Power Places Tours An unethical and unscrupulous company Colorado Springs Colorado

I as a Spiritual Master, am ethically and morally bound (as well as in matters of self-respect) to have the last word in this matter as it concerns the conduct of New Age / Spiritual Businesses.

I doubt Power Places Tours will dispute my position at this point.

I testify in the presence of Source that this statement is true and accurate.

The screenshot shows that the ill-fated 2012 event Transform at the Source clearly invoked a representative of Source to speak and there can be no doubt that I am of Source, having written five books about Source, and clarified in my mission statement.

keystospiritualascension.com/mission-statement/

I am the author of this Rip Off Report and no longer have the email address to post as the author.

There are several points to make.

1. If you are a New Age company of any kind claiming to offer spiritual tours, truth and integrity is mandatory. If you are dishonest in your dealings or cheat customers, of course, that is bad karma, and in a morally just Universe, that karma one day has to be balanced out and reparations made. As a Spiritual Master, that duty is mine.

2. If you have cheated people or ripped them off, suing people rarely works. It may work for a while, but when someone has a stronger self-respect, it goes south and the end result is massive financial loss. Suing people to be quiet whilst you continue to cheat people is unethical and only worsens the situation as this report shows. It is better to repair your own integrity and be honest, and to say sorry for your mistakes, rather than to blindly continue on the same path. It looks bad in the public eye when you have sued many people, and speaks for itself.

3. Threatening people with losses or SLAPP suits to remove Rip Off Reports rarely works and clearly does not wash with Rip Off Report. It just makes others write Rip Off Reports as well and before you know it, ones business is degraded and customers go elsewhere.

4. Everything in this report is true and the evidence speaks for itself. I, as a Spiritual Master, cannot be made to lie to conceal wrongdoing and thus I refused to submit to a SLAPP. It has been abandoned at great detriment to the plantiff.

5. I did indeed charge Power Places Tours and Gregg Braden one million pounds for my trouble in this matter. That bill stands and is attached. I understand those involved are talking amongst themselves about how to settle the bill.

Potential customers of the Andean Secrets of Sustainable Living 2017 Tour with Gregg Braden should be aware that the company operating this tour is indeed Power Places Tours, a company now well exposed for abuse, cheating, dishonesty and ripping people off, hence the use of Rip Off Report (let the truth be known and do not let them get away with it).

Power Places Tours have a long history of abuse, ripping people off, desecrating the sacred sites, SLAPPing people, harassing and stalking whistleblowers, ignoring Court Judgments (leaving people with 5 figure financial losses) and misleading its customers with deceptive contracts.

The same company also gouges additional money out of people by way of adding on questionable surcharges (claiming airline fuel fees) but is in reality pure cheating of additional monies (under threat of loss of deposit if one does not pay the additional money).

The evidence is conclusive on the internet, and also points to Gregg Bradens involvement. There are also concerns around Gregg Bradens impropriety including harassment of travellers, abuse and other conduct unbecoming of a transformational speaker.

The evidence (with screenshots, links and other documentary evidence) is here in two other Rip Off Reports that others have posted so there is no need to go into extensive detail:-

ripoffreport.com/r/Power-Places-Tours-/Boulder-Colorado-80301/Power-Places-Tours-Power-Places-Tours-Ethics-Scandal-with-Gregg-Braden-Deposit-Payments-1214312

and

ripoffreport.com/r/Gregg-Braden/internet/Gregg-Braden-Public-Speaker-New-York-Times-Author-Threatening-whistleblowers-with-jail-1276408

In addition, Gregg Bradens press office were informed of the concerns on many occasions, and rather than to show ethical responsibility, Rita Curtis (The Events Manager) and Lauri Willmott (The Executive Director) simply hid the tours from his main website and used companies such as Power Places Tours that were happy to operate under different names to mislead customers, and were happy to continue doing so

Lauri Willmott (The Executive Director) claimed in 2013 there was no scandal, but the evidence suggests otherwise, so one may wonder why in 2016 he still supports the abuse in this manner.

They also presumably instructed them to hide the tours from their main website front end, so they could operate their tours in secret (so that people could continue to be abused, cheated, harmed and caused losses).

The aforementioned managers of Gregg Bradens operations also ignored very significant evidence of cheated fans being caused losses, and showed no interest in making good at all, and instead tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to hide the matter from the public and continue the abuse on the quiet.

Thus it is fair to say that the aforementioned lend a helping hand (with full knowledge and awareness) to those who abuse, bully and cheat their customers) and thus their own integrity is clearly in question.

The business address on the Andean Secrets of Sustainable Living new website is very unlikely to be correct, for the operators live in St Croix, and thus there is little recourse if there is a problem, for they operate outside of the jurisdiction of the BBB, and walsh on Court Judgments against them anyway.

A business does NOT have two registered business addresses, or if it does, it looks dodgy,yet here is the evidence.

Power Places Tours website gives this address:-

Power Places® Tours
3080 Valmont Road, Suite 220,
Boulder, CO 80301

as here powerplaces.com/contact-us/

yet this address:-

2100 McComas Way, Ste 605

Virginia Beach, VA 23456

is given for the Andean Secrets of Sustainable Living Tour here:-

andeansecretsofsustainableliving.com/

if one digs deep in the terms and conditions one will find it is run by the same Power Places Tours.

