DEAR GOD, Please Spare Borders. Take Quiznos Instead!

Dear God, you are all-knowing and all-powerful.  Your ways and Your Plan sometimes seem beyond our comprehension.

Like, for instance, how you are taking one of our kindest, gentlest retailers from us, while leaving the sub chain that has tortured its own franchise owners and the American public for years.

Borders let us sit in their comfy chairs, drink good coffee and read their books and magazines for free.

Borders made us smarter, more literate and better-caffeinated.

Quiznos tormented us with disgusting, singing rats, migraine-inducing cats, and workers who imply they had sex with the very ovens that toasts Quiznos subs.

Putting all else aside, Lord, doesn’t Quiznos deserve to be smited (and smited hard) for ANY of the three commercials posted below?

Spongmonkeys – Bug-eyed Vermin From Hell

In what universe could the disgusting “Spongmonkey” characters induce a life form to ingest a Quiznos sub?

Where, exactly, did Quiznos marketing executives get the idea that they could win the fast food wars by grossing out and annoying their potential customers?

The reaction to this commercial was so bad that, according to Ad Age, Quiznos franchisees posted signs on their doors saying they weren’t to blame for the bug-eyed rodents.  Franchisees posted signs that directed complaints to Quiznos corporate.  Quiznos franchisee Huey Mack reported to Ad Age that all comments were negative and the backlash was clearly hurting sales.

 

 

Singimals – Proof Quiznos Hates Us All

Cyphervirus wrote:  “I’ve never wanted a cat to die before, until I saw this commercial…”

Soundsourz wrote:  “There is no possible way that any serious business could ever think something this pathetically annoying would ever serve as good advertising.”

netsurferx1 wrote:  I used to think that their commercial with those rat/hamster/gerbil things (way back in about 2003) was annoying. And then there was this.

Seriously, WHAT THE F*CK ARE THEY THINKING!  And how the f*ck does this sell sandwiches in the first place, anyway?”

dpaanlka wrote:  “I can’t believe Quiznos is still making ads like this. They’ve been trying the good old stuffed dead animal routine since at least 2003 and it has never, ever worked.”

fosbury68 wrote:  “Quiznos announced layoffs at their corporate offices on 1/7/11. 69 people.  Guess the ad didn’t work.”

 

 

Toasty Torpedo – Sex Sells.  Gay Oven Sex Doesn’t.

Imagine the ad agency creative pitch for this commercial.  The agency exec puts up the Powerpoint slide and says “Our research indicates that what consumers really want is to imagine a Quiznos worker inserting his penis into the oven used to toast their Mmmm toasty sub.”

Oven:  “Scott, I want you to do something…”

Scott: “I’m not doing that again, that burned.” (looks at groin)

Oven: “We both enjoyed that.”

And a few lines later…

Oven: “Put it in me, Scott”

Seriously?  How does one company make such bad advertising decisions so consistently for so many years?

 

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHOULD GOD DELIVER US FROM MORE UNHOLY QUIZNOS ADVERTISING WITH A BOLT OF LIGHTNING? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Email Unhappy Franchisee at UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com

DESERT MOON Franchise Closes. No One Cares.

(UnhappyFranchisee.com)  The Desert Moon café in West Orange, NJ is now deserted… and no one seems to care.

According to the shopping center, Desert Moon opened July 2006 in West Orange and closed down in the middle of April.

Neighboring tenants weren’t surprised by the closing, saying the restaurant "was not very popular."

According to The Patch,

"One day before (the closing), a guy came here with his truck and took everything," said a worker at Cold Stone Creamery adjacent to Desert Moon. The woman did not give her name, but said the restaurant’s shutdown was "overnight."

"They didn’t even tell us,” she said.

Reviews on Yelp of the West Orange franchise ranged from indifferent to outraged to allegations of food poisoning. 

