PORT ORANGE, Fla. – Hours after News 6 published a recent report about hot tubs being sold on Facebook Marketplace, Florida’s Office of Attorney General filed court papers seeking information about a couple who were previously banned from selling hot tubs in the state.
The attorney general’s office sued Dylan and Chelsie Placker last year after receiving more than 30 consumer complaints accusing the couple of selling hot tubs on Facebook Marketplace that leaked, didn’t operate, or were falsely advertised.
To settle those claims, the Plackers agreed to a permanent ban on owning or operating any business in Florida.
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The couple was also 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.
Last month News 6 published exclusive video showing Dylan and Chelsie Placker visiting a warehouse linked to Facebook Marketplace hot tubs sales.
News 6 cameras recorded the couple delivering a hot tub to the warehouse on the same flatbed trailer used by deliverymen to transport a different hot tub purchased on Facebook Marketplace, surveillance video from the customer’s home confirms.
On Sept. 24, the same day News 6 published that report, the attorney general’s office filed documents in Volusia County circuit court notifying the Plackers the state would soon be issuing subpoenas as part of its prior lawsuit against the couple.
One of those proposed subpoenas, addressed to Facebook’s parent company Meta, seeks information about Facebook user accounts “Coastal Spas”, “Sabrina Thompson”, and “Ronaldo Kelp” that sold hot tubs on Facebook Marketplace.
The “Ronaldo Kelp” account also advertised the sale of a boat and household items linked to the Plackers, a News 6 investigation found.
The attorney general’s office drafted additional subpoenas seeking the Plackers’ bank account records and information about the Port Orange warehouse where the couple was seen frequenting.
The Plackers have filed an objection to the attorney general’s request and are asking a judge to quash the subpoenas, court records show.
The couple also notified the judge and the attorney general’s office that they are no longer represented by an attorney and request all legal correspondence to be sent directly to them.
“Go f*** yourself,” Placker told a News 6 reporter by phone Wednesday in response to questions about the subpoenas. “I’ll face the AG and figure this out.”
Placker indicated he would be seeking a protective injunction against News 6.
“You better stop calling me,” said Placker. “You don’t want that on your record.”
Placker later left a voicemail message with News 6 apologizing for his “heated” language, saying he was overwhelmed with trying to start his life over.
Placker said he and his wife moved away from Central Florida days after News 6’s story published and have returned to their home state of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against the Plackers in 2022 that accused them of peddling leaky and non-working hot tubs in that 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.
Florida Attorney James Uthmeier’s office did not respond to questions from News 6 about its recent court filings seeking subpoenas.
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.
If the Plackers 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.
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