The second address appears not to exist!

The internet shows how Power Places Tours have caused people very significant losses indeed and people are advised to not use this company, or any other website masquerading as another company. In the case of the latter, one would have to read the small print to even find out the company is Power Places Tours.

The same company also threatened a Spiritual Master with jail and also had whistleblowers stalked, threatened, and lied about in Court filings, in order to obtain additional money by way of abusive SLAPPs.

They threatened him with prison and harassed him on multiple occasions to lie to Rip Off Report arbitrators and say the allegations were false. He refused.

The Spiritual Master stood up for himself and counterclaimed $1.5 million in damages

see proof here:-

spiritualmaster-freespirit.blogspot.co.uk/2016_04_01_archive.html

Another person experienced a US $60,000 loss when he won a lawsuit against Power Places Tours and then walshed on the judgment, proof is here (including an affirmation that Power Places Tours are indeed operated offshore and NOT in the mainland US):-

ripoffreport.com/r/Power-Places-Tours-/Boulder-Colorado-80301/Power-Places-Tours-Power-Places-Tours-Ethics-Scandal-with-Gregg-Braden-Deposit-Payments-1214312

Power Places Tours are a menace to all that is good and wholesome, and will cheat you out of money and the evidence is very conclusive.

People are advised to be very careful and not to use the company at all.

Gregg Braden has also endorsed Power Places Tours

as per their website

Here's What Leading Transformational Teachers Say about Power Places

"Power Places® Tours your willingness to create new adventures and your commitment to take such good care of us we consider among the great blessings in our lives. You have made it possible for us to open up some of the world's most sacred sites to the eyes and hearts of many of those who trust us to guide them there. I consider your support staff the finest in the industry"

Gregg Braden

The very same support staff say this:-

I worked for Power Places Tours for a very short time and although the owner made me sign a contract that declared I was an "Independent Contractor," she treated me and everyone else like employees, controlling a great deal of how we did our work, right down to what emails we wrote. Commission for selling a $5000 trip was about $15 dollars. It was ridiculous! She left her key employees frustrated, overworked, angry and in ill health. The turn over was terrible and I finally left in disgust over the way she treated both her contractors and her customers.

Profit was always the bottom line, and the fine print of her tour conditions allowed her to take people's money in very questionable ways. What travel company in there right mind would charge a person for tour package, have you pay in full, and then three months later, after it's too late for a refund, tell a traveler they now owe $500 more dollars due to the "rise in costs." Zilch! I had such high hopes for working there, hoping it would be a rewarding experience in helping others go on a spiritual "journey of a lifetime" but so many were very displeased with the service. To be fair, many were happy too. But the energy was so bad working there, I had to leave in a hurry. Source Google Review by Tammy Smith

.............................

Name

Tim Sanchez

Email

removed for privacy

Comment

It's amazing how this company is still in business. I worked for Power Places Tours back in the early 90's. Holly James, Richard Rodgers and myself were always bullied by the owners, Toby and Terri Weiss. Very unethical practices going on back then. It was a nightmare working for these people. With the concept for which they market their tours one would think that they would operate their business with faithfulness and loyalty to their customers. I learned the hard way as an employee and I thank my higher power that I was only there for 1 year. If I didn't know better and I do now, I am certain that I was working for the Devil himself. Submitted via my website contact form

.................................

Richard Rodgers wrote this. Richard Rodgers was the person that sold me a tour package, made false claims, tried to suppress by speech and ignored serious concerns during 2012 in the run up to the tour.

From: Richard Rodgers removed for privacy

Date: Sun, Oct 14, 2012 at 7:05 AM

Subject: Re: Power Places Tours Ongoing

To: Jeannette Maw

Thanks for sending me this update. I checked your site again only yesterday to see if there was any news.

As shocking as this turn of events is, I cannot say that I am surprised. In fact, I will admit to doing some work for them, so I am in a strange position. I must say that the details of this incident, and the handling thereof give me pause and cause me to reconsider my limited association with PPT.

I have travelled with them four times, and have seen some behind the scenes scenarios that make me question the integrity of working for them at all in any context. I am not currently in a position to slip you any gory details, but let's just say that some aspects of "New Age" business are just as questionable as mainstream, if not heavier on the snake oil.

Sorry to hear about how this all turned out, and I tip my hat to your example of honesty and tenacity. If I can see any good coming from giving you more details, I will let you know. I am not in a position to be taken to court and fined these days, but at least I can choose who I associate with. I'm on your side....

Power Places Tours (and their shadow companies/disguises) also use the sacred sites to abuse, cheat and harm people and thus anyone looking for a spiritual tour, is at high risk of experiencing loss.

Losses caused to others by Power Places Tours now exceed USD $1.7 million and their insolvency is inevitable.

Again, extreme caution is advised.

