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00:00You have a talk show.
00:01I was wanting to build my show, and I was like, wow, this guy sounds like he knows what he's
00:05talking about.
00:05I mean, if you listen to him and it doesn't work, well, too bad.
00:09You paid him for his advice.
00:10No one picked up the phone for two weeks.
00:12That's when I said, I'm done here.
00:14You say, all in caps, I don't owe you anything, not a refund, not even this reply.
00:20This is what you told the bank.
00:22I am writing to formally dispute my charge by a fraudulent merchant.
00:26You lied.
00:27Now on Tribunal Justice.
00:51Today's case was filed in Los Angeles, California.
00:55Now this is case number 3104 on the calendar in the matter of Turnbull versus Dream Reach Media.
01:02Thank you, Bert.
01:03You're welcome.
01:04Parties have been sworn in.
01:05You may be seated.
01:06Ms. Turnbull, you have a YouTube talk show.
01:11Yes.
01:11It's called Stay Woke or Not, and you wanted to find a way to monetize the show.
01:17So you reached out to the defendant who has a company called Dream Reach Media, and you maintain that you
01:24paid them $5,800, but they didn't do what they said they were going to do.
01:31You did not get the services for which you paid, and now you want the company to return that money.
01:36Correct, ma'am.
01:37Mr. Brea, you are the owner of Dream Reach Media.
01:41You say that she didn't take the advice you provided, and you did provide advice.
01:45And if something happened with her business, and if it didn't take off in the way that she hoped, that's
01:50all on her.
01:51In a sense.
01:51Okay.
01:52Can we please put up Exhibit 5?
01:56Tell me what you hired the defendant's company to do.
01:59Yeah, I essentially was expecting one-on-one mentorship for at least a year.
02:04I was told that you can leave whenever you want.
02:07Essentially, you know, I came into a settlement that I got in a car accident.
02:11I don't have money to just throw five grand, and I was wanting to build my show.
02:17I was like, okay, he's got a program.
02:19You know, he knows how to, like, turn these into big productions.
02:22But essentially, I'm a talk show.
02:24I'm not a production company.
02:26Let me just pause you right there.
02:27What are the services that you agreed to provide her?
02:30She wanted to produce films.
02:31I can help her with that.
02:33And I always advised her against leveraging the YouTube channel as a means to create income because it's a long
02:39-term play.
02:40So I spent multiple hours on Zoom helping her put together an offer that she could go out, because she's
02:47a very talented host, to create little commercials for businesses using her hosting skills, kind of hosted reviews for businesses,
02:54which could easily pay $50.
02:55Because that sounds like some one-on-one coaching to me.
02:57I'm not disputing that.
02:58But where things fell off is essentially I was calling for two weeks.
03:03I had what I thought was a financial breakdown for my show.
03:06I was like, all right, I finally got it together.
03:08And then no one picked up the phone for two weeks.
03:11That's when I said, hey, you know what?
03:13I'm done here.
03:14Like, I haven't had any responses.
03:16And let's just be clear about our dates.
03:18December, you're working with them.
03:20January, you're working with them.
03:22February, you're working with them.
03:24And then toward the end of February, I wasn't.
03:26Toward the end of February, you say they stopped responding to you.
03:30And then March, your car gets broken into.
03:32Yeah.
03:32Tell us about that break-in.
03:36Yeah.
03:37I'm at my apartment.
03:38My boyfriend moved out at the time.
03:41It's just me and my dog.
03:42And then somebody broke into the trunk.
03:44They opened the glove compartment.
03:45And then they stole my merch, which was my beanies, everything that I purchased.
03:48And this was merchandise that you planned to sell?
03:50Yes.
03:51In order to help promote the site and grow the business.
03:54Here's your message to him in March.
03:56Hello, Daniel.
03:58I appreciate all your help so far.
04:00But I just recently had my car broken into, and they stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.
04:07If you're able to issue a refund, I'd appreciate that.
04:11I can come back at a different time.
04:13So how I read that is that after months of using these services, you could then get all your money
04:20back.
04:21Now, what led you to believe that?
04:23Well, there was also the period where they weren't picking up the policy.
04:26I don't—you need to tell me when that period was.
04:28But let's just assume that happened.