N.M. wrote:

…don’t be fooled the cute logo and the lure of "cheap" food. Secondly the staff HATES you. Not only do they hate you, but they hate their job. When my friend and I walked into the PLACE as first time customers we were not given the chance to review the menu and contemplate what we wanted to order. When we asked for suggestions the reply was "I don’t know" because obviously he hates his job and us.

…15 minutes later a king [the aforementioned cashier/cook/waiter] arrives with our "salads." A small plate of water drenched iceberg lettuce, pseudo grilled veggies, tasteless beans, sparse cheese, 4 stale tortilla chips, and a sample sized queso which the king charged me an extra few bucks for. Nevertheless the queso proved to be the highlight of this experience.

In summary, if you are in the mood for a sample sized queso and HORRIBLE customer service head on over to desert moon.

Alex G. wrote:

BEWARE of this Restaurant. We have reported the Woodbury commons location for food poisoning to Orange County health department. My husband and I ordered 2 Steak Fajita meals, we both got sick that very same night . It has been 2 days and we are still sick non stop diarrhea. 

Mediocrity and Poor Service = Retail Suicide

A 2006 press release states “Desert Moon Holdings Corp. currently operates and franchises 19 Desert Moon Fresh Mexican Grille locations in eight states.”

In The Patch article Darren Yelin, director of franchise sales at Desert Moon, states that there are a total of 14 Desert Moon franchises.

However, the Desert Moon website lists only 7 locations in 4 states.

We’re not familiar with the Desert Moon franchise program other than what we read, but it seems that both franchisor and franchisees are failing and possibly dying.

It’s sad, but in this economy poor service and mediocrity are tantamount to franchise suicide.

Will Desert Moon disappear like so many once-promising franchises? 

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE DESERT MOON FRANCHISE?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

GIORDANO’S: Are Franchise Owners Sabotaging Sale?

Chicago pizza franchise company Giordano’s is in bankruptcy… and is for sale. 

Giordano’s franchisees have pooled enough money to put in a bid of $30 million to buy the assets of their franchisor. 

The bankruptcy trustee in charge of the sale claims that since there are other bidders willing to bid higher, the Giordano’s franchisees are intentionally trying to discourage other bidders with bad behavior, such as not paying royalties and using non-approved ingredients.

According to the Wall Street Journal,  Giordano’s bankruptcy trustee Philip Martino is suing most of the restaurant’s franchise owners for conspiring to block the company’s sale to outside buyers.  According to the Journal article:

Many franchise owners have stopped making royalty payments and have even started cooking with rogue ingredients that don’t conform to the pizza chain’s standards, jeopardizing its reputation and hindering the broader efforts to successfully reorganize the company, according to the lawsuit that Martino filed Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago.

“The Giordano’s franchise system is a valuable asset that cannot be sold for full value while the franchisee dispute is still pending,” according to the lawsuit, which asks a bankruptcy judge to force the group’s cooperation.

The lawsuit demands that franchise owners start making royalty payments again, which funnel about $2 million annually toward the company, formally Giordano’s Enterprises Inc. It also requests that franchisees cook with the proper ingredients they agreed to use in their franchise agreements, which enable them to use secret Giordano’s recipes and trademarks.

Giordano’s operates six company-owned stores, four joint-venture stores, and 35 franchise locations. The company employed about 330 workers.

About 30 Giordano franchisees are represented by Chicago attorney Chester Foster Jr.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection on February 16, 2011, claiming it owed $45.7 million, mostly to lender Fifth Third Bank.

Giordano’s owners John and Eva Apostolou, who purchased Giordano’s in 1988, were removed from control when Martino was appointed trustee. 

Martino claims the company operates profitably, earning at least $1.2 million in operating profits during the first four months of its restructuring, and that it will attract a sale price in excess of what the franchisees are offering.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH GIORDANO’S FRANCHISE & BANKRUPTCY?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

LIBERTY TAX: Are Liberty Tax Franchise Owners Living Their Dreams?

