Saturday, August 25, 2007

Complaints found on line and emailed

The following is a collection of complaints that have been posted on the various scrapbooking forums or emails that have been shared, these are just the tip of the iceberg.

More complaints can be found at the bottom of the articles published in The Shelbyville News

See links to the left under Complaints

Sharon K – August 5, 2007 - email

Hi - I'm not sure how much help any of my "foursome" would be, as we FORCED him to refund our deposit before we left the motel premises and watched him refund the money through a PayPal account. We did stop at the Shelbyville Police Department and file a report with them as to what this guy had going on.

I think our police report may have precipitated an article published in the Shelbyville newspaper about his operation. It was published on 8/12/07 and someone posted it on the TwoPeas forum page, if you haven't already seen it.He (Craig) told us that his "retreat" was 4:40 hours from the Detroit area. We all live about 40 miles north of the City, so we planned for a four-hour drive.

The day before we were to leave for our wonderful experience at the "world's premier scrapbook retreat", I visited his website (which I hadn't done since we booked the trip months ago) and read that the pictures on the website were of the "old premises" and that they had moved to a new and grander site, yet not giving any specific details or addresses.

This didn't sit well with me and I contacted the person who booked our trip. She said she put a call in to Craig and was waiting for him to call back and confirm the situation. He called her LATE Sunday night and assured her that all was fine. He told her to call him on his cell phone when we got to a certain point and he would "walk us through the rest of the directions because you couldn't trust an internet map to be accurate".

Well, 7-1/2 hours later, per his instructions, we arrived at the Lee's Motel in Greensburg. The place was hot (the temperature outside that day wa s about 100 degrees and they were in the throes of an official heat wave) and it was DIRTY and SMELLY.

When we asked for Craig, the lady behind the desk said he had been there "over the weekend, but wasn't there [now]". We asked a staff person and she didn't even know who he was. Needless to say, things were not looking up. Craig showed up about 5 minutes later, running in sweaty and hurried. He said he had been sitting at a red light "just outside".

We all suspected he was in his vehicle watching to see who would show up, in case of a sting-type operation by the authorities.We came to this conclusion after the events that transpired next.

He showed us to the "crop room" which was a dirty conference room in the motel. On a table sat a jar of pickles, an unopened bag of chips, half of a pitcher of tap water and two slices of pound cake in a "reduced for clearance" plastic container such as you would get at Walmart. I suspect this was leftover from the two unhappy guests who were there previous to us. He also had a web cam hooked up at ceiling level. When my friend and I asked him about it, he said it wasn't on (however, the lights were on ...). We immediately told him we DID NOT WANT TO BE ON ANY WEBCAM.

He gave us keys to two rooms and we went to the rooms to speak privately. The rooms were unacceptable to any of us, as was this ENTIRE situation.

We demanded our money back at that point and he became very angry and belligerent. When I asked him why he didn't call us to tell us there was no longer a retreat at the dairy, but in a dirty motel, he became very angry and told us that we "all know what a hotel" is like.I informed him this was not a HOTEL, but a motel, and we could have made better accommodations than this five minutes from our home.I also told him that this was definitely a "BAIT AND SWITCH' scam.

He became increasingly more agitated with us. A s I said, we forced him to refund our money and we left.We COULD NOT BELIEVE what we had just experienced. My friend who booked the trip was almost in tears and said she didn't know if she was going to vomit or faint.

One of my friends had the presence of mind to write down his license plate number, which we gave to the police and they immediately identified him. They said they couldn't do anything for us because he did refund the money, but that they were going to file a report with the Greensburg Police Department which, they determined, was where the motel was.

I DO NOT WANT ANYONE ELSE TO HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS GUY. He appears desperate and desperate people do desperate things. We shudder to think of the web cams that may have been in the rooms he booked. HIS WEBSITE SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN, if at all possible. If you need/want any further information, just e-mail me again. Sorry for your bad experience too!
S.

Yahoo Local Postings

sothmbel1 – 07/28/2007

Don't Do It!: Made plans to go July 2007. My deposit was accepted on the spot, but the owner never once comfirmed reservation, even after several attemps by e-mail and phone. Found out later that there were health department, and zoning issues with the place, and it was even closed for a time. Thank God I paid with American Express and I got my money back

a Yahoo Local User – 02/05/2007

Run Away As Fast As you can!!!!: This place was horrible. It was nothing like what is advertised. There is no scrapbook hostess, just a man running a house for scrapbooking. He was very creepy. There was not much food offered and the place was very dirty. There were only 2 bathrooms for 16 people. The man in charge of the place was very weird and lied over and over again throughout the weekend. We felt very unsafe. Do not go to the retreat. I would have rather lost my deposit than go there

Jennys3121 – 01/30/2007

Terrible experience: I was going to stay there last year and called and called trying to confirm my reservation. I started getting nervous, and when I finally did contact the owner, he was so rude. He sounded totally drunk on the phone.After that experience, I tried to cancel, but I ended up losing my money.I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Sallymae2233 – 01/25/2007

DON'T Do It: My girlfriend and I stayed there a couple of months ago and it was awful!The food was pretty good, but I didn't feel safe. The guy that runs the place is creepy. Always hanging around and never bathing.Not to mention we peeked in a room downstairs, Chickens! In the house. That can't meet the health dept rules. eekk!All I have to say is RUN AWAY!

