Customers still waiting for cancelled veggie box program refunds
Months after Quick Draw Farms cancelled its vegetable box program, people are still waiting for refunds
People who spent thousands of dollars on a vegetable box program in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley this spring are still waiting for refunds after the farmers cancelled the program and left the province.
Quick Draw Farms, which is registered to Rebecca and Colby Penman, formerly of Nictaux, promised on Facebook in June that all customers would be repaid by the end of July.
But many of those customers, like Amanda Thornton, still haven't received their money.
"I'm hopeful that I will be paid, but I'll believe it when I see it," Thornton said. "I hope when the cheque comes it doesn't bounce."
Thornton said she was told on July 22 that she would be receiving a refund of $292.50, what she paid for the vegetable box program advertised to run from May 1 to Oct. 15.
On Aug. 11, after Thornton sent multiple messages, she was told by Rebecca Penman the cheque was sent.
"It's now Sept. 1 and I still don't have it," Thornton said.
The farmers posted in May that they were moving to Alberta and the program was cancelled.
In mid-June, they posted again to say there were 102 refunds left to do and they were two-thirds of the way through them. That post has since been deleted.
'How could this have happened to me?'
In July, Thornton created her own Facebook group called Quick Draw Farms owes me a refund, which has about 130 members.
"I thought, at least this way we all have a chance to stay in touch with each other and just not feel alone in this too. Because I know I was feeling, 'Oh my god, aren't I stupid, how could this have happened to me?'" she said.
A post from Aug. 26 asks people to list the amount they're owed. Over 50 people commented on the thread, saying they were owed between $50 and $500, with the amount totalling over $6,000.
Juanita Annis is also in the Facebook group. She lived across the street from the Penmans in Nictaux for about two years.
"I never knew of them having a farm," she said.
She visited the home to take pictures earlier this summer, and said it looks like while there may have been a small garden the year before, it was apparent nothing had been planted there this year.
'There's something wrong here'
Annis said she bought one box in 2015, but felt uneasy after she saw nothing was growing in a small garden near the Penman house.
"We thought, no, there's something wrong here," she said.
A Facebook post from the farm on Aug. 30 listed two people who should expect refunds this week and said a medical emergency was the reason for the delays.
However, since the publication of this story, all posts about repayments and the cancellation of the program have been deleted. The most recent post is now from March 27.
Response from Quick Draw Farms
The Penmans told CBC News refunds are being done every two weeks and will continue until all of the money is refunded.
"The farm could have claimed bankruptcy when it was shut down, but instead, it was chosen that all refunds [would] be done like was promised," the Penmans said in a Facebook message.
Liz Nell of Lower Sackville said she got her money back. She paid $351 and received a refund for $100 on June 23 and the rest on July 2.
"If you take money for a veggie box program and you stop it a week before you're supposed to deliver, surely there should be something there because you should have started growing veggies by then," said Nell.
Unclear if police are investigating
RCMP said it could not confirm whether there was an ongoing investigation because of the long weekend.
In July, spokesperson Cpl. Dal Hutchinson said police had received two complaints about the farm in June, but that police were not investigating at that time.