Le Gourmet Gift Baskets ripoff work at home gift basket business oppurtunity Castle Rock Colorado

12-15-13

My Name is Carol G. from Dunedin, Florida.  I purchased a Business from Le Gourmet in 2002 in the amount of $3,500 and was very pleased with the inventory, as it was exactly as described.  I took advantage of the 'Gift Basket Assembly' Classes offered by Ms. Mckay in Colorado, and learned a great deal about becoming a profitable business owner.  Ms. McKay was gracious, informative and her trainers were exceptional, as well.  She delivered exactly what she promised, and was always available for a consult by phone or email when I required help.

Yes, I did require more inventory after selling my first small baskets, and it was fun to order the new and exciting products for my individual baskets.  I included a line of very 'upscale' and expensive baskets, as well, which gave me a nice profit!

Thank you very much, Ms. Mckay!  I am blessed with a successful Gift Basket business and have expanded by business to include another line of Gifts, as well!
Because of your training and encouragment, I am now a successful entrepreneur!

Regards, Carol G.

If you are lazy, expect something for nothing, lack ambition and prefer to sit back and watch your business grow than DO NOT buy a Le Gourmet distributorship. On the other hand, if you want to succeed, and have the ambition to put energy and enthusiasm into your business then absolutely choose a Le Gourmet Gift Basket distributorship and never look back.

I did and I have no regrets about it! I have been a distributor for nearly two years and to this day I know that if I have a question I can call Cynthia McKay and she will get back to me (usually on the same day). I can also contact her if I need some guidance or product suggestions for an unusual basket.

Le Gourmet Gift Basket is truly committed to offering quality products, tools, training and resources to their distributors. Cynthia McKay and her team make every effort to ensure that each of her distributors has a positive experience with her office and answers questions promptly. She also makes certain that her new distributors are properly trained on a variety of basket techniques to ensure each one learns how to design and create quality baskets.

Cynthia McKay has used her years of experience to create a well-put together operating manual; she has negotiated great prices from gift basket wholesalers all to ensure her distributors receive terrific deals and quality products. Cynthia takes great pride in guaranteeing that her distributors are empowered with the tools, techniques and resources to help them succeed.

I have been pleased with my decision to buy a distributorship!

Jeri
Castle Rock,
Colorado
U.S.A.

I have been a distributor with Le Gourmet for over 6 years and have not had ANY negative experiences. Ms. McKay was very professional during training and extremely attentive afterwards. Whenever I have any questions, I call Le Gourmet and get my answers right away. I have a very successful Gift Basket Business and owe my success to the training I received. I was never "promised" any referrals, but receive them when someone calls for a basket to be made in my area. I personally don't know of any other CEO that you can reach on the weekends to get questions answered. I am extremely satisified with all that Le Gourmet has had to offer and will recommend this business opportunity to anyone.
Susan

I am in the gift bakset industry and she is well known to all of us for ripping people off.

She must think people are really stupid to think that Patti tried to retract this report. Notice the type/text in "Patti's" last comment? Filled with ?? marks, just like the response from her alleged lawyers.(because it was typed in MS Word first, and failed to convert)

I'm not sure how she posted under Patti's name, but I don't buy it. It's too contrived to be real.

There are lots of complaints about her in the industry. That's the truth, and not libelous at all.

I checked out this business in the 1990's. I didn't have the money at the time. The Business was called Global Business Opportunities and Cynthia McKay was the President, CEO, Founder, etc... and she had a business partner by the name of Phil Sheesan. I was going through some old emails and found this and thought is nothing else it may give this woman some info that could help her. I need to let you know if I remember correctly They were Lawyers at the time.Cynthia McKay had a Business website called Le Petitie Gourmet. Cynthia and Phil had a variety of business opportunities for sale. Here is one of the first emails I received from them introducing themselves.I hope this helps. I have a couple of other. I mostly spoke to Phil. I did receive one from her but I think I deleted it when I moved me email.
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Hello, this is Phil Sheehan acknowledging receipt of your inquiry to Global Business Opportunities and LeGourmet Gift. Cynthia McKay and I spoke briefly this morning about your inquiries and potential needs. First allow us to thank you for considering us.

