Complaint Review: Readings By Holly

This is my story about a woman I met when I used to work at a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. She goes by the name of Holly Marks, but I have found evidence on the internet that she has gone by two other names. One name I found was "Elizabeth" - elizabethheart46@yahoo.com and the other was "Mary Moore". She has posted ads in multiple cities on Craigslist, but most of her posts have been flagged for removal, including some I have flagged myself.

She came into my store in August 2007. While I was helping her in the fitting room, she asked if I ever had a reading done and she said I needed a good reading. She said she would charge me $75-80 for one. At this point in my life I was desperate for answers and I was depressed. I hated my job, I had broken up with my ex-boyfriend, and I was not doing well in school, so I told her I needed a good reading, but it would have to wait until my next payday. She was very pushy. She told me if I "gave" her the merchandise, she would give me a free reading. I told her no, I couldn't do that, because that would be stealing. Then she gave me her business card and told me to call her that night. I should have thrown it away in the garbage, but I went against my own good judgment. She did come back two days later to purchase the items I had put back out on the sales floor. That convinced me to call her.

She told me things on the phone I thought were true at the time. She told me I was a good person and that she would be able to help me and solve my problems. She told me my soul mate was very near me and if I didn't give her $475 for an aura cleansing and a birth chart, I would never be with him. She said her "work" was guaranteed. I wanted just a reading, but I tried a couple of times to meet her at a local casino by my house. She never met me there for a reading and gave me excuses as to why she couldn't meet with me for a simple reading.

At the time I was interested in a man at my job that I was deeply in love with who had rejected me when I asked him out for a drink. I thought this woman would be the answer to my problems. She even asked how much money was in my bank account. I asked her, "Why do you need to know that?" and she became irritated and said, "Look, this is for you, but if you don't want to do it, don't call anymore and don't waste my time. If you don't feel right doing it, then don't do it. But you won't be with your soul mate." She brought the price down to $275.

So I bought into it and met her at the casino and gave her my money. She had me write down on a piece of paper my birth information, what my dreams were, what my interests were, she even asked what kind of medication I was taking, which I thought was odd. In return she came to my store and gave me a red candle that said "I'm gonna marry that boy someday!" That was only the beginning.

Over the course of time she would ask for more money, $50 here, $150 there, $300 for a Nordstrom gift card and $70 gift card from Ann Taylor because she supposedly wanted to buy an outfit for me from AT and clothes for the guy I was interested in at Nordstrom so that when we finally went on our first date I could have something nice to wear and I would be able to give him a present. I can't believe I could have been so stupid. She even went to a payday loan place with me once. She picked me up from school and took me there because I had to rely on payday loans to help pay my bills and rent.

Overall I lost $1,770 from August 2007-October 2007. She even brought her kids with her. Her son met me several times at my house, at my work, and on the Strip to pick up money from me. One time she even brought her teenage daughter with her to pick up money from me at the casino. It's sad that they have to witness her crimes and even be complicit in them. I cannot believe the level of evil that exists in this world sometimes. How would she like if someone did to her daughter what she did to me? She should burn in hell.

She told me I would get another job on the Strip at a sunglasses store, which never came true. She told me the guy I was interested in was going to ask me out on a Thursday or Friday. That never came true. In fact, he left the company and I have never seen him since. I thought she was real at one point because one lady I didn't get along with at my store caught a bad case of laryngitis and I thought it was because I paid Holly $50 to "take care of her" and stop her in some way from bothering me. In fact, a small part of me still buys into her lies because I have had some bad things happen to me after this whole incident, but I know I she has no power over me. I am strong and I will get through this with the help of my family and friends, people who really care about me.

I even lied at one point and told her that the man at work asked me out and that I needed the stuff from AT and Nordstrom so that I would have something nice to wear for our date and that I could give him his gift. She told me that she couldn't give it to me yet because it would disturb the "circle of life" and the negativity would come back to me. I then called her a few days later and she got mad at me because of the "rude" messages I had left for her on her voicemail. I even feel bad that I lied to her, but I had enough of being her human ATM machine. That is why I left those "rude" messages.

She said she was the one who stayed up all night in meditation for me, trying to remove the negativity from my life, that she wanted me to stop seeing this guy because I would never see him again, and she was going to close the case and give me my money back. She said, "You think I'm doing this for myself? I am doing this for you! You don't have no faith in my work and my high priestess and my church people are very angry. You better call me back later! I don't understand your attitude. You got _______ to go out with you, so what more do you want? Have you lost your job? Did you get in trouble? Have you gotten written up? That's because I protected you from all those things!"

The last time I spoke to her was the beginning of November and told me she'd have the money for me in ten days and she said I was "selfish and only cared about myself." She also told me, "You have no control over your life." She also told me I'd better call her back because she couldn't talk about it and she had people over. I have not anything to do with this evil, manipulative woman since then. I was going to let it go, but I can't. All I got from her was one red "Marry that boy" candle, red "Hold me tight" sexual candle, and a blue candle. She promised me three white candles she was going to get for me because she supposedly went to some church retreat in LA in October, but I never got those either. I never got my birth chart. Most of what she said never came true.

I tried to get the Clark County Neighborhood Justice Center as a mediator and thought seriously about taking her to court. They did contact her and I heard she was very angry and reportedly wanted to find my number to contact me, but she never did. They also sent her a letter, but she never responded. I contemplated seriously about suing her, but I didn't want to go through the hassle. But I learned a very valuable lesson about how anyone can easily get scammed.

The moral of the story is, anyone can easily be taking advantage of if he or she is feeling vulnerable. How can people sleep at night knowing they are stealing money from innocent people? Or, how could I have been so dumb as to believe her lies? It taught me a valuable lesson. People have control over their own lives, NEVER believe someone has power over you, especially if they ask for money to get rid of all your problems. Everyone has problems. Life is never going to be 100% perfect. If you really want to cast spells, do it yourself. You can burn your own candles, incense, pray, meditate, and it costs little or next to nothing. Have faith in YOURSELF. Take control of your own life! I believe in God because I have faith in Him, not these snake oil scammers who tell you what you want to hear.

"Your future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one!" --Christopher Lloyd

Thank you for reading this.

LV_Avenger
Las Vegas, Nevada
U.S.A.