A Missouri company is threatening a lawsuit after an Atlanta Falcons super fan calling herself "Bird Lady" pointed the finger at them for stranding Super Bowl-bound passengers.
One customer says nine people were left standing outside the Georgia Dome Wednesday evening when no buses arrived.
The company, SYTI Events, blames Falcons' super fan Carolyn Freeman of Forsyth, the "Bird Lady." She blames the company.
"He was such a smooth talker, he made you believe everything he said," Freeman said.
Barbara Phillips of Forsyth says she and a friend paid more than $1,000 total for a Super Bowl package, but were left stranded at the Georgia Dome.
She says when they called SYTI, the company told her they'd expected to fill five buses for the trip to Houston, but instead didn't sell enough tickets to fill one bus. The company said a total of only 15 tickets were sold.
SYTI said they're making refunds to Georgians who bought tickets to a canceled Super Bowl trip, but as of Thursday morning, Phillips said she and her friend hadn't gotten their refunds yet.
A woman who described herself as an event planner for SYTI told WMAZ-TV they're in the process of refunding all payments for the Super Bowl trip. She said customers will also be given the option of switching to a bus that leaves on Friday.
"We had hotels and everything set up," said the woman, who declined to give her name.
11Alive spoke with SYTI Founder, Nell Minton, who said he and his attorneys are on their way to Houston with a copy of the contract and additional paperwork that will back up their side of the story. Minton also said he's considering a defamation of character lawsuit against Freeman for blaming them for the fiasco.
“She wants to try to bring my company down? I’ve got the contracts," Minton told 11Alive's Matt Pearl over the phone. "I’ve got every conversation that we’ve had.”
11Alive spoke with Freeman Thursday morning. She had just landed at the Houston airport. She says, she too, was let down by the company who promised to provide her with a ticket to the Super Bowl, but strongly denied taking anyone's money unfairly.
"I have no ticket to the game now," she said. "My reputation is on the line."
