'All-you-can-eat crab and lobster feast' leads to empty stomachs and wallets

PHOENIX (WTVD) -- An all-you-can-eat "crab and lobster feast" seemed like a great way to spend the Labor Day weekend. But people who paid in advance for tickets found themselves hungry and out $30 to $60 when the feast location turned out to be an empty warehouse in Phoenix.

"Got scammed," Jeff Baltzer, who bought two tickets, told our Phoenix affiliate, ABC15. "It was a scam."

More than a dozen people told ABC15, they believe they are the victims of a scam. An investigation is underway to find the people who pulled it off.

"I'm like uh oh, I think this is not going to be good," Garrett McCray told ABC15. "I was like, I can't believe I fell for this."

ABC15 reported the company putting it on is named "SHOWSHARKS" and it has a Los Angeles address. ABC15 says it was unable to contact anyone associated with the company.

"Shame on them," McCray said. "I want my money back."

The event website indicated tickets were sold out.

"It's just the ultimate betrayal of trust," McCray said. "They're laughing all the way to the bank."

Customers used the eTickets platform to buy the tickets.

That company issued the following statement:

We've also been in contact with ticket holders after recently being made aware of the alleged scam and suspended the related account as soon as we were informed.

The eTickets platform itself only provides the shopping cart functionality for ticket purchases - all financial transactions are handled by PayPal so they would have the full details on the organization and we recommend that any affected purchasers contact PayPal or their bank to request a refund.