This is our last day… A great company has been destroyed in less than 6 months! As employees we at least cared about the franchisees. WE TALKED WITH THEM AND CRIED WITH THEM – WE WORKED MANY DAYS FROM HOME TRYING TO HELP THEM, BECAUSE YOU WOULD NOT ANSWER THEIR CALLS – YOU TALKED THE TALK BUT DID NOT WALK THE WALK; And now you have stolen all of our futures!
I will continue to think of the franchisee’s and hope they get their real estate and build-outs before they go broke. We believed you and now we are unemployeed and the franchisee’s who were once our friends hate us! Your hiding-out and blaming us for your not doing what you suppose to do is at least finally ending.
BELIEVE AND FAIL
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?
Guest writes:
Dale promised the managers he had the money and a plan to really speed up Elite’s 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 stopped 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 franchisees 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 Elite’s 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 consultant 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 thought 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 people’s 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 did 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.
The DonutNV Franchise Report chronicles, in real time, one of the most public, documented and…
On May 22 and May 23rd, 2026, Gross Law Firm, on behalf of controversial and…
Upfront Clarification: Congressional candidate Keith Gross, who founded and heads Gross Law Group P.A., has…
Gross Law Group P.A. of Panama City, FL, on behalf of franchisor DonutNV Franchising Inc.,…
Part Three in a Series. The DonutNV franchise cautionary tale has officially entered mini-donut meltdown stage. …
JM Family Enterprises' Home Franchise Concepts (HFC) is the franchisor of Aussie Pet Mobile, Bath…
View Comments
Any employee who stood by and did not report suspicious behavior to the authorities is just as guilty as Brian, Morg, Dale and anyone else who played a role in stealing our $125,000. Turning your head while all is happening does not take away the role you played in bankrupting many franchisees. Yes, there were decent people working for Cuppys and Elite, I have no doubt, but where were your morals when you were employed with such a crooked company?
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!
Rick, most of the employees never knew where the $ went. They assumed that it went in escrow for that zees project. Only Morg, Dale and Frankie Marquis in the Accounting department actually knew where $ was sent and to who and when. No one else had access to the checking accounts but the above people.
Rick, most of the employees never knew where the $ went. They assumed that it went in escrow for that zees project.
Fair statement, however, at what point when you are taking calls from the zees do you begin to question the integrity of the people you work for? The past is the past, I do not harbor resentment toward our fsm or the employees of Elite. I just question where and when common sense comes into play.
For all who compare Morg Morgan favorably to Dale Nabors, take a reality check.
The company was NOT better under Morg Morgan, it just FELT like it was because Morg is a professional, polished and highly skilled illusionist. Folks, there WAS no great company, not even a viable company. You were not being paid and your day care was not being supported by people's purchases of cups of coffee - like a legitimate company. Your paychecks and daycare was being paid by people who were deceived into wiring the company their life savings to those who knew exactly what they were doing.
Next time you're tempted to say "At least when Morg was running things..." remember that when Morg was running things millions of dollars of people's life savings were being sucked out of their accounts and their dreams were being dashed to make his Jaguar, Harley and condo payments, as well as your paycheck to keep the illusion going.
And if you still want to cling to the illusion that Elite really intended to use people's deposits, why has this issue been discussed for over a year and Elite NEVER put deposits in escrow as they would have if it was a legitimate business. It took those deposits under fraudulent circumstances.
I'm not defending Dale by any means... He's just more of an oaf when he does people wrong.
Regarding Elite Deposits... When the $ came in it immediately went to the accounting department and Frankie would deposit $. Morg then Dale were/are the only two people that said where to put the money.
If you think the franchisees have problems get this:
As I understand it, Dale Neighbors did not pay his employees last week. He apparently paid the Alabama crew, but has cut off all communication with the staff in Mary Esther. The employees that were laid off when the company moved were not paid either. They were told that the "check is in the mail". I doubt that is the case. I would love to hear from others to see if they got paid. I know that my friend was expecting her last check and did not get it direct deposited, and she was told by the payroll company that the check from Medina had bounced and that there was no attempt by Medina to make it good. I had to loan her money so that she could provide food for her children and pay for day care this week. She is fortunate and has found another job, but she won't get her first check untill next Friday. I do not know how the other employees are going to get through this without getting there last checks. I think this need to be made public. She refused to put this out for everyone to see, but I have nothing to loose. So there it is. Believe it or not.
Sorry, but I don't think you'll find much sympathy here. I know a paycheck is alot of money, but try losing your life savings, your home, and all of your other assets!
Rick,
No sympathy was being sought...
Just reaffirming the fact that if they can't pay the employees, they sure as heck are not going to build your cafe'. You got screwed, the employees got screwed apparently anybody who associated with Cuppys got screwed. I certainly was not looking to you for sympathy.
I'm sorry 'friendwasnotpaid', I'm just getting tired of hearing sob stories from employees who knew what this company was doing to innocent people. We have a lot more invested in this company than a paycheck and our phone calls haven't been answered for over a month. Chances are your friend was one of the people avoiding our calls or lying to us for months.