Liberty Tax is looking for dreamers.

Liberty Tax is looking for dreamers willing to invest their savings, retirement accounts and/or home equity and a good portion of their time and energy into a Liberty Tax franchise.

Liberty Tax is recruiting hard for dreamers – They are even willing to waive the $40,000+ franchise fee. (See email ad below, left)

But are Liberty Tax franchise owners really living the American Dream of business ownership… being their own bosses… controlling their own destinies?

Does the portrayal of the Liberty Tax franchise in the recruitment materials match the reality as reported by current and former Liberty Tax franchise owners?

We’ve included excerpts from a current Liberty Tax franchise ad, and asked Liberty Tax franchise owners to share their thoughts below.

“At Liberty, Dreamers are Welcome.”

In a franchisee recruitment page currently running on Franchise.Com, Liberty Tax describes their target franchisee:

“At Liberty, dreamers are welcome.”

“dreamers who want to work for no one … but themselves”

“have big dreams.”

“forward thinkers”

“dream of success.”

“Possess a passion.”

“Won’t accept average.”

“an exclusive group”

“No Tax Experience? No Worries.”

“motivated”

“prepared to jump in with both feet”

“people who have that fire in their belly and a desire to succeed”

“Liberty franchisees are CEOs”

Who they’ll be as Liberty Tax franchise owners:

“embracing proven marketing plans, working seasonally and connecting through cutting-edge social communications.”

“high profile.”

“you’ll have a proven system to follow that was 40+ years in the making”

“have access to more than 600 years of managerial experience, tax industry expertise and street-savvy marketing.”

“work really hard for 3 ½ months then spend the rest of the year pursuing other interests… Go on vacation. Raise alpacas. Learn to yodel…”

What they’ll get as Liberty Tax franchise owners:

“we will give you every bit of training you need—and then some. We’ll start with a week-long session at our corporate office in Virginia Beach, VA; follow it up with online and printed manuals, traditional and non-traditional training methods, webinars, onsite training, off-site training, conference calls and newsletters.

“Hewitt shares his insight with his franchisees, as a hands-on CEO, hosting conference calls, seminars and personally answering his e-mails.”

“A seasonal workforce keeps overhead lower than nearly any other industry.”

“No inventory. No worries about inventory loss.”

“Competitive advantage, population trends, traffic counts, visibility and more”

“Our team of experienced Site Selectors works one-on-one to locate, negotiate and sign the perfect location for your Liberty Tax office.”

“You will be in business for yourself with a very powerful partner ”

“We have nothing to hide.”

On the Franchise.com ad, Liberty Tax states “We have nothing to hide.”  So we invite Liberty Tax franchise owners to share whether the Liberty Tax franchise has enabled them to live their dreams and control their own destinies.

How well does the Liberty Tax marketing materials reflect the reality of the opportunity?

Do you think that recruiting “dreamers” with an emotional appeal to their egos and self-image is a wise, long-term strategy?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

QUIZNOS Woes: Sean Kelly’s “How to Make $75 MILLION in 3 EZ Steps!”

UnhappyFranchisee.com’s Quiznos Woes:  Franchise Karma is a B*tch series looks back at the misdeeds and misplaced priorities that led to the current Quiznos financial crisis.

Let’s start off with the alleged unreturned franchise fee scam.

On August 27, 2007, Sean Kelly published “How to Make $75 MILLION in 3 EZ Steps!” on the Franchise Pick blog.  Instead of focusing on building successful franchises, according to Kelly, Quiznos used the franchise sales process to extract $75 million in unreturned franchise fees for stores that would never open.

*  *  *  *  *

How to Make $75 MILLION in 3 EZ Steps!

by Sean Kelly

How Quiznos invented the Everlasting Gobstopper of franchise fraud. Allegedly.