Given you work nights I am trying to respond in two different ways (phone and email. I want to communicate to you though that both Cynthia and I feel we can combine somehow to assist you once we settle on exactly what you want and need. We can be flexible at times in putting packages together and this case may be a good example. We'll know better once we talk with you.

Cynthia and I have been working together now for over four years and we have a great partnership and many satisfied clients. I will try you again late this afternoon and if unable to reach you I'll also try your work number as you indicated it is OK to call you there. If in the mean time you desire to call us you have several options, they are;

Global Business Opportunities 1-888-8-GLOBIZ (Cynthia is training a client today)
LeGourmet Gift 1-800-93-GIFT6
Phil Sheehan - Rochester Office 1-585-621-1662
Phil Sheehan - Cell - 1-585-615-4191

Thank you once again for your interest, we look forward to working with you.

Phil Sheehan
Global Business Opportunities
-------------------------------------------------

Good Luck I hope this helps you get your money back. I was actually going to contact her again.
Thanks

February 26, 2007

???????????? I am?writing to request that you remove my original complaint and the subsequent updates I posted on ripoffreport.com regarding Le Gourmet Gift Basket, Inc. from your website.? These prior submissions?contain material misrepresentations, and I disavow and disclaim them in their entirety.?

I signed a License Agreement with Le Gourmet and purchased the Silver Membership Package for $3,500.00. The contract clearly provided that my investment was non-refundable.
Le Gourmet provided, or offered to provide, everything promised under the contract. Nevertheless, as a result of buyer's remorse, I wanted a refund of my money. The CEO, Ms. McKay?properly declined my request, based on the language of the contract and the proprietary and confidential nature of the materials I had reviewed.

However, in an effort to ensure my satisfaction, Le Gourmet offered to provide additional, generous, and valuable services and inventory above and beyond what it was required to provide under our contract. I rejected these offers and all other attempts by Le Gourmet to address my concerns.

I continued to demand my money back, even though I had no contractual right to a refund, and when Le Gourmet did not?agree to?my demand for a refund, I filed multiple complaints?about Le Gourmet with a number of?regulatory agencies, consumer advocacy groups, media outlets, websites (including ripoffreport.com)?and other forums in the public domain. These complaints, including the one I filed with?ripoffreport.com,?contain?false statements?of fact about Le Gourmet and its CEO, Cynthia McKay.? I was upset and wanted my money back, but this does not excuse my actions.?

Each agency that has looked into my allegations has determined that they are without merit.
For the reasons above, and because this was strictly a case of buyer's remorse, the complaint I posted on ripoffreport.com is not legitimate. Accordingly, I am retracting all of the prior submissions I posted on ripoffreport.com regarding Le Gourmet Gift Basket, Inc., and I am respectfully requesting that you remove these prior submissions from the website immediately.

In the event you will not agree to remove the prior submissions I posted about Le Gourmet on ripoffreport.com, please post this correspondence as a final update in the thread that begins with my original complaint against Le Gourmet. Thank you.

Sincerely,

This response is to a posting made by Patti and is submitted by the law firm of Reilly Pozner & Connelly LLP (the ?Firm?) on behalf of Le Gourmet Gift Baskets (the ?Company?) and Cynthia McKay, its owner and CEO. The Company, Ms. McKay, and the Firm have reviewed Ms. Patti's submission, which has been published on this website, and respond as follows:

Please be advised that Ms. Patti's libelous and unsupported allegations are untrue. However, the Company and Ms. McKay take any complaint very seriously and therefore are taking the time to respond to Ms. (Patti's) statements.

First, in Ms. McKay's 15 years as CEO of Le Gourmet, this is the first and only time she has received a complaint regarding her Company for which she and the Company have won many awards and received national recognition from a variety of third parties. There also are multiple distributors who entered into the exact same licensing agreement as Ms. (Patti) who have provided the Company with positive feedback and with whom the Company continues to maintain a successful working relationship.

Even though Ms. (Patti's) concerns were totally unfounded, the Company nevertheless went to extraordinary lengths to try and find a way to make Ms. (Patti) happy and resolve her concerns amicably. Ms. (Patti) has engaged in a smear campaign laden with untrue statements of fact in an attempt to discredit the reputation of the Company and Ms. McKay's creditability.