Off the TwoPeasinaBucket Message Board
Hoosiermom


My friend and I stayed at the Dairy this spring, or as we now call it the "Olde Geneva Scary." It came highly recommended by people who stayed there 1-2 years ago but has gone downhill. It was filthy, the guy gave us the creeps, and the downstairs portion Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucketwasn't finished so I'm sure there's some pictures on the internet somewhere of me taking my showerPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket! kidding, hope not!

Afterwards other women who attended the retreat notified the State Board of Health who shut him down as well as the State Prosecutor. His website is wonderful and still up and running so I'm assuming he's stealing the deposits now from people. The food was all from Wal-mart and leftovers and the fridge and oven were disgusting. Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
(I shop at Wal-mart and have no problem with that but for the money we were paying we shouldn't have had to eat bad leftovers made from generic brands!). Warn everyone you know not to go there! I heard some of the women were using their credit card companies to help them get their money back.

Dirty bathrooms, eating dinner at 9 p.m. & lunch at 2 p.m. and dead bugs Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucketin your room are okay with you then you will probably not like this place. The owner refused to discuss issues with the women at our retreat when they approached him and the credit card company who refunded one woman's money said he was "so vile on the phone with them, calling the women vulgar names," that they felt justified in giving her money back

Off the Scrapbook.com Forums
creativedesign


I am so glad I found the posts about Olde Geneva Dairy! I have been so angry for a year, and there weren't any posts. I'm so glad there are now.I had a terrible experience. I booked the place through his website, then I found out that it was his ex-wife running the place (with a different website) and that he was fraudulently accepted my payment. He wasn't supposed to have anything to do with the business, but was taking reservations and money just to try to mess with his wife and take peoples money.I reported it to the police, but didn't get very far.I have a family member who is in law enforcement. He found out that Craig (first real name is Anson) has a police record with multiple felonies including battery.I would not recommend this place, you will likely have a bad experience or lose you money all together.

cincyMOMS.com
AnadRmom – posted 08/09/07


I have to comment on Olde Geneva Dairy. I went with 4 friends in June of this year. We kept noticing during the month before that the website mentioned some "zoning issues" that had come up and that we may have to be at an alternative site. On the web site it stated that it all should be cleared up by the end of June (when we had reservations), but just a few days before we got an email stating that we would indeed have to be at the alternative site. It turns out that the alt. site is a Lee's Inn that is old and dirty. The room for us to scrapbook in was a conference room that really was not big enough for the 10 women that were there. The hotel room that my friend and I shared had 3 lamps with burnt out bulbs. The maids did not make the beds as part of "Craig's services". My friend even had a maid steal her People magazine that she had not even read yet!! Another group of ladies had been to the Dairy before and expressed our disappointment to Craig and we were able to get a $75 discount on the weekend.It now seems that all of the things that we were being told about the "zoning issues" were flat out lies. I don't know how someone can run a business like this! The good news is that I did get a lot done and got to spend some quality time with my friends. I will never go back, especially after reading the other posts in this thread. I ask anyone who is considering booking a weekend at the Dairy to really consider all of the information and proceed with caution!!

About.com
cd14boys posted on 02/13/2007


Warning - Do not go to this weekend retreat. If you've made reservations, losing your deposit is totally worth not going. I went with two friends this past weekend and we were there long enough to take a look around, take pictures and leave. Two other women left before we got there and the two remaining were women were also going to leave. This place is run down, absolutely filthy and not at all what it looks like on the internet. There was a strong smell of sewer, it looked like a junk yard on the outside, piles of what I assumed was clean linens and towels on our stripped beds, rotten fruit on the dining room table, a ceiling fan/light with one working light bulb. The 'spa' was a desk with a few bottles of nail polish and a homedics foot tub. I can't stress enough how awful it was. Please don't go and please warn your fellow scrappers. We drove from Michigan and arrived around 5:30 p.m. and there was still no way we were going to spend the night. Plus, it's a creepy guy that runs it - not two women as it states on the website.

A Cherry On Top
lisalrrb – posted on 08/23/2007


A friend of mine nearly lost $700 to this guy. She and friends were supposed to spend a weekend there just 3-4 weeks ago but he became unreachable. Then they did some more investigation and discovered they were being swindled. She called the bank and he had just deposited the check but it was still being processed and they were able to stop payment on it. It was a close call for her.

It Is All About Me Blog – posted 07/19/2007

We were suppose to go to a place called Olde Geneva Dairy in Flat Rock, IN. All I can say about that place is "DON'T GO!!!! The owner basically makes his money by collecting the deposits. But he never confirms reservations, would not return phone calls, e-mails. And if you are lucky enough to get any kind of response from the guy, he is mean, rude, and bitchy.


