She Made Almost Every Mistake in the Book & Still Built Her Spa Resort

Back in the 90's, Phyllis Cooper of the U.S.A. trusted her instincts and started buying cornfields and forested land near Cotacachi on her visits to Ecuador.

It wasn't corn that Phyllis wanted to grow on the 12 acres she put together.  She wanted to build a spa and healing center.

Phyllis didn't speak Spanish and was unfamiliar with local customs, yet she was determined.

She met a man on a bus, who introduced her to a relative who was a lawyer.  Well, he wasn't exactly a lawyer yet, didn't have his degree.

This Shyster told her she'd need an Ecuadorian partner to realize her dream.  He said he would help Phyllis buy the land and he would do the paperwork.

Phyllis told him he could have ten percent of her business.

The process dragged on for four years.  The paperwork was done incorrectly.

But Phyllis finally started building the spa in 1994.  She sent the Shyster money for materials and payroll.

When she heard the Ecuadorian architect was only getting $100 a month, she figured that was too little.  She told the Shyster to pay the architect $100 a week.  Only later did she realize that she had given people in Ecuador the idea that she would overpay for services.

Then the Shyster started paying the bills.

When Phyllis asked him how much she owed him, he stated, "Nothing.  I'm a partner."  He had told others that the spa project was his own.

Phyllis also erred in inviting the Shyster and his wife to her home in the U.S.  He saw her big house, her Mercedes.  "I guess he figured I had so much money that I should share it with him," said Phyllis.

Phyllis gave the Shyster power-of-attorney.  He used this power to take out two big loans in her name without her knowledge .. and he transferred the loan money into his own account.

Visiting Ecuador in 1996-97, Phyllis went to her bank and found that the balance was only $4,000.  She had recently deposited $30,000.  She realized she was being robbed.

The bankers said they couldn't help her.  It cost Phyllis 100K to pay off the loans. 

She stopped building the spa project.  She got sick for the first time in her life.  She was down and out for three weeks.

Then she decided to fight, and stayed in Ecuador for a year on that trip.

She hired a legit attorney in Quito and filed suit against the Shyster to recover her money.

The Shyster counter-sued for $200,000.

It took several years for the lawsuits to work their way through the Ecuadorian courts.  Eventually, the case reached the nation's Supreme Court. 

But Phyllis dropped the case, feeling sorry for the Shyster, whose son had died in hospital.  "I knew I had to forgive him for my own good," said Phyllis, "or else keep the upset every day."

She moved ahead again with the spa project.

"I try to teach people that if we can't live in the moment each and every day, someone's winning and it's not us."

Phyllis had the spa built with the best materials available, including custom-made furniture.

Lueva Spa opened in the year 2000 .. offering healing and counter-stress workshops and later day-spa activities such as heated pool, steam room, hot tub and Turkish baths. 

"Lueva" is a Hawaiian word for love.

source:
www.pro-ecuador.com/


Poster's disclaimer...  Phyllis decided to try to sell her Ecuador property starting around 2006 so she could have more freedom.  I do not have information on the sale or the current operations there.  The purpose of my posting on this is to expand awareness of problems that Expats, especially ones living outside Ecuador, may encounter in doing projects here.

cccmedia in Quito