Event coordinator has history of complaints, BBB says

HOUSTON – When a viewer called to say an event called the Mistletoe Market was canceled last weekend and that vendors were having a hard time getting refunds, we decided to take a closer look.

What we found was a company that goes by many names, an owner with several names and about 20 complaints listed with the Better Business Bureau from 2014 to 2017.

One of the complaints came from RD Vincent.

He’s an American folktale author who attends trade shows and often buys a booth for his book signings and sales.

Vincent said he had been to events before run by a company called Single Spark Events whose owner is Michael Kelly, but there were whispers about the event company.

“Everyone said be careful because sometimes you pay for the event and it will never happen,” Vincent said.

Vincent found out the hard way. He said he bought a booth for an event that Single Spark Events was holding, but it was canceled due to Hurricane Harvey. He was told he could have a booth instead at the Mistletoe Market being held on Dec. 16 in Northwest Houston. But, the event never happened and Vincent only found out it was canceled when he called the location.

“I contacted the location and they had never heard from him,” said Vincent. “He basically had my money of $150 and I had readership that was going to come out there for a book signing and I had to cancel the signing.”

We dug deeper into the company.

A spokesperson from the Better Business Bureau told us the owner Michael Kelly also goes by Michael Moshier and Michael Leslie.

The owner has done business under many different names besides Single Spark Events including soBright Media, Consumer Direct Events and Seamless Inc. One of the companies, Seamless Industries, has an “F” rating and the BBB has this warning on the Seamless Industries Web Page, "Complaints allege the events are canceled shortly before the scheduled dates; however, the businesses are then unable to receive refunds.”

We tried to track Michael Kelly down by phone but he did not call us back.

We also went to a business address listed on a Mistletoe Event event contract, but we were told no one was in the suite he had listed.

Since 2014, nearly 20 people contacted the BBB saying they were out between $100 to over $1,000 with events being canceled and no refunds received. One of those complaints came from Vincent.

“This is the first experience for me and the last that I’ll be working with him,” said Vincent.

The BBB tells us they will be recommending that Consumer Protection review this case. Potentially, it could go to the District Attorney’s office for further investigation.