Communications between Mr. Bridgers and Potential Retreaters May 2007 (grammar and spelling has not been changed from the original message, email addresses have been removed)

Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 07:50:15 -0700
From: genevadairy@yahoo.comSubject:
Re: Olde Geneva Dairy
To: genevadairy@yahoo.com
The (state) person you quoted was copied on the email you were just sent. SHE HAS NOT RESPONDED. She was mis-informed and we do not hold her accountable at this time assuming she has since been updated. We have emailed her weeks ago and she also has not responded to that. Once again, our retreat has been approved by the local board of health, always has been, and to say different would be un-informed.

This "man" thing or "man" problem you have is unbelievable by the way. Best wishes with that and to your husband if you still have one.

NO REFUND. (As our policy clearly states) Any further derogatory or harassing emails with be dealt with by every legal means at our disposal. I pray for you that you may get over the "man" problem and move on with your life. At last I checked for now our species could not exist without them as much as you obviously wish it weren't so.

PS - Hopefully you won't mind, but I am posting a few excerpts from your emails on the wall of our crop room. Many of the ladies have gotten a kick out of your attitude about the "man" thing.

Linda K (email address removed) wrote:

Unfortunately, I have to take the words of a state regulatory agency over your own. "According to Shelby Co everyone thought it was closed, including his attorney, after he divorced his wife who was the pervious owner. " and "At this time, the business is red tagged (closed) because it is not zoned for this business, it does not have fire safety much less all the things needed to run a "hotel" or serve meals. They are being issued a cease and desist order. It is more than a B & B."

I respectfully REQUEST the return of all fees and deposits associated with the planned June 15-17th retreat. Regardless of what wrong or mistake you think has been made, you can not expect clients to take your word over that of an official state agency. Additionally, you have 2 recent citations from the Better Business Bureau for similar issues. While you try to work out the problems you have with the state and county, it is in your best interest as a business owner to do the right and honest thing.

Because as the saying goes, "you catch more flies (clients) with honey than with vinegar." -- Linda K

Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 18:14:45 -0700
From: genevadairy@yahoo.com
Subject: Olde Geneva Dairy
To: Linda K. CC: BrandyB; Madonia
Hello all Turns out that the owner of Olde Geneva Dairy was originally aproved by the local health dept. and always has been (Cert. on file) and that has never been the problem. It also turns out that the other scrapbooking retreats opperating in the state of Indiana have had similar zoning issues as the "Dairy" did.

It has never been an issue of "health." We are cooperating with the local athourities to make sure that we are not giving any false information what so ever to any potential patron. They are all copied on this email, including our local zoning board pres.

ONCE AGAIN IT HAS NEVER BEEN AN ISSUE OF "HEALTH" AS THE LOCAL HEALTH DEPT. HAS APPROVED OUR FACILITY ALWAYS IN THE PAST. ONLY A MATTER OF ZONNING. THE RETREAT ITSELF MAY NOT NESSESARILY EVER CHANGE AT ALL.

The statement that --- Linda (removed) Given this information I am official requesting that all monies associated with the June 16th 2007 weekend retreat be refunded including the deposits. Failure to return this money will result in complaints being filed with this agency as well as the Better Business Bureau.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

----- Original Message -----
From: Vargas, Shirley K
To: Madonia
Cc: Gala, Dhansukh L.
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 8:12 AM
Subject: Olde Geneva Dairy
Good morning Ms. Madonia,
Thank you for your complaint on the above firm. It has stirred quite an investigation. I have been working with the Shelby County Health Department and it seems that the owner recently opened this business without contacting all the proper agencies. According to Shelby Co everyone thought it was closed, including his attorney, after he divorced his wife who was the pervious owner.

At this time, the business is red tagged (closed) because it is not zoned for this business, it does not have fire safety much less all the things needed to run a "hotel" or serve meals. They are being issued a cease and desist order. It is more than a B & B. This case will not come before the zoning commission until June. I have reminded them to address the website and false advertising also.

I hope you and your associates have not experienced any foodborne illness. We have not received an reports of illness to date.

If you need anything else please let me know, otherwise you can direct any further questions to Robert Lewis, 317.392.6470, who is working with all the agencies involved in this investigation.
Shirley K. Vargas, SupervisorWholesale Food ProtectionPhone: 317.233.7718Fax: 317.233.7334e-mail: svargas@isdh.in.gov

Gerry G. – February 2007 - email

We traveled from Battle Creek, MI to the Olde Geneva Dairy in February 2007. Shortly after we traveled through Fort Wayne, IN, we received a call from Craig (as he identified himself) to make sure we weren't lost and to let us know that had to run an errand and he may not be there when we arrived. He told us to make ourself at home, let us know which room we would be occupying and told us that he would carry in our belongings when he arrived. He actually called us numerous times to make sure we weren't lost. We found out why later.

When we arrived the outside didn't look at all like it did on the website - for one thing, there was barely enough room to park between the building and the road.

By the way, an SUV was pulling out and leaving as we arrived.

We went in and were welcomed by the smell of sewage, rotting fruit and warm salad dressings on the dining room table and clutter-filled kitchen countertops and sinks. Spa? It was six bottles of nail polish, a Sauder desk and a Homedics foot tub! We found that our room contained three stripped beds with a pile of what we assumed was laundered, wrinkled bedding and towels. We were starting to get ticked! The attached bath was also in no condition for guests. What do you know, one of our cells rang and it was Craig. We voiced our concerns and he assured us that the sewage smell was from some recent construction and the maid had called in sick, but he was on his way to pick up some one to clean.