04:30You know, you don't win your case, at least not in my view, if you have evidence that they didn't
04:35call you back that same day every time you called.
04:38I mean, that's just not how a lot of businesses work.
04:40Sure.
04:41I mean, in fact, what I saw is that didn't you, sir, submit evidence that there were modules?
04:45I mean, there were things that you gave her access to that she didn't use.
04:49Can we put up Exhibit 9, please?
04:51That's the course progress exhibit.
04:53Tell us what we're looking at.
04:54The top one is for learning how to create short films to benefit you as an acting career.
05:00Making your first micro-budget feature film is the Feature Film Program.
05:03You can see that's completed 100%.
05:05Drace's Business is how to build a service production company and monetize that.
05:10She had full access to that.
05:11Didn't use it.
05:12Building Your Audience is building your audience, which I'm actually surprised because she has a YouTube channel and didn't go
05:17through that.
05:18But she had access to it.
05:18And Speakers and Guests is where I bring Oscar-winning producers and established people to speak to the community, like
05:25herself, to get insights on the industry on certain playbooks.
05:29So essentially, this is a list of what she gets for the $5,800, yes?
05:33Yes, which comes with a community chat channel where she can access us and two weekly Zoom calls that you
05:40can attend every single week.
05:41And the telephone system that she utilized and is saying that we didn't call her back through, that's not a
05:47customer service line.
05:48That's the sales phone line.
05:50So was there ever a time, Ms. Turnbull, before the break-in, where you said to the defendant,
05:55Hey, I need a refund because I'm not getting anything from this?
05:58Because I didn't see evidence of that.
06:00There is one of his employees that I was in closer contact with, the one who initially signed me up
06:05for his program.
06:06When was that?
06:07Towards the end of February before the break-in.
06:09Towards the end of February.
06:10And where was that?
06:11Where did you say you're not doing the job?
06:13This was via the phone calls with his employee.
06:15In fact, when you said to him in March that your car had been broken into, you said,
06:19I appreciate all your help so far, but I just had my car broken into.
06:24You didn't say, you guys are doing a crappy job, or you're not responding to me, or I'm not getting
06:29what I paid for, so I want my money back.
06:32You said, an unrelated tragedy happened to me, so you pay me back.
06:36Because I...
06:36Hold on.
06:37What's your refund policy?
06:40Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
06:42I don't mean to insult anybody that does this kind of business.
06:45There's a lot of things I'm not very astute about.
06:48But would I give somebody $5,800 to tell me how to be a better judge?
06:53Probably not.
06:59Dahlia Turnbull says she paid a $5,800 membership fee to Daniel Brea's media company to help grow her online
07:06presence,
07:07but didn't get anything useful out of it.
07:09She's suing for a refund.
07:10Daniel says he offered coaching sessions and business planning, but Dahlia just didn't do the work.
07:17What's your refund policy?
07:18Can we put that up, please?
07:19Because she does say that at the outset, she was told she could cancel.
07:24And I've reviewed the policy.
07:26Why don't you explain it to us?
07:27If you, within seven days, request a refund, we don't ask you any questions.
07:31If it's beyond that, it's up to our discretion.
07:34You know, if you decide to go and start an alpaca farm halfway through, that's kind of on you and
07:39that's not our problem.
07:40If we are giving you the services and you're giving it your best effort, you're showing up, you're implementing what
07:45we're coaching you on,
07:46and you're executing on it, and you're not seeing results by the end of the year, then we fail you
07:51and you get your money back.
07:52So at some point, there's a message, it's undated, from you to the plaintiff, where you say, all in caps,
07:59you need to change.
08:01I don't owe you anything, not a refund, not any more of my time, not an apology, and not even
08:08this reply.
08:09If you'd have gotten away with your fraudulent dispute attempt, I never would have heard from you again, and you
08:15would have stolen my time, my money,
08:18after having spent hours and hours talking to you and trying to help you.
08:22You acted criminally and fraudulently, and that's unacceptable.
08:26Do you recall approximately when you sent her that message?
08:29After she did a charge back?
08:31You reversed the charge, and then you got the money back.
08:33And then you reversed the charge again, and then you got the money back.
08:35And the evidence is that she kept trying to get the money back, but was ultimately never successful.
08:42I'm good for the moment. Judge Domingo?
