Background for this Legal Action about Judicial Corruption — April 2005

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 (“NPC”) and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (“OPRHP”).

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.

Background for this Legal Action about Judicial Corruption — 2005

This legal action is best understood with some background.  

Alcatraz and Maid of the Mist Enter Into Contract in March 2005

On March 3, 2005, Maid entered into an oral agreement with Alcatraz to allow Alcatraz to purchase tickets for the boat ride at Niagara Falls from Maid at a discounted rate for the entire 2005 season (April to October).

The terms of the oral contract were specific.

The period for the oral contract was less than a year.

It was a binding oral contract under Georgian law.

Carlson entered into the contract with Alcatraz on March 3, 2005.

Carlson made the agreement with Windsor.

Carlson made the agreement with Carolyn Ballard Bazzo (“Bazzo”).

Carlson sent faxes to both Windsor and Bazzo following the telephone conversations of March 3, 2005.

Maid agreed to provide Certificates of Insurance naming Alcatraz as additional insured, and Maid did.

Maid agreed to provide information for Alcatraz to use on its web sites, and they did.

Alcatraz agreed to submit a voucher (E-Ticket) for Maid’s approval, and Alcatraz did.

Maid approved the voucher.

The approval of the voucher was the final obligation agreed to when the contract was entered into on March 3, 2005.

Alcatraz advertised for Maid of the Mist boat tours at Alcatraz’s website www.niagarafallstours.net.  Alcatraz advertised for various tours in the Niagara Falls area, as well as for tours in Canada, New York and in others cities in the Northeast.  This web site did not represent that it was sponsored by Maid.  Rather, it expressly represented that it was run by Alcatraz.  Alcatraz has also used additional web sites to promote its 74 different Niagara Falls tours and activities and its 17 tours that include a Maid of the Mist ticket.

Alcatraz began generating excellent sales for Maid of the Mist in March 2005.

It still took a long time and a lot of hassles to get the informationn needed from Sandra Carlson, but it finally was resolved in early April.