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FEDERAL CHARGES IF NOT ALREADY WILL BE AGAINST DALE, MORG, MEDINA, ELITE, CUPPY'S, SBT, MBM. EVERYONE IS SCREWED, INCLUDING MEDINA EMPLOYEES!! (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE BROWN NOISERS THAT ARE MOVING TO ALABAMA... NO, WAIT A MINUTE... THEY ARE PROBABLY SCREWED TOO. THEY JUST DON'T KNOW IT YET). NO ONE WILL RECEIVE ANY MONEY BACK... NOT EVER BECAUSE DALE HAS CONTINUED THE MORG TRADITION OF TAKING ADDITIONAL $ FROM FRANCHISEES & IS NOT BUILDING THEIR CAFE AND IS NOT SENDING THEM THEIR EQUIPMENT, FURNITURE, ETC... WAKE UP & SMELL THE BURNT COFFEE FRANCHISEES, VENDORS & ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS EVER GIVEN MORG OR DALE ANY MONEY! THEY HAVE OUT RIGHT STOLEN YOUR MONEY & YOU WILL NEVER SEE ANY OF IT AGAIN SO PLEASE DON'T GIVE THEM ANOTHER PENNY. BE SMART AND GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN & TRY TO SUE TO RECOUPE WHATEVER YOU CAN BEFORE IT RUINS YOUR WHOLE FAMILY LIFE!
Cuppy's New CEO To Improve Operations and Meet Refund Obligations
Editor's note: After 18 days at the helm, Dale Nabors, new CEO of Cuppy's Coffee and affilliated companies, reports on next steps for the troubled chain. His post was originally written as a comment responding to posters who declared that more than new ownership was needed to lift the franchise chain from its current problems.
--
As much as I'd like to respond to each and every comment regarding Cuppy's I do not have the time, nor would it be wise to do so. However, this is one which I'd like to provide a short response.
I can agree with some of both guest's comments. I wholeheartedly agree that the company needs and must have more than just new ownership. It has been approximately 20 business days since I acquired Cuppy's, and just 18 if you exclude the day of acquisition and today which has hardly begun. In this relatively short period of time, numerous employees have been terminated and more than a million dollars per year has been cut from the company's operating expenses. In the coming weeks and months there will be more cuts, a few new hires, and many new systems, processes and procedures implemented.
Not withstanding any of the above, the company has a very good product, both from a consumer perspective and an investment perspective. The company has MANY employees who posses substantial knowledge, skills and abilities along with the interest and commitment to helping each and every franchisee to succeed, in their business.
I've stated our objectives very clearly, and quite simply. We will curtail sales, we will focus on opening sold but unopened stores and help every store increase their bottom line profitability. The cuts which have been made and that will be made, are being made in order to strengthen the company and to allow us to deal with mission critical issues like opening stores, improving systems, and providing refunds to those who are entitled to such.
The company did not get into it's current position overnight, and we will not resolve all issues overnight....however, I will tell you now, and my team will show you in the coming weeks and months that we are committed to resolving each and every issue which we are faced with, in a fair and equitable manner, and to building a brand that is both respected and trusted.
Believe & Succeed,
Dale Nabors
Dale Nabors stops build-outs
We can't get out we have been fired! Franchisee's should pray that someone stops Dale from stealing their money. At least when Elite was run by Brian Hayes, buildings got built, now it's run by a kid with no construction experience and who brown noses Dale all day. Brian may have been late but the franchisee's got built-out. Dale Nabors,could care less, he stopped paying SBT and MBM, because he wanted to dispute their invoices and expenses. Before Dale our company had it's weaknesses just like all new companies, but we had more than 100 dedicated employee's and managers. When Dale came to the company he acted like he controlled the company and he had Morg's backing while he acted so confident and all the while ran the operations and the companies into the ground. We were a great company with great employees, franchisee's and managers. This is what happens when a person like Dale is left in charge of your future. Dale how do you sleep?
Re: CUPPY'S, ELITE, MEDINA MOVING TO MUSCLE SHOALS, AL
Typing all in caps and posting this message multiple times doesn't make it true. What agency is investigating these guys? Have they seized any documents or interviewed anyone related to the investigation? If you know so much then provide real information.
Re: Seized any documents...
