to collect payment. However, you stated the day of the event that these vendors were exempt, and we collected from the one vendor that was not exempt. On the day of the event you were happy with this decision. Weeks later, you then sent a demand for payment after you told these vendors they were exempt. 
  
  Waivers and Exemptions: We understand your concern regarding the waivers and exemptions for vendors. We apologize for any confusion caused by the timing of the waiver collection. You had these forms printed on the morning of the event. These were given to you and completed in the application process. Moving forward, we will ensure that all necessary documents are emailed to the vendors, and we will not allow a client to do what you did and give them to us on the day of the event.
  
  Communication and Documentation: We apologize for the delay in providing the electronic vendor application forms and copies of waivers. ***************** did give you the requested documents to facilitate the review process with your lawyer.
  
  Venue Coordination: We understand your frustration with the lack of communication and follow-up regarding venue coordination. We are not contracted; we have been paid for the time we worked on your second event. To ensure that he promptly contacts the venues you have identified and provides them with the necessary information, you must pay your entire balance in full before we will consider doing any work with you in the future. 
  
  Incomplete Work: We apologize for any incomplete work and inconvenience it has caused you. We assure you that ***************** is committed to completing all outstanding tasks related to The Grappler's Summit event once we are paid in full for this event. We do not have any incomplete work for this event because, again, we were not in contract with you for this event. We only contracted to work on the first event which we have completed fully. 
  
  In regards to your desired settlement, we are open to discussing a resolution that meets both expectations. This may include finishing any remaining tasks, providing refunds where appropriate, and ensuring all necessary documentation is provided to you. As we see, there is no refund due to you. There is still a bill for the second event if you wish to complete it. As of now, you, the client, are responsible for paying any time we work on this second event. For the first event, all things were completed. This is what we told you in the beginning when we were working on two events at once. We can only work on one event at a time with you. You had sent many confusing emails to us, and the venues and the vendors did not make sense, so we agreed to work on one event at a time to make things clear. We have completed your first event. The second event you are putting under here is another event we had not worked on for you. You did not pay us for our time. We worked on it, and we decided to cancel this so you could find another person to help you. 
  
  These accusations are uncalled for, unfounded, and show a lack of understanding from the client. This client sent a collection letter to people three weeks after the event had closed, and he had already told the vendors that they were exempt from payment. He also decided on the day of the event not to charge a door fee because no one had signed up for his event. The four people who showed up for his event were walking by and would have never paid the door fee. The client had never created an online link for the vendors to pay him. After he told me for over a month, he would create something for them. His first form of payment he required was a check, and he asked for them to send a check to this client. When we got there the day of his event, he mentioned that multiple of the vendors were exempt and didn't need to make payment. However, the client changed his mind three weeks later and sent the vendors a collection letter using my name and my company name demanding payment. 
  
  The venue also canceled his next event because he's been completely unprofessional. This client does not understand how events work and what needs to happen, hence him signing up with me as an event planner so we could help him. Based on our contract, we could have backed out after his first cancelation. However, I decided it was best to help and guide him because I understood this client had mental issues and could not handle it himself. Many of the vendors that were dealing with him could not understand him or understand the concept he was trying to create. This client had tried to do multiple calls to action for his event and didn't understand what he wanted to do, from a fashion show to a conference or a mental health conference or a ********************************* He tried to blend them all together. 
  
  After months of narrowing down what he wanted and countless hours working with them, we came up with the event. This client still owes me for the hours we put in for the first event. As we started working on the next event a fashion show he had changed it and changed the name and moved the date yet again. After this, the venue he was working with decided to cancel his contract because of his inconsistencies and kept blaming the venue for his unprofessionalism. 
  
  After countless hours of working on this second event and then sending a demand for payment collection letter to vendors, he already told them that he didn't need to pay. I had told him it was best for me to back out and not work on a second event. He had never signed the contract or made an initial down payment on his second event, yet I still worked to make sure it was successful. After he consistently changed his mind, changing the event and not having a venue less than a few months before his next event happened, I decided that it was professionally best for us to step down. I called and told him this, and he said okay. He then sent paragraph long text messages to me that were inconsistent, confusing, and unprofessional, begging for me to come back and help him. 
  
  This is not a client I would wish on my worst enemy. This client not only has serious mental capacity issues but also does not understand what it takes to be a professional in this world. The accusations he's made for this claim should be looked at seriously, and he shouldn't be allowed to just put negative information out on me or my business. This client is upset overall because multiple event planners have dropped him, and multiple vendors refuse to work with him; after the venue dropped him, he was frantically looking for another venue, and I gave him all of the feedback and time I could.  
  
