SUBWAY Franchise Complaints

Subway franchise owners are invited to share their complaints and frustrations, as well as advice for prospective Subway franchise owners, below.

Anonymous comments are encouraged, and all email addresses and other information is treated with strict confidentiality.

Around the Internet, complaints have arisen from many Subway franchise owners who feel that they are being victimized by their franchisor, and by founder Fred DeLuca in particular.

Ex-Subway franchisee Jim Eddie claims “whole subway system is a scam,” and called his time as a Subway franchise owner “the worse year of our life.”

Another Subway franchise owner writes “Subway use to be a great opportunity for all but now it’s like doing time each and every time I walk through my doors…”

Subway franchisee Debra claims “subway ownership is hell on earth.”

Here are some comments posted on the Complaints Board website:

ConcernedSubwayOwner wrote:

I was a 3 store owner with Subway. I was franchisee of the year for my region. Then our Development Agents changed and with in 14 months I was forced to sell all 3 locations because I was all of a sudden considered a bad operator. All the while, my stores out performed the market, and the stores of my new Development Agent. In a period of 14 months over 40 stores in our Southern California Market were flipped. All were forced to sell due to "compliance" issues. Most of the stores were above market average. The new Subway Development Agent, the Marwaha Group, in its role of Development Agent has the responsibility to do the Compliance Inspections. Interestingly, they or their immediate Family members were the only approved "buyers" in the 40 locations that flipped.

When Subway Corporate was questioned, the response was that the old Development Agents (who were DA Market of the Year in 2001), Subway Corporate said that the old Development Agents were scumbags, lazy, etc.…  Subway was not only aware of the problems, but actively condoned the following potentially ilegal behaviour: Price Fixing, Racketeering, Fraud, and Forgery…

doingtime wrote: 

… I was told by my business consultant that all of the "twenty year" people should very worried about our stores. That Fred Deluca and his cronies want us out so they can turn the stores over to make money on the start up costs. He suggested that I start keeping a journal about my inspection experiences, which by the way have gotten horrible. They are so bad that I have started to video tape my stores after each inspection to protect myself.

I have a couple of stores that do way, way over the territory average in sales. Fred makes a lot of money off of me in royalities every year. So instead of giving me a pat on the back and a "good job" I get this… You have syrup on your trash can, the handle to your toaster oven has sauce on it, the pvc pipes under your three bain sink has dust on it, your microwave is dirty your bathroom smells, there are straw wrappers on your floors, etc… all of this during a lunch time where the customers are line up into our parking lot!!!

…It is not enough that I work all day everyday, that I have higher sales than most others in my territory, that my customers go up to this twit as he sits in my handicapp seating typing crap that he is making up half the time, telling him that my stores are the best that they have ever been to (by the way he doesn’t mention that in his report). What he does mention is that my places are dirty and marks me out of compliance. I then get a letter from the legal department threating to take my stores. I for one am sick and tired of it. I’m stressed all the time.

Way back when Subway use to be a great opportunity for all but now it’s like doing time each and every time I walk through my doors…

debra wrote:

Owning a subway. They don’t even use the Vaseline when they screw you. They do want to ditch u at 20 years. They are killing me literally health wise. U can never keep them (subway world headquarters) happy… Subway world headquarters in Milford conneticut owned by Fred Deluca, makes it impossible for Subway owners to even break even with THE $5 ft. Sub, let alone certificates & coupons added on it.

…owners work 7 days a week, r exhausted n r constantly harassed by Subway, they r punished to the point where we either die of subway-itis or they take everything we worked for away.

… So if u now made the mistake of buying into " the #1 Franchise" I also advice, get a good attorney on retainer to read the phone books of information u r required to read. Get a good doctor, because they run u to the ground until u r dead or take that store away, n give u nothing for it while they resell it for $250, 000.00 Minimum. You DAI & Fred Deluca r the ones making money.

I wish I never got into Subway, I hate this company, I don’t have long to live according to my Doctors, thanks directly to the stress subway world headquarters, their arbitrators, their inspectors n their little spools that come in at busy lunch time with their laptops, praise u verbally, but are required to write you out of compliance. That is a fact… They r trained to do that…set u up. Just ask any ex-inspector.

…They have ruined my family life my health and are destroying, annihilating my stores knowing im to weak to fight back, so, here it is. No retirement, no health insurance because we are self employed & due to the stress from Subway the doctors concur i have less then 1 year to life.

So hey Fred, see u in hell, u cant n wont take it with you, you lousy ba$tard. Your no italian, your a pig! Keep having your little spies do their thing, your gonna rit in he’ll for what you have done to franchisees and the deception to the customers. Hey, why don’t you shove one of those $5.00 subs up your arse.

Also those defending Subway. They are liars. They are totally lying. In the name of God & all that is Holy, they are lying. subway ownership is hell on earth. No wonder we look like nazi concentration camp survivors, Mussolini is back & his name is Fred Deluca.

Dr. Gus wrote

Our DA Office has clearly demonstrated unethical behavior for years.

What has been demonstrated so far to our local area franchisees, is that the DA Office and Subway Corporate are the "same entitiy".

Some franchisees value integrity and honesty far above money. Those few will not stay once they experience the unethical behavior.

The rest who compromise their values for the money, will stay, and will stay quiet about it.

This is just a microcosm of what America at large has come to recently exceedingly suffer from. Excessive greed, above all else.

Jim Eddie  wrote:

My wife and I owned a Subway in 1993. Once a week we still talk about the misery we suffered. It sounds like things got even worse since then. I always had a feeling the success of the company was on the back of the hard work of store owners. We only owned the store for less than a year and it was the worse year of our life. I do feel the whole subway system is a scam and if you already own one, it’s too late but if you are thinking of buying one speak to current owners. If they are honest, they will talk you out of it.

What do you think? Are the accolades of Subway as a top franchise deserved?

Does Subway franchise provide the training, support, marketing and systems it promises?

Are Subway and founder Fred DeLuca genuinely dedicated to the success of their franchise owners? 

Please share a comment, opinion or insight below.

Also read:  SUBWAY: What Do Franchisees Make on $5 Footlongs?

Are SUBWAY Franchise Owners Happy?

SUBWAY: Send Jared to Gitmo! Parody Press Release

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE SUBWAY FRANCHISE?  WHAT COMPLAINTS DO SUBWAY FRANCHISEES HAVE?  PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

To contact the site admin, email UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.

WENDY’S: Dave’s Hot’N Disappointing Burger

Wendy’s new Dave’s Hot’N Juicy Burger was a disappointment today.  We blame the Wendy’s franchisee.

UnhappyFranchisee.com spends a lot of time and energy defending franchise owners.  Not today.

Today, we ask the question:  Are franchisees often their own worst enemies?

Are there times when the serious and intensive efforts by a franchisor to create systemwide improvements are sabotaged, at the unit level, by the franchise owners who have the most to gain?

What prompted this question was a trip to Wendy’s today to experience the first reinvention of the company’s hamburger in 42 years:  Dave’s Hot’N Juicy hamburger.

Dave’s Hot’N Juicy Hamburger is the result of 2 Years of R&D

Wendy’s new Dave’s Hot’N Juicy hamburgers were the result of a 2 year research initiative called Project Gold Hamburger.

Wendy’s sought not to tweak, but to reinvent its signature burger.  They scrutinized every aspect, traveled the country on a burger-tasting quest, did extensive consumer research to determine the best choices for buns, meat, condiments, onions, lettuce, etc.

Wