The owner of a gaming business had apologised after families were left out of pocket following its sudden closure.

Jordan Dutton, who opened the family entertainment venue Game On in Sittingbourne High Street last September, said it had to close suddenly in December due to licensing issues.

The 33-year-old posted on Facebook on December 14 to say the venue would be closed for the rest of the year, but he had failed to directly contact those who had made bookings and payments.

One group stung by the sudden closure was Medway United Football Club. They had a Christmas party for 10 children aged nine and 10 booked for December 27. They had paid a £110 deposit.

On the day of the booking, a parent went to check Game On’s address and saw the post about the closure, just two hours before they were due to attend.

Speaking on behalf of the football team, one parent said: “We hadn’t been notified so I quickly sent them a message asking if it affected our party. They said yes, and that we should have been notified.”

The team managed to book bowling elsewhere but after being promised a refund from Game On the parent says she was ignored for weeks.

Only after seeking out former manager Shane Beale on Facebook were the football team able to get the refund with “a lot of chasing” four weeks later.

She said: “The communication was so poor, the fact that we weren’t even told or given notice to book something else was really shocking.

“It was only by chance someone checked the Facebook page otherwise we would have all turned up there at 4pm and not had anything else to do.”

Another mum, who did not wish to be named, had booked a birthday party for 14 children to celebrate her son’s 11th birthday at the venue on February 2.

The parent, from Sittingbourne, had paid a £100 deposit in-person last October with a view to paying to rest on the day.

When the 36-year-old saw the post about it closing for the rest of the year, she was slightly concerned but sent them a message to see if the business was still able to provide the party invitations, a service which it had offered.

After getting no response, she discovered the Game On Facebook account had closed down and she could no longer contact the company.

She said: “I was absolutely devastated because as a grown-up you can get over these things but that’s my child and you’re ruining his birthday.

“He was so excited to have a party because he’d been asking me for a few years. Initially, he was really excited but after he was properly deflated.”

After seeing KentOnline’s past article on the opening, her partner managed to track down the owner on Facebook and ask for the deposit to be refunded. She was eventually refunded on January 13.

The mum added: “My son didn’t want a party in the end because he said that they’d spoiled it.”

But while business owner Jordan maintains that he “apologised profusely”, the parent says there was no explanation or “remorse”.

She says if the company had contacted her to explain they would have understood but to go “radio silence” was the wrong approach.

In response, Game On owner Jordan Dutton said: “We had an issue with the licensing, and we had to close down, and we are still closed now.

“We are struggling and fighting with the council because they want all these different licences, and we just can’t open at the moment.”

He went on to say that only two people were owed money, and both had since had a refund.

He said: “It was a bit of miscommunication from my managing team so I thought it was already dealt with but we did get it sorted in the end”

Jordan also explained how when he initially closed, he was unaware that bookings had been made. Despite this, he says he could understand why parents were concerned after the website went down.

He said: “We were getting so many messages about us being open, so we closed the Facebook page down for a minute, obviously I closed it down not realising there were these couple of people who were owed money.

“We are sorry that the families had to deal with that.”

Now the business owner says he is in a tough position as he has invested £20,000 in a company that is not open and has ongoing bills to pay despite being closed.

“I’ve lost thousands because of it, it’s just crazy,” he added.

Jordan’s former business partner Shane Beale has been contacted for a comment and Swale borough council has been contacted for more information.