In August of 2006, Ms. (Patti) purchased a Small Business Opportunities Magazine which published an advertisement offering a Le Gourmet Gift Basket opportunity for purchase. Upon conducting her own independent investigation of Le Gourmet and reviewing the information contained within the magazine and on legift.com, Ms. (Patti) repeatedly called and emailed Ms. McKay over the Labor Day weekend to obtain additional information prior to filling out the application for a Le Gourmet Licensing.

Ms. McKay patiently answered her questions and provided her with an exact description of what was included in the Silver Membership Package (the level of membership in which Ms. (Patti) expressed an interest and ultimately purchased).

After finishing what was clearly a thorough review of Le Gourmet, Ms. McKay, and the business opportunity the Company was offering, Ms. (Patti) downloaded the actual licensing contract from the web page and had ample time to review exactly what she was purchasing. She purchased the Silver Membership Package for $3,500.00.

The allegation that Ms. (Patti) was deceived, misled, or even pressured to enter into a licensing agreement with Le Gourmet is absurd, and Ms. McKay has never held herself out as a lawyer, a law professor, or a teacher of law, though she does hold a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver.

Tellingly, and as discussed further below, not one of the many agencies Ms. (Patti) has contacted as a result of her buyer's remorse has found any wrongdoing by Le Gourmet or Ms. McKay.

On September 6, 2006, after Ms. (Patti)had made an initial payment of $1,750 (half of the total cost of the Silver Membership Package), Le Gourmet sent Ms. (Patti) the first box of Le Gourmet materials pursuant to the terms of the agreement. This box enclosed a comprehensive manual containing proprietary information for setting up a gift basket business as well as full design and assembly instructions for gift baskets and instructions on marketing, business, ordering and selling.

This package also included a listing of over 1,100 vendors (with whom Le Gourmet had negotiated special terms for those holding a licensing license), equipment, additional marketing information, training DVDs, merchant services information, website setup, and other negotiated services available only to those participating in the Le Gourmet program.

Once Ms. (Patti) had reviewed all of the inventory and proprietary information she had received in the first shipment, Ms. (Patti) contacted Ms. McKay and authorized her to charge the second $1,750.00 installment to her Citigroup credit card. In response, and in accordance with the terms of the agreement between Ms. (Patti) and the Company, Le Gourmet then sent the remaining three boxes of inventory and other materials included in the Silver Package to Ms. (Patti)on or about September 12, 2006.

Unfortunately, Ms. (Patti) then decided she did not want to operate a gift basket business, so she claimed that she was disappointed with the materials she had received (even though they were exactly the materials she was expecting) and asked to back out of the contract she had signed. Since Ms. (Patti) had already reviewed materials containing Le Gourmet's protected intellectual property, and because the contractual agreement Ms. (Patti) thoroughly reviewed clearly stated Le Gourmet's no refund policy (which itself is based on the proprietary nature of the materials provided under the licensing agreement), Le Gourmet declined to refund Ms. (Patti's) investment.

Nevertheless, in an effort to preserve the business relationship and ensure Ms. (Patti's)satisfaction, Le Gourmet took extraordinary measures to resolve Ms. (Patti's)concerns.

First, in order to address Ms. (Patti's) concerns that she was expecting more inventory, Ms. McKay, on behalf of the Company, voluntarily, and without any obligation to do so, offered to send Ms. (Patti) an additional $1,700 of inventory for free (an amount Ms. (Patti) said would satisfy her at first, but about which she later changed her mind). Ms. (Patti) rejected this offer.

Le Gourmet again tried to appease Ms. (Patti) by offering her a cadre of items beyond that required by the contract, including, an additional $800.00 in inventory and supplies, $600.00 CD library, accounting software, graphics software, and other materials. Ms. (Patti) did not accept this resolution either. Nor did she accept Ms. McKay's additional offer to fly Le Gourmet's head trainer to Ms. (Patti's)home at Ms. McKay's personal expense.

Instead of resolving the dispute amicably in any of the various ways the Company offered, Ms. (Patti) chose to contact various consumer advocacy and other agencies, none of which has found any wrongdoing by the Company. For instance, the Better Business Bureau concluded that Ms. (Patti) ?does not have anything to substantiate her claim,? but still offered to arbitrate the matter for free. Ms. (Patti) declined this offer just like everything else. Citigroup likewise rejected Ms. (Patti's) claims and found in favor of Le Gourmet. Her allegations are simply false.