CEO Lauren Wilkison had this to say about Power Places Tours. She seems to allude to them lying and trying to sue someone for US $1.5million, so it seems like Power Places Tours had some poetic justice with Free Spirit and his US $1.5 million consultation bill as he writes here:-

spiritualmaster-freespirit.blogspot.in/2016_04_01_archive.html

Lauren comments:-

In an era of social media and rapidly evolving technologies that allow people to communicate with their friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and even perfect strangers in an instant, building a good reputation online is crucial to your brand’s success. Interacting and engaging with customers is simple, but knowing how to respond can pose some challenges for business owners, marketers, and company representatives.

Customer complaints can come in a variety of formats, especially online. People now write their own blogs, post their experiences to Facebook, Twitter, and a number of other social sites, and businesses need to be cognizant of the changing dynamics, which allow for even one negative comment to have an immediate impact. Businesses should focus on developing a strategy for handling any negative comments or complaints that appear online and inform all employees of these guidelines to avoid mishaps, missteps, and miscommunications. Without this foresight, some businesses have fallen prey to some of the most damaging mistakes that can be made when addressing negative comments or complaints.

One of my favorite blogs is dedicated to inspiring people to live their best life and to achieve their goals through the power of deliberate creation. Earlier this year, the blog author began having trouble with a well-known travel company. This problem has escalated to the point that the company is now suing the blogger for $1.5 million dollars for a blog post she wrote about the company’s handling of her situation.

The Story

The blogger and a few members of her family booked a vacation through a travel company and paid all required fees up front. The company later notified her that there would be an additional fuel surcharge of $750 per person. The blogger felt that these fees should have been disclosed when all other fees for the vacation were required to be paid. However, the company maintained firmly throughout the process that the fees were stipulated in the fine print of the contract, and they continued to pressure her to pay. The blogger was dissatisfied with the way the company handled the situation and cancelled her vacation. The company refused to provide a refund. The blogger sued the company for a refund and won.   Throughout this process, the blogger chronicled the events on her blog. One of the blog posts she wrote on the topic received a rousing response from her audience. An unnamed representative from the travel company responded to that post in the post’s comments section. The representative argued with the blogger and her aunt in the comments section, making abrasive comments and eventually stating that they were wrongfully peddling false information, i.e. lying. The result for the company was that the unpleasant exchange of comments became visible to the public.

How to Respond

While I doubt most organizations would go to the lengths that this company did to disagree publicly on a contentious subject, this story leads us to our short primer:

How to Respond to Customer Complaints Online

The Do’s

* DO respond to both positive and negative comments.

* DO post the contact information of someone within the company that can help to resolve the issue the customer is having.

* DO say something to the effect of: “We sincerely apologize that you are unhappy with X problem. Please contact Y representative, and he/she will assist you. We want to help resolve this problem to ensure your complete satisfaction with our product/service.”

* DO solve the problem to the best of your ability. A happy customer is a loyal customer. Even if the comment has been posted online, helping your disgruntled customers will build a solid reputation for your company. If your customer shares with her social pals that you were attentive to her needs and satisfied them to the best of your ability, you may gain a few new customers in the process.

* DO follow up with your customers to make sure that their problem has been solved.

  The Don’ts

* DON’T argue with or insult the customer.

* DON’T antagonize the customer on their personal social networking sites.

* DON’T post as an unnamed representative when speaking to the customer online.

* DON’T be disrespectful of the customer’s situation; try to be understanding.   

The Impact

There are a lot of questions as to why the blogger is being sued for $1.5 million by the travel company. A combination of the blog author’s post and the company representative’s abrasive comments has led someone within the company to ascertain that this will cost them $1.5 million in revenue, which demonstrates that it is imperative for companies to properly handle customer complaints online and offline to avoid monetary losses of this magnitude.   The travel company’s blog post comments could have been handled differently, which may have resulted in an entirely different outcome for the company. They are now part of the story. When facing a similar situation, a company can work to engage the customer positively online and try to resolve the issue offline to the customer’s satisfaction. If that isn’t possible, the company can still devise a solution that at the very least will leave behind a more constructive trail of commentary about its brand.

//

  The name of the blogger mentioned in this story is not directly disclosed for privacy reasons. If readers of this article would like to examine the blog post and comments section in question and judge for themselves as to the course of events described there, they may visit: goodvibeblog.com/bad-business-power-places-tours/

Link back to Laurens commentary:

cscdigitalmarketing.com/how-to-respond-to-customer-complaints-online/

I as the author of the report can state that Power Places Tours have abandoned the lawsuit after threatening me with prison as evidenced in this report -

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Power-Places-Tours-/Boulder-Colorado-80301/Power-Places-Tours-Power-Places-Tours-Ethics-Scandal-with-Gregg-Braden-Deposit-Payments-1214312

in December 2015. The moral justifications for my actions - namely that of making permanent disclosures to prevent abuse or people being harmed (caused losses) at the sacred site  served as a watertight defence - as everything I have posted here is true and thus my actions were morally justified.

I will not write an essay on the moral justifications for my actions and the detailed background here, but these two posts elsewhere cover the background to the dispute:-

http://spiritualmaster-freespirit.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/power-places-tours-and-gregg-braden-billed-US1.5million-in-spiritual-consultation-fees.html

and

http://keystospiritualascension.com/mission-statement/

The truth is that Power Places Tours had many opportunities over the years to improve ethics and integrity in their business dealings, The report shows I was not the only one, and the sheer amount of screenshots, employee testimony and accounts of other people having lost money speaks for itself. It is also true that companies that rip people off, sooner or later, go out of business and become insolvent, especially when they are world famous - for ethical mistakes are magnified.