We went upstairs to the cropping room (full of junk piled in every corner) and found two very lovely country club types from Cincinnati (Hmmm...was it really as bad as we imagined?) They told us that the SUV we saw pulling out contained a group of women that decided to leave because of the conditions. We discussed how we felt scammed and they said they didn't feel safe (did I mention that none of the bedrooms had locks on them?) and if we were leaving, they were too.

As we were leaving, Craig the proprietor still had not arrived, he called one of our cells. We let him know that we had no intentions of staying. He gave us all sorts of excuses and told us that if we stayed just one night and still felt the same way, he would refund our deposit. A $75 deposit was not worth staying in that filthy dump.

The condition of this place was not the result of the maid not showing up one day. He is intentionally scamming people and making a living off deposits.

Thankfully, we had the resources to try to make the best of the situation. We went on to Carmel, stayed at a beautiful hotel and met some wonderful people at a scrapbooking store named Memoirs. I would also like to thank the people at Cropadoodle for referring us there. (Cropadoodle was booked and couldn't accomodate us on such short notice, but there were so very helpful). There really are reputable retreats out there. Unfortunately, we picked the wrong one.

Gerry G –February 2007 – Dispute message sent to PayPal

I desire my $75 deposit back on the grounds that the 'retreat' was not at all as it was represented on the internet. It was dirty to the point of unsanitary, run-down, and smelled of sewer. Laundered (?) linens and towels were in a heap on the unmade beds, the toilet tissue holder in the bathroom was falling off the wall, the liquid soap bottle was empty, a bowl of rotting fruit was on the dining room table along with bottles of salad dressing left from the lunch that was served hours prior to our arrival. This is not what we expected after being on the road for four and a half hours. The pictures that we took of the conditions on the inside and outside look nothing at all like the pictures that are posted on the Olde Geneva Dairy website. I feel that we were intentionally misled, especially after speaking to women at a scrapbook store in the area who stated they were met with the same conditions in April 2006

Shelly – January 2006
My experience, while horrible, was nothing compared to what I'm reading!! We were there when his wife still had it (Jan. '06). She was a treat! She didn't follow through on anything she promised and was barely even there. She told us of his abuse and all the money they had (his private jet and her 6 ct. diamond ring). We had no running water/toilets all day Saturday and were woke up by men working in the kitchen installing a door at 7 a.m. I had the worst pedicure in a pan of bottled water they warmed on the stove. She said she would pick up things we needed and be right back and then return 12 hours later without the items. Just an all around nightmare!! Kim, who did the cooking, was great!!

A slide show of photos that have been sent to us by actual retreat goers.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Censorship

As we all know there are hundreds upon hundreds of message boards and forums that cater to our hobby, scrapbooking. Our experience with the Olde Geneva Dairy has made us personally aware of many of them as we are posting on as many boards as possible a WARNING about Olde Geneva Dairy .

A warning that we believe is very important to the safety of other women. What is amazing is some of these boards and forums are deleting our benign messages, sometimes with a reason why and other times not, a few of them follow.

Although we respect the opinion of the administrators of these boards and forums, there in lays the question about the lack of concern they are exhibiting about the defrauding of scrapbookers who are mostly women and the concern for our safety. Which in turn is enabling Mr. Bridgers to continue with his scam on our community.

It begs the questions………………………….are these sites that membership should be desired, especially if our Freedom of Speech is going to be moderated and/or our posts deleted.

I am not advocating that other scrapbookers not enjoy these sites, I am simply stating that I am alarmed that (1) they haven't taken the time to investigate the facts and (2) are taking it upon themselves to Police the opinion of others.

That is my opinion, I do not demand that others agree with it.

Splitcoaststampers - http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/

It sounds like your retreat story was a nightmare. What a lot of anxiety. I did want to PM you and let you know that your post was deleted. It is against our Terms of Service to post derogatory information about individuals, whether they are members here or not. I am sorry because I can understand how infuriating the situation must have been.
Please let me know if you have any questions
Thanks,
Lori

APeekintoYesterday - http://apeekintoyesterday.com/scrapbooking_forums

I did delete your post, and I should have sent you a note about that. I'm very sorry I didn't. I support your cause 100%. However, I try not to allow posts along that line at Peek. It could quickly get out of hand, and then we would have a flame board, which I have worked very, very hard to avoid. I don't know how I would draw the line between what is allowed and what isn't. I hope you can understand. I really want Peek to be a pleasant and peaceful place. I also feel your issue is not going to be resolved by spreading the word on scrapbook sites. It is an issue for the police. But you are right - this man needs to be stopped. But I don't think you can do it here at Peek. I hope you can understand and support my position.
Pat


organized scrapbooks - http://www.organizedscrapbooks.net/
No explanation, just deleted the post.

3Scrapateers - http://www.3scrapateers.com/

First, it was approved, 2 days later the post removed and this message was received.
Although I completely understand what you are trying to do, and believe it's a good idea to share the info we can't have it in the 3S forum for legal reasons. We wish you luck with your plight, it sounds like it's well under way.3Scrapateers Management - Stacey K.