If only the officials were at Cuppy's, Elite, Medina and seized the shredding machines that are in almost every office. The officials would have a time putting docs back together but I think it would be worth it.
RE: Interviewing folks...
If zees or officials were truly wanting to get $ back to at least file lawsuits... they need to speak with some of the upper management who probably saw things first hand as well as heard certain statement from the horses mouths. Upper managerment as in ex-employees as well as current employees. Karma's a b_itch!!!
No Federal charges
against Dale or the employees. There is no fraud. It is a shame that past employees keep writing these ridiculous comments. How about everyone wait and see.
No Fraud my @$$...
When you take someones $40k - $170k and tell zees "if only you will give send me more money now... I promise we will get you open by (a definent date)". That date comes and goes with out getting zee open. THAT IS FRAUD! In the old days you'd be hung or shot for this kind of thievery!
Cuppy's may be fraud
"Guest" writes: There is no fraud. It is a shame that past employees keep writing these ridiculous comments. How about everyone wait and see.
I disagree with "Guest" to the extent that there are unanswered questions which are indicative of fraud:
- There are persons who claim to have obtained funding from various sources, including loans brokered by Funding Solutions LLC .
- According to their website, that company placed over 90 loans at an average of $300,000.
- That equals $27,000,000 of loans, most if not all of that being government-guaranteed.
- Normally, build-out loans are disbursed as the work progresses, and the contractor tenders invoices evidencing progress.
- The contractor so tendering appears to have been Elite.
- Some borrowers allege that their bank fully disbursed the loan monies, but the work was not performed by Elite and/or SBT.
- All of a sudden, Funding Solutions removed any mention of Cuppy's from their website after a certain Canadian attorney and a certain Pennsylvania bank began asking uncomfortable questions.
Any person who borrowed money to fund their Cuppy's should find out if all of the money was disbursed yet, and if the money was all disbursed but the construction not completed, the borrower should have their attorney get involved immediately.
"Wait and see" has not worked.
With the prospect of a investigation of Funding Solutions LLC and Cuppy's Coffee by the Inspector General of the cognizant federal agency, certain people may be working overtime burning out the motor in the paper shredders even as they counsel others to "wait and see."
We have all had much sport bashing Bob Purvin rather than following the money, and that was a very stupid and irrelevant distraction (Parenthetically I would note that while the AAFD threw out this franchisor and directed them to remove the AAFD logo from the website, the franchisor still proudly displays the IFA logo ).
Perhaps now the affected franchisees will actually focus on what happened to those tens of millions of dollars. But perhaps not... that would require some hard work and logic-- qualities which seem to be in short supply among both zees and the zor.
Paul Steinberg
Franchisee Attorney, New York City, Ph: 212-529-5400
Dale Nabors Steals A Company - Zee's lied too - Employees gone
We are out of here in 2 hours... Good luck everyone!
Dale Nabors hope you are happy with all of the money you have stolen from us and the franchisee's, you fooled us all, but believe me Karma is hell!
Please explain, re: Nabors
Being from the inside, please explain what has been stolen, how things worked, etc.
I know it won't help you out in the future, but it may help the franchisees that you cared about out with their future success or in them trying to get their money back.
Please Explain: I Hate The lies On This Site, But This Is True
Dale promised the managers he had the money and a plan to really speed up Elites build-outs. He claimed we would have all of them done before the end of the year. He told us Morg and Brian were wasting franchisee's money and that he could get buildings built at half the cost. He stopped paying SBT & MBM for buildings and stoped paying the vendors. This caused all hell to break loose. Every week we would hear about some big deal he was working on with a famous builder which would save the franchisee's thousands of dollars and make the company stronger than ever. He told us it was because of Morg's poor management skills and Brians stealing Elites money was the reason why he was being forced to put franchisee's build-outs on hold. He also said that Morg and Brian were probably partners. Before Dale and when he first came on as a consulltant the management team would discuss each franchisee problems at a weekly meeting. Getting the right real estate was always a big factor and the company really had a hard time getting good locations during the first year I was there. The next problem we faced as managers was dealing with the people that we though would qualify for their loans - we would spend hundreds of hours helping them get a good location only to be told they can't get a loan, I know that many of the people did not get their franchise fee's paid back to them. It seemed that the company was always trying to figure out how to pay refunds from Elite, because of financing problems and people getting second thoughts about moving forward. I know a lot of time monthly payments were being made from the accounting department to people that had lost their financing, because they would call if they were a day late. Now the calls are not being paid at all. I am not bitter, but it is hard to see so many peoples hopes destroyed. We once had a vision of this company being the best company in Florida - WHAT HAPPENED???? - I am hurt to see what this company has become - how di we get here? It is hard for me to say, but Dale lied to us and now he is moving on, while the rest of the employees and franchisees are left to wonder what will happen to us next.
