Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

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redoubt
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by redoubt » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:03 pm

The latest from CBC:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2490139" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like it's officially off in NS. Refunds promised to brewers and ticket-purchasers alike. We'll have to see if it actually happens.

Great concept, this event, but in totally the wrong hands. Too bad, really.

-Kirsten

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:15 pm

Good lord almighty, who was in charge of the brewery that vetted this event?
"Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Great Canadian Beer Expo has to be postponed at this time," reads an email sent to a Maritime brewery set to take part in the event.
At Alexander Keith's we follow the recipes first developed by the great brewmaster to the absolute letter. :wtf:

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:22 pm

Trail of beer expo organizer turns cold

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2 ... rns-cold/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great Canadian Beer Expo organizer Jonathan Brett has disconnected his phone, shut down his email addresses associated with the event, and taken down the expo’s Facebook page — but at least one customer has managed to get a refund for tickets.

Julie Guy had bought a pair of tickets for the beer expo’s Halifax event at the Cunard Centre though Brett’s website, paying $50 each, plus a processing fee. The centre said Wednesday it had no contract with Brett for the rental of the space, and it only allows tickets to be sold through a recognized ticketing agent, like Ticket Atlantic.

Guy decided to ask for a refund after CBC in Nova Scotia aired a story Wednesday naming Brett as the organizer of the beer expo and connecting him with last fall’s Mud Immortal debacle in St. John’s. Brett had organized a five-kilometre obstacle run at Butterpot Park — while he was in personal bankruptcy, it was later discovered — leaving hundreds of participants upset due to a lack of clean water, unsafe obstacles, no food and a list of other problems.

The money, which Brett said would be going to charity, was not donated to the Alzheimer’s Society as planned (after waiting more than a week, the society announced it would not take any donations from the event) and a class-action lawsuit against Brett by participants is underway.

Since the beer expo website said no refunds would be given, Guy emailed Brett personally, asking for her money back. She received a reply from him late Wednesday evening.

“We are aware of the story that recently aired,” Brett wrote. “The Halifax event IS happening. We will be contacting Cunard in the AM to get clarification on any miscommunication that may have occurred. However, in the very worst scenario for any of our events, if any of them must be cancelled, we would 100% be offering refunds to attendees. We do apologize for the confusion.”

Guy told The Telegram she wanted a refund regardless, given what she learned about Mud Immortal, and she put in a PayPal request for a refund. Within a half an hour, Brett gave her back her money.

This morning, a number of venues across the Maritimes that were in talks with Brett about renting the space for the beer expo received a message from him saying the expo was being cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances.” He has told them he will be giving refunds to people who purchased tickets — how many did is unknown — although with no public email address, no public cellphone and no Facebook group, there is no way for participants to reach him.

Brett has ignored many attempts by The Telegram for comment on the beer expo and clarification about where the money raised from Mud Immortal has gone. Calls to his cellphone Wednesday night rang out before being picked up by an answering machine that was full; two hours later, the phone number had been disconnected. His email address and the Great Canadian Beer Expo Facebook page were both shut down by 10 a.m.

The Telegram is working on an update to this story.
At Alexander Keith's we follow the recipes first developed by the great brewmaster to the absolute letter. :wtf:

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by redoubt » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:30 pm

He shut down all means to get in contact with him? Clearly the guy has no interest in appearing credible anymore. Is this the sort of thing the RCMP can and should investigate?

-Kirsten

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:53 pm

Can somebody find a bigger image of this:

Image

:lol:

Image
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by bluenose » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:59 pm

CBClovesbeer wrote:Hey all - It's Jack Julian here with CBC News. First off props to Brewnosers for shining a light on this story early on. Since yesterday I've been lurking and getting ideas. That PDF you grabbed was very helpful in attempting to contact Jonathan Brett. He's dodging all my emails, phonecalls, texts and Facebook messages so far.
Anyway, I really want to do a follow tonight. My boss says I have 20 minutes to find people who bought tickets to this event and are pissed off and trying to get a refund. If I can find folks willing to go on camera, then she'll assign me.
Any takers?
I'm on my cell at 902 456 9180 in Halifax.
Don't forget to mention the Brewnosers when you go live! :cheers:
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:02 pm

Yeah, I'd like to see this thread mentioned a bit more. If you guys are on social media or whatever, throw it out there. CBC and the Telegram are doing a great job obviously, but we do deserve a little credit here. This part of the story started with us.
At Alexander Keith's we follow the recipes first developed by the great brewmaster to the absolute letter. :wtf:

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by CBClovesbeer » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:11 pm

Thanks for your help everyone... I found someone in Halifax who already got a refund, and that's enough for news purposes tonight. I spoke with someone else by phone from Moncton who is waiting for his refund. Brett put a self-imposed deadline of Jan 31, so we'll have to wait and see what materializes. Cheers!

