PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A Volusia County couple banned from selling hot tubs under an agreement with Florida’s attorney general have frequently visited a warehouse linked to Facebook Marketplace hot tub sales, exclusive video captured by News 6 reveals.
Dylan and Chelsie Placker were recently recorded by News 6 cameras delivering a hot tub to a Port Orange industrial park where several other hot tubs are stored.
The Plackers towed the hot tub on the same flatbed trailer used by two deliverymen to transport a different hot tub purchased on Facebook Marketplace, surveillance video from the customer’s home confirms.
At least three different Facebook accounts advertising refurbished hot tubs are connected to the warehouse frequented by the Plackers, a News 6 investigation uncovered.
Florida’s Office of the Attorney General sued the Plackers last year after receiving more than 30 consumer complaints about the couple failing to honor warranties on hot tubs that leaked, didn’t operate, or were falsely advertised.
To settle those claims, the Plackers agreed to never own or operate any business in Florida.
The couple also agreed to a permanent ban from working with anyone else in the state who sells or refurbishes hot tubs, according to an injunction signed by a Volusia County circuit court judge.
“We are no longer in business,” Cheslie Placker told News 6 in a brief phone conversation last week before the call was abruptly disconnected. She denied visiting the Port Orange warehouse or knowing anything about it.
Hours after that phone call, a fishing boat used by the Plackers was listed for sale on a Facebook Marketplace account that also advertised used hot tubs.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier did not respond to questions from News 6 inquiring whether his office was aware of the Plackers’ activities at the warehouse and if he believed the couple was abiding by the court order.
If a judge finds the Plackers violated the agreement, the couple could owe the state nearly a half million dollars under the settlement.
PLACKERS BANNED FROM SELLING HOT TUBS IN FLORIDA
In 2022, the attorney general of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit against the Plackers that accused them of peddling leaky and non-working hot tubs in their home state.
The couple eventually agreed to pay more than $33,000 in restitution to their former customers and were banned from selling hot tubs in Oklahoma for a decade, court records show.
After the Plackers relocated their business to Central Florida about three years ago, similar complaints about defective hot tub sales began to surface.
Following a series of News 6 reports about the company, Florida’s Office of the Attorney General sued the Plackers last year for allegedly violating the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The couple eventually reached a settlement with the attorney general’s office that prohibits them from owning or operating any business in Florida, according to the agreement signed by both Dylan and Chelsie Placker.
The Plackers are also permanently enjoined from “working with or for any person or business that offers, sells, repairs, refurbishes, cleans, warrants, constructs, or otherwise provides any hot tub or spa” in the state.
“This company and its owners scammed Floridians by selling damaged, defective, dangerous and inoperative used hot tubs,” Uthmeier said in a February press release announcing the settlement. “Thanks to our Consumer Protection Division, [the Plackers] are permanently banned from operating in Florida.”
PLACKERS CAUGHT ON CAMERA DELIVERING HOT TUB
News 6 cameras captured video of Dylan and Chelise Placker repeatedly arriving and departing the Port Orange warehouse on three separate days between late August and early September.
On the first day the couple was seen at the warehouse, two used hot tubs sat in the parking lot directly in front of the commercial building. Two more hot tubs appeared later.
At least four additional hot tubs were visible inside the warehouse through a glass front door.
No one else accompanied the Plackers as they drove back and forth from the industrial park in a grey Ford pickup, video footage confirms. During most visits the couple entered the warehouse’s front door and then opened a roll-up garage door.
The Plackers arrived at the warehouse on the morning of Sept. 16 and hitched the truck to an empty trailer that was parked outside the building, video captured by News 6 shows.
The couple then drove the trailer down Interstate 4 towards the Tampa area.
About seven hours later, the Plackers returned to the warehouse with a used Healthy Living brand spa strapped to the flatbed trailer. One of the hot tub’s side panels was removed, exposing the internal plumbing.
The Plackers unhitched the trailer from the truck and drove away from the warehouse while leaving the hot tub still secured on the trailer outside, News 6 video shows.
That same flatbed trailer, which has a distinct set of mismatched wheels, was captured on home security video one month earlier delivering a different hot tub to a customer in Polk County.
Rigel Forte told News 6 he purchased the refurbished spa for $2,300 from someone on Facebook Marketplace who used the account name “Sabrina Thompson.”
