Response from owner of Sea Splash Resort – Patrick Lawe:
I got a call from the Manager, Sheryl Clarke, at Sea Splash (S/S) last night, obviously quite alarmed at the fallout from the Living Social deals.
I had never visited the Negril.com site before. I live 150 miles away in Kingston and have been very involved and busy with a business there. I decided to take a look and was utterly astounded by the negative things that have been said and are being said regarding Sea Splash and about me from the Jim and Ted’s Excellent Adventure deal all the way to the current Living Social scenario.
I value my reputation and my good name and whatever I do I try to do it well, so I am going to relate the whole story – the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
As the majority owner of S/S,along with my brother, I worked with architect in designing the hotel which was constructed and opened in May 1990. At the time, it was undoubtedly the nicest small hotel in Negril – probably in Jamaica and set a new standard (bar) for small properties.
Over the years, we have had some good years and bad years, I believe mostly good, depending on the quality of the management we have been able to find. Over the last few years we have struggled to find competent and honest managers. One manager in particular almost ruined us totally and we are still being impacted by that particular experience.
We now come to current issues and of course, JIM & TED. Sometime in the late summer of last year, I heard that Jim (Bombastic in Negril) and his partner Ted had stayed at Sea Splash and had indicated an interest in opening a bar at Sea Splash. I had never met Jim before. I told the then manager who had conveyed the information to me that I would be interested in looking at a proposal for the proposed bar. As I understand it, Ted, at the time, ran a bar in Chicago and probably still does. They sold themselves as being knowledgeable in bars and as they put it were experienced “bar guys”.
Around September we received a proposal and frankly it seemed interesting. During our discussions, I disclosed to Jim that I was interested in selling the property and that there were a few interested persons with whom we were having discussions. Jim indicated an interest in purchasing the property. Within short order, what appeared to be a workable proposal was e-mailed to me regarding a purchase. We eventually arrived at a proposed agreement where J&T would lease the property with an option to purchase. J&T said they wanted to have 3 months of running the property before signing the lease because their company incorporation documents were not yet ready. Jim arrived in Negril sometime in November. We put him in possession with a license agreement and a small security deposit of US$12,000.00 for December 1, 2011 because he was anxious to start doing work on the bar. No substantial deposit as he is claiming to have made. They built a modest bar – nothing fancy or expensive. They also made some well thought out but minor changes to a portion of the deck and the railing around the deck and they removed a minor decorative (artwork type screen) which separated the restaurant from the whirlpool tub. This opened up the place a bit more and I agree they were good changes but again I emphasize – NOTHING EXPENSIVE.
They started trading right away – food, beverage, rooms. Yes, prior to Dec. 1, 2011, we had temporarily closed the property in Oct/Nov with the full intention to reopen in December 2011 and with reservations for guests to arrive in December thru to April 2012 and beyond. So J&T were given a “running start” and by late December 2011 into January 2012 things were going well and Jim told me that he was happy with theway things were going and that it had exceeded his expectations. In late December to early January we received a good offer and though we would have preferred to have an outright sale, for ethical reasons, decided to stay with J&T and I told Jim about the offer. Also J&T had not yet begun to show their “true colours”.
So far so good. Then we noticed that January 1 and several days thereafter came and went and nothing was said about our rent. Eventually we caught up with Jim and we eventually got it in dribs and drabs over the course of the month. A similar pattern followed for all the ensuing months with long periods of up to 2 weeks of non-payment between different portions of the payment.
Another thing of note is that Jim for some unknown reason was not able to get his American Express account opened at Sea Splash in Negril. During this time we the owners still had our American Express processing machine at Sea Splash so we noticed that Jim almost always only used the AmEx receipts to pay us in the small portions referred to earlier because obviously he couldn’t get access to the AmEx funds which guests use to pay their accounts in any other way. This made us very nervous because it certainly gave us the impression that, were it not for the fact that J&T were not able to access AmEx, we may not get any rent at all. When we expressed the concerns to Jim, he always had some glib answer. Jim is what we in Jamaica call the “superlative mouth mechanic”,a PR man of no mean order.
During this time, Jim got his company incorporated and the lease and option to purchase agreements were to be signed contemporaneously and the option to purchase deposit was to be paid at the same time. After all the points were agreed the lease was sent to Jim on April 5, 2012 for it to be executed and the deposit to be paid.
We never heard from Jim or Ted after that time. Countless e-mails were sent and countless phone messages left with no response from Jim or Ted. At this stage things worsened, J&T weren’t paying the rent, the electric, water or phone bills or the property insurance. We decided that these people could not be trusted and it was time to sever the relationship rather than go further. Just imagine someone owing all this money and not bothering to even respond to e-mails or phone calls.
But that’s not all. Jim Hurt, pretending to be owner of Sea Splash and signing as such entered into an agreement with Living Social to sell a number of vacation packages – five hundred and forty two (542) vacation packages were sold. Jim received an initial payment from Living Social of US$108,000.00 on May 15, 2012. This payment was confirmed to me by Living Social and it was wired to Jim’s personal company bank account – Jim and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. At the time when we retook the property on May 24, 2012, here is an itemization of the litany of woes that Jim Hurt left in his wake:
Utility bills for usage during his occupancy - US$20,524.00
Paybill due next day that week - US$ 5,479.00
Prorated property Insurance for usage during his occupancy – US$23,906.00
½ cost of legal fees for preparing the lease and option agreements – US$ 3,525.00
Unpaid invoices due to suppliers of goods and services - US$ 2,720.00
Unpaid taxes - US$26,008.00
Total US$82,162.00
Advance funds received from Living Social for vacation packages sold – US$108,000.00
Less vouchers which redeemed during J&T’s occupancy 34 x 349 - US$ 11,866.00 (US$96,134.00)
Grand Total US$178,296.00
To all of Jim’s sympathizers, I have one question and one question to ask only. With the overwhelming evidence that I have detailed above – would you continue to do business with Jim Hurt?
Let’s say that Jim spent US$5,000 or to be generous say US$10,000.00 on Sea Splash that pales by comparison to the US$177,947.00 that he got away with. I can assure everyone that Jim Hurt left Negril a whole lot richer than when he arrived. Of that I am certain. There is a saying in Jamaica “See me and come live with me are 2 different things”.
Let us be clear, he was never the owner of Sea Splash and he knew that. Purporting to be the owner was fraudulent. Even if he had signed the lease and option agreements this would not make him owner until the deal was completed 3 years’ time.
My kindest and best wishes to you.
Pat Lawe
Owner
P.S. I will try to communicate more regularly via the web. It’s just that I have been so busy otherwise. I want you to know that we care and we are working hard to make Sea Splash more special than it’s ever been.
Originally Posted by Rob