I used to
work at Cuppys. Since when is it the end of the year. I could not go to AL and was not asked but I know that alot of what employees are saying should be taken with a grain of salt. Shredders in every office.....lol....that is the most stupid thing that I have ever heard. There are problems but I still believe....companies close, people get laid off, companies move. GET OVER IT!!!
Dear, I used to...
If you truly worked at Cuppy's than you know that shredders were in every office!!! Maybe you kept blind folds over your eyes. Dale Nabors is a heartless person. Also...3+ weeks in a row now Dale Nabors has told Florida employees & franchisees that he will be in FL office tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. Today was the last day for the FL offices to be open for the majority of employees and did Dale have the decency to show up? HELL NO!!!! Even though he told several that he would be here on the last day. What kind of heartless owner is too gutless to show up on the last day, even if he had to fake it, to thank employees for their hard work and to wish them well. People say Morg ran the company poorly but you can bet your a$$ that if he had to close the business, he would be right there with each employee hugging and wishing them well. But Dale… WTF!!! I hope I never, ever meet another human being such as Dale! He is lower than snake $hit!! What goes around, comes around. I only pray that the employees that have followed him to AL have a plan B. They will need it soon!
Re: I used to
lol I think you are one of the brown nosers that think that the company can survive by moving the offices to podunk alabama and by taking Natalie out to lunch. in a way, I almost feel sorry for you..not!
who I really feel sorry for are our franchisees. At least with morg, he would tell us how to help the franchisees, and maybe his choices were not the best, but at least he would actually do something!! i email and call dale over and over again...nothing. i email our country singer vp, all she knows how to say is hold on. meanwhile the franchisees are loosing everything! these were our people! I cared about them! and you either ignored my attempts to help them or you told me to tell them something that ended up just being a lie! I can't even believe it, but they were better off under morg! at least he would communicate! where have you been the last month dale? i was here working, listening to my former friends (the franchisees) scream at me because you wouldn't help me help them! I hate you!
Amen!
I hope zees don't let Dale (if he ever talks with them again) that the quality of AL employees is the bottom of the pit. The head person for marketing and doubles as receptionist doesn't even know what "Due Diligence" means... nor does she know what a "corporation" is. Dale, you are the mors popular person now buddy! Everyone HATES you. I pray Natalie has the heart to forgive you for your actions and/or lack of action these last few months.
Morg was a charmer, that much is true
Guest writes: they were better off under morg! at least he would communicate! where have you been the last month dale? i was here working, listening to my former friends (the franchisees) scream at me because you wouldn't help me help them! I hate you!
With due respect, I would suggest that you consider who got the money.
A lot of "depositors" would like to know where their money is. People who paid for build-outs and are paying rent on a white box site are wondering where their money went.
Well???
The real problems of the disappearing money predate Dale Nabors. I realize that Morg Morgan was a warm fuzzy teddy bear who inspired dozens (if not hundreds) of people to give him money. Morg did have that way about him, bless his heart.
... umm, not to be rude but-- where is that money?
Paul Steinberg
Franchisee Attorney, New York City, Ph: 212-529-5400
Morg a charmer...
Morg did take in lots of $ from zees and JJz owners. Where the $ went, only he knows. It certainlhy did not go where it should have gone. The following is a true statement as well... Dale also sat in front of several zees & looked them in their eyes & told them to send in more $ & he promised to get them open and never did. Money that came in under Dale never went where it shoiuld have. Morg at least kept thing moving even if it was at a slow pace. Dale hasn't moved anything in his 3+ months running the company! Everything has been at a stand still since he took over.