So, you say you want to make $75 million, but you have no special skills, work ethic or motivation? No problem! If you follow this secret formula and these three EZ steps, you will have $75 million in revenue in no time. And you won’t have to do ANYTHING to earn it. Guaranteed.

Three EZ Steps to Becoming a $75 Million-aire

STEP #1: Sell 3,000 sandwich franchises at $20-$25M each

“But I barely know how to make a sandwich, much less run a sandwich shop!” Enough with the negativity! I said sell franchises, not open franchises.

STEP #2: Include a deadline for them to open their sandwich shops

Using the magic System Q franchise agreement, your franchisees will agree that if they don’t find an approved location and open their shop within a given timeframe, you get to keep their money(!) Pssst… Guess who approves the locations?

STEP #3: When they fail to open, keep their money!

That’s right. You not only keep their money, but they’ll sign a release saying you are liability-free, and they’ll promise not to say any bad things about you. Send me 10%, then go buy a yacht!

Skeptical? Learn How Quiznos (Allegedly) Made $75 Million in 3 EZ Steps!

Janet Sparks (a kill-joy franchise writer who never could keep a secret) spilled the beans in a story on BlueMauMau.org. Seems some whiny franchisees continue to act like royal pains in the toasted buns. They’re combining their lawsuits into a Class Action Combo, and Supersizing their complaint:

The amended version alleges that Quiznos fraudulently induced prospects to purchase franchises at a price of $20,000 to $25,000 each, knowing that their stores would never open. It states that, according to Quiznos’ own figures, it sold more than 3,000 franchises that never opened, resulting in approximately $75 million in revenues for the franchisor, without providing anything in return to the purchasers.

The brilliant part (allegedly brilliant part, mind you) is that Quiznos can basically disapprove every location suggested, forcing the franchisees to fail to meet their obligations. Quiznos can then threaten to hold them liable for lost future royalties. The franchisee has no choice but to sign a liability release and an agreement to keep their stupid, ungrateful mouths shut (or else).

No here’s the brilliant part: The franchisor can then resell the same territory again and again and again and again to unsuspecting franchisees who have no way of knowing it was sold before… making this the Everlasting Gobstopper of franchise fraud! Allegedly!

Original comments on this post:

By Barb

1234 days ago

It’s amazing they have gotten away with such obvious un-ethical business practices. Until the government really sees and acknowledges this as evil and as a scam to get the honest working people of our countries money nothing will be changed. There should be stricter laws that throw out one sided UFOC’s. Until this is accomplished it will allow these crooks to get away with robbing people. How many people does it take before our government changes the laws to stop all this insanity? All I hear is do your due diligence. I believe it begins with laws to protect the honest individual. Let’s face it the honest person doesn’t think like a crook. You have to think like a crook to be a crook. Isn’t that why we have laws to protect the people?

By sean

1234 days ago

Barb said:Until the government really sees and acknowleges this as evil and as a scam to get the honest working people of our countries money nothing will be changed.

I agree with everything you’ve said except that nothing will be changed until the laws are changed. The Internet and sites like franchisepick.com, bluemaumau.org, Michael Webster’s biz op blog, Franchise Pundit, Joel Libava’s Franchise King blog, Rip-off report, franchise chat forum, and provide a forum and unfettered discussions that have never existed before. While the laws certainly should change, consumers have a lot more information and caveats as to scams, ripoffs and bad deals – franchised and non-franchised.

People need to realize that the government will not protect you from bad business deals, and even fraud. Look at late night tv: Phony preachers hawk donations with fake faith healing, tons of get rich quick and weight loss scams are sold using fake testimonials by actors reading from a script, famous people push exercise gadgets, investments, insurance scams, adjustable beds at 3X retail and snake oil. It’s not likely to change soon.

The franchisees and ex-franchisees who leave comments about their experiences are making a difference warning others. Until these laws change, prospective franchisees should pay an experienced franchise attorney to review any document before signing.