When the same company then threatens those who talk with ruin, imprisonment, losses, or being portrayed as people of bad integrity for standing up for themselves - then of course they are responsible for their own problems.

I was asked to clarify what the details of the million damages were for as there has been some public misunderstanding in that some were led to believe I asked for silence money.

It is not silence money, but damages done to the work of an Emissary of Source, for my losses in energy and time, for losses in income, for distress causes (1 year of dealing with a SLAPP suit), damages for being bullied and threatened with prison (at Christmas) and an element for loss of exposure (which will be used to gift parts of my work to humanity).

For clarity, a screenshot is attached of the damages bill so there is no misunderstanding.

I have rubbed out the email address and banking details to comply with ROR rules.

I understand they will now pay it without further dispute to say sorry for their mistakes and thus there can be a closure to the dispute.

I will then be free to do my work without interference and the money will be used for the spiritual benefit of humanity at what are challenging times for the human race - in ways I deem appropriate.

Statement of Truth

It should be known to the public that everything here is the truth (with the exception below).

I am of high ethical purity and do not lie. Everything here posted was - and is true - shared in public interest, to assist others in those who were cheated as well as to defend myself properly in the matter.

The only exception was when I was bullied into retracting statements earlier in the suit.

I was threatened with detriment, crippling financial loss, being labelled as a man of bad integrity (via SEO companies employed by Power Places Tours) and various other degrading situations (including prison) if I did not say I lied to Rip Off Report. The earlier posts in the report itself backs up those claims in detail.

I was threatened with prison if I did not comply with Rip Off Report arbitration and say the reports were false.

Now I am the Victor, and also because I now know better,and have proper self respect I would never lie - even if forced to lie.

Thus all of the allegations raised are true and based on facts - as well as my own experience, and that of talking to others who also suffered loss at the hands of Power Places Tours.

I must thank those who had the courage to come forward and produce evidence and to share their situations. It all helped.

I have also thanked Ed Magedson personally for the Rip Off Report service, for  it is a beneficial service to humanity and for consumers all lover the world to defend SLAPP suits and to expose those who abuse, bully, cheat and lie - to harm others or cause them losses.

It is also a solid and robust platform for people to tell the truth.

Free Spirit

The complaint(s) made about Power Places Tours Inc set out above are withdrawn in their entirety and no reliance should be placed on them. I have since discovered that the facts on which I based my reports may in fact not be true. I was the complainant.

I have settled my differences with Power Places Tours. I am unable to remove my posts from this site, but if there were any way to do so then I would.

I apologize wholeheartedly and unreservedly for the number of postings and for any suffering that may have caused to Power Places Tours Inc. 

I am unable to remove my posts from this site, but if there were any way to do so then I would.

I can declare today that I am the supreme victor in the dispute with Power Places Tours.

The Will of Source (and its associated values of truth and integrity) have prevailed and has pushed out unwelcome energies of deception, lies and lower astral parasitism.

The Transformation at Source has happened. I have moved into a full grounded and sovereign embodiement of Source - which also makes me the Supreme Authority on this matter and Source has made its ruling.

As an Emissary of Source, I am the Truth and as a Spiritual Master, it is my spiritual duty to defend the values of truth and integrity. By standing up for oneself, one repels away the energies of fear and control. Power Places Tours for many years abused and did great harm to their customers, suing them for speaking up or for resisting the bullying. Power Places Tours continued this behaviour relentlessly until they met me.

I as the supreme mirror for karma have shown them that lying , cheating and intefering with people's energy fields is not acceptable and this behaviour had to stop.

For me, they tried on the fear of threatening to send me to jail for telling the truth but that attempt has not succeeded. It has only further exposed Gregg Braden and Power Places Tours for impropriety and further scandalous conduct. It also made the lawyers trip over themselves, over their own impropriety (as demonstrated throughout the report).

The truth is so self-evident that it is now beyond question that it would be impossible to censor the truth now and thus threatening me with jail was a pointless exercise.

It has also transpired that my partner was sued for abusive reasons - namely for reasons of racial intolerance because she is German and I understand that the Weiss's are connected with Judaism and that Power Places Tours are doing a Healing the Holocaust event in 2016.

The Holocaust was clearly wrong and it caused much unnecessary suffering. There is also obviously some resentment toward Germans and though it is my belief that all races should be treated with equal respect and dignity - I do feel that the deeper lesson here for the Weiss's is around healing the past trauma of the holocaust that is being projected onto myself and my Gernman partner who has suffered much distress at the hands of Theresa Weiss and some of her 'associates'.

The holocaust caused so much disempowerment in the past, that anyone not healing that would feel disempowered again, and it is for these reasons that the business of Power Places Tours has experienced extreme destruction - but this time by trying to abuse a Spiritual Master.

It is simply a life-lesson,  a karmic process - and through me they had to learn about forgiveness and the relinqushment of control. One cannot compensate for past traumas by abusing sentient beings from a place of ethically corrupted power.