08:43I didn't see a police report about the car theft. I just want to point that out.
08:47All it says here is that there was a call March 4th. I don't see anything about what was stolen.
08:54There's a tracking number, too.
08:56Excuse me? I mean, yeah, but usually the police reports have a detail. I had a conversation.
09:00She said this was in the vehicle. I mean, the things that we would normally see in a police report
09:04on a theft
09:04would be somewhat more inclusive of that.
09:07But something, and I don't mean to insult anybody that does this kind of business.
09:11There's a lot of things I'm not very astute about.
09:14But in my right mind, I would never call a company that says,
09:18if you call me, I'll help you become successful, or I'm a consultant.
09:21I mean, if you listen to him and it works, fine.
09:24If you listen to him and it doesn't work, well, too bad.
09:27You paid him for his advice.
09:29Would I give somebody $5,800 to tell me how to be a better judge?
09:33Probably not.
09:35Like, okay, you have a talk show.
09:37Who do you bring on your talk show?
09:38Either musicians for Music Monday or mental health patients.
09:41Okay.
09:41People that are willing to talk about their mental health.
09:43Okay.
09:44What are you hoping was going to happen when you called him and said, hey...
09:48I honestly thought maybe he had an idea for me to get sponsorships for mental health in the fact that
09:54I'm a film.
09:54So wait, okay, so let me pause you.
09:56What did you offer her?
09:58She needed something quicker.
10:00She wanted to make movies.
10:01And the idea of helping her grow the channel was like, sure, we have knowledge on that, but there's not
10:06a course outline for that.
10:08But we have friends who are influencers in that sense.
10:10We can help you with that.
10:12But...
10:12Useless.
10:12And by the way, it's also not consulting.
10:15We tell everybody, this is not easy.
10:18It's not get rich quick.
10:19It's a year-long commitment at least, and it's building a real business.
10:23You're going to have to show up and do the work.
10:25I get that.
10:25What were you told about this business that made you want to give them $5,800?
10:31Yeah, so a couple years ago, I heard his podcast on SoundCloud, and I was like, wow, this guy sounds
10:36like he knows what he's talking about.
10:37He probably does.
10:38You know, and the truth is, I lost my mom.
10:41I lost my brother.
10:42Part of my motivation, you know, my mom was somewhat of a paralegal herself, is to make a film about
10:46her life.
10:48It's getting emotional, but just coming into a settlement money where I almost died in a car accident, I had
10:55this money, and I said, hey, I want to put it towards my...
10:56Well, you know what, I keep hearing from you, bad things, bad things, depression, sadness, this, this.
11:01You've got to get out of that mental state of yours, because the bottom line here is, what do you
11:06really want to do?
11:06Do you want to keep your podcast going, or do you really want to make this film?
11:11Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
11:14So this is what you told the bank.
11:16I am writing to formally dispute my charge of $5,800 on my account that was made by a fraudulent
11:23merchant.
11:23Merchant, you are accusing him of a civil and a criminal act.
11:32Dahlia Turnbull is suing Daniel Brea for $5,800, the cost of a business course she thought would grow her
11:39online presence.
11:40Dahlia says the course was a complete waste of time.
11:43But Daniel claims the problem was Dahlia, who refused to follow his plan for success.
11:48What do you really want to do?
11:50Do you want to keep your podcast going, or do you really want to make this film?
11:53The podcast going.
11:55Okay, so you're going to put the film stuff aside, so all of those things that he read off there
11:59don't apply to you.
12:01And just because somebody tells you, you could get out any time, yeah, you could, but you're not going to
12:06get your money to take with you.
12:08Granted, it was in the first three months of the program.
12:10It's not like I was there a year, and they said with the year.
12:13Yeah, but you weren't going to go back.
12:15If he gave you the money, come on.
12:16Judge Levy?
12:17So it was December 13, 2023, is when you hired the defendant's business to mentor you, and you paid him
12:24the money.
12:24Correct.
12:25And you actually sent a message to the defendant, thank you so much for your support in my dream.
12:30Correct.
12:31Zoom coaching sessions, you had those?
12:33Yes.
12:34And also one-on-ones with the defendant?
12:36Essentially three or four calls.
12:38Okay, but that's okay.
12:39Yeah.
12:39This is you on a communication with the defendant.