By Barb

1229 days ago

I agree you should see a franchise lawyer. But you have to agree the average person who never had to use a lawyer before doesn’t even know there is such a thing as a franchise lawyer. Usually people who look at site’s like this is after the crime is over. People need protection because it takes an incredible amount of time to understand what the franchise world is about. Not everyone knows as much as you Sean. The average person needs protection by enforcing bad franchises to disclose all material facts. More laws to protect the honest hard working person who doesn’t know how the franchising world works. You have to admit there are few good franchisors. And that is why we need laws so ethical business practices will be enforced. Just read all the complaints on the internet. Consistant, real and disturbing that the unethical franchisors get away with misrepresentation, non-disclosures and exagerating material facts.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE QUIZNOS & FRANCHISE KARMA?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

You can email UnhappyFranchisee.com at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail.com.

QUIZNOS Woes: Franchise Karma is a B*tch

Quiznos is struggling under a debt load in excess of $850 million.  1500 franchisee-owned Quiznos stores have closed.

In May, 2011 store sales fell by 13%.  Quiznos is at risk of violating lending terms that require a certain level of earnings.

Quiznos, of course, blames the economy.

But Quiznos franchisees and readers of UnhappyFranchisee.com, BlueMauMau.org and the former Franchise Pick know better.

They know that Quiznos is finally answering to The Law of Franchise Karma.

What’s the Law of Franchise Karma?

The Law of Franchise Karma states that franchise companies who treat their franchisees as sheep to be sheared, marks to be conned or mountainsides to be strip-mined will eventually have to answer for their misdeeds.

Franchise Karma will be their to hold them accountable.

And Franchise Karma is a B*tch.

Franchise Karma has come a’calling, and Quiznos will now publicly answer for its misplaced priorities, corporate greed, unethical behavior and a seemingly complete disregard for the well-being of the franchise owners who built the Quiznos – and the Schaden – empire.

What are the misdeeds of Quiznos corporate?

In the next few posts, we’ll dig into the archives and post past warnings that Quiznos corporate was acting as stripminer, pirate and plunderer rather than a responsible franchisor.

Read the “Franchise Karma is a B*tch” Series:

QUIZNOS Woes: Sean Kelly’s “How to Make $75 MILLION in 3 EZ Steps!”

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE QUIZNOS & FRANCHISE KARMA?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

You can email UnhappyFranchisee.com at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail.com.

 

Has OXYMAGIC CEO David Iseley Gone Off the Deep End?

David Iseley founded the Oxymagic carpet cleaning franchise in 1999.

In 2005, he hired a kid fresh out of college as his V.P. of Franchise Development.  Less than a year later, according to Iseley, the kid went off and started his own competing carpet cleaning franchise company.  Iseley sued him and they settled out of court.

Despite having agreed on a settlement, David Iseley could not let the incident go.  His anger and resentment toward the young upstart seemed to grow to the point of obsession.

David Iseley created entire blogs about how he had been wronged by the young entrepreneur.

He posted vicious, disparaging comments about his young competitor across the Internet, calling him a cheat, a liar and a thief.

Recently, David Iseley began creating and posting angry YouTube videos of himself ranting and raving about the wrongs he suffered, and the unfairness of the U.S. criminal justice system.

On his YouTube videos, Oxymagic CEO David Iseley plays media interviews of his young competitor while he makes derisive and derogatory comments.

David Iseley holds up snapshots of his daughters [See screenshot] who have supposedly suffered because of his 10-month employee’s misdeeds 5 years ago.

During the past 5 years, the college kid focused on growing his franchise company and supporting his franchisees. His chain has grown to nearly 300 franchises.

In the same timeframe, David Iseley has focused on playing the victim.  Despite a 7-year head-start and almost two decades more experience, David Iseley’s Oxymagic still remains at about 80 franchises… about 1/3 the size of his alleged “copycat franchise” competitor.