ScrapAddict.com - http://scrapaddict.com/

Welcome to our site...I removed the link from your post and also from your signature line...if ppl want to know what is going on they can certainly pm you. We are pretty strict rules about links on our site…………….we can't allow posts of this sort.
From scrapadd

ScrapFriends - http://www.scrapfriends.us/

It's a little difficult to decide whether posts like this should stay up. It would appear that your main motivation for joining was to post this Olde Geneva info, and we (scrapfriends management) don't want to assume the role of "Web Police". On the other hand it appears to be credible... (and we're very sympathetic to the situation!) Unfortunately appearances alone do not justify enabling these kinds of public service announcements. Without research, we really don't know if there is any slanderous information on the linked website. And as stated: "Our purpose is to encourage one another in development of layout technique and style, page numbers, organization, and general scrapbooking growth."So, I snipped that part of the post, but left the signature link. We hope you stick around and enjoy ScrapFriends!
John

Scrap4Life - http://www.scrap4life.com/
No explanation, deleted the post

These are all message boards that are no longer in my Favorite Scrapbooking Folder and urge any of you reading this to express you displeasure too.

And the list just keeps growing................................

Just4Keeps-Scrappers Talk - http://www.just4keeps.com/
Deleted link to blog

Susan's Scrapbook Shack - http://www.susansscrapbookshack2.com
Portion of post deleted, the portion regarding the Olde Geneva Dairy Scam and all links

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

My Complaint to the Indiana Attorney General

As I have been urging everyone to do, I too am filing a complaint with all of the agencies listed on the links. The following is one of my attachments.

Summary of complaint:

After unsuccessfully trying to communicate with Mr. Bridgers, I and the other members of my group cancelled our reservations on July 22, 2007 for the reasons that follow. Our/My scheduled visit date to the Olde Geneva Retreat was to be on July 26, 27 and 28, 2007.

The website promises the following

The "Olde Geneva Dairy" is an all-inclusive scrapbook retreat and was created by scrapbookers (and an experienced, popular local chef) exclusively for scrapbookers, determined to offer the very best in value and creative atmosphere available, surpassing any other scrapbooking retreat in North America. This "World Class" scrapbook retreat is very affordable however, especially taking into consideration all of the amenities and extras included with your weekend retreat stay. At the "Dairy", you'll be able to scrap, chop, crop, stamp and paste non-stop for days without any of the distractions that plague you at home or at other commercial venues for scrapbooking. You can get a massage, manicure, pedicure, facial or several other professional spa treatments from licensed and certified technicians over the weekend or just simply relax and unwind.

Yet, Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers would not communicate with me or my group abouth the location of the retreat, even though the website reads:

The Olde Geneva Dairy is located about 42 miles south, south-east of Indianapolis, Indiana near Flat Rock, Indiana in what is called the "Geneva" community. Only about 40-50 minutes from the Indianapolis Airport or downtown area. To help you plan your drive to the "Olde Geneva Dairy" we have listed below, the approximate* driving times from several other cities in the region. Remember that internet maps, although helpful at times are not always the "best" or "fastest" routes. We will be happy to help you with directions

He would not/did not communicate that he was relocating our group to an alternate location, yet he has added to his policy the following statement:

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MOVE OUR RETREAT LOCATION AT ANY TIME THAT OUR FACILITY AT 1208 E VANDALIA RD / FLAT ROCK IN IS UNAVAILABLE FOR SCRAPBOOK RETREATS. IN THIS EVENT, A FACILITY WITHIN 50 MILES OF OUR LOCATION WILL BE UTILIZED THAT CAN OFFER COMPARABLE AMENITIES AS OUR ORIGINAL LOCATION. ALL GUESTS WILL ALWAYS BE ACCOMMODATED AS NORMAL

He could not/would not tell us that he was going “accommodate as normal” at an alternate location, yet he still contends that the alternate location was going to provide the "World Class" scrapbook retreat is very affordable however, especially taking into consideration all of the amenities and extras included with your weekend retreat stay.

And we were suppose to be able to “scrap, chop, crop, stamp and paste non-stop for days without any of the distractions that plague you at home or at other commercial venues for scrapbooking. You can get a massage, manicure, pedicure, facial or several other professional spa treatments from licensed and certified technicians over the weekend or just simply relax and unwind.”

Mr. Bridgers contends that his cancellation policy gives him the right to NOT refund the reservation deposit, however the fact remains that Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers does not hold a license or permits to have a business or in this case a Bed & Breakfast in Shelby County, not at this time and not at the time of my reservation on February 26, 2007. Copies of the “policy” are included with this form.

Since our cancellation Mr. Bridgers has communicated by email with a member of group, Patti Schmitz, he told her:

We chose to accommodate your group at the best hotel in the area that still had rooms available no matter what the cost. This hotel was the Lee's Inn in Seymour, IN and is considered to be the best in the region (voted in several local publications)

This motel is located at 2075 E Tipton St, Seymour, IN, exactly 45.64 miles away from the original retreat location. Therefore, I assume he felt he was fulfilling his portion of the “contract” for the services he was suppose to be providing because it was

A FACILITY WITHIN 50 MILES OF OUR LOCATION WILL BE UTILIZED THAT CAN OFFER COMPARABLE AMENITIES AS OUR ORIGINAL LOCATION.

