GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) -- Former clients are sharing their stories about a chef accused of taking deposits before backing out of events.
Brittany Allen, of Greensboro, told FOX8 she hired Chef Dupree after a recommendation for a girls’ brunch in Charlotte on June 4.
“He said we could do a consultation, let’s do a menu rundown, all the nine yards, so I never got any bad vibes,” Allen said.
Two hours before the event, Allen received a message from someone claiming to be Dupree’s brother, letting her know he was in a serious car accident days before.
“Heavily medicated, pretty much in a coma, well his brother sent this message for him, broken ribs, broken arm, and that he couldn’t perform the duties,” Allen recalled. “We are nice ladies so of course we were concerned. Let him know that we’re thinking of him, and to get back with us at a certain date.”
Allen didn’t realize there was a problem until he ignored messages and calls for a $400 refund. A contract provided to FOX8 by Allen showed Dupree provided refunds if he was unable to secure another caterer for the event.
Allen and her group did some digging and found the accident photo sent by Dupree’s brother was from a deadly crash in West Virginia in 2020.
“You’re scamming younger people, you’re scamming older people, that’s just unacceptable,” Allen said. “To us, that’s just disrespectful to that family who lost a loved one.”
FOX8 reached out to Dupree multiple times throughout the day Wednesday. He responded to an email that he would be able to talk Saturday about the accusations.
Niki Thompson shared a similar experience for her July 17 baby shower near Charlotte.
“I reached out to him the day of the event, he advised he was in a car accident, from that car accident he sustained a concussion,” she said.
She said Dupree said he wouldn’t be able to come, but after multiple calls he had her friends come to the Pineville Hospital to pick up the food.
“It was nowhere near what he and I had discussed for the $1,020. He in fact purchased Bojangles chicken to provide to my catered group of 60, it was a debacle, to say the least.”
Both women are now in contact with attorneys, neither have been able to reach Dupree in months.
“Just stop doing it, because you’re taking people’s hard-earned money, we’ve been in tough times for the past year and a half with the pandemic, people are working hard for their money and taking time to celebrate and we just want the outcome to be, just stop,” Allen said.
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