The Old ‘Honey Pot’ Scam on Duval Street
TheKey West Rip Off Rapid Response Team, a local consumer group, is charging a Duval Street skin cream shop with employing a “Honey Pot” scam to sell a 69-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran $8,550 of facial cream.
Rip Off Team spokesperson Tevis Wernicoff described the “Honey Pot” scam as “an age-old sales tactic that involves a charming, attractive and convincing young woman and an unsuspecting, inebriated or impaired man with money who ends up being separated from it.”
“Sailors and landlubbers alike have fallen victim to honey pot scams since the beginning of time,” said Wernicoff, “and it’s been played out on Duval Street in this case.”
Robert Lapworth, a tourist from Flourtown, Pa., filed a consumer complaint against ERA Ageless 617 Duval Street with the Key West Code Compliance Department. Lapworth additionally claims that the store violated city code regulations governing cosmetic sales. Lapworth returned the products but has not received a refund to date.
After reviewing the consumer complaint and speaking to Lapworth and the store management, The Rip Off Rapid Response Team is demanding a full refund for the returned merchandise. The group is also demanding that the store enter into a consent agreement regarding future sales and return practices.
“We will not stand by and let a few very savvy but unscrupulous businesses rip off unsuspecting tourists on Duval Street. These stores give all of Key West a very bad name,” said Wernicoff.
The Key West Rip Off Rapid Response Team is a local consumer advocacy group that concentrates on Duval Street cosmetics shops. The team’s goals include educating visitors and residents, stopping improper and illegal skin cream sales, and helping victims recover their money. The group previously has picketed skin cream businesses that fail to refund consumers money or agree to abide by city code and reasonable return policies.
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