Warning:  The Reputation You Smear May Be Your Own.

David Iseley’s attempted smear campaign is doing more damage to his brand than any competitor could ever do.

David Iseley accuses the college kid of using infomercials, while his own website links to a paid-for “Designing Spaces” segment that is not labeled as an advertisement.

David Iseley claims the college kid stole his secrets, but doesn’t explain how the kid achieved 300% more growth with the same supposed concept.

David Iseley rails against the court system and the FBI for letting him “get screwed” because he’s “not Coca Cola.”

David Iseley obviously spends an inordinate amount of time on the Internet attacking a long-ago employee instead of finding a publisher for his book manuscript (he displays its supposed cover art) or updating his website (its most current training schedule is from 2008).

David Iseley claims the college kid is a phony, but is shown on video absolutely livid one moment then laughing the next (when he thought the camera was off).

David Iseley claims the college kid is deceptive, while it seems obvious that Iseley himself posts comments under multiple pseudonyms and personas.  On the attack blogs, David Iseley even writes in the first person, as himself, then includes a disclaimer stating “This blog is not affiliated with David Iseley, Oxymagic, or Oxymagic Franchise Development Corp.”

Say what?  His own blogs, which contain personal notes to his competitor, are not affiliated with him?

Should Oxymagic Franchisees Hold an Intervention?

In the worst recession in recent history, a franchise company CEO should be obsessed with one thing above all else:  the success of his franchise owners.

At the very least, he should ask his franchisees whether THEY think he should continue using valuable time and resources on his unprofessional, personal online vendetta.

Odds are, if they are candid with him, they’ll say: Stop embarrassing us, David.  Stop embarrassing yourself. Get refocused on helping us win and keep carpet cleaning customers.

Sometimes franchisors have to save franchisees from their own bad habits.

Sometimes the franchisees need to save the franchisor from himself.

For all their sakes.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE OXYMAGIC FRANCHISE & DAVID ISELEY?  WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

[Note:  Neither Oxymagic nor the unnamed competitor sponsored or had input or influence on the content of this blog post.   The opinions expressed are that of the post author alone and are just that – personal opinions.]  Contact the editor at unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com

STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS Franchise Complaints

(UnhappyFranchisee.com) Is the STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS Franchise a scam?  At UnhappyFranchisee.com, we’ve received a number of Stratus Building Solutions franchise complaints.

Strangely, Stratus Building Solutions is ranked #20 in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 (READ: Top 100 Franchise Opportunities 2011: Behind The Hype)

In fact, when Unhappy Franchisee asked for commercial cleaning franchise complaints, half of the negative comments were against Stratus Building Solutions franchise opportunity.

Why are some franchise owners calling Stratus Building Solutions franchise a big scam?  The complaints are the same as those levelled against Jani-King, Jan-Pro, Coverall, Cleannet USA and the other commercial cleaning franchise companies out there:  Underbidding accounts, fraudulently taking cleaning accounts from one franchisee to give to another, etc. etc.

The question remains:  Why are these janitorial franchise companies allowed to get away with these despicable practices?

Chris wrote:

Stratus Building Solutions, Especially the one is Pittsburgh is a big scam. Please do not go to Stratus.

“I bought a franchise and now they plan on taking the one and only account off of me. That leaves me with zero income. The way the contract is written is that they are able to take off of you any accounts they say. They tell you they have complaints about the cleaning you have been doing. They tell you ‘We warned you now the account is taken from you. We need to protect our intrest too.’

The contract favors them. I lost $13,700 Also even tho you think you own a franchise you really do not. They get you accounts that belong to them. so you can not sell your franchise. The only way you can sell it is to go door to door and get your own accounts. You could have started you own cleaning and keep all the cleaning money yourself. Please listen to me. The contract does not protect you at all. The contract benefits them.