Okay
morg caused this. I think we all know that. the problem is that I think so many of us had such hope because of dale. While he was a consultant, morg told us not to tell him certain things, but dale still tried to help fix things. dale actually called people, and the people he tried to help actually liked him. we liked him! when he took over, we thought he would make things right and stop the nonsense. when he told us he would shut down the daycare and cut some people, most of us understood. he wanted to move the company - fine. but what I do not understand is why he stopped talking to everyone! not me, not my boss, not the vendors, not simona, not the franchisees, not anyone! if you actually got a minute with him, he would talk and talk, but when he left, you realized he didn't actually say anything!
the fact that he didn't communicate is what started this whole thing to go sour. the franchisees have their house on the line. i don't blame them for screaming at them. i have nothing to tell him. i didn't know what was going on. no one except dale knew what was going on, and he was gone. never here, never answered emails, never answered voicemails. what am i supposed to tell my franchisees? my franchisees. i knew their kids names. what they were planning for the holidays. and when they needed me to help, i couldn't do anything. we all tried. i honestly don't think he cares. thats the only thing that makes sense. i feel horrible for them. i lost my job, fine, i will get unemployment and move on. but who is talking to the franchisees now? if we couldn't help, now that there is only dale and the brown nosers - this is his genius plan?
i don't know where the money went. i do know that i was making close to minimum wage, and from what i hear the managers all took pretty big paycuts under morg, so they weren't really getting paid either. someone was i guess. my money is on morg and ben.
Where did the money go...
Dale took $ and never moved a zees project forward. My understanding is he took the $ to launch his FranSynergy company. www.fransynergy.com. Please warn everyone about Dale's company and beware!!!! He's a thief!!!
FranSynergy entity
"Guest" is wrong. As any BMM reader knows, FranSynergy was around long before any of us heard of Cuppy's.
In fact, the famous Exhibit D shows that Dale Nabors arguably assumed a legal liability and pledged the assets of FranSynergy, thereby placing those assets at risk.
All this in the very transaction in which he purchased the Cuppy's-related companies.
"Guest" is demonstrably wrong.
Paul Steinberg
Franchisee Attorney, New York City, Ph: 212-529-5400
Paul...
Paul, I respect you very much but in this case... you are missing quite a bit of info on this... you are wrong. Look deeper if you dare.
Rumsfeld my hero
Of course, "Guest" is correct and I am missing a lot of info.
To quote my favorite philosopher, there are "known unknowns" and those make life difficult enough. Add the "unknown unknowns" and we are in the deep muddy.
But I am going on the facts and documents available.
The posting suggested that Dale had siphoned off franchisee money to "launch" FranSynergy, and this is demonstrably untrue. Indeed the reason I stopped speaking to Dale was due to a matter relating to FranSynergy, and that has been discussed before.
Also, I do not have the complete contract. True.
But SBT did not put the contract into the pleading. They did put Exhibit D in the pleading.
So my reply was based on those facts. From what you are saying my guess is that the original post meant to say something other than what ended up being written.
Paul Steinberg
Franchisee Attorney, New York City, Ph: 212-529-5400
Plan went awry
I don't think there was much planning, and such planning as there was by Dale Nabors quickly foundered on the shoals of Morg's submerged mines.
The magnitude of the unpaid "depositors" was bad enough. But apparently there are people who paid for a full build-out and did not get it; that was not widely known till some time after Nabors took over.
How much Nabors knew about the SBT deal is an open question as well; my gut is that Nabors was shocked to find out what was going on, and I do believe that he was not aware of some key facts until after he bought the company.
Michael Webster has put together the most logical explanation of what happened and why Dale Nabors bought these toxic entities. His explanation covers the known facts and for that reason it is the best current explanation of this story.
And if Webster is correct, then the growing awareness on the part of franchisees who have undisbursed monies is going to throw a potentially fatal money wrench into Nabors' plan.
That is a shame, since if Webster is correct Nabors did have the only non-bankrupty path to setting this company on course.
The problem is that the only significant source of revenue (particularly after stopping the sale of new franchises) is that money in the pipeline. And if those borrowers get wise to the potential for some of their money being shifted to cover the unfinished construction and make payments to all of the franchisees currently under "installment" repayments...well, those borrowers might just tell the lender not to disburse to Elite.
Let's face it: does anyone know what Elite brought to the table?