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by Jimmy » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:25 pm

mr x wrote:Yeah, I'd like to see this thread mentioned a bit more. If you guys are on social media or whatever, throw it out there. CBC and the Telegram are doing a great job obviously, but we do deserve a little credit here. This part of the story started with us.

:stupid:

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by ThePubMagazine » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:31 pm

To satisfy my own curiosity I sent an email to GCBF requesting refund details...not expecting a reply - yet this just came in:

info@greatcanadianbeerexpo.com

3:17 PM (9 minutes ago)

to Troy
Hi Troy,
If you have purchased tickets for any of the Great Canadian Beer Expos, you should have received an e-mail this morning.

That e-mail indicated that refunds have already commenced and all ticket purchasers will be automatically refunded the full cost of the ticket. Complete refunds will be completed by January 31, 2014.

Regards,
The GCBE Team
http://www.greatcanadianbeerexpo.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Info request refund
From: Troy Kirkby <info@thepubmagazine.com>
Date: Thu, January 09, 2014 3:10 pm
To: jonathan@greatcanadianbeerexpo.com

Jonathan,

What is the course of action to get refunds?

Regards,
Troy

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by brufrog » Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:02 pm

mr x wrote:Yeah, I'd like to see this thread mentioned a bit more. If you guys are on social media or whatever, throw it out there. CBC and the Telegram are doing a great job obviously, but we do deserve a little credit here. This part of the story started with us.
I can do that. So what link do I use?
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:03 pm

brufrog wrote:
mr x wrote:Yeah, I'd like to see this thread mentioned a bit more. If you guys are on social media or whatever, throw it out there. CBC and the Telegram are doing a great job obviously, but we do deserve a little credit here. This part of the story started with us.
I can do that. So what link do I use?
This thread is open for public viewing and is what I was using. Thx!
At Alexander Keith's we follow the recipes first developed by the great brewmaster to the absolute letter. :wtf:

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:36 pm

My comment is in the comment section of this cbc story:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2489470" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Although I'd like to see one in the new story:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.2490139" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Edit, now on both. :D
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by Carla Crotty » Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:21 pm

BREWNOSERS: THANK YOU

I finally broke down and created a username and password for this site so I could personally thank you for the awesome detective work and blowing the lid on Jon Brett's latest scam. You have likely prevented many more from being duped into paying for entry to an event that was never going to happen! I have been working hard at ensuring he pays since the Mud Immortal event here in NL and you've just made things that much easier! I am well aware of the key role you guys played in breaking the news, and I've been sure to let people know. If any of you know anyone who purchased tickets, especially in PEI, I'd really like to hear from you. I'm not a reporter, so I've got no angle, just a concerned citizen who is trying to make sure this scumbag pays! Awesome job!

Carla Crotty

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:41 pm

Good luck to you!

I really hope one of the news agencies follows up with NSLC as to whether or not they were actually in contact with him, as he has stated in numerous e-mails. That would cement whether he was grossly incompetent, or just plain lying.

Of course the conundrum for you becomes can you ever get money back, and if so, does it come from some other scam...

Certainly a dramatic turnaround from all the legit and prestigious entrepreneurial awards 7 years ago. Gives me pause for some of the awards that are handed out now.
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by Jimmy » Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:56 pm

Carla Crotty wrote:BREWNOSERS: THANK YOU

I finally broke down and created a username and password for this site so I could personally thank you for the awesome detective work and blowing the lid on Jon Brett's latest scam. You have likely prevented many more from being duped into paying for entry to an event that was never going to happen! I have been working hard at ensuring he pays since the Mud Immortal event here in NL and you've just made things that much easier! I am well aware of the key role you guys played in breaking the news, and I've been sure to let people know. If any of you know anyone who purchased tickets, especially in PEI, I'd really like to hear from you. I'm not a reporter, so I've got no angle, just a concerned citizen who is trying to make sure this scumbag pays! Awesome job!

