We own a DJ entertainment company and have ran it for many years without any issues. We had received a call this past year from Unique Events Florida, that we met at another event we performed at. They asked us to provide DJ services for a Holiday boat parade. Normally for a 4 hour event such as this we charge around $350. They had requested us from 1pm to 8pm. This is 7 hours of service. The time needed would be an entire afternoon and evening.
We quoted them a specific price of $550 for this 7 hour event which in our industry is an amazing deal. They couldn't afford the cost of this so we said we could peform for a shorter amount of time and it would cut the cost in half. They decided not to have us do the event.
3 days prior to the event they called back and said we need the DJ last minute we would like to go ahead and book you (meaning our dj company). We normally do a deposit to guarantee the date but they wanted to pay us in cash at the event. We said no problem as long as we are paid that day. Finally the event happens and we send one of our DJs. She did a fabulous job and had lots of compliments. As 8pm rolls around Unique Events Florida asks us to stay an additional 2 hours till 10pm. Well the owner of the catering company said she went to get the money for the 9 HOURS we performed for and suddenly vanished, saying that she got hurt. The DJ went to find the person in charge of paying us and the staff said they had left the event not to return.
Well, I guess we should have figured out that something was weird. But normally with the over 6,000 customers that have used us none of them have ever given us any problems about payment. We send an invoice to the company and no reply. We call their office and leave several messages. Still no reply. We go to their office and it's closed permanently. That should tell you something was wrong. We receive a call about 3-4 weeks later explaining to stop our calls and emails and that they would pay. Well we gave them 2 weeks and no payment was sent. Then they kept promising to send payment each week for the next 2 months. To this day no payment has ever been sent. Later on we find out the company is being sued for not paying people. The better business bureau cannot help us with the issue.
The synopsis of this story is stay away from Unique Events Florida also known as Captain Lou's Seafood Shack. They have been known to get you to help them and not pay for the service. We just don't want anyone else to get stiffed. We've also experienced some other problems with their food and service to the customers. So be very careful and keep away. Lesson learned. The owner is Julie Lentine of Unique Events Florida. She will only tell you she can pay you in cash and no other form of payment. Get your payment upfront ahead of time.
Thanks for reading.
Anonymous
Alabama,#2Author of original report
Wed, August 27, 2014
I'd like to add an update to those of you who have worked with or work for Unique Events of Florida, Julie Lentine Stuart Florida. They have amazingly opened a brand new restaurant in the Stuart area called The Taco Shack in Stuart Florida. This is their new location. They have managed to open this new facility but are unable to pay us the balance from the event we did for them.