We are all baffled in regards to how he was planning to provide the “comparable amenities”.

Patti was invited to call the Lee’s Inn and confirm that he had done this, she did. What she learned was he made reservations for our group on July 16, 2007 and the cancelled them on July 25, 2007.

However, in the email response sent to the members of my group on July 22, 2007 he specifically states:

Until a few minutes ago the owners, along with a half dozen other people, were feverishly working to get the new location up and running so that it would be ready for your group. We have all be working toward that in the last few days. Whatever location someone said was “red tagged” was not our current retreat location.

At the last meeting that the owners, attorneys and county officials had, it was decided that we would not attempt to get the old location up to speed again as problems with neighbors and commercial building requirements would make the changes unreasonable and that we would simply accelerate our ultimate plan of moving to a bigger and better location, already zoned for the activities we do.

I have included a copy of the email in its entirety.

The Shelbyville News reported on August 15, 2007 "that Bridgers is no longer allowed to hold the scrapbooking retreats at the Olde Geneva Dairy, he has relocated them to another undisclosed location outside of Shelby County".

And his website does confirm that.

Attention friends and all serious scrapbookers – We’re moving! As you could expect, there comes a time for all business that have outgrown one location to face this situation and our time has now come. In early 2004 we thought hosting 6-8 guest 2 or 3 weekends a month would be great but we love to do what we do and thanks to the many scrapbooking friends we’ve made that love what they do also, things just got a little faster and bigger than we expected before we knew it. Everyone loved the old dairy barn for sure, but when looking at expansion needs, update possibilities and new zoning considerations it made more sense to chose a location already suited to accommodating “the most popular weekend scrapbooking retreat in the world.” Yes, we’ve actually lined-up a bigger and better location for the Dairy and can’t wait for you to see it. Still the same great amenities, food, free equipment and work area just a location much better for keeping up with the number of scrapbook guests we have hosted for several years and just a few miles away from the original location! We plan to have the move complete in just a few days and all guests that could be effected during the moving process have already been contacted. At this time, ALL pictures and property descriptions on this website relate to our OLD location that we do not hold retreats at any more. New pictures and property descriptions will be put up in short order as soon as we have the new location ready for the guests and we’re putting of course all efforts into that goal as we hope you understand. For more information on the move please CLICK HERE. – Otherwise, please enjoy the site and rest assured that if you like what you see now, it’ll only get better. Reservations are still being taken as normal. Thanks!

The article also reports that Bridgers said. "The customer got everything they should have gotten."

There is no possible way he could or can fulfill that statement as was reported to me by Sharon Kofmehl in her email of August 14, 2007, about her "retreat" experience the weekend of August 9, 10 and 11, 2007.

Hi - I'm not sure how much help any of my "foursome" would be, as we FORCED him to refund our deposit before we left the motel premises and watched him refund the money through a PayPal account.

We did stop at the Shelbyville Police Department and file a report with them as to what this guy had going on. I think our police report may have precipitated an article published in the Shelbyville newspaper about his operation. It was published on 8/12/07 and someone posted it on the TwoPeas forum page, if you haven't already seen it.

He (Craig) told us that his "retreat" was 4:40 hours from the Detroit area. We all live about 40 miles north of the City, so we planned for a four-hour drive. The day before we were to leave for our wonderful experience at the "world's premier scrapbook retreat", I visited his website (which I hadn't done since we booked the trip months ago) and read that the pictures on the website were of the "old premises" and that they had moved to a new and grander site, yet not giving any specific details or addresses.

This didn't sit well with me and I contacted the person who booked our trip. She said she put a call in to Craig and was waiting for him to call back and confirm the situation. He called her LATE Sunday night and assured her that all was fine. He told her to call him on his cell phone when we got to a certain point and he would "walk us through the rest of the directions because you couldn't trust an internet map to be accurate".

Well, 7-1/2 hours later, per his instructions, we arrived at the Lee's Motel in Greensburg. The place was hot (the temperature outside that day was about 100 degrees and they were in the throes of an official heat wave) and it was DIRTY and SMELLY.

When we asked for Craig, the lady behind the desk said he had been there "over the weekend, but wasn't there [now]". We asked a staff person and she didn't even know who he was.


Needless to say, things were not looking up. Craig showed up about 5 minutes later, running in sweaty and hurried. He said he had been sitting at a red light "just outside". We all suspected he was in his vehicle watching to see who would show up, in case of a sting-type operation by the authorities.

We came to this conclusion after the events that transpired next. He showed us to the "crop room" which was a dirty conference room in the motel. On a table sat a jar of pickles, an unopened bag of chips, half of a pitcher of tap water and two slices of pound cake in a "reduced for clearance" plastic container such as you would get at Walmart. I suspect this was leftover from the two unhappy guests who were there previous to us. He also had a web cam hooked up at ceiling level.

When my friend and I asked him about it, he said it wasn't on (however, the lights were on ...). We immediately told him we DID NOT WANT TO BE ON ANY WEBCAM.