I have no racial prejudices and thus such abuse does not work with me for it is not part of my life story. As a Being of Source from Source - I am simply a neutral mirror for what is. I am also an instrument of global healing for such deep past racial disputes for I am a mirror of the Universal Source which unites and heals.

Threatening to jail people, take their money and to seize their homes or to pester them with lawsuits after ripping them off is the ultimate antithesis of common respect for sentient beings, No right minded being woulkd ever accept this behaviour.

The world should know what happened here and that Gregg Braden was an ongoing and active supporter of the behaviour.

The world should also know that I won - and that was because I stood up to the bullies and refused to accept the behaviour - whilst also embodying the all important forgiveness,

When I was young, I learned to have respect for the loser in a game or contest and so I must have some compassion for the losses of the Weiss's - yet whilst remaining in truth and integrity to myself.

It is that compassion and forgiveness that ends disputes, I also learned about self-respect and integrity, so I must also thank Power Places Tours for being my mirrors as well.

It is the ruling of Source that Power Places Tours are purified and forgiven by the healing love of Source

I understand that Power Places Tours have now decided to retract their jail threats and to accept my terms.

I am not going to be sued any more and will be respectfully compensated from a place of good will by Power Places Tours for my losses incurred.  I will not be subjected to any detrimental terms.

I also understand that my partner will be apologized to in private for the upset caused to her.

2016 will be a year of peace, reconciliation and clearing up the public domain of the postings.

I also have agreed to respect the privacy of the Weiss's longer term and to allow them to heal in private which also means there is not anything else to say nor would it be appropriate to. Difficult yet necessary lessons have been presented for resolution by the dispute and people should be allowed to process in private so that their dignity is maintained.

I bear no ill-will toward them, and simply reflect back love and forgiveness.

They have been invited to appoint a fresh representative who will work with me informally to take down as many posts as possible from the internet in order to allow Power Places Tours to have a fresh slate now that the dispute has been resolved.

I understand that sooner or later Power Places Tours will contact Rip Off Report to have these reports removed, or at least appeal to have them removed.

It is my opinion that the arbitrators should refuse to remove these Reports and instead leave them here to show what happened and how the matter resolved. It should be noted that Power Places Tours have attempted - albeit unsuccessfully - to make me issue a blanket statement of retraction using all kinds of 'SLAPP- like' techniques.

Power Places Tours (via lawyers) have attempted to extract 'forced confessions' under duress in the past or have threatened me with severe consequences if I do not admit to making it up. Where I said these reports were not true were times where I was backed into a corner. I now know better not to yield to such conduct and thus this statement should be taken as the most true.

This kind of SLAPP like abuse violates the very ethos of free speech as well as the intention of Rip Off Report and thus the arbitrators should note these comments when drawing their conclusions. The purpose of Rip Off Report is to provide a means of defense against such unethical companies and for that I thank Rip Off Report for the service. 

I will be happy to answer questions as part of any process at any time and would be  very candid, honest, truthful and forthcoming in my answers. The contact email address for arbitrators is rawvegan@hotmail.com

I formally confirm that everything in this Report is true or substantially true to the best of my knowledge although it is possible some individuals used different names to prevent retaliation.

Digitally Signed   Free Spirit 25th November 2015.

I would like to formally apologize for unnecessary suffering caused to Power Places Tours and Theresa Weiss as a result of this ongoing dispute. Last night I came to some deeper understanding in a dream and in meditation.

As a result, I came to understand that the bad energy I felt toward me for the last few months was in fact coming from their lawyers. I saw how lawyers complicate the process and make money out of disputes. In metaphysical terms, they are simply energy vampires living from the energy of dispute. Each time the lawyers threatened me, they simply made the matter worse.

It took me a while to move into a deeper understanding of the issues but now I know that the lawyers ARE the complication. I would like to say sorry for posting a series of updates of all kinds about Power Places Tours because this did not help to resolve the dispute. This was a product of being threatened by lawyers acting out of self-interest with little interest in dispute resolution.

I would like to formally apologize for unnecessary suffering caused to Power Places Tours as a result of this ongoing dispute.

In my dream and meditation experience, I made my peace with Power Places Tours.

I have explained to Power Places Tours that I am willing to resolve any outstanding issues with this dispute informally and privately. It was always ultimately a metaphysical dispute and never a legal dispute. Thus the solution was always going to be a metaphysical one.

Thus it would not be appropriate to comment further about the metaphysical details - but it is hoped a final statement will be posted here shortly to conclude the matter and make a final comment about the postings as a whole.

Free Spirit  18.10.2015

I can share that after five months of putting up with the detriment of a lawsuit, on October 8th 2015, Mr Edward Parkes of Harcus Sinclair formally withdrew the court filing against me in the London UK High Court. I can also share that another lawyer - David Hirst of 5RB , offered me a payment of GBP 7,500 in compensation for my losses (a forfeited tour payment, flights not taken as well as other expenses incurred in this matter).

As of 10th October 2015, I have not received the offered compensation.

I can also share that Power Places Tours spent approximately US $250,000 on legal fees and as per other court documents that I had the opportunity to see - incurred US $700,000 of losses in the US between 2012-2015 after another customer spoke up after being ripped off - so we are talking about $1million in losses.