For the above reasons, Le Gourmet and Ms. McKay are requesting that Ms. (Patti's)complaint on ripoffreport.com be removed immediately.

ST,
I am glad you found my post about LE GOURMET GIFT BASKET and it's owner CYNTHIA MCKAY before you were ripped off as I was.

I have steadily reported her to everywhere and everybody that I can find such as the ftc,the bbb,the alabama police,the alabama attorney general,the internet fraud group,my credit card company,the colorado police,the colorado attorney general's office ( where I have learned that her husband Paul Gomez is a assistant to the attorney general), the colorado bar association,the attorney regulation counsel(which saids she does not hold a law license as she claims).

Hopefully I will eventually get some kind of results from some of these organizations to have Ms McKay charged as a criminal because in my opinion that is exactly what she is!If she gets charged for this it will be worth losing my $3500.00 to protect others from this type of crime. I have also contacted the tv news channels in denver and the local newspapers there to make them aware of what she is doing so they can help expose her for what she really is.
I will continue daily to contact organization that might be of some kind of help in exposing her such as fraud groups along with news programs like,60 minutes, CNN,FOX News, Montel ,Today Show,Nancy Grace and a lot of others. They will all be hearing from me if they haven't already. I think eventually someone will listen and do a show on how she is ripping people off. Maybe then she will be charged and prosecuted for her crimes! So Anyone out there with any inside contacts let me know. I can use all the help I can get. All suggestions welcomed.

Thanks to all the supporters on this site who most like me got here by being ripped- off,maybe we can all make a difference one person at a time or at least help prevent others from what we have endured.

ST,
I am glad you found my post about LE GOURMET GIFT BASKET and it's owner CYNTHIA MCKAY before you were ripped off as I was.

I have steadily reported her to everywhere and everybody that I can find such as the ftc,the bbb,the alabama police,the alabama attorney general,the internet fraud group,my credit card company,the colorado police,the colorado attorney general's office ( where I have learned that her husband Paul Gomez is a assistant to the attorney general), the colorado bar association,the attorney regulation counsel(which saids she does not hold a law license as she claims).

Hopefully I will eventually get some kind of results from some of these organizations to have Ms McKay charged as a criminal because in my opinion that is exactly what she is!If she gets charged for this it will be worth losing my $3500.00 to protect others from this type of crime. I have also contacted the tv news channels in denver and the local newspapers there to make them aware of what she is doing so they can help expose her for what she really is.
I will continue daily to contact organization that might be of some kind of help in exposing her such as fraud groups along with news programs like,60 minutes, CNN,FOX News, Montel ,Today Show,Nancy Grace and a lot of others. They will all be hearing from me if they haven't already. I think eventually someone will listen and do a show on how she is ripping people off. Maybe then she will be charged and prosecuted for her crimes! So Anyone out there with any inside contacts let me know. I can use all the help I can get. All suggestions welcomed.

Thanks to all the supporters on this site who most like me got here by being ripped- off,maybe we can all make a difference one person at a time or at least help prevent others from what we have endured.

ST,
I am glad you found my post about LE GOURMET GIFT BASKET and it's owner CYNTHIA MCKAY before you were ripped off as I was.

I have steadily reported her to everywhere and everybody that I can find such as the ftc,the bbb,the alabama police,the alabama attorney general,the internet fraud group,my credit card company,the colorado police,the colorado attorney general's office ( where I have learned that her husband Paul Gomez is a assistant to the attorney general), the colorado bar association,the attorney regulation counsel(which saids she does not hold a law license as she claims).

Hopefully I will eventually get some kind of results from some of these organizations to have Ms McKay charged as a criminal because in my opinion that is exactly what she is!If she gets charged for this it will be worth losing my $3500.00 to protect others from this type of crime. I have also contacted the tv news channels in denver and the local newspapers there to make them aware of what she is doing so they can help expose her for what she really is.
I will continue daily to contact organization that might be of some kind of help in exposing her such as fraud groups along with news programs like,60 minutes, CNN,FOX News, Montel ,Today Show,Nancy Grace and a lot of others. They will all be hearing from me if they haven't already. I think eventually someone will listen and do a show on how she is ripping people off. Maybe then she will be charged and prosecuted for her crimes! So Anyone out there with any inside contacts let me know. I can use all the help I can get. All suggestions welcomed.