Please help me stop Stratus of pittsburg and Stratus corporate from swindleing any one. The solution to me is to go clean places on your own. By the way, if you do get your own places to clean while you are with stratus, you still have to pay percentage.

Ale wrote:

stratus is all bull shiet !! its a fucking fraud!!!

Javier Santos on March 31st, 2011 7:27 pm wrote:

STRATUS is A Big Scam! Don’t let them ruin your dreams they take advantage of good people to fill up their pockets.

guest on May 14th, 2011 10:15 pm wrote:

Stratus Building Solutions Franchise has received a grade of “F” from the Better Business Bureau of Orange County

http://www.la.bbb.org/PublicComplaints.aspx?CompanyID=100103761

Stratus Building Solutions Franchise complaint 1:

“Posted 3/11/2011 Summary – Consumer alleges services were not rendered as agreed.

Complaint Description Consumer alleges services were not rendered as agreed. Consumer paid your company $1000.00 down for a franchise business opportunity on 7/19/10. She completed the classes needed to get certified on janitorial services on 8/24/10. Once the classes were completed she was going to start getting job sites were she had to provide janitorial services, using her own equipment and would receive a check for services rendered minus a 25% fee from your company. To date consumer has not received job sites. Every time she calls to get assistance she is given the run around. She requested to get her money back for the down payment on the franchise however you refused. Consumer wants a refund of her monies.”

Stratus Building Solutions Franchise complaint 2:

“Posted 4/15/2011 Summary – Consumer alleges services were misrepresented and no refund has been issued

Complaint Description Consumer alleges services were misrepresented and no refund has been issued. Consumer purchaser a franchise from your company on 7/14/09 and paid $22000.00. He was promised to have his own business, his own building to provide the janitorial service that will pay $120000.00 a year. To date he has made $17000.00 in one year. He is not running his own company, instead he is introduce to clients as if he was working for your company. He had to pay 25% fee from each check for insurance, processing fees etc. When consumer complains to your company and ask for a refund of the money he invested you refuse. Consumer wants a refund of the $22000.00 he paid because the franchise was not as represented.”

Stratus Building Solutions Franchise complaint 3:

“Posted 4/21/2011 Summary – Consumer states company failed to provide proper services.

Complaint Description Consumer states company failed to provide proper services. Consumer paid $14,500 to the company. The company stated they would assist her in getting contracts with franchises, to clean their facilities. A list of potential leads would be provided to her. The lists they provided are not valid. When she requested a refund, she only received the runaround.”

Rob on June 2nd, 2011 wrote:

Stratus Building Solutions Franchise in Philadelphia is a big SCAM, Please don’t made same mistake I did and do not Buy franchise from them, they take advantage of good people, You are actually paying 10′s of thousands of dollars to make between $8-$10hr. You can’t even hire people without taking a loss, the ONLY people making real money are the people selling the franchises.

anonymous on July 15th, 2011 3:22 pm (Edit)

What bothers me the most is that with all the cleaning companies out there, they all repeat the same deceptive, abusive, misleading and unethical practices. They prey on the average american who wants to legally make money and work hard doing it. Often people have invested their life savings into the hope of making a better way for their families. It is unbelievable how the state and federal government aren’t doing anything after years of complaints and law suits to protect people from these modern day ponzi schemes.

I invested my money into Stratus Building Solutions to later find out that im not a owner of my own business but merely a employee, i paid $11000 to work a job. The gross revenues arent guranteed, they underbid contracts just to build their portfolio. Some of the jobs break down to be less than minimum wage. A business is meant to grow, not keep you stuck in one place where you have to do all the work to get by. If you speak against their actions they totally cut you off, no contact, even when they still owe you money.

IS THE STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS FRANCHISE A LEGITIMATE OPPORTUNITY OR A FRANCHISE SCAM?  SHARE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW.

