After over two years of getting the runaround, Cruz Bay Watersports has decided to sue the owners of El Conquistador Resort over an unpaid invoice dating back to 2021.
On Thursday, the matter was transferred from the territory’s Superior Court where it had been originally filed in January to the District Court of the Virgin Islands
The watersports company had been contracted to “provide daily ferry services” from St. John to Fajardo, Puerto Rico “for Defendant’s hotel guests, employees, contractors, agents, and other personnel,” according to the lawsuit. The terms of the agreement reportedly stipulate that El Conquistador would have to pay daily fees for captain and mate, as well as reimburse Cruz Bay Watersports for the costs of all preventative maintenance performed on the vessel being used as the ferry.
The agreement ran from July 16 to October 21, 2021, and Cruz Bay says it sent an invoice which included $2,800 in unpaid mate fees, and over $105,000 in preventative maintenance costs over the length of the contract. El Conquistador initially disputed the amount owed, until a December 2022 email from the hotel’s vice president of operations reportedly acknowledged that the debt was valid, but requested documentation to validate the maintenance costs.
Cruz Bay Watersports says it duly provided said documentation days later, but El Conquistador has to date paid nothing towards the outstanding balance on the invoice, and has made no indication that it intends to pay. Attached as exhibits to the lawsuit are over 140 pages of receipts Cruz Bay Watersports says prove that the invoiced amount was duly spent on the ferry’s upkeep.
The St. John company is asking the courts to find that the Puerto Rico hotel is in breach of contract, and that the breach has resulted in the unjust enrichment of the resort. The plaintiff is seeking judgment in its favor of the amount owed, plus interest and associated legal fees and costs.
