Zev Brenner With Heshy Goldstein about Hotel scam

Mevater

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 6:28 pm

The chaos roiling a luxury Passover getaway in Atlantic City
A New Jersey Passover program fell through days before the first Seder, leaving hundreds with canceled plans for the holiday

Tickets were purchased, hotel rooms booked, outfits selected — all that was left for hundreds of Orthodox Jews planning to spend Passover at a luxury hotel in Atlantic City was to show up. Or so they thought.

Their hopes for an easy, relaxing holiday where their only responsibility would be to arrive before sunset next Wednesday were dashed this week, when the operator of the extravagant Passover program sent a cryptic email suggesting something had gone seriously wrong.

“We were hit with a huge financial scam, and we are not sure at this point if we can continue,” said the Wednesday night email from Aryeh Hospitality, a tour company that has for years operated retreats for Passover and other Jewish holidays at hotels in New York and New Jersey. The email was first published by Yeshiva World News.

The Claridge Hotel, where the 10-day program was slated to take place, insists there was no scam — only an alleged breach of contract on the part of Aryeh Hospitality and its owner, Heshy Goldstein.

“The only thing I can say is, the client that we were dealing with was in breach of contract. There was just no other choice but to cancel the event,” Jeff Marshall, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, told Jewish Insider. Goldstein did not respond to multiple requests for comment from JI.

Weeklong Passover programs at hotels in the United States, Israel and exotic locations around the world have exploded in popularity in recent years. For those who can afford the high cost, the all-inclusive programs offer high-quality kosher food and days of activities for adults and children. For many people, participating in the programs has become a desirable alternative to the onerous process of making their homes kosher for Passover. They also offer a way for large extended families who do not live in the same place to spend the holiday together.

The programs vary in terms of religious observance, and the one at the Claridge was among the strictest level of observance. Its guests must now make new plans for the weeklong holiday. It is unclear if they will receive a refund.

“Welcome to our family Pesach retreat. Where every guest is treated like family,” the Passover program’s website says. As of Thursday night, the website did not say the program had been canceled, and still allowed people to inquire about reservations.

Guests who sign up for a Passover program generally do so through a third-party travel company, rather than booking directly with the hotel. Guests pay the program operator, not the hotel; the operator then pays the hotel for the rooms and any other fees, while also paying vendors for necessities like kosher food. Aryeh Hospitality had reserved almost the entire hotel, which has 480 rooms, but the program operator never successfully paid for the rooms. It is not clear how many people had signed up for the Passover program.

On Thursday, Goldstein sent another message, accusing people of “smearing me” and promising to give them “the real story.” For days, he wrote, the Claridge had wrongly accused him and his team of not paying the hotel.

“Today when we were ready to start cleaning the kitchen the[y] said that we were playing games with them and although we said we sent them wires, they didn’t receive it,” Goldstein wrote in the message, which was obtained by JI. He said he showed the hotel the email that he said confirmed the wire transfer, but he noticed that the transfer had gone wrong.

“If you look closely you’ll see an extra ‘r’ after Claridge .com [and] this proved to the hotel that it wasn’t our fault,” wrote Goldstein, who said he had been scammed by the incorrect spelling. But, he said, the Claridge would not allow him to try to pay again. “I begged and cried and told them that we will take the loss and pay again but they fell on deaf ears.”

Marshall, the hotel employee, said the staff at the Claridge had hoped to resolve the issue.

“We tried to give them every opportunity, because it’s going to hurt us greatly too. There had just come a point in time where the contract was breached, and we had to move in another direction,” he said.

The Atlantic City program had several speakers and musicians lined up for the event. As of Thursday, they had not been formally notified that the event was canceled.

“I really kind of didn’t even find out officially from the guy who’s putting together the program. I kind of heard it through the backdoor,” Jerry Reiner, the program’s chef, told JI. He signed onto the program several months ago. It was his first with this hospitality company, although he has worked other Passover programs in the past.

“I was as much surprised, I guess, as everybody else. Although I did feel like something wasn’t completely normal. Normally things on a Pesach program progress a certain way. There’s more communication,” said Reiner. “It just does seem suspect, but I never knew what was really underlying those feelings. Evidently something was not correct on a financial basis.”