They also wanted to place serious restrictions on my own freedom and have been threatened with jail, injunctions, hefty judgments, disruptions to my work and having websites made about me that portray me as a man of bad integrity.

There is a lot more I 'could disclose' but I will leave it there for now although if I was threatened in the future with litigation, then of course I would talk.

Anyone that thinks they can steal the money of a Spiritual Master and then make them be quiet about it are in my opinion - deluded. The heavy losses incurred by Power Places Tours speak for themselves.

I explained to the lawyers acting on behalf of Power Places Tours (and Gregg Braden it would seem) that to sue a Spiritual Master and to threaten to take more money from him though legal system intimidation was a grave offense against Source, something I would not continue to accept and thus I told them to go away and to never ever bother me again. I explained that future litigation would be viewed as a declaration of war on a Spiritual Master and would be an unwise course of action.

I explained to them that they could not win this by legal threat alone and that the only remaining option was  a solution that I am happy with.

It was also explained to them I had the right to have them investigated for knowingly presenting false statements to a Court as well as doing other things not congruent with ethical codes that regulate civil litigation. 

It was explained to them also that once I had received the payment already offered, I would personally redact and have removed any remaining reference to Power Places Tours because I do believe that businesses that have made mistakes deserve second chances when amends are made. It was also explained to their lawyers that a second chance cannot be taken by force or legal threat - it can only be given through my own good grace.

I also explained to them that ultimately I will have the last word in this matter - the final say - and that I will be the one that ends this dispute on terms satisfactory to me.

Free Spirit    Author of Report  

(no longer have email access to this account thus posted as consumer comment)  

10th October 2015

The comment posted on September 15th contained a minor mistake with the correct wording in bold.

It should instead read:-

The complaint(s) made about Power Places Tours Inc set out above are withdrawn in their entirety and no reliance should be placed on them. I have since discovered that the facts on which I based my reports cannot be proven to be true. I was the complainant. I have settled my differences with Power Places Tours.  I am unable to remove my post from this site, but if there were any way to do so then I would.  

Free Spirit*    Submitted 27th September 2015

(I am the author of this Rip Off Report and no longer have the email to post as the author.)

 The complaint(s) made about Power Places Tours Inc set out above are withdrawn in their entirety and no reliance should be placed on them. I have since discovered that the facts on which I based my reports were in fact not true. I was the complainant. I have settled my differences with Power Places Tours.  I am unable to remove my post from this site, but if there were any way to do so then I would.   Free Spirit

I - Spiritual Master Free Spirit - can share that I have seen a document where Theresa Weiss of Power Places Tours is seeking a UK High Court Injuction from the Queens bench Division in order to prevent me making further disclosures of unethical behaviour and to prevent me saying more about Gregg Braden's involvement, which Power Places Tours deny. Power Places Tours claimn Gregg Braden is just a speaker - but there is strong evidence in the report updates below on this page that Gregg Braden has a clear working interest in Power Places Tours (which contradicts the statement made by his press office) and thus it is very clear he is involved in Power Places Tours enough to know that he is supporting unethical behaviour beyond any doubt. His press office claimed he was not made aware, but in an ICANN Panel case I saw documents showing that some months before I contacted his press office, Gregg Braden knew because his press office wrote to Gregg Bradens personal email address containing a link to  avideo I made and implying there was a serious problem - to quote Lauri (The Executive Director) - this is very bad, very very bad.

I saw a 166 page document filled with all my statements that has been presented to the UK High Court and it is alleged that they are defamatory and Power Places Tours expect to claim between GBP 10K and 50K in damages, however - my official position as of today  31.7.2015 - is that my statements are true/honest opinion and were made in good faith with the intention of working for the greater good and exposing an unethical company. It was explained to the lawyer working for Power Places Tours - in this case Edward Parkes - that I would not voluntarily remove the material without some kind of apology / apologetic deed to myself because as a Spiritual Master I would not consider concealing information about unethical behaviour that involves customers and speakers for Power Places Tours incurring heavy losses/harassing lawsuits, etc - UNLESS I thought that they were prepared to return to integrity, in which instance a second chance would be warranted.

I did present private and confidential terms for resolving the matter fully to Mr Parkes and Mrs Weiss which I assume is being considered.

Anyone with information about Power Places Tours scams/other issues or who wants to submit evidence to me to assist in this case can contact me at (((redacted)))

In the same vein, I am happy to speak to the newspapers, radio and or TV about the matter candidly, as I would resist a Court Injunction because of free speech issues. I understand this case 'may' involve the EU Court of Human Rights as it involves whistleblowing, SLAPP like actions and attempts to stifle fair, honest and accurate documenting of the behvaiour of unethical companies. The press can also contact me via the email address above.

I confirm the above is completely true.

Spiritual Master Free Spirit    July 31st 2015

I Free Spirit - as the author of this report, on 3rd July 2015 - can state that this matter is in the process of being resolved privately between all the parties concerned/mentioned in this report.

Someone wrote this on the web. It can be found online without too much trouble.