Forte later wrote a one-star review on the “Sabrina Thompson” Facebook page alleging that the hot tub leaked and did not function. He also accused the seller of failing to honor a 30-day warranty.
“I should have paid attention to the reviews before purchasing, so in the end one has to take ownership for the decisions they make,” Forte wrote. “Buyer beware.”
Surveillance video from Forte’s home shows two deliverymen unloading the hot tub and dragging it into his backyard. Neither is Dylan Placker, and the truck they arrived in is different than the pickup News 6 has witnessed Placker driving.
One of those deliverymen, who was captured on home security video introducing himself as “Howie”, reportedly gave Forte a phone number he could use to pay for the hot tub via the online platform CashApp.
News 6 has identified a Volusia County man with the nickname “Howie” who is associated with the phone number given to the customer.
That man, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, did not respond to phone calls and text messages from News 6 inquiring about the Polk County hot tub sale.
The five-seat hot tub Forte purchased from Facebook user “Sabrina Thompson” was advertised for sale on at least two other Facebook accounts, News 6 has learned.
Those accounts, “Coastal Spas” and “Ronaldo Kelp”, also featured other refurbished hot tubs for sale.
Many images on the three Facebook accounts show background details like flooring, windows, and tools that are consistent with the hot tubs being photographed inside the Port Orange warehouse.
One of the spas being sold by Facebook user “Ronaldo Kelp” is an 8-person Caldera Cantabria. The same model of hot tub, in the same color, could be seen inside the warehouse.
Hours after News 6 contacted the Plackers and their attorney for comment, the “Ronaldo Kelp” Facebook page listed a 27-foot center console boat for sale alongside existing ads for used hot tubs.
“Priced to sell fast at 16k!”, the advertisement for the older-model fishing boat stated.
Earlier this month News 6 cameras captured video of the Plackers launching the same boat into the Halifax River.
The “Ronaldo Kelp” Facebook Marketplace account also advertised several household items for sale including a mini refrigerator, a pressure washer and two vintage children’s bicycles.
News 6 cameras previously recorded video of Dylan Placker loading identical items onto a truck during one of his visits to the warehouse.
The Plackers’ attorney did not respond to questions about the sale of the boat and household items.
A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, did not immediately respond to questions about the hot tubs being sold under multiple Facebook Marketplace account names.
PLACKERS COULD OWE $471K IF THEY VIOLATE AGREEMENT
As part of the stipulated permanent injunction signed by a judge in February, Florida’s Attorney General was granted a $471,096 final judgment against the Plackers that included consumer relief, civil penalties and attorney fees.
However, the attorney general agreed to suspend a large portion of that judgment since the Plackers claimed they were unable to pay it.
Instead, the Plackers were required to pay $10,850 in monthly installments by the end of the year, the agreement states. Those funds will be proportionally distributed to their former Florida customers once the attorney general’s office receives all of the money, according to a press release.
The attorney general’s office did not disclose whether it is confident that money already paid by the Plackers came from income sources unrelated to the repair or sale of hot tubs.
Despite their reported claim of being unable to afford the judgment, Dylan Placker told a Daytona Beach police officer during a traffic stop in March that his wife Chelsie had “bookoos of money”, according to video captured by the officer’s body-worn camera.
“Bookoos” is slang for the French word beaucoup, meaning “a lot”.
If the Plackers misrepresented their financial situation or violate any terms of the agreement, including the ban on selling hot tubs, the attorney general can ask a judge to reinstate the nearly half-million-dollar judgment.
“(Any) subsequent failure to comply with the provisions of this Judgment by any Defendant is, by statute, prima facie evidence of a violation of the (Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act),” the document signed by Dylan and Chelsie Placker states.
Florida law generally allows creditors to collect a judgment by seeking foreclosure of the debtor’s personal property such as vehicles, boats, trailers, furniture, and jewelry.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office did not respond to questions inquiring whether it would rule out the foreclosure of the Plackers’ personal property if a judge ever found the couple to be in violation of the agreement.
Meghan Gillespie filed a consumer complaint with the attorney general’s office in 2022 alleging the Plackers sold her a leaky and defective hot tub for $2,800.
“Myself, along with the other victims [of the Plackers], have been incredibly disappointed in the previous judgement as it has resulted in absolutely no returns financially,” Gillespie told News 6. “We urge the AG to please consider reinstating the full judgement amount and seizing property to help compensate us for our significant losses.”