This information is taken from a legal filing in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Alcatraz and Maid of the Mist Begin Doing Business
1. Alcatraz honored all of the terms of the oral contract with Maid.
2. Maid breached the contract in a number of ways.
3. Maid refused service to some Alcatraz customers who had valid E-Tickets.
4. Initially, this was probably because no one at Maid bothered to advise the ticket takers that Alcatraz was issuing valid E-Tickets.
5. Maid informed some Alcatraz customers that they should purchase their tickets directly from Maid at a lower price and file chargebacks against Alcatraz to get their money back from Alcatraz.
6. Maid charged Alcatraz for some customers who did not receive the boat ride.
7. Maid failed to give Alcatraz certain discounts that had been promised.
8. Maid created false stories in an attempt to damage Alcatraz and manufacture a claim with which to breach the contract with Alcatraz.
9. Upon information and belief, this was because Maid was in breach of contract with the Niagara Parks Commission (“NPCâ€) and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (“OPRHPâ€).
10. Carlson and Schul sent letters, faxes, and emails for Maid to The Plaintiff and Alcatraz that contained false claims.
11. Glynn, Schul, and Carlson made false claims by telephone.
12. Carlson sent a letter on June 14, 2005 that contained false claims of problems caused by Alcatraz.
13. Carlson sent a letter on July 19, 2005 that contained false claims of problems caused by Alcatraz.
14. The July 19, 2005 letter asked for Alcatraz to make changes to its E-Ticket.
15. Alcatraz made changes to the E-Ticket.
16. Carlson then sent an email claiming the July 19 letter asked for changes to the web site, but the letter said no such thing.
17. Schul then sent a letter and emails that contained false claims of problems caused by Alcatraz.
18. On July 29, 2005, Maid breached the contract with Alcatraz by declaring the contract to be terminated.
19. The oral contract was for the entire 2005 season.
20. Maid did not have the right to terminate the contract until it expired in mid October 2005.
21. Alcatraz tried repeatedly for a month to get Maid or Maid’s Attorneys to speak with Alcatraz about the problem, but they refused.
22. No one from Maid and none of Maid’s Attorneys spoke with Alcatraz about the problems until after MIST-1 was filed.
23. Despite Maid’s written promise to Alcatraz on July 29, 2005 that Maid would honor tickets purchased prior to July 29, 2005, Maid subsequently refused to honor some Alcatraz tickets purchased prior to that date.
24. Maid refused to honor these tickets despite the fact that Alcatraz had provided Maid with over $10,000 in prepayments, a written payment guarantee, and credit card authorization to charge any tickets purchased for the 2005 season, thus guaranteeing Maid that it would be paid for any Alcatraz customer who showed up with a voucher.