Bad Business with Gregg Braden Power Places Tours don't use Power Places Tours to visit Machu Piccu with Gregg BradenWhen my aunt invited me to join her on a trip of a lifetime to Machu Picchu in Peru with Gregg Braden this summer via Power Places Tours, I knew it would be an amazing experience. What I didn't know was that the amazement would come from very unwanted sources once we discovered how Power Places Tours does business. There is an LOA lesson in here, which I'm not proud of … but it's worth sharing so you can learn from my mistake.

The travel itinerary and contract they mailed said the trip would cost $6599 per person, with interim payments to be made in three installments, and a 50% cancellation fee if done with enough prior notice. That was an expensive trip for both of us (and the two other family members who decided to join as well), but it seemed SO worth it to see Machu Picchu than with Gregg Braden!  I've been a huge fan of his work for years and was really looking forward to this experience. Until … we each sent in our first payment of $1450 to the tour company. That's when they sent over new paperwork with higher figures informing us of an additional $725 "surcharge" on top of the $6599 they'd originally told us. That didn't seem right! I mean, that's a pretty big "surcharge"!  (Over 10% of the total trip fee.)

So we asked about it.  They claimed it was a fuel surcharge, and informed us that their contract had fine print language allowing for fees of this sort to be added on top of our original contract price. My aunt observed how interesting it was that they didn't know about this fee before we paid our first installment, but as soon as they got our money, they immediately knew what the extra fees totaled.  Seriously. That didn't feel like a fabulous vibration to me. That's when I started having bad dreams about being abandoned  in a foreign country, with them pointing to contract language that said they were within their rights to cancel our hotel reservations and return flights home.

Okay, no good vibes here, and conversations with them weren't making it any better, so what felt best was to unplug.  I was totally willing to take a hit on 50% of the downpayment I'd already paid, just to prevent any future unwanted surprises. So I politely asked for a refund, explaining that I thought it would be nice if they'd reimburse the entire deposit rather than keep the 50% their contract allowed them to (since I was well within the time frame for a 50% refund). Which is when they informed us that not only would they not refund the entire amount, but they weren't even refunding the 50% – because the fine print apparently says you only get 50% back if you paid for the entire trip in full.

Gregg Braden, I love you dearly, but I cannot believe you do business with a company who does business like this! So I wondered … … how the hell did I manifest this?! Between the four of us, we're out nearly six THOUSAND dollars. That's a lot of money for us. In my coaching sessions when someone asks how they created something very unwanted, I ask them to check how it feels, and then see if that vibration has been recently activated. In following my own instruction, I recognize I feel outraged by this, and recall that yes indeed, I was recently flowing the outrage vibration.  (At how one of my family members treated my parents.)  So yes, I understand how I'm a match to something this awful.

Sometimes, in the real world, a person gets miffed about something for a minute or two.  It happens to the best of us! Where to go from here? Like any good deliberate creator would, I reached for relief. For thoughts and actions that felt better.  (I emailed Gregg, but that didn't get any attention.) So today, that relief is in the form of telling you all about Gregg Braden's travel guide company. My suggestion: don't use them.  Visit Machu Picchu with Mike Dooley instead! And if you DO use Power Places Tours, be prepared for big surprises in additional fees, a management team that stands behind deceptive contracts, and people who offer no regrets or apologies in doing business this way. You know how you're supposed to write the mean letter in order to feel better but not really send it?  

I had promised Peggy at Power Places  some bad press (in the heat of the moment), and since I am a woman of my word, I am publishing this post rather than deleting it. This is where a lot of deliberate creators get kinked up – not working their way up the vibrational scale.  Revenge and anger aren't pretty, but sometimes it's the step you have to take to get relief! I am, of course, in full recognition that we attract what we focus on, and know that how we feel is an indication of what's coming next. For that reason, I am intending that sharing this makes me feel much better in speaking my mind about the unsavory practices of Power Places Tours, and leveraging this moment to find peace and maybe even delight in taking action that feels better.

I would like to add some written testimony to go with the above report.

Legal Disclaimers - employee statements are published as is and may or many not be true. Readers are encouraged to use discernment and come to their own conclusions. I Free Spirit declare that I received/collected these statements as is and have reproduced them here unedited, save for removing email addresses to comply with Rip Off Report rules.

In the report it contained content of an email where an ex-employee stated the following. Here it is again:-

He then wrote this one day on a Google review:-

Hello readers, please bear with me. As hard as it is for me to believe someone would actually stoop so low, it appears that the individual hiding behind the name "Free Spirit" has hacked my identity, and posted using my name and email address in order to further his attacks. I am the REAL Richard Rodgers and did NOT post the recent review posted under my name. "F.S." opened an account with my name, wrote the review comments, then posted it posing as me. For two years now, he has been using a quote from a private email comment that I sent to Janet Maw, using it to both defame me and any of the association I had with Power Places Tours. Please be aware that this guy has zero integrity, and this recent gambit of his takes the cake! If I ever used the phrase "Snake Oil", it was to describe characters like him, whoever he really is...

I - Free Spirit - did not hack into Richard Rodgers email account to post this second commentary. I swear under oath I did not do that.  It also proves that Richard Rodgers is making contradictory statements. First he alludes to a problem at Power Places Tours - and then decides instead to contradict his first statement and instead say he was referring to me, which is clearly not true. Thus Richard Rodgers is in my opinion liable for defamation charges.