 

Top 100 Franchise Opportunities 2011: Behind The Hype

Are these REALLY America’s 100 Best Franchise Opportunities?  Hear what their franchise owners have to say…

Franchise marketers and salespeople love to brag about their high franchise rankings and the awards they receive from the publications and groups they pay handsomely to promote their franchise opportunities.

And the King of all franchise rankings is Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual Franchise 500.  Even franchise #486 brags about its Entrepreneur ranking on its franchise website.

Which of these franchise opportunities do you think deserve to be listed in the Top 100?  Read more

BIZZIBIZ Franchise Founder Jim Piccolo Defrauded 105 Investors, Says AZ

(UnhappyFranchisee.com) BIZZIBIZ franchise founder Jim Piccolo announced that at the end of last year he was divesting himself of his previous businesses, including his controversial multilevel marketing scheme Nouveau Riche University.

Piccolo claimed he wanted to devote all his time and energy to the Bizzibiz digital marketing franchise venture, which he then launched January 2, 2011.

Not all of his previous business dealings could be so neatly left behind.

Allegations that Piccolo’s Nouveau Riche University was a scam are numerous and widespread in blogs and forums across the Internet.

And in February, 2011, just a month after the launch of Bizzibiz, his real estate investment seminar business came back to haunt him in a big way.

BIZZIBIZ Founder James Piccolo Must Pay Nearly $6 Million for Defrauding Investors

In a February 17, 2011 press release, the Arizona Corporations Commission announced that Jim Piccolo and his business partners must pay nearly $6 Million in restitution and fines for defrauding 105 investors with unregistered deed of trust investments.  In part, the press release reads:

In the first case, the Commission ordered James Piccolo of Scottsdale, Craig Cottrell of Tempe

and Michael Roberts of Scottsdale and their affiliated companies to pay $5,577,226 in restitution and a

total of $300,000 in administrative penalties for defrauding 105 investors with unregistered deed of trust

investments.

The Commission found that the men promoted the unregistered deed of trust investments at

real estate education seminars where they convinced students to become investors, promising them

double-digit returns. The Commission found that Piccolo, Cottrell and Roberts misrepresented that a

second deed of trust or lien on vacant lots would be secured for the investors and that the investment had a

corporate guarantee behind it. Additionally, the Commission found that the respondents failed to record

any liens for the benefit of the investors.

The Commission found that Piccolo and Five Star Capital Markets, LLC solicited potential

investors to buy the unregistered deed of trust investment while not being registered to offer or sell

securities in Arizona. The Commission found that, during part of the time he was a registered securities

salesman, Cottrell fraudulently offered and sold the unregistered deed of trust investments without the

authorization of his securities dealer. As a result, the Commission revoked his securities salesman

registration. The Commission found that Roberts and his home development company, Charlevoix

Homes, LLC, received investor funds solicited by Five Star Capital Markets, LLC, Piccolo and Cottrell,

but Roberts and his company were not registered to offer or sell securities in Arizona.

In settling this case, Piccolo, Cottrell and Roberts neither admitted nor denied the Commission’s findings, but agreed to

the entry of the consent orders.

The full impact that Jim Piccolo’s sanctions will have on the fledgling Bizzibiz franchise program are not yet clear.

It appears that references to Jim Piccolo may have been removed from the “Team” page of the Bizzibiz website, but elsewhere Piccolo’s name has been inextricably linked with the Bizzibiz franchise.

In April, Bizzibiz Franchising Inc. filed a lawsuit against its franchise attorney, Director of Franchising & Board Member Kevin B. Murphy for legal malpractice (READ: BIZZIBIZ Suing Mr. Franchise Kevin B Murphy and Franchise Foundations PC ).

The question remains:  Will the new digital marketing franchise survive its founder’s controversial past, or has Bizzibiz lost its sting?

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH JAMES PICCOLO, NOUVEAU RICHE UNIVERSITY &/OR THE BIZZIBIZ FRANCHISE? SHARE AN OPINION OR PERSPECTIVE BELOW.

 

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