He gave us keys to two rooms and we went to the rooms to speak privately. The rooms were unacceptable to any of us, as was this ENTIR E situation.

We demanded our money back at that point and he became very angry and belligerent. When I asked him why he didn't call us to tell us there was no longer a retreat at the dairy, but in a dirty motel, he became very angry and told us that we "all know what a hotel" is like.

I informed him this was not a HOTEL, but a motel, and we could have made better accommodations than this five minutes from our home.

I also told him that this was definitely a "BAIT AND SWITCH' scam. He became increasingly more agitated with us. As I said, we forced him to refund our money and we left.

We COULD NOT BELIEVE what we had just experienced. My friend who booked the trip was almost in tears and said she didn't know if she was going to vomit or faint.

One of my friends had the presence of mind to write down his license plate number, which we gave to the police and they immediately identified him. They said they couldn't do anything for us because he did refund the money, but that they were going to file a report with the Greensburg Police Department which, they determined, was where the motel was.

I DO NOT WANT ANYONE ELSE TO HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS GUY. He appears desperate and desperate people do desperate things. We shudder to think of the web cams that may have been in the rooms he booked. HIS WEBSITE SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN, if at all possible. If you need/want any further information, just e-mail me again. Sorry for your bad experience too! S.

Question 17 on the Consumer Complaint Form asks, “How would you like your complaint resolved?”

I would like to see the website taken off the internet, all of his websites, not just http://www.oldegenevadairy.com/, but also http://www.scrapbookdairy.com/.

I would like to see charges filed against Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers for Fraud and Larceny.

What we learned

By the time we had received the reply from Olde Geneva, we had already started to find the negative postings and concerns on the various other scrapbooking message boards and forums.

We have since learned:

The Olde Geneva Dairy Retreat, formerly known as the Scrapbooking Dairy is not a viable business. It is not now or has ever been licensed as a Bed and Breakfast (which is what all Scrapbooking Retreats in Indiana are classified as), the owner Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers does not have a Business License or Merchant Certificate for this "business". Nor are there any health or safety certificates for any location within Indiana borders for any “retreat” being ran by Mr. Bridgers.

There is an ongoing investigation with the county and state officials, complaints have been filed with the local police, not only by his neighbors, but also by retreat goers.

Yet they can’t seem to shut him down.

There are rumors of domestic violence, DUI arrests, bankruptcy, and so on.

This hobby we call scrapbooking is made up of 90% women (will probably more) and we are a trusting group, we trust because it is in our nature, we believe that if anyone shares our love for our hobby they too must be trustworthy. Which in my opinion is why this man, Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers, has been able to get away with the crime of defrauding our community.

I believe he thinks that we are too embarrassed and humiliated to share with the other members of our community exactly what has happened and we won’t complain about it.

I ask you, is this true? Are we going to allow this to happen? I say NO we are not!

We are going to ban together and fight. I have no doubt this fight will be a long one, I believe we will have to be diligent if we wish to see justice.

This person is advertising a service that is not being provided by a true business in any sense of the word and he is using the internet to cheat/scam hardworking people out of their money to fill his own pockets.

If you have been a victim of Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers and Olde Geneva Dairy please join us in our crusade for justice. When I say victim I'm not just referring to losing money, but the whole scam.........like one gal this past weekend which drove 7 1/2 hours to find that her group was to be put up in a sleazy motel or that the retreat was not as advertised on the website, make your experience known.

You will find links to the left for the many agencies we all need to be reporting our experiences with the Olde Geneva Dairy and Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers to.

Don't forget to contact your..........................

Credit card companies, yes I realize that we probably will not get our money back, but we have put up the flag

PayPal, put up the flag, let them know it is a scam, he is not providing the service as advertised

US Postal service if you mailed him a check, it is a federal offense to defraud using the mail

We have added links to the REAL scrapbooking retreats in Indiana and the various scrapbooking message boards/forums where other women have reported being scammed by the Olde Geneva Dairy.

Feel free to send us your links and comments.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, we are that squeaky wheel!

On a happy note, our group still had our “retreat”, we gathered despite all of this in Castleton, Indiana at the Best Western, we came from Florida, New York, Vermont, Maryland, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Washington and Indiana. We visited the local scrapbooking stores that extended us discounts after hearing our story, we participated in the Saturday evening ScrapMania at Archiver’s in Castleton and we all became great friends, but this is a story for another day.

The Cancellation

As our story continues we have CANCELLED, the entire group sends off emails to Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers, stating our concerns, asking questions, thinking we might get answers and finally on Sunday, July 22, 2007 we receive the reply

Now having time to sit and check emails once home this afternoon, it seems that everyone that should be receiving our directions and final information email this afternoon has decided to cancel for next weekend July 26,27-30th.

I’ve only have a chance to read a few of the notes but some of them were very rude and accusatory for no reason. I’m not saying they all were, but many certainly.

I know that someone called Saturday night right in the middle of dinner and Craig was unable to talk at that time but he did mention it to me and I was going to call Ms. Mueller back today, however it pretty much seems pointless now.

