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Club O office closing.
#171928
10/04/2018 01:51 PM
10/04/2018 01:51 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,012 The Jersey Shore
Pan
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The Jersey Shore
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Club O management company (OBC) closing within 30 days. A sad chapter in this saga.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: Pan]
#171931
10/04/2018 02:30 PM
10/04/2018 02:30 PM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635 Palm Beach County
jenniboston
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For those not on Facebook:
Dear Friends,
For those of you who have been following our postings online or read the emails we have previously sent, what we’re about to say should not come as a total shock. But, please read it carefully and understand the following only affects Orient Beach Club (OBC), which employs all of the staff and operates the resort. The Copropriété (Copro) which owns the land on which Club Orient is built and is similar to an HOA is responsible for the vast majority of structues.
OBC received its insurance money in full on October 31, 2017, which included business interruption insurance. It has now been over a year that OBC has been waiting for the Copro to receive its money, so the rebuilding can begin.
OBC has had to pay “chomage partiel”, which is similar to unemployment in some countries, but different in that the company must pay out 85% of an employee’s actual wages and is reimbursed at only a percentage of minimum wage rates. This form of unemployment has been a very expensive proposition.
We were comfortable doing this as the Copro believed we would have at least some of our units ready for the high season starting in November/December. This prognostication, unfortunately, has proven not to be the case.
Even if the Copro was to receive their money in October or November, they could not complete any of the necessary rebuildings and repair until Summer or even longer. OBC cannot afford to continue to operate while missing two full high seasons, last year and this coming year.
OBC expects to be legally closing its doors over the next thirty days with the assistance of a government liquidator. We have just about completed contacting all the people who still had advance deposits on hold for a future stay. To all of you who were kind enough to donate them or delay asking for their return, you are a big reason why we have been able to continue to survive this long. Thank you very much for your help.
Now, does this mean Club Orient is finished? NO. It merely means the management company OBC, which is the employer and operator of the revenue-producing areas is closing.
Once the Copro receives its funds and the re-building commences, a new management company would have to emerge to operate Club Orient. Hopefully, most of the same staff will still be available and return.
Once again, the only reason OBC must close is they have no resort to manage and no way to continue to pay the staff without revenue being generated.
So, this is a very sad time for all of us, many of us have given years and often decades of our lives to Club Orient as employees. Most of us have never felt like employees, but more like being a part of an extended worldwide family. We cannot predict what will happen next, as we will not be involved. We know the Copropriété is continuing in its efforts to re-build Club Orient and has contracts in place, once the legal and insurance issues are resolved.
Our website and Facebook page will remain up for at least the next few months, and we have listed an email address to be able to contact a representative of Club Orient who is on the island.
Thanks to all of you for your support over the years and we have missed seeing you this last year. We are heartbroken this mess has not yet been rectified and hope that the Copro will be able to rebuild very soon, so we can once again welcome all of you back to paradise.
Au Revoir...
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: Pan]
#171933
10/04/2018 02:33 PM
10/04/2018 02:33 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,788 Central Florida!
Carol_Hill
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Jenni--thanks for posting. They sent an email to the same effect, which I had just posted, and then removed, when I saw your post.
Sad.
Last edited by Carol_Hill; 10/04/2018 02:34 PM.
Carol Hill
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: Pan]
#171935
10/04/2018 02:43 PM
10/04/2018 02:43 PM
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Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 658 Maine
SXMbeacher
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This is sad. I feel extremely bad for all the great staff loosing their jobs, the people who enjoy all the resort has to offer, and loss for the island as a whole.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: stangied]
#171938
10/04/2018 03:02 PM
10/04/2018 03:02 PM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635 Palm Beach County
jenniboston
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This is very sad for all of us who loved Club O, but even worse for the employees. Does this mean that Cedric will not be renting chairs and the Perch Lite will close? This isn't clear. I'll ask around and see if we have any idea how this effects the Perch.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: stangied]
#171939
10/04/2018 03:03 PM
10/04/2018 03:03 PM
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 7,497 Vermont
sxmmartini
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This is very sad for all of us who loved Club O, but even worse for the employees. Does this mean that Cedric will not be renting chairs and the Perch Lite will close? The perch lite was illegally built and will probably remain. Watersports is out of business so chairs and umbrellas will be run without a permit. This is the worst news yet coming out of Club orient resort!
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: Pan]
#171949
10/04/2018 06:55 PM
10/04/2018 06:55 PM
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 7,497 Vermont
sxmmartini
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Club Orient Facebook page confirmed that Perch Lite and the chair/ umbrella rental will continue... "If the court confirms the closure of OBC this will not affect the operation of the beach rentals and Perch Lite." If Perch Lite is not paying rent maybe Heineken will be less? The chair/ umbrella rental which is Water Sports chairs and umbrellas has me baffled.
Last edited by sxmmartini; 10/04/2018 07:50 PM.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: Pan]
#171952
10/04/2018 07:28 PM
10/04/2018 07:28 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,106 Southport, North Carolina, US
candj
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What happens to the chair rental and Perch Lite? Do they close also?
Fair winds and following seas! SSN691-May She Ever Prowl The Seas in Defense of Human Freedom! SSN787-Preserving Peace, Prepared for War
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: sxmmartini]
#171980
10/05/2018 09:33 AM
10/05/2018 09:33 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,535 Ohio
ruralcarrier
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Ohio
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This is very sad for all of us who loved Club O, but even worse for the employees. Does this mean that Cedric will not be renting chairs and the Perch Lite will close? The perch lite was illegally built and will probably remain. Watersports is out of business so chairs and umbrellas will be run without a permit. This is the worst news yet coming out of Club orient resort! Being illegally built, I would not continue to count in the existence. The French government has not been friendly to other places that were "illegally built".
