Complaint Review: Simply The Best Entertainment Napa Valley

In mid February of 2013, the person claiming to be the owner of Simply The Best Entertainment stalked me via e mail. His name is Eric Symons, and from my experiences with Eric, and from other people who have dealt with Eric, we all have the impression that Eric Symons is not only a very deceptive person, but is clearly in league with Steve Leflar, a known child predator.

2009

I first got wind of Eric in 2009 when the Schoenberger family reported to me that "Our former General manager had leaked important and sensitive company information to a thief"

Mrs. Schoenberger personally told me that the "thief" was Steven R. Leflar, a person she feared, and then she related how Leflar had done everything in his power to harm her husband, and this included calling her on her home line !

I learned from Mr.Schoenberger that Leflar had even called their then 9 year old son on his cell phone. Mr.Schoenberger had rightfully contacted the Contra Costa DA and police to make reports. 

Schoenberger reported Symons, leflar and Star Sounds productions, the company Leflar owned.

To add insult to injury, Leflar and Symons created a website designed to disparge the Schoenberger family. This was a stalking website, and Leflar even went to Napa to take pictures of Schoenberger's friends car license plates. Leflar also e mailed a large data base of Schoenberger's associates, given to Leflar by Symons.

2010

In 2010, I became aware that Eric Symons was actively working for Mr. Leflar and there was a huge furor over both of these men hiring bands and DJ's and then not paying them. Both Symons and Leflar tried telling the clients that Schoenberger owed the money. Schoenberger in turn urged all unpaid vendors to "get down to the bottom of it" The result was that both Leflar and Symons were named as defendants in multiple superior court cases. Leflar sued both Schoenberger and his friend Agency owner Gig Xifaras, and Leflar lost both cases. Leflar lost 9 cases all together, including pivitol cases brought by respected agency Notable Talent and artists like Keith Johnson and harpist Lisette Perelle. The victims list of Leflar and Symons includes popular bands like Pride and Joy, Big City, David Martin's House Party and Wall Street.

Leflar and Symons, seperately and jointly, were sued in both Concord and in Santa Rosa by agents, musicians and other unsatisfied clients. Leflar lost all cases because the judges deternined that Leflar had not only received the money he claimed he had not, it was proven that Leflar repeatedly misled his victims.

Having had executive positions in the Napa Valley Symphony and the Lincoln Theatre, I heard many horror stories about many bands and artists not getting paid after accepting work from Eric Symons.

In 2010, Symons was instructed by Leflar to open up Simply The Best Entertainment in Cotati. At the same time, Leflar opened up STB Entertainment in Elk Grove California under his live in girlfriends name.  Leflar presumably did not want his stake in these companies to become public, since Leflar was now facing both a Labor Board inquiry ( launched at the request of 15 bands owed money)

In May 2010, Angela Takeithi, a pianist and owner of Wine Country Entertainment, informed Xifaras and Schoenberger over lunch, that Simply The Best entertaintainment was actually using Eric Symons as a "beard" and the true owner was Leflar, and that Leflar kept his name off the books. Ron Israel, a DJ who had worked for Leflar for 20 years, was their main substiutute DJ.

2011

In 2011, Leflar instructed Symons to contact Schoenberger and see if Symons could be convinced to partner with Symons to take off some of the negative content now blossoming on complain boards about Simply The Best. Schoenberger was catious, and rightfully so. In a matetr of a month, it was discovered that the owner of Allegra and dealt with Symons and Leflar, providing production for a huge Festival Del Sole event at Far Niente . Allegra claimed it had lost $18,000 after being lied to by Symons and Leflar. Schoenberger now calulated that Symons had been the agent of record for over 20 events where the band was promised payment by Symons,and ultimately did not get paid a penny. Symons, as  usual, blamed the victim, a trick he had learned well from his boss Steve Leflar. To this date, Allegra is still owed over $18,000 by Leflar and Symons. Symon's has made public claims that it was an "accounting error on the part of Allegra", which is completely false and misleading.

2012   Ron israel

In 2012, Ron Israel, the long term employee of Steve Leflar, breaks his silence, revealing that he too was misled by Symons and Leflar into believing he was a equal partner in Star Sounds productions, the same ruse used on Schoenberger several years back. Israel had supporting documentation and confirmed Takeithi's claim that Simply the Best Entertainment was in fact owned by Steve Leflar and Eric Symons was the owner on paper only.

With so many victims and such a clear trail of deciet, Symon's has vainly stuck to his story, even as an avalanche of evidence refutes his claims. Furthermore, it is clear that both Leflar and Symons engaged in a now 4 year systemtic campaign of cyber bullying of Schoenberger, his family and his friends , including e mailing his employers and associates and now attacking Ron Israel and AEC on the websites Leflar maintains. The reason for the attacks on Schoenberger have to do with the ongoing attempt by Symons and Leflar to steal away Schoenberger's long term clients and to try and shift their own blame onto Schoenberger, AEC, Israel, Allegra, etc.

I personally know a number of  victims of the Leflar Symons scams, including Xifaras, a woman named Linda, a woman named Angela and the Schoenberger family.

An internet search of Steve Leflar reveals page after page of victims who were hurt by Leflar and Symons. For symons to claim that "Simply teh Best Entertainment has no debt" is an attempt to decieve the public into forgetting the enormous amount of debt Symons and Leflar incurred by NOT paying artists for heir hard work. I call it Fraud.

Stalking:

I was personally stalked via e mail by Eric Symons just months ago. I strongly urge anyone looking to do business with Simply The Best entertainment to first google Steve Leflar Eric Symons or google Eric Symons complaints in order to get a proper idea of who Eric really is.

Eric Symons will try and distract people by claiming "It's a war between Leflar and Ron", or "Leflar and Mr.Schoenberger", or" Leflar and AEC" But you must brush aside these arguments to arrive at the real reason for Symon's public declarations. 

Symons is still very much involved in conducting business with Leflar. Symons's continues to refuse responsibility for the 40 or so artists who he booked with Leflar, and then never paid. 

Symon's , the record shows, blames his fiascoes on everyone else but himself, just as Leflar repeatedly denies any wrongdoing, despite the many guilty charges Leflar has endured in numerous Superior courts.

I am a credible witness to these events, having served Napa Valley as both an executive and a vibrant member of the cutural arts.In my opinion, Eric Symons is not to be trusted. And clearly, I believe that Steve Leflar is a criminal. I would define both men to be resentful stalkers who continue to attack the victims of their schemes.

Dr.Aldag