PORT ORANGE, Fla. – The owner of a company accused of selling defective hot tubs has been barred from operating any business in Florida and must pay thousands of dollars to the state as part of an agreement with Florida’s Attorney General, court records show.
In 2022, News 6 began investigating consumer complaints about Revive Spas and More, a Volusia County company that sold used and refurbished hot tubs on Facebook Marketplace.
The company’s owner, Dylan Placker, was accused of delivering inoperable, malfunctioning or leaking hot tubs to customers throughout the state and then failing to honor warranties.
Florida’s Office of Attorney General, which received at least 33 complaints about Placker’s company, launched a consumer protection investigation in 2023.
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The attorney general’s office later sued Placker and his wife Chelsie for allegedly violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
“Multiple consumers complained they purchased a hot tub or spa from the Defendants which the Defendants represented as being ‘like new’ and in working condition but instead received a hot tub or spa that was damaged, leaked water, had a rotted-out frame or floor, contained rusted parts, and/or did not work,” according to the lawsuit filed in September in Volusia County Circuit Court.
The attorney general’s office also accused the Plackers of illegally requiring customers to remove negative online reviews about the company as a condition of receiving a partial refund.
Earlier this month the Plackers entered into an agreement with Florida’s Attorney General that will end the litigation and effectively put the company out of business, court records show.
Under the stipulation signed by the couple, the Plackers are permanently banned from owning, operating or managing any business within the state of Florida.
The couple is also prohibited from working for any company that sells, refurbishes or constructs hot tubs and spas or provides related services in Florida.
The Plackers have agreed not to solicit or receive any cash, check, credit card or other form of payment from consumers in Florida, court records show, and they are barred from interfering with consumers’ ability to share honest online reviews.
According to the attorney general’s office, the Plackers owe the state $471,095 in civil penalties, litigation costs, and consumer relief.
The Plackers have submitted sworn financial statements and other documents claiming they are unable to pay that final judgment amount, court records indicate.
In response, the attorney general’s office has agreed to “suspend” the judgment if the couple pays $10,850 by the end of the year and complies will all other terms of the agreement.
The attorney general said it will seek to reinstate the full judgment amount if a judge later finds the defendants misrepresented their financial situation or if they violate the agreement.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office did not respond to questions from News 6 inquiring whether the $10,850 payment from the Plackers will be distributed to any consumers or used to cover the state’s investigative and litigation costs.
“The POS should be rotting his ass off in jail,” said Jaimy Piccirilli, one of the Plackers’ former customers.
Piccirilli told News 6 that Dylan Placker delivered a $2,000 hot tub to his Jacksonville home in 2022 but left before it could be tested.
The customer later discovered the hot tub’s wood frame was rotten, the electronic control panel did not work properly, and the unit contained a different water pump than expected, Piccirilli said.
When Placker reportedly failed to honor the one-year warranty, Piccirilli said he spent an additional $1,000 out of his own pocket unsuccessfully attempting to fix the hot tub before disposing of it.
“There is no reason this (expletive) should not be in prison, especially since this is the second state and second group of people he knowing screwed out of thousands of dollars,” said Piccirilli.
Before moving to Central Florida, Placker and his wife allegedly sold defective hot tubs in Oklahoma, prompting that state’s attorney general to sue the couple.
The Plackers were eventually barred from selling hot tubs in Oklahoma for a decade and agreed to pay $33,260 in restitution to former customers in that state as part of a settlement with the Oklahoma Attorney General, records show.
A phone number previously used by Revive Spas and More has been disconnected, and an attorney who represented the Plackers did not respond to an email from News 6 offering his clients the opportunity to comment.