DENVER — The weekend of Thanksgiving in 2023, Supperbell, a popular local meal delivery company posted a tempting sale on social media.
If customers bought gift cards that weekend, they could get a massive discount — 30% off. Kent Dallow saw it as a great opportunity, so he spent $1,000.
A month and a half later, Supperbell’s website went offline. There was no way to contact the company. The company’s social media went quiet, and Dallow started to worry.
“It's just shady,” Dallow said.
He’s not alone. Dozens of other customers have commented on Supperbell’s now-dormant social media, expressing the same concerns over gift cards they purchased during the sale just before the company shut down.
Supperbell, which just celebrated its ninth anniversary last fall, offered chef-curated meals delivered to homes around the Denver metro area. The company prominently featured local Denver celebrity chef Frank Bonano, insisting meals served by the company were inspired by the chef.
“We immediately recognize the connection with Frank Bonanno, when we signed up four to five years ago,” Dallow said. “He was kind of front and center in the marketing, we recognized him from his other restaurants around Denver.”
For the last month, Steve On Your Side has been trying to track down who owns — or owned — Supperbell to get some answers for customers who bought gift cards.
We started with Bonanno, who told Steve On Your Side that despite his name and image being plastered all over Supperbell’s social media and webpage, he has never been a part of the company. Bonanno told 9NEWS Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger he did some initial menu consulting for Supperbell with the understanding that he would eventually become a shareholder, but he never did, and said he never made any money from Supperbell.
He said his restaurants have gotten phone calls from angry Supperbell customers.
Steve On Your Side found a Supperbell delivery truck parked at a commercial kitchen where the company based its operations, but there was no sign that the company was still operating.
Steve On Your Side obtained an email sent to all Supperbell employees on Jan. 11 that informed them the company was ceasing operations. The email was sent by Tom Balderston.
Steve On Your Side tried for weeks to contact Balderston via text message, phone call and email. The team even visited his corporate office, but he wasn’t there.
Days before this story was set to air, Balderston responded via text message, saying he wasn’t the owner of Supperbell, only an investor. He said the decision to close was made because the company ran out of money and that the closure wasn’t expected at the time of the gift card sale seven weeks earlier.
When asked what customers should do with their unspent gift cards, Balderston said he didn’t have an answer.
What to do with gift cards when a business suddenly closes
Gift cards can be tricky in situations like this, according to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. He said his office generally advises consumers to spend gift cards right away.
“If a business sells lots of gift cards and then shuts down the business, we’ll want to take a look at whether or not they were playing a game,” Weiser told Steve On Your Side. “If they know they're about to go out of business or closed doors, and they sell a lot of gift cards, that can be deceptive because consumers won't expect that.”
Weiser said anyone who believes they’ve been taken advantage of should contact his office.
Consumer advocates, including Weiser, also suggest contacting your credit card’s fraud department if you were sold a gift card for a business that goes under quickly after.
Dallow has already contacted his credit card company, which has initiated an investigation.
“You shouldn't be able to sell something that's forward looking like this for months and months of services,” Dallow said. “And they likely knew that there was something going on with their company that wouldn't let them you know, fulfill all these orders.”
This story is a result of a tip to Steve On Your Side. Send a tip about your situation to 9NEWS Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger.
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