There is also other testimony from other employees that I want to add here. Please note that employees who gave written testimony 'may' have changed their names to prevent retaliation - but the content of their testimony/statements remains unedited and is put here as is.

Submitted Information (via my website):
Name
Tim Sanchez

Comment
It's amazing how this company is still in business. I worked for Power Places Tours back in the early 90's. Holly James, Richard Rodgers and myself were always bullied by the owners, Toby and Terri Weiss. Very unethical practices going on back then. It was a nightmare working for these people. With the concept for which they market their tours one would think that they would operate their business with faithfulness and loyalty to their customers. I learned the hard way as an employee and I thank my higher power that I was only there for 1 year. If I didn't know better and I do now, I am certain that I was working for the Devil himself. 

Submitted Information (via mywebsite):
Name
Katrina Cardenas

Comment
I worked for PPT back in 2010. Let me tell you what the few weeks I worked there were the absolute worse weeks of my life. Teresa is extremely verbally abusive towards her employees and her business practices are completely disgraceful. Before this job I was in the mindset I am an employee I follow what my boss says; well let me tell you what I have never been so verbally abused and disrespected in my entire life. She was so cruel and just mean. She fired me because I got to the point where I'd have to hang up on her because she would not stop calling me names; idiot, moron, stupid, etc... When I was emptying my desk I came across a letter written by a maid of hers sent to the office (I know this sounds weird) but the maid explained that she wanted help for Teresa because Toby was abusive with her (Teresa). I don't know what the point of sharing this information is but I just want to reiterate to you (which I am sure you already know) these people are extremely unstable and if there is a devil on Earth it is definitely Teresa & Toby Weiss. 

I worked for Power Places Tours for a very short time and although the owner made me sign a contract that declared I was an "Independent Contractor," she treated me and everyone else like employees, controlling a great deal of how we did our work, right down to what emails we wrote. Commission for selling a $5000 trip was about $15 dollars. It was ridiculous! She left her key employees frustrated, overworked, angry and in ill health. The turn over was terrible and I finally left in disgust over the way she treated both her contractors and her customers. Profit was always the bottom line, and the fine print of her tour conditions allowed her to take people's money in very questionable ways. What travel company in there right mind would charge a person for tour package, have you pay in full, and then three months later, after it's too late for a refund, tell a traveler they now owe $500 more dollars due to the "rise in costs." Zilch! I had such high hopes for working there, hoping it would be a rewarding experience in helping others go on a spiritual "journey of a lifetime" but so many were very displeased with the service. To be fair, many were happy too. But the energy was so bad working there, I had to leave in a hurry.

Name withheld for legal reasons

Here is the proof that the surcharges on their Peru trips are deceptive and fraudulent.

Ramona who worked for them confirmed that the surcharge is not what it seems.

The “surcharge” has always been a standard there. It has nothing to do with any fuel surcharge at all, it’s just bad management. The owners Toby & Teri Weiss are desperate for clients so they underquote in the hope of getting enough people on a tour. They need 10 people to sign up to give a free space to Gregg Braden or whomever the speaker is. If that number is not achieved then the cost passes on to you in the form of a surcharge. Another reason is that someone did not factor in all the costs correctly or the wife Terri decided to join the trip for free at your expense or they did not book the space when they should have and later when the costs went up they found that they did not make enough profit, there are myriad of reasons why they make up the surcharge. You would think that a couple who organized tours about mind, body and spirit would be a little evolved but they are very callous and there is nothing spiritual about them. It’s all about the money. They live and keep their money offshore in St Croix and just have someone in Denver act like an adminstrative asst. All their staff always hated them intensely and the speakers just tolerate them for the free trips.

I suggest that you demand to see the letter from the airline they are using, that the fuel surcharge is this ridiculous amount of $795 in addition to the base fare and taxes. Then contact the Better Business Bureau & the office of the Attorney General in Colorado and file a consumer complaint about fraudulent surcharges. Also contact any travel ombudsmen who can act as a mediatior, the one at Costco comes to mind or Conde Nast Traveler. Find the name of the airline and call their head office and ask the sales manager what the fuel surcharge has been SINCE THE DATE YOU BOOKED. I guarantee you it cannot be more than $50-$100 per person if at all. There are only a limited number of airlines that fly to Lima out of Miami, so call all of them if you don’t know which airline. All airlines publish their fuel surcharge online in the form of press releases so it would not be difficult to find. No company can simply demand such a high fuel surcharge. In the business, we always receive a notification from the airline if the fuel surcharge goes up and we routinely send it out to our clients if asked and in all my years I have never seen it to be more than $50pp.

Change of official website address for Power Places Tours.

Their official website is WWW.POWERPLACES.COM 

As shocking as this turn of events is, I cannot say that I am surprised. In fact, I will admit to doing some work for them, so I am in a strange position. I must say that the details of this incident, and the handling thereof give me pause and cause me to reconsider my limited association with PPT.

I have travelled with them four times, and have seen some behind the scenes scenarios that make me question the integrity of working for them at all in any context. I am not currently in a position to slip you any gory details, but let's just say that some aspects of "New Age" business are just as questionable as mainstream, if not heavier on the snake oil. 

Sincerely,