Thanks to all the supporters on this site who most like me got here by being ripped- off,maybe we can all make a difference one person at a time or at least help prevent others from what we have endured.

ST,
I am glad you found my post about LE GOURMET GIFT BASKET and it's owner CYNTHIA MCKAY before you were ripped off as I was.

I have steadily reported her to everywhere and everybody that I can find such as the ftc,the bbb,the alabama police,the alabama attorney general,the internet fraud group,my credit card company,the colorado police,the colorado attorney general's office ( where I have learned that her husband Paul Gomez is a assistant to the attorney general), the colorado bar association,the attorney regulation counsel(which saids she does not hold a law license as she claims).

Hopefully I will eventually get some kind of results from some of these organizations to have Ms McKay charged as a criminal because in my opinion that is exactly what she is!If she gets charged for this it will be worth losing my $3500.00 to protect others from this type of crime. I have also contacted the tv news channels in denver and the local newspapers there to make them aware of what she is doing so they can help expose her for what she really is.
I will continue daily to contact organization that might be of some kind of help in exposing her such as fraud groups along with news programs like,60 minutes, CNN,FOX News, Montel ,Today Show,Nancy Grace and a lot of others. They will all be hearing from me if they haven't already. I think eventually someone will listen and do a show on how she is ripping people off. Maybe then she will be charged and prosecuted for her crimes! So Anyone out there with any inside contacts let me know. I can use all the help I can get. All suggestions welcomed.

Thanks to all the supporters on this site who most like me got here by being ripped- off,maybe we can all make a difference one person at a time or at least help prevent others from what we have endured.

Thank you for taking the time to post this article. I am researching a home business and might have fallen victim of le gourmet. Although you've lost $3500, it's not lost in vain because you've taken the time to post the information for others to benefit.

Thank you and Good luck. Don't dispair.

ST
Boston MA

Thank you for taking the time to post this article. I am researching a home business and might have fallen victim of le gourmet. Although you've lost $3500, it's not lost in vain because you've taken the time to post the information for others to benefit.

Thank you and Good luck. Don't dispair.

ST
Boston MA

Thank you for taking the time to post this article. I am researching a home business and might have fallen victim of le gourmet. Although you've lost $3500, it's not lost in vain because you've taken the time to post the information for others to benefit.

Thank you and Good luck. Don't dispair.

ST
Boston MA

Thank you for taking the time to post this article. I am researching a home business and might have fallen victim of le gourmet. Although you've lost $3500, it's not lost in vain because you've taken the time to post the information for others to benefit.

Thank you and Good luck. Don't dispair.

ST
Boston MA

She is a their as far as I am concerned. It really pisses me off what she did to you. That is how she makes her money, by having people send her large amounts of money at a time, to get the stuff. She is a sneaky cookie.

I hope you get some kind of recourse regarding this situation. Anyone can do this on their own, and thinking you found a money making opportunity from home is nothing to feel foolish about.

Please keep us updated. I am wishing the best for you. I may even make a phone call to her tomorrow, and ask her a few questions. I would never mention you filed this report. I am going to ask her how much the stuff is actually worth that she is sending, and if she can give me any references from previous customers that she sold this money making basket kit to.

Good luck, I am thinking of you Patti.

Angelina

Angelina thanks for the posting . About the inventory she did give a inventory list which you said you read ,as I did and it is wrote in a manner that is very deceptive. I even called her to inquire about what kinds of inventory I would get.She made it sound as though I would be getting more than my money's worth.

She told me how she had sold this business oppurtunity to over 300 people all over the world and that it was such a wonderful oppurtunity . She told me I would not be sorry she "promised". She is VERY DECEPTIVE !

The list states all begining inventory and equipment needed to start and run your own business. What a scam she pulled on me! The inventory is a bunch of bull. She sent things like scissors, bowmaker, glue gun, glue dots scotch tape, bamboo sticks and just cheap stuff that amount to no more than $50.00 ,along with a manual which contained her "trade secrets" what bolonga that is.The vendor list is only places to buy items to put in gift baskets nothing secret there . The vendor list include Walmart and Big lots. Anyone can go online and goggle to find out any of this information nothing top secret about it!What a fool she made of me! No wonder she is getting rich!After that first small box of items came I called her and asked about the rest of the stuff and of course was told to pay the remaining $1750.00 and then I would get all this equipment and inventory.