This isn’t the first time a Passover program has fallen apart so close to the holiday, although such occurrences are rare. In 2019, hundreds of guests at a program in Orlando, Fla., faced eviction after the program organizer failed to pay more than $75,000. Two years later, guests arriving to kosher villas they had rented — also in Orlando — arrived to find that the homes had been double-booked.

https://jewishinsider.com/2023.....city/

amother

Magenta

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 6:41 pm

amother Charcoal wrote:

He couldn’t even give the FBIs name or number.

Well if the fbi wasn’t involved before then they probably will be now.

amother

Maroon

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 6:43 pm

The fbi doesn’t get involved in most scams. Really doubtful they are involved. Also they have no jurisdiction in other countries. But I also don’t believe he was scammed yet again. He’s a famous scammer and we are required to warn the public about his scams.

amother

Orange

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 8:06 pm

I cringed my way through the podcast. I have no idea what happened, but I did feel bad for the guy.

He reminded me a bit of my little boys, when they know they're in trouble: bravado, complex explanations, anger at 'the other guy', change the subject, filibuster, apologize sort of.

I kinda wanted to put my arm around him, give him the 'mom's-not-buying-it' look, and say: kid, your gonna feel so much better when you come fully clean.

amother

Snowflake

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 8:16 pm

amother Orange wrote:

amother

Tan

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 11:15 pm

In addition to all the obvious red flags, first he claims the hackers used HIS email. Then claims it came from claridge. How can anyone NOT see through this irreconcilable contradiction?

amother

Offwhite

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 11:17 pm

amother Orange wrote:

I’m surprised he doesn’t have a lawyer telling him to stay quiet. Why would he think this interview does him any favors?

foreverforward

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 11:42 pm

I'm wondering, could this thread possibly be L"H?

WhatFor

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 11:46 pm

amother Lawngreen wrote:

I'm skeptical as well. But how can he prove he wasn't scammed. He said the FBI and law enforcement are involved. They can easily trace the account the money was sent to.

He is explaining. He said he was a phishing victim. Again, I'm not sure. But you seem to be expecting him to conclusively prove he wasn't scammed. The only thing he can do is cooperate with law enforcement and it appears he is doing so.

He wouldn't have to prove he was scammed if he just paid people their money back. Someone pointed out that he keeps saying (and he repeated this on the podcast) that he offered to pay the hotel in full that day and they refused, and if that was so, if he could actually afford that, then why couldn't he just return that that same money to the guests? There's a huge question mark there. Was he lying to the hotel and audience about being able to pay the hotel there and then? Or is he just not refunding his guests immediately for no reason?

More than that, his behavior is very much like that of other scammers. Does that, by itself, mean that he too is a scammer? No. But does it suggest that we shouldn't take what he's saying at face value and carefully examine what's happening? In my opinion, yes. The behavior I'm referencing is (among other things)
-having a pattern of these incidents "happen to him"
-showing little to no remorse for his clients
-spinning reasonable outrage at hundreds of thousands dollars inexplicably missing as evil personal attacks against him
-painting himself as the victim
-blaming everyone else and taking very little responsibility for his actions
- getting aggressive when people reference facts and want him to explain inconsistencies
- making assurances but not providing any verifiable information that one could use to cross-check these assurances
- not answering the questions. Do you notice that? By the time he gets to the end of responding to a question, we still don't have the answer. During his response we've learned all about what an honest person he is and what a tragic victim he is, but we still don't have an answer. Q: "Why didn't you get in touch directly with the guests, and tell them exactly what happened?" " A: I initially sent an email earlier that there may be an issue, but wasn't sure it would be called off completely. You know how many people are targeting me online? These are losers you wouldn't even talk to in shul. They're just taking every opportunity to target me. (And? Why didn't you reach out to the guests and tell them it was off and remain responsive to them? By the time he's done distracting you, you have no idea what the question even was.)

