Sea Splash and Living Social Information

[Rob]

Bruja,

I dont find any of the numbers "glaring" or too high, and maybe a re-look at the facts as stated by Mr. Lawe is in order. As stated by both Mr. Hurt and Mr. Lawe, Jim & Ted began trading as of December 1st, 2011. Mr. Lawe retook the property as of May 24th, 2012. That is a time period of nearly 6 full months.

I point this out because of your question #4 above: "One I find most out there is the insurance. The $23000 USD property insurance bill is really accurate for only 3 months?" - The time frame is not 3 months, but 6 months, and that has been pro-rated. When considering the cost of all the necessary insurance on the property including the very expensive tropical hurricane insurance, I do not find this amount out of the ordinary.

Your question #2 about the payroll is interesting and noteworthy. When we first saw Sheryl at Sea Splash, the first words we heard her utter to one of the employees was "how much money did Mr. Hurt owe you?" One of her first duties was making the past debts right as to not hurt any innocent parties in this matter. This same thought process may answer some of your other questions as well.

Living Social does make payments just as has been mentioned. They break the payments into several installments, the first one coming within a month of the date of their offering. This is how they operate and explains why nothing could really be stated by Sea Splash until Living Social determined how best to handle this situation. Any comments would have been premature.

As for Jim and Ted, neither are on the island, Ted left sometime in April or early May, and Jim left days after Mr. Lawe retook the property.

[bruja]

Well thanks for the response but I was hoping for answer from source if he wished and not even numerical or in depth explanations....No offense.
Assumptions only perpetuate which is why I spoke to the owner in my text. I would have never asked if the question would u was not thrown out there....

The items I commented on with the exception of that tour company-I have very in depth knowledge of which is why I only asked. I still stand by what I typed originally-specially the insurance amount...even if for 6 months (stand corrected). I know it is very expensive for sure..that was not my argument. I just have an idea prorated or not.

So social living-do they pay in full prior to advance arrivals (far out from may 24)?

Lastly, this is my opinion but I find it hard to believe anyone would just agree to make things right with jps considering the abuse they dish out. You know that. That is one most would forget about making right



QUOTE=Rob;56133]Bruja,

I dont find any of the numbers "glaring" or too high, and maybe a re-look at the facts as stated by Mr. Lawe is in order. As stated by both Mr. Hurt and Mr. Lawe, Jim & Ted began trading as of December 1st, 2011. Mr. Lawe retook the property as of May 24th, 2012. That is a time period of nearly 6 full months.

I point this out because of your question #4 above: "One I find most out there is the insurance. The $23000 USD property insurance bill is really accurate for only 3 months?" - The time frame is not 3 months, but 6 months, and that has been pro-rated. When considering the cost of all the necessary insurance on the property including the very expensive tropical hurricane insurance, I do not find this amount out of the ordina

Your question #2 about the payroll is interesting and noteworthy. When we first saw Sheryl at Sea Splash, the first words we heard her utter to one of the employees was "how much money did Mr. Hurt owe you?" One of her first duties was making the past debts right as to not hurt any innocent parties in this matter. This same thought process may answer some of your other questions as well.

Living Social does make payments just as has been mentioned. They break the payments into several installments, the first one coming within a month of the date of their offering. This is how they operate and explains why nothing could really be stated by Sea Splash until Living Social determined how best to handle this situation. Any comments would have been premature.

As for Jim and Ted, neither are on the island, Ted left sometime in April or early May, and Jim left days after Mr. Lawe retook the property.[/QUOTE]

[Marko]

good to hear from both parties when there is a dispute like this .......
and it's not the first time this has happened der.....far from it.....
and this guy isn't taking sides one way or another.......
but I find the responses from the actual owner Patrick Lawe very troubling.........

Response from owner of Sea Splash Resort – Patrick Lawe:

I had never visited the Negril.com site before.

I find this really hard to believe....you have had a business for 22 years in Negril...
even the road side stands in Negril know of this site........
but if this is true it tells me a lot about you and how you run a business.........

Response from owner of Sea Splash Resort – Patrick Lawe:

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.

the place was in serious disrepair and an eyesore on the beach when Ted & Jim took the ball and ran......
$12,0000 and then the all the thousands they spent buying lumber and having workers work on the place........
and then buying sheets, towels, ash trays, etc is nothing to sneeze at.......
plus they have to pay the staff, the food and beverage suppliers etc......
it was an EXPENSIVE undertaking for someone just leasing a place out.........
the place never looked so good as when Ted and Jim had the place.........

pic from Jan of this year..........looks nice eh......wasn't like that before.....far from it

Response from owner of Sea Splash Resort – Patrick Lawe:

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.

I wouldn't say they were given a "running head start".....far from it from what I could see
they had all that work and expense to deal with from a defunct resort........plus the unknowing factor

Response from owner of Sea Splash Resort – Patrick Lawe:


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.

it shows to this guy that Jim and Ted were making an effort to pay you...
you are making it sound like they didn't want to pay you.........

