Complaint Review: South Beach Bartending School

South Beach Bartending School is operating illegally and is a fraud. Their ads on Craigs List say the school is "free" but when you call or show up it is $500 cash. They tell you on the phone you get a "bartending license" and no such thing even exists in Florida. The "licenses" they print up on their office computers are worthless pieces of paper.

South Beach Bartending School is NOT licensed by the FL Dept of Ed. All vocational schools are required to be licensed. Operating a vocational school with no license is a felony in FL (Chapter 1005 of the FL statutes). When you call this company they tell you that they are, in fact, licensed by the Dept of Ed. Liars! In fact they are not even a 'company' in the legal sense...their corporate charter was inactivated by the FL Dept of State in 1998!

South Beach Bartending School does not have a municipal business license from the city of Miami Beach. They hop around using different offices, bars, restaurants, etc.

South Beach Bartending School has an "F" rating from the Better Bus Bureau.

I called the Dept of Ed to file a complaint and they knew exactly what I was talking about. They have been trying to round up and arrest the owner, Derek Fonseca, for the past several years but he skips out when the lawman comes calling. How someone can operate an illegal business so openly and blatanly is beyond me.