Originally this blog was started as a warning to other people about the potential problems they might encounter doing business with Lifestyle Pets (aka Allerca). Since that time I've received a surprising amount of correspondence from people who've had legal and financial issues with Simon Carradan (aka Simon Brodie) from many of his previous business schemes, not just Lifestyle Pets.

(Simon, you sure have made a lot of enemies.)

Some of his customers only got fleeced for $4,000 like me, but I've corresponded with people who lost a lot more than that. Sadly, recovering those losses is difficult since Simon Carradan seems to hide the addresses of his companies.

Regardless, I sure hope that the people paying $12,000 to $19,000 for a pair of Carradan Skis have more luck than all the people I've been hearing from.

Llewtrah, a fellow blogger, left a link on my last post that deserves some attention.

In addition to ever-growing number of complaints about Allerca's business practices that we've been highlighting, apparently some of Simon Brodie's cats are just repackaged cats from other breeders under a different (and trademarked!) name. What would you end up paying for one of these "trademarked" Ashera cats that's really just a Savannah available from dozens of breeders? $27,000.

Makes you wonder where Simon Carradan got those Carradan Skis that he's selling for $19,000 these days.

Today the Consumerist, a non-profit blog which highlights issues affecting consumers, published a very unflattering report on Simon Brodie (aka Simon Carradan) and the inability of Lifestyle Pets to successfully deliver Allerca hypoallergenic cats. The comment thread on the article was quite active, featuring several comments by users that the editors of the Consumerist believe were just Simon undercover. Nice to finally hear from the guy though.

The Simon Brodie / Simon Carradan FAQ

Welcome to the Simon Brodie / Carradan FAQ. I know people have a lot of questions about Simon Brodie and Simon Carradan, so I've created this handy FAQ to answer as many Frequently Asked Questions as I can:

Question: Is Simon Carradan the same person as Simon Brodie?

Question: Is Simon Carradan really a crook?

Question: What do skis have in common with cats, computer training, and balloon rides?

Question: Do Carradan Skis even exist?

Question: Where in the world is Simon Carradan?

(Note: If any of this information is incorrect, or you have additional information, please do not hesitate to send me an email at: allercaclassaction@gmail.com. Thanks!)

Q: Where in the world is Simon Carradan?

A: That's a really good question. None of his corporate websites list an office location and good luck finding his current address on any internet searches. I know one fellow who hired a private investigator to assist in serving Simon a subpoena and still wasn't able to find the guy.

Q: What do skis have in common with cats, computer training, and balloon rides?

A: These are just a few of the past business ventures of Simon Brodie / Carradan and there seems to be a real pattern. Check out this link, or this one, or heck, just google Simon Brodie ventures yourself. These links seem to tell a story of each business selling a product at exhorbitant prices that are often 10 times as high as their competitors. The businesses leave behind significant debts and numerous lawsuits. The majority of the articles also talk about how customers often don't get what they were delivered. Is Carradan Skis the next one? We know the price fits the pattern....

Q: Is Simon Carradan the same person as Simon Brodie?

A: Yes! Simon himself told me in a phone conversation that he changed his name because there were a group of people that were trying to kill him. I can't blame the guy. I know that if I had left a string of debts, failed corporations, jail time, angry partners, and dissatisfied customers in my wake that I'd want to change my name too.

Q: Do Carradan Skis even exist?

A: Well, you won't find an address on their web site. You won't find a corporation registered with their state (Montana) Better Business Bureau. You won't find their skis in any store or even reviews of their skis on any ski web sites. What can you find? A web site instructing how you can pay between $12,000 and $19,000 for a pair of unseen skis.

Q: Is Simon Carradan really a crook?

A: I guess that depends on your definition of crook. If by "crook" you mean someone that was sentenced to years in jail in the U.K. for fraudulent accounting, then, yes, Simon is a crook. Has he been jailed in the U.S. for similar offenses? Not as of March 31, 2009, no.

Note: The email account referenced in my previous post was not working, but it is now. Please contact me at allercaclassaction@gmail.com to discuss lawsuits against Simon Carradan (aka Simon Brodie) or his corporation Lifestyle Pets (aka Allerca).

I lost $4,000 to Lifestyle Pets aka Allerca aka Simon Brodie aka Simon Carradan

I got in contact with Simon Carradan (nee Brodie) in October last year and foolishly wired the man $4,000 for what he claimed was a hypo-allergenic cat. My cat was to be delivered a few weeks later on November 8th.

That date came and went, as did the next date, and the one after that. At that point I finally woke up and did the googling I should have done on Day 1. What I found were an astonishing number of stories just like mine. People were posting their experiences buying an Allerca cat from Lifestyle Pets in blogs all over the Internet. The vast vast majority of these posts were from people like myself who paid thousands of dollars and never got their cat even months after the predicted delivery date. There were several other reports from people who did receive their cats, but were allergic to them.

Finally, there were a handful of reports from people who claimed to have eventually received a hypo-allergic cat. I'm glad someone got a cat (if you believe those reports), but the number of these reports was DWARFED by the number of people who never got a cat, or got a cat that simply was not hypo-allergenic.

Finding reports of people who got refunds was even harder than finding people who reported receiving one of these near-mythical cats.

All of the unsatisfied customers had one thing in common. They had all been personally strung along for months and sometimes years by Simon Brodie, whose skill at these types of delay tactics is remarkable. I asked for my refund at the end of November of 2008 and was promised it would be given to me within a week. Four months and countless excuses later, I still don't have my money.

Simon's latest venture is a company called Carradan Skis. Whether you believe that Mr. Brodie/Carradan is a crook or merely incompetent, I'd urge anyone seeking Carradan Skis to research them carefully before forking over any money.

My next step is to file a lawsuit against Lifestyle Pets. If you're interested in joining a class action lawsuit, please contact me at: allercaclassaction@gmail.com

For more information and other examples of people who got scammed by Simon, please check out the following links:

An investigation into possible fraud at Allerca/Lifestyle Pets

A site created by another abused customer

Tons of comments from people who got ripped off by Simon

Another investigation into Simon Brodie/Carradan and his products

That last article has a great collection of links with more information. Please don't get fooled into giving this man any money.