Carla Crotty
I'm curious, did you find us because of this whole beer expo thing, or have you been a lurker for a while?

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by bluenose » Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:48 pm

mr x wrote:...Certainly a dramatic turnaround from all the legit and prestigious entrepreneurial awards 7 years ago. Gives me pause for some of the awards that are handed out now.
ok, so the article I saw about a fastest growing company award was handed out to the same guy?
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:57 pm

http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/ ... 303n07.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
At Alexander Keith's we follow the recipes first developed by the great brewmaster to the absolute letter. :wtf:

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by toddthebeerdude » Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:30 am

Great job, thanks again for the heads up. I will mention the thread in my blog today if that is OK
mr x wrote:Yeah, I'd like to see this thread mentioned a bit more. If you guys are on social media or whatever, throw it out there. CBC and the Telegram are doing a great job obviously, but we do deserve a little credit here. This part of the story started with us.

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by GuingesRock » Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:07 am

MedicLINK Systems Ltd. has received $351,698 from the Provincial Government’s Commercialization Program to develop its new dermatology software and market it in the United States.
From left to right: Jonathan Brett, CEO, MedicLINK with the Honourable Trevor Taylor, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development.
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by GuingesRock » Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:28 am

-Mark
2nd place, Canadian Brewer of the Year, 2015
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by tcashin » Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:55 am

Presumably that company is the one mentioned here in this article :
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundl ... -1.2470111" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Several people to whom Brett is listed as owing money are former employees of a previous business he once ran. That business is now inactive. Under Newfoundland and Labrador law, company directors can be held personally liable for unpaid wages.

That now-inactive company did not repay roughly $600,000 in loans and contributions from Ottawa and the province, according to government records. But Brett is not personally liable for that cash.
Also I wonder if the trustee for his bankruptcy, Calgary-based Deloitte Restructuring, knows or would care about this whole GCBE incident. I don't know enough about bankruptcy to speculate, but perhaps the bankruptcy company has him on a contract and could take action against him or investigate him further for certain things he did for the GCBE?

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by Carla Crotty » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:05 am

Jimmy wrote:
Carla Crotty wrote:BREWNOSERS: THANK YOU

I finally broke down and created a username and password for this site so I could personally thank you for the awesome detective work and blowing the lid on Jon Brett's latest scam. You have likely prevented many more from being duped into paying for entry to an event that was never going to happen! I have been working hard at ensuring he pays since the Mud Immortal event here in NL and you've just made things that much easier! I am well aware of the key role you guys played in breaking the news, and I've been sure to let people know. If any of you know anyone who purchased tickets, especially in PEI, I'd really like to hear from you. I'm not a reporter, so I've got no angle, just a concerned citizen who is trying to make sure this scumbag pays! Awesome job!

Carla Crotty
I'm curious, did you find us because of this whole beer expo thing, or have you been a lurker for a while?
Only because of the Beer Expo thing to be honest. Given this is a forum for beer lovers, I won't give you my opinion on beer for fear of offending anyone.

Here is Tara Bradbury's story from The Telegram this morning - some more attention for the folks who broke this in the first place :)
http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2 ... eer-expo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With regard to the scumbag's bankruptcy, imagine how the former employees of Brett felt when he walked away after Mud Immortal, with anywhere from 300-450K. That small group of individuals successfully sued Brett for a year's worth of unpaid wages, won the lawsuit, watched Brett file for bankruptcy (while still cruising the streets of NL in an effing Jaguar) and then had to watch him walk away with hundreds of grands that they're rightfully entitled to. It's a major deal that you guys were ultimately able to foil him from scamming anymore people into buying tickets to the Beer Expo....an event that was likely never going to take place at any of the 6 venues!

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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by bluenose » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:11 am

Carla Crotty wrote:Here is Tara Bradbury's story from The Telegram this morning - some more attention for the folks who broke this in the first place :)
http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2 ... eer-expo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Cool beans, but it would've killed them to hyperlink to us? :D
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Re: Warning - Great Canadian Beer Expo

Post by mr x » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:16 am

Good for you Carla on sticking with this. I really hope somebody follows up on the NSLC connection as well, as it would really prove fraud if he had never been in contact with them while he was telling people that he was.

And next time, somebody else talk to the media. I hate being in the press, lol...
At Alexander Keith's we follow the recipes first developed by the great brewmaster to the absolute letter. :wtf:

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