We all have been very accommodating to your group having answered more than 60 emails and dozens of call as of last Thursday and have not yet let any group down in any way.

To avoid having to re-read each email and answer each individually, I’ve spoken with one of the owners, they asked me to explain what I could in a note to everyone as soon as possible.

Until a few minutes ago the owners, along with a half dozen other people, were feverishly working to get the new location up and running so that it would be ready for your group. We’ve all be working toward that in the last few days. Whatever location someone said was “red tagged” was not our current retreat location.

At the last meeting that the owners, attorneys and county officials had, it was decided that we would not attempt to get the old location up to speed again as problems with neighbors and commercial building requirements would make the changes unreasonable and that we would simply accelerate our ultimate plan of moving to a bigger and better location, already zoned for the activities we do.

Let me make a couple of things clear at this point. We have never been stopped in operation due to “Local Health Dept. (Robert Lewis) action. We had a health dept certificate for our old location and we currently have one for our new location – plus a recent favorable inspection report.

Also, please do not reply saying we should have let someone know about relocation sooner. I can tell you that we did not know for sure if we would be able to have the new location operational by the time your weekend arrived and also did not know for sure if we would not be able to have the retreat at our old location until mid last week.

Many of our guests fly in from out of town and as we would never cancel a retreat for that matter. We always make sure contingency plans are in place no matter what. Priority #1 was to take care of guests coming to the retreat this weekend and after that, priority #2 was to inform your group of any changes in location or anything else having to do with your weekend.

It’s water under the bridge now, but I assure you that we did not make the final decision as to what we would offer for your weekend until a few days ago and as Sunday afternoon was the first reasonable chance to answer your questions etc. It would not have made sense to send a note Friday as everyone could not have been dealt with until this afternoon.

I can say that your weekend retreat was fully expected to take place, limousines were lined up already for several of your group that was flying in and accommodations were already confirmed.

If anyone receiving this email has purchased non-refundable airline tickets and still wishes to attend the retreat next weekend, please reply and let us know as your retreat, transportation and scrapbook area will be ready.

Otherwise, please do not reply to this email for other comments as your cancellation has already been received.

Thank you

Ann, Alyce and Debbie

Your friends at the Dairy Olde Geneva Dairy Flat Rock, Indiana

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

The Crusade

Since July 21, 2007, it seems I have been on a crusade, as a rule I don’t take up causes and pretty much believe live and let live, however………………………………………

At the beginning of 2007 a group of gals in the scrapbooking kit club I belong to, ScrapGoods, began talking about meeting in real life, perhaps going to a retreat. After much discussion, it was decided that we would all gather in Indiana at the Olde Geneva Dairy located in Flat Rock. There were 16 of us.

"The Olde Geneva Dairy - Scrapbooking Weekend Retreat and Shoppe has been open for business and taking reservations on a daily basis for weekend retreats and scrapbook getaways for over two years. Please call 1-765-525-9464 or email us if you have any questions or need any additional information about our scrapbooking getaway that is not available on this website. We look forward to hearing from you. If you are interested in our "guest hostess" program or wish to attend our retreat a little more often than your funds may allow, click here. "We don't want to make money... we just love to scrapbook!"

We picked a date, the weekend of July 26 thru July 29, 2007. We paid our deposits of $75.00 each. For those of us that were not close enough to drive airline reservations were made and to get the good deals on the airfare, took non-refundable tickets.

We spent months planning and taunting the other members of our club about all the fun things we were going to be doing. We were the SG Scrappin Divas!

In April we heard rumors that there were some zoning issues with the Olde Geneva Diary, but we were assured by the proprietor, Mr. Anson Craig Bridgers, that all was in order and there were no worries. At that time posted on the website was "NOTE: Phase II of our remodeling project is now complete and every bedroom and suite has a private bathroom!"

Then on one hot Saturday afternoon, July 21, 2007, a member of our group, who was local, decided to take a road trip. This gal and her hubby jumped into the truck, programmed the GPS, popped in the Harry Potter book #7 CDs, pack their baby girls (puppies) up and off they went, it's perhaps a 40 minute drive.

When they arrived at the place the GPS identified as the location, 2801 E. Vandalia Road, all they saw was a barn like structure that had been red tagged by the county, no cars, no indication of happy scrapbookers, you see the calendar on the Olde Geneva Dairy website indicated that the retreat was booked that very weekend.




(photo provide by Nicole)

Alarm bells stared going off, hubby is saying "didn’t you all research this first", the sinking feeling in her stomach was getting worse with each passing moment. They drive up and down the road, stopping people to inquire if they know anything about the Olde Geneva Diary, the replies they receive are “that place has been shut down”. They finally come across a neighbor who tells them that he had heard the “retreat” had been relocated to the Lee’s Inn in Greensburg. At this point the she picks up her cell phone and calls Mr. Bridgers and inquires where the retreat is located, he is rude and argumentative and informs her that IF she has a reservation she will be receiving an email on the following day with instructions.

Once home she emails the “leader” of the group, shares her findings, who in turns calls Mr. Bridgers who will not talk to her either or inform her of any potentional problems. The group is informed and things begin to fall apart, the group decides they will cancel their reservations and so they do.