Note: The video above is a WFLA Now that was recorded before the co-owner severed ties with Olympus.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The general contractor and business owner who stepped in to help Olympus Pools get back on track earlier this year after the company came under fire for leaving hundreds of homeowners with unfinished pools and failing to pay subcontractors and vendors severed ties with Olympus Tuesday night.
Jordan Hidalgo confirmed his departure in a statement to 8 On Your Side’s Investigative Consumer Reporter Shannon Behnken. Hidalgo first joined forces with Lutz-based Olympus Pools and its owner, James Staten, in late May. Hidalgo says he, “agreed to purchase a sizable portion” of the company.
“However, during our due diligence period, it became apparent that the company was not in the same position as it appeared originally,” Hidalgo said in his statement on Tuesday. “As a result, I have decided to cut my losses and am walking away from the opportunity. I am hoping the best for Olympus Pools and their customers.”
Hours later, Staten sent 8 On Your Side an email contradicting Hidalgo’s version of events. Staten maintains Hidalgo was “never able to ‘buy’ even a portion of Olympus,” and says, “there has been no ‘due diligence period’ and Mr. Hidalgo has failed to perform even his most basic obligations.”
Hidalgo’s departure from Olympus comes hours after a Better Call Behnken report that a national commercial collections company sent dozens of “Notice of Intent to Foreclose” letters to Olympus Pools customers, with many more notices in the works. Those letters are a last-ditch effort by subcontractors seeking payment for completed work on Olympus Pools jobs and a nightmare scenario for frustrated homeowners with unfinished pools and massive holes in their backyards.
Judge Public Relations, the PR firm that was representing Olympus Pools, also severed ties with the company after Tuesday’s Better Call Behnken report.
“We no longer represent Olympus Pools,” James Judge said in a statement.
Both departures are the latest fallout from the ongoing investigation into Olympus Pools and their hundreds of unfinished projects at homes throughout the Tampa Bay area. Hidalgo and Staten had previously insisted they could finish all the pools by Christmas and save the company.
