The owner has not only not lived up to her end of the deal we made in September, she has also demonstrated a disregard towards her employees, her horses and to her customers.in short, she is on a path of destroying her business by her own hand. When we made our deal with her, she was made aware that I Had health issues that prevented me from working long hours and that I had to keep on a schedule regarding meals and sleeping.
When my wife spoke with her in September she was told that, since she had experience as an event planner, that would be the main focus of her tasks. There would be sometimes that she would be asked to work in the saloon/restaurant, but it would not be her main task.
Both of us were told that we would work for 15 hours a week each for a full hook up RV spot, and be compensated for the rest of the time we worked.
My wife was also told she would be entitled to keep any tips that she made in the restaurant, and that I would be able to keep any tips that I made from taking guests on trail rides or tours. These tips would be ours in addition to any hours we were paid to work. We would only work 40 hours a week, to avoid any overtime issues, and that we would each be paid 600 dollars a month, in addition to the RV space.
When we spoke to her in September, the place was staffed with two other couples, a maid, the owner, a maintenance person and 4 other people. When we visited to talk with her in September there appeared to be a decent amount of business.
When we arrived at the Triangle T on October 15, we found that most of the employees had quit, business had dropped off drastically, and that the terms had changed. We were now expected to work all the hours that the restaurant was open, expected to perform upkeep and maintenance on the ranch. We were to perform marketing, and anything else that was required on an as-need basis. I was told I would have to adjust my condition to the requirements of working on the ranch.in addition, we would be paid the same 600 dollars a month apiece, there would be no overtime, and any tips earned would be deducted from that amount.
Since we had made the trip, and were already there, we tried to make it work. As I said before, our needs are minimal, and perhaps if we stuck it out there would be a payoff in the end.in addition, it is such a beautiful location.
The first issue to arise, as one may imagine, is that 3 more employees quit in the first week we were there. Because of the fact that I was expected to cook (because the cook left) the first two weekends we were there, I missed meals and could not maintain my blood sugar. I suffered what should be fatal blood sugar levels twice in the first two weeks of being there.
When I addressed this with her, she started on a daily basis, attacking me for my health issues, for any tasks that I did, I could do nothing right.in retrospect, it appears that this woman has issues with men, and would like nothing better than to employ only women, and have as guests only women.
The most disheartening thing that happened while we were there was that she penned all 9 of her horses together in fenced area with no shade, in the desert. The horses only receive attention when they are taken out for a trail ride. She was advised by her vet, by her staff (each of us have horse skills) and by her visitors that keeping two stallions in the same pen as a mare was not safe for the horses.
She left them together because she thought it was cute to watch the stallions "flirt" with the mare. (Cute?!) One of the stallions kicked the other and after he went down, jumped on his hindquarters and broke his back. She had to put the horse down, and since she had no money, had one of the hands shoot the horse, and the maintenance man hand dig a hole to bury the horse.
I refused to dig the hole, and further to have anything to do with her horses after that. She rationalized that Noche (the deceased horse) "is up in heaven now" and accepts no responsibility for the death of a beautiful 6-year old gentle horse that died due to what can only be described as willful neglect.
My wife was asked to leave me, and to stay at the ranch, show a little more tit in the bar, and be nicer to the customers. I on the other hand, was told I was too accommodating to the guests when I would tour them around the ranch and even talk to them. Towards the end i was asked to stay away from the saloon and grill altogether.
My wife and I did make some tips, and these were withheld from our pay.
We attempted to discuss these issues with the Linda on several occasions, and were blown-off each time. Once the conversation was changed by her to tell us how she had been attacked by a "reptilian shape-shifter" who instantly gave her pneumonia, and that she was only able to cure it by drinking Noni Juice. She is a distributer for some magic fruit juice elixer called 'Noni Juice', which, she ignorantly recommended to me to control my diabetic symptoms.
We gave her a written two week notice of our intent to leave the ranch. After we notified her, she became agitated and more animosity was shown towards me, and my wife was talked to about leaving me once again. She attacked me once again, blaming me for what were basically her shortcomings and we just left.
During our time there, we saw health violations and alcohol violations. I saw bugs strained out of the liquor so it could be served. I saw filthy conditions in the cook shack, rats in the kitchen. Cleanliness is not important here. I observed the cook, at the owner's direction, removing rat droppings from the sugar that the rats had gotten into so it could be used. Contrary to Arizona State law, no exterminator was called.
I saw that while she advertises a 'mesquite grill', she almost always directs her employees to cook on a gas grill. I saw extremely poor planning and guests made fun of behind their backs by the employees and the owner. This woman has zero idea that she is already out of business. The only way she keeps her doors open, is that she cuts corners, and abuses her employees by not keeping agreements, and lies.
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