Response from owner of Sea Splash Resort – Patrick Lawe:

Let’s say that Jim spent US$5,000 or to be generous say US$10,000.00 on Sea Splash .

lawd of mercy.....you think Jim and Ted only spent $10K on SeaSplash........
they probably spent that alone on just some towels and bed sheets.......things expensive der

the troubling part in all this is the Living Social voucher program but I would think this is more common than we think....
Living Social probably has themselves covered one way or another when a business ceases operation or changes hands........

rarely does anyone ever leave Negril with more money than they had........
usually most go back penniless.....
that's no big secret......and sounds like this is probably the case here also...........

learning experience for both sides.......
and for some on here that think everything is Paradise on da islands....

at least for us travelers we have something nice to look at now when we pass SeaSplash........
and the returning owner now has a "running start".........

Cool Runnings, Marko

[Melody]

If I understand correctly, LS is out over $100,000 now that they've refunded all vouchers to the property, except any purchasers that request to keep the voucher to go to Treehouse?

Thanks for your statement Mr. Lawe. Best of luck to all.

[Accompong]

at least for us travelers we have something nice to look at now when we pass SeaSplash........
and the returning owner now has a "running start".........

Cool Runnings, Marko

Well Marko. an expensive "running start" according to the owner. Perhaps a "shove in the back" before a "snatch and grab" might be a better description.

I have read what is proported to be "both sides" of this story and frankly I find the owner's story to be much more conforming to the aftermath. It appears he is still in Jamaica and the "Excellent Adventure" twins are nowhere on the rock to be found. Perhaps under one???

Peace and Guidance

[InnaDiRed]

I am certain we will never know the whole story. I appreciate both parties coming forward and explaining their case to those of us who have an interest in the stability of the resort. It was the right thing to do. This was a complicated business deal that I will not try to dissect. Both parties probably feel wronged in some way. They have both presented the truth as they see it. I don't know either party but feel confident that there is some truth in both of their statements. The level of truth is not for me to judge. For some reason I do feel more assured that no one in this situation had bad intentions from the start. It just didn't work out.

[BCBud]

[QUOTE=bruja;56141]
Lastly, this is my opinion but I find it hard to believe anyone would just agree to make things right with jps considering the abuse they dish out. You know that. That is one most would forget about making right


Bruja - with JPS (and other utility providers for water/sewage, communications etc) - if the bills for a property are not paid the service will be cut off and will not be reinstated until the arrears, interest and reconnection fees are paid. The only choice the owner had was to pay the outstanding amounts to maintain service to the premises. With respect to taxes, that would include unremitted employee payroll deductions (for income taxes, NHT and other required statutory deductions), General Consumption Tax (GCT) collected on food, drinks, services less any input tax credits, hotel room taxes, plus property taxes - again those would have to be paid or charges/liens could be registered against the real estate.

[lanetop]

hell of a way to eek out a living in the tourist trade...when bills and charges come in the tens of thousands....gulp..i can;t breath just thinking about it..lol

[dash]

After seeing the cost of doing business in Jamaica I am further impressed by the local small entrepreneur in Negril. From the Jerk stands and small inns to the larger Jamaican hotel owners I send my admiration and respect. And to all the boardies who support local initiative. Good on ya!

[bruja]

Thanks, you are 100% correct. I had forgotten this 'minor' detail about utlity switching. I have seen big projects get brakes put on because of some $30,000 leftover unpaid JPS bill and no start up electric...THanks for reminder on that..This also goes for property tax. If someone buys land and no tax has been paid and it has not been caught by attorney, new buyer responsible...

BUT...The tax part I still don't understand why Mr. Lawe is responsible for these other taxes unless he was truly allowing them to trade under his name/company name. I find it hard to believe any business person, or at least I would not, would allow 'strangers' to handle the cash collection if that were the case. It just does not add up.

GCT, NHT, NIS, Heart, etc did not even come to my mind because I did not even put the 'old Seasplash' and the new adventure in the same umbrella for that.

[QUOTE=BCBud;56156]

Lastly, this is my opinion but I find it hard to believe anyone would just agree to make things right with jps considering the abuse they dish out. You know that. That is one most would forget about making right


Bruja - with JPS (and other utility providers for water/sewage, communications etc) - if the bills for a property are not paid the service will be cut off and will not be reinstated until the arrears, interest and reconnection fees are paid. The only choice the owner had was to pay the outstanding amounts to maintain service to the premises. With respect to taxes, that would include unremitted employee payroll deductions (for income taxes, NHT and other required statutory deductions), General Consumption Tax (GCT) collected on food, drinks, services less any input tax credits, hotel room taxes, plus property taxes - again those would have to be paid or charges/liens could be registered against the real estate.