J.D.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: RobR]
#171996
10/05/2018 03:02 PM
10/05/2018 03:02 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,012 The Jersey Shore
Pan
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OBC is the management company for the unit owners and do not own any units. If the Corpro resolves it's issues with the dissidents then there will be hope for the future and the staff and employees will get their jobs back...maybe.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: Carol_Hill]
#172022
10/06/2018 10:44 AM
10/06/2018 10:44 AM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,012 The Jersey Shore
Pan
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Yep, just a rehash of what's been posted by Jenni here. The Copro is losing a good manager in Steve Payne along with his staff. They will probably be employed elsewhere by the time Copro ever resolves their issues and need to start another management company. I'm sure The Collective knows the positive financial impact naturists bring to the French side and if they can get their own act together then they should create economic incentives to the Copro and it's dissidents to move forward with the rebuilding. Now the question is what incentives under their system/law could they possibly offer?
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: deputydog1157]
#172036
10/06/2018 12:23 PM
10/06/2018 12:23 PM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635 Palm Beach County
jenniboston
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Maybe this will make the government get more involved and put some pressure on the copro to either poop or get off the pot. Just curious why you think the Copro needs some pressure applied? With the exception of the dissenters, they are very motivated to rebuild; they want to go back to our favorite beach just as much as you do! Unfortunately a small group of hold-outs seem hell-bent on spite for everyone else even though they have nothing to gain. For the record; the local government has been very supportive. The Copro has permission for rebuilding as soon as the funds come through. Remember that they could have been told the property was just too unsafe to rebuilt on, but they haven't. What *has* been determined is that permanent year-round homes cannot be located on the property. So dissenters can't gain the private gated community they apparently were hoping they could force the Club into becoming. Short of major legislative changes (which, face it, will not happen for all of France on the behalf of a very small group of largely foreign owners of a hotel in one of the smallest territories in the Republic) or the insurance company deciding that they're not going to continue to take advantage of the situation so they don't have to pay out the claim (I know: bwahahahahaha!) this is simply going to have to grind through the courts. Fingers crossed that happens sooner rather than later!
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: sxmmartini]
#172047
10/06/2018 02:07 PM
10/06/2018 02:07 PM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635 Palm Beach County
jenniboston
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This is a win win for Club Orient Owners. The number one complaint of owners was that the employee payroll was over the top. The new Club Orient will be able to have a new management and employee staff to keep payroll to a reasonable level. To all of you who donated your vacation monies to Club Orient Resort it was used to pay expenses that had nothing to with rebuilding quickly. The DH article hardly informed most of us about the situation and both owners and loyal guests are getting most of their information from Facebook and TTOL. To Club Orient Good Luck! Holy cow, this is just so wrong on so many levels it is down right insulting, especially to the employees who have now lost their jobs. It is clear that you do not understand A) The relationship between the hotel and the Copro B) The value that the Copro places on all staff C) French employment law. You are right that for now payroll is no longer an issue. However in this case no one wins.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: PelicanPirate]
#172050
10/06/2018 02:14 PM
10/06/2018 02:14 PM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635 Palm Beach County
jenniboston
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Is that why we don’t here of either party taking the other to court ala francaise?
To draw your attention back to a posting by Club O back in August (the whole posting is quoted somewhere here on TTOL): "Now add into the mix that there is a very small minority of homeowners who seem to be bent on destroying Club Orient and basically turning it into a rest home for themselves. They have not paid homeowner dues OR INSURANCE PREMIUMS for 10 years! Yet, they have written to the insurance company demanding insurance proceeds be sent directly to them. They have also advised the insurance company that the Syndic is not authorized to receive any of the proceeds. Unbelievable as it sounds, even though they have contributed nothing to the Copro or the insurance, and owe approximately one million euros in dues, under French law they are still considered members of the Copro. When this occurred the insurance company, not wishing to be sued by either the Copro or the small group of non-paying owners, simply said we will not release any funds until this is settled. There are now 4 lawyers working on this case for Copro [...]"
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: PelicanPirate]
#172083
10/06/2018 11:21 PM
10/06/2018 11:21 PM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635 Palm Beach County
jenniboston
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I read that and get that. Does that prevent them from suing each for resolutions to disputes. Or is it as I wonder, they don’t want their names in court. ...Not really sure what you think all those attorneys are doing. There is quite a bit of suing going on. No, I'm not going to share the particulars.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: jenniboston]
#172092
10/07/2018 11:04 AM
10/07/2018 11:04 AM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,772 Auburn, WA
SXMScubaman
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I read that and get that. Does that prevent them from suing each for resolutions to disputes. Or is it as I wonder, they don’t want their names in court. ...Not really sure what you think all those attorneys are doing. There is quite a bit of suing going on. No, I'm not going to share the particulars. Then we all know who will be the ultimate winners through all this. The Attornies.
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: SXMScubaman]
#172095
10/07/2018 11:10 AM
10/07/2018 11:10 AM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 635 Palm Beach County
jenniboston
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I read that and get that. Does that prevent them from suing each for resolutions to disputes. Or is it as I wonder, they don’t want their names in court. ...Not really sure what you think all those attorneys are doing. There is quite a bit of suing going on. No, I'm not going to share the particulars. Then we all know who will be the ultimate winners through all this. The Attornies. This is unfortunately the ultimate truth!
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Re: Club O office closing.
[Re: candj]
#172137
10/08/2018 09:01 AM
10/08/2018 09:01 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,535 Ohio
ruralcarrier
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Yes, same article Carol posted a link to on Saturday. Daily Herald is likely not published today due to holiday.
J.D.
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