What I got was 8 small gift baskets with fillings!What a joke. Upon calling her as soon as the stuff arrived to find out where is all of this inventory and equipment she said thats it!Then I got that really sick feeling and knew right the that I had been had.I asked her nicely for a refund but she said her lawyers won't allow that? She's the lawyer!

Adolph you are so right I think this lady has covered her tracks because she is a professor at law. So she has used her skills to legally scam me out of $3500.00

I have filed a complaint with the FTC and hope they bust her for running a unlawful gift basket business oppurtunity. she failed to follow all the rules and regulations which are set up to protect consumers from fraud.I have also contacted the attorney general as well as my credit card company.

I feel like such a fool to be scammed like this.I was trying to find a job to work from home. I am currently a nurse but since I have a handicap son and my other son broke his back in 2 places on a motorcycle accident I thought this would be a way to make some money to take care of them and be able to be home.I would have never agreed to such as this if I had known.Who would sign a contract to be scammed? I can only pray that I will justice.

Patti,

I see that you bought her silver program, which was 3500.00. Did you get everything that is listed?? Such as the gourment foods, bowmaker,etc.

It seems she does offer a lot for $3500.00, from what I read. Does she still need to send you the rest of the items needed for that particular program??

I don't know what to think now. From the looks of what she is offering, the 3500 dollars seems reasonable.

Please let me know, if she still has more to send you. I also see she offers vendor's lists, where you can make money selling to them.

Thanks

Just out of curiosity I went to "Le Gormet Gift Baskets" web site. This is one of the "testimonials" shown from her alleged successful clients:
.
Quote:"When I first called Le Gourmet, I was astonished to get the CEO on the phone. She is genuinely caring and answered all of my questions. Le Gourmet has been with me every step of the way. I finally found security and a safe Start-up business that actually brings in a salary that I can be proud of. --Stephanie D."
.
Astonished that self-professed "CEO" Cynthia McKay "answered the phone"? Uhhh.....you don't suppose there's no one else, maybe?
.
I'm astonished that someone who is self employed in a small cottage industry home business alludes to having a favorable "salary". I would
think that such a person would refer to "income". "Salary"?....yeah, sure.
.
Ms. McKay lists AS PART of her background: "(A)Doctorate Degree from the University of Denver College of Law". Huh? Holy cow! You mean a potential lawyer has found a more lucrative means of fleecing the public? That is REALLY scary.
.
Patti: It would seem as if you're dealing with someone who has doubtlessly "covered her tracks" well. One can hope this post gets on the internet so as to come up when "Gourmet Baskets" is "Googled". You're probably permanently screwed, but it's considerate of you to warn others. This is the forum to start. Mr.Magedson
seems to have a knack of getting such material to show up on search engines.
.
It would no doubt help if other victims of Ms. McKay would post similar complaints.
.
I ran my own business for 18 years and never made it to "CEO". Silly me!

Patti,

Before you entered into this agreement with this theif, did she provide you with an inventory list of any kind?? You say she said you would get all her inventory, but did she specify what it was?? Probably not, since you would never have agreed to it.

She really is a scam artist. I make gift baskets on the side, just for friends and family and it is so easy. Maybe you could use the baskets she gave you, and buy some candles, incense, bath salts, lotions and start something on your own.

I even make pet baskets for people who have a new pet in their family. I love doing the baskets, and when you really think about it, you can make some really nice baskets, that you can sell. I go to the Salvation army and Goodwills and get some really very nice, brand new looking baskets, and the price is so reasonable. I just bought a really nice set of 3 baskets, one inside the other, and sprayed them a nice amber color. The whole thing with spray cost me six dollars.

What a shame after spending so much money she did this to you. I appreciate you coming here and telling us, since I live part time in Colorado Springs, and am very familiar with Castle Rock.

I don't know if you will get anywhere with the BBB, but maybe you could find a lawyer who may give you a free consultation regarding this matter.

She is a crimminal. What did her contract say about cancelling anything??

Good luck, I am sorry I don't have anything that may lead you in a better direction.