12:42You say, hey, Daniel, happy Friday, quarter two, February through March, financial breakdown, ad on LinkedIn, headshots added, biography on
12:52each, Google Form sign-up sheets, and ordered black hoodie.
12:56Yeah, I guess that's me sending him a progress report of what I did.
12:59Exactly.
13:00So this is stuff that you did on your own to show your initiative to your business, to yourself, in
13:06part based upon the mentorship and the program that he set up.
13:09Correct.
13:10So when you filed your original lawsuit in the small claims court, what you told them was that you're suing
13:16him for $5,800 and services were not rendered.
13:20That's what you wrote.
13:21Please show that to her.
13:22I've highlighted it.
13:24Show me in that document where you said to the judge under oath that the issue I had with him
13:28was failure to respond to me in a timely manner versus services not rendered.
13:34I didn't have a chance to talk to a judge.
13:36No, what you wrote in your paper.
13:37It's the same exact thing.
13:38You said services not rendered, right?
13:42Right.
13:42Okay.
13:43Well, you remember writing a letter to your bank, right?
13:45Yeah, the bank.
13:46So this is what you told the bank to get your $5,800 back.
13:51I hope this message finds you well.
13:53I am writing to formally dispute my charge of $5,800 on my account that was made by a fraudulent
13:59merchant.
14:00Did you know she said that?
14:02I found out after I got the letter.
14:04Fraudulent merchant.
14:06Fraud.
14:07You were accusing him of a civil and a criminal act.
14:10Why did you tell that to the bank that he was a fraud?
14:12Essentially when I was trying to call for two weeks and he had no response.
14:15I get that that's going to be your answer, but that's what you would have said to the bank if
14:19that's what you wanted the bank to know.
14:20What you wrote down there was he's a fraud.
14:22What you wrote to the judge under oath in the small claims cases was that he failed to provide any
14:27services.
14:28You lied.
14:30Why are you not the fraud?
14:32Why shouldn't he be standing where you are and you standing over there defending a defamation action?
14:38Because really, that's what he could do.
14:40I have nothing further.
14:42Tell me, sir.
14:43I'm just curious.
14:44Why did you keep responding to her?
14:46I like her.
14:47And you wanted her to succeed?
14:49Yeah, I feel for her.
14:50I didn't have an easy childhood and I wanted to help her legitimately.
14:54It's hard to help somebody who doesn't do what you say.
14:57I don't have anything else.
14:58There is something I do want to ask you.
15:00You wanted to make a film about your mother.
15:03Tell us why your mom was so special to you that you want to make a film.
15:12Um, just give me a second.
15:14Sure.
15:19Um, since we're here and we're about the truth, um, when I was young, I was kidnapped.
15:25Me and my brother took us to three different countries and she found us in two months in
15:31international kidnapping and she's a superhero, you know?
15:35I can see why you'd want to make a film about something like that.
15:38I wanted to give you the opportunity to put that out there.
15:40My brother battled with mental health schizophrenia and she died of a broken heart.
15:44So that's why.
15:45They both passed away two years ago.
15:48Then why didn't we make that movie?
15:52I left my, all my mom's documents are in Michigan and I was trying to afford the apartment I
15:58was in and ultimately was trying to come up with over three grand in rent and I was depressed
16:03and didn't move.
16:04But ultimately there is a big movie.
16:06But I told you how to go make that money.
16:08I told you, $1,500 to three grand per one of those videos.
16:10Why don't you do it?
16:11And I think that you guys can have something to talk about maybe.
16:14All right.
16:14We're going to retire to deliberate.
16:16Court now stands in recess.
16:18This case will be recalled.
16:20Party's our excuse for the time.
16:29I think it's pretty clear she doesn't have a case.
16:32I mean, she got the services.
16:35She didn't even take advantage of all of the services that he did provide.
16:39She got lots of one-on-one coaching.
16:42Things changed for her.
16:44Her circumstances changed.
16:46So she needed more money than she did before.
16:48So she thought she could revisit a prior deal.
16:51I mean, that's just not the law.
16:52There was no failing on his part or on the part of his business.
16:55And I thought that was a great point, Adam, because I'm frankly like if I were practicing
17:01law and that were my client, we'd be countersuing her for some of those representations that she
17:06made about him.