It took scads of cash (from f'zee wire transfers and bank payments) and promptly sub-contracted the venerable SBT firm to actually do the work.
At least I think that SBT was contracted to do the actual work, but given the soup of entities in what Sean Kelly famously dubbed "The Angola Love Shack" it is difficult to determine who was supposed to do the work.
Whoever that was, much of the work was not done.
So if those borrowers still in the pipeline have a burning desire to run a coffee shop, they just may get a local contractor, source on the Internet for cups and beans, and voila.
Even if the borrowers really want to open a Cuppy's shop, they may get bids from local contractors and find out what the construction is really supposed to cost. And using a non-Cuppy's contractor means that none of that money will flow thru Elite's coffers.
Avoiding money flowing thru Elite may be a smart move for any borrower, given the past history of money which flowed thru Elite.
A corollary to that history is the potential for claims against Elite and a possible bankruptcy filing, which could put the borrower in the position of being an unsecured creditor getting pennies on the dollar but responsible for paying back all the money he borrowed from the bank.
Ironically, SBT deserves a big "Thank You" since that lawsuit filing led to the information which Webster used to piece together this puzzle.
Paul Steinberg
Franchisee Attorney, New York City, Ph: 212-529-5400
Dales knowledge prior to purchasing company...
Dale definently knew about SBT/MBM, etc... because several upper management told him exactly what was going on when Dale first came on board as a consultant. He begged management to hang in there and stay because he'd make it better. WHAT A CROCK OF BULLSHIT! Someone needs to teach him a lesson about dangling carrots in front of folks face and then not follow through.
Dales knowledge - Mr. Know it all...
Get real. Dale and Morg where like best friends. Dale came to help Morg sell the company and ended up buying it. Remember the accountants in the offices everyday for months on end. Dale and Morg were making sure they could take the money off shore.
Dales Knowledge All Kidding Aside
Before Dale even started working for the company he was made aware of the problems with Elite. His job was to fix those problems and to make sure the franchisees were taken care of. . He ran operations on a daily basis. He was incharge of the day to day decisions. I think he saw a quick buck and took it.
Dales knowledgs...
You are 100% correct! Take care and good luck to you.
Illogical
"Guest" writes: Dale definently knew about SBT/MBM, etc... because several upper management told him exactly what was going on when Dale first came on board as a consultant.
This doesn't fit. If Nabors knew about the unfinished work, the shoddy construction, the complaints from zees, the ownership of SBT, etc...
...then why buy Elite in the first place? Why sign Exhibit D?
Rather, he could have set up a new entity and gotten decent work at a decent price.
I'm not saying "Guest" is wrong, but it just doesn't fit the current set of facts.
Am I missing something?
Paul Steinberg
Franchisee Attorney, New York City, Ph: 212-529-5400
Why buy Elite?
If you are asking why Dale just didn't buy Cuppy's without buying Elite, I think it is because it was a package deal. Elite was the entity that brought in the money anyway and until Dale could turn the company into a "real" franchising company, he had to keep the cash coming in. If the two were separated, would the fraud have been discovered a few months sooner? Wouldn't creating a new entity without cutting off Elite's obligations be reminiscent of the creation of Cuppy's and Elite from Java Jo'z and ECM?
there is no logic
just greed. how many times did morg tell us the company was worth $100 million or more because of the elite contract backends? plenty. everyone wants the money. i think we employees only realized that too late. morg was the big cheerleader, psyching the employees up every time moral got low because we felt that something was wrong here.
when dale took over, no more happy meetings, only firings. now nothing fake to cover the odd feeling everyone was getting. we were told repeatedly that the blogs were fake. morg told us it was all lies. our franchisees weren't too happy with elite's progress..probably because brian and rodesiler were taking each other to lunch on the franchisees money instead of doing actual work...but our franchisees were still positive and moving forward. that all changed with dale. we had no info. nothing to say..we were told to stall and that things would change. my franchisees could only take so much of this. the coward did not even have the decency to give me anything to tell them. my people are telling me about how they are paying rent on a location because stipid construction is on hold, i ask dale, amy, anyone for help. nothing. weeks of unanswered emails. all i can say to them is that i am so sorry. i am so sorry that i didn't know any better and that i had no power to help them.