Other manipulative behavior that not all scammers show, but I've seen with some
- constantly invoking the idea of "loyalty" (his "loyal" customers believe in him). He's implicitly trying to convince critics - or actually maybe those who know him- that there's an inherent value in loyalty, and if they don't support him despite all concerning evidence, there's something wrong with them.
-similar, but not the same, constantly telling stories about people who believe him, support him, called him and had the same thing happen to them. None of this information is relevant to anything. People simply want their money back, not references. This is called "appeal to popular opinion" (in this case, without any proof that this popular opinion even exists, not that it would matter if it did, but he comes across as spinning anyway.)

I'm sure there are a million more things I'm forgetting. On his LinkedIn, he says he's an online marketing manager with years of experience in ecommerce sales, marketing, social media, web design, email marketing, and lots of other stuff. But on Zev Brenner he laments that nobody ever told him about phishing and he never knew about these types of scams. I'm sorry, what? If you're claiming to have years of experience in the things I just listed, it is strains credulity that you never heard of phishing before this happened. Is this really reasonable?

Like I said, I'm probably missing stuff and if I dwell on this longer, then I'm sure I'd have more questions.

If he's innocent in all this, he's going about this in a very bad way that makes himself look worse than he is. And if he truly reached out to law enforcement and is cooperating, good for him, and I hope they all resolve this issue and everyone gets their money back.

As of now, though, I have seen nothing that shows me that he's actually been in touch with law enforcement. Except for his word, which I have a bunch of questions about at the moment.

amother

Junglegreen

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 11:47 pm

funkymom2.0 wrote:

I'm wondering, could this thread possibly be L"H?

yes.

amother

Maroon

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 11:49 pm

funkymom2.0 wrote:

I'm wondering, could this thread possibly be L"H?

No.
We need to warn the public about this issue that has hurt people multiple times

amother

Hunter

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 11:49 pm

removed

amother

Stoneblue

Mon, Apr 03 2023, 11:57 pm

amother Maroon wrote:

No.
We need to warn the public about this issue that has hurt people multiple times

and aren't we warned already, is it necessary to continue this thread?

NechaMom

Tue, Apr 04 2023, 12:01 am

funkymom2.0 wrote:

I'm wondering, could this thread possibly be L"H?

I’m not sure but he willingly went onto the show that this thread is discussing. He put himself out there on all news websites.

amother

Stone

Tue, Apr 04 2023, 12:03 pm

Honestly it could be he wasn't a scammer, but merely has severe Narcissistic Personality Disorder and is reacting the way someone with NPD would when they get scammed. No wonder he has gotten scammed before - he completely lacks the ability to self-reflect.

Even if he was scammed, he still is responsible. He should apologize and accept responsibility and be transparent, not blaming everyone else's dog's cat!

amother

cornflower

Tue, Apr 04 2023, 3:32 pm

amother Stone wrote:

Where is heshy for pesach?

amother

Snowflake

Tue, Apr 04 2023, 3:38 pm

amother cornflower wrote:

Where is heshy for pesach?

He didn't seem worried, perhaps he planned his plans a while back knowingly.

amother

Stone

Tue, Apr 04 2023, 3:51 pm

amother cornflower wrote:

Where is heshy for pesach?

The legendary Claridger!

amother

Azure

Tue, Apr 04 2023, 4:25 pm

amother Lawngreen wrote:

Are you exaggerating here? I listened to the interview. What previous program ended in disaster?

Don't trust this guy. Remember the terrible program in 2019? Paid guests arrived upstate hours before shavuos and were told they can't check in unless they pay a second time. Because they paid Heshy and the program director said that he never got the money from Heshy so they have to leave or pay again. Heshy didn't give a d@mn. He was in the car with his family driving up. Instead of coming over and helping his guests who he was responsible for, he abandoned shipped, turned around and went home. People were hours away from home with nowhere to go and no food for YT.
This is what Heshy writes about his involvement in the program. A bunch of bologna,.convoluted excuses that make no sense. Something about a a dispute over a few dollars and he doesn't care who he scr3ws in the process.
https://dusiznies.blogspot.com......html

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Apr 04 2023, 4:33 pm

Why is blatant loshon hora allowed to carry on here?

Im cringing