17:08It's an easy dismissal in my view.
17:09Yeah, I felt that there was more underlying what was going on, which is why I had said
17:16to her that she had a lot of sadness in her life.
17:20She had a lot of things that were happening.
17:21She was hoping that this was going to change it and give her a place to put out there how
17:25she felt about her mother and all.
17:27But she was so depressed she wasn't putting enough into it to do anything.
17:30And ultimately, at the end, that's what she kind of admitted to all of us, that she really
17:34was not able to pretty much get herself out of bed and do what it would take to move it
17:39along.
17:40And maybe now, having had him hear what she wanted to do, they may be able to reunite
17:45their agreement and kind of work on it.
17:48But right now, he did everything he could.
17:50He mentored her.
17:52He gave her documents, papers, movies, shows, everything he possibly could to put her on the
17:57right path.
17:57And she just didn't make the use out of it.
17:59She needs to have the case dismissed.
18:01I agree with the disposition.
18:03And it may be a favor to her.
18:06So by dismissing her case, it means that the defendant's not going to be returning that
18:10money.
18:11Correct.
18:11But what I gather from the defendant's last comments to her, where he legitimately seemed
18:16interested in wanting to help her.
18:17Absolutely.
18:18And perhaps he'd still be willing to continue with the mentorship, understanding more about
18:23her situation.
18:24So perhaps there's a way that you can say, you know, you've lost the case, but that may actually
18:29be a good thing.
18:30Great suggestion.
18:31So if he says, great, then she loses, but she wins.
18:34That's a great idea.
18:35So we're unanimous?
18:35I think hearing it from you would be beneficial.
18:37So we're unanimous.
18:42Court is back in session.
18:44Parties are reminded you're still under oath.
18:46Thank you, Bert.
18:47We've deliberated and we've reached a unanimous verdict.
18:49Our verdict certainly won't come as a surprise.
18:52We are unanimous, ma'am, in concluding that we must dismiss your case.
18:56There's no evidence that the defendant's company didn't perform the services that you paid for.
19:03In fact, all of the evidence is to the contrary.
19:05I said to my colleagues in the back that you really did dodge a bullet because if I weren't
19:11on this bench and I were his lawyer, we'd be countersuing you.
19:13You just can't accuse people of things that you know aren't true, especially when they're so
19:19damaging.
19:20And we know you were in dire straits, but that doesn't excuse the things that you said about
19:25him and his business.
19:26So we are dismissing your complaint.
19:28But I have to tell you, we were all very compelled by this story that you wanted to tell.
19:34I mean, what a life your mother lived.
19:36It certainly makes sense that you'd want to tell that story.
19:39And what we also found moving was the defendant's interest in helping you tell that story.
19:46So we are wondering if, notwithstanding your dismissal, which is kind of a blessing to you
19:51because he still has the money that you paid him, we are wondering if there's a way that
19:58you'd still be able to work with her.
20:00I was going to offer that she can finish her nine remaining months if she wants to.
20:04What do you think about that deal?
20:06OK, and now we have here the gentleman that you wanted to sue saying he still wants to
20:12help you.
20:13So I think that's a good man.
20:15And I think you have a great story.
20:17Let's move forward.
20:18And then one day, the three of us hope to be invited to the premiere.
20:22So we are going to dismiss your case, but we're going to wish you the best moving forward.
20:27And thank you, sir, for your testimony.
20:28That's our verdict.
20:30The case is now concluded.
20:32Bodies are excused.
20:33She may step out.
20:38I'm still processing.
20:39I'm kind of in shock.
20:40I just went from crying to, like, happiness.
20:43It's confusing.
20:43I delivered the goods.
20:44I was angry because of how she handled it.
20:46Hopefully we can continue.
20:50Uh, yeah.
20:51As long as she can stay focused, I think she'll be all right.
20:54I hope that she won't try something like this again.
20:57I've never been judged by three judges at once.
21:00So justice has been served.
21:03Did someone break an agreement?
21:05Let tribunal justice decide your case.
21:08Find us on social media.
21:10Check out.
21:12We iodine.
21:20We'll see you again.
21:22Bye.
21:22Bye.
21:27Bye.
21:30Bye.
21:31Bye.
21:33Bye.
21:35Bye.
21:36Bye.
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