  Please feel free to contact us directly to discuss concerns further and to work towards a satisfactory resolution. We value our business and are committed to addressing all true and valid concerns in a timely and professional manner.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************
  Event Producer
  The Event Agency 
  ************
  ********************************** 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/11/2024

   
  Complaint: 21662701
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I do not have a mental health problem and I am not mentally challenged to where I would not understand how to run a conference. The name of the conference was clearly understood despite what the people that he talked to had stated to him. Mental Health and ******************************** is clearly understood. There have been many examples of how both mental health and being in the wilderness helps out a person and people in group with both a tour guide and someone that he could facilitate group activities that would be relaxing and mindful. It could be taking a group of people to the forest or mountains to do a lot of activities like group dynamics, canoeing, and much more.  

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/11/2024

  I have more to add about the complaint. What do I do? 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/17/2024

  *** did not collect the money from the vendors when people were signing up. *** did not collect the money at the event but one person paid at the event and the instructions were that people paid before the event. *** told me in front of ***** that he would help me collect the money, according to *****. *** gave the Native Americans a hard time and a woman that traveled 4 hours away. *** did not contact *** the event planner when he was having trouble with the Cow Creek Indian Tribe to sort out the problems. 

  After the event I informed *** that my lawyer would like to have the signed vendor applications and the electronic vendor applications to be printed out so the lawyer could help me collect the money from the vendors including the no shows, the people that came to the event and left, and then the people that arrived. The lawyer told me that there were no exemptions when it comes to the vendor application fee. *** never provided me the documents to give to the lawyer. We are still waiting for them.  So far, I collected $350.00 and the company needs $750.00 and more for the no shows and the people that came and left. 

  I have been professional towards everyone and that I did not yell at anyone in the morning time. I am not mentally challenged like *** had indicated in his response and I am not that slow to know how to run a mental health conference. After all this was ***'s first conference. In addition, I am not severely mentally ill either. 

  Nothing that I said or did should not be a surprised to *** when I asked *** 4 or more times for the print outs and I wanted to work with the group of vendors before taken legal action first. 

  *** had me go around and talk to venues and the people at the venues wondered why *** was not doing it. There was one venue that *** did not want me to know who he was and that was ****** and *****. 

  I thought that I was going to sign the contract after meeting with the venues. 

  I have been very kind and polite to *** and respectful. He was always in a the know.  *** is correct that i did make a schedule change under him because the people that were coming told me that they were worried about the winter weather.  I am not sure why the vendors and outreach were not talking to me. I thought that I was doing a good thing to ensure that people were safe. 

  *** told me that the tie dye vendors wanted to talk through him to me but this past weekend ***** told me that she does not have a problem with me. Her friends do not have a problem with me and she does not mind talking to me directly. ***** told me that she did not mind that I changed the date in December because the road are dark, it is very cold, and etc.. and they did not know where to spend the night at. ***** told me that she is willing to help me out with the next project. 

  ***'s job is still not complete. He did not help me collect the money and he told me to go around looking for venues and at the end of the day that he compromised the next event. The man that should have brought the goats told me that he knew that he should have provided *** and that he sent Peers the money even though he was a no show. 

  *** talks about a blog like comment that I left on his cellphone the point of the matter is that his job is not completed, the lawyer is waiting on the documents, Peers is waiting to get paid, he states that I am mentally slow and that I have a mental health disorder, and *** is correct that I suggest that he does the other event and I thought it was mean of him to have me search of venues while I anticipated to sign his contract.  I will like for *** to provide ********** Peers the  money so that the two charities could have funds to help people. I would like *** to provide me the documents, also. In addition, cease with his insults, also fix the issue where he had me go to other venues to find a place for the other event. 

  *** is a talented young man, he is likeable, and he is nice. He did not do his job fully and I am waiting to get paid and like my lawyer said that there were no exemptions. He had me look for venues and he left me empty handed. 

  Lastly, the name, Mental Health and ******************************** is clear title for an event.  The title of the event is very ******* clear. Mental health and wilderness leadership go together especially when tour guides, fishermen, and others like the idea for having mental health and or other mental health professionals help out events in the forest and lakes to bring a sense of relaxation and calmness to the outdoors, and even group dynamics to the people that are attending the outdoor adventure. I went to such of an event with the Wounded Warrior Project when I went to ***** and the veterans and I were in the forest and we did leadership activities with mental health providers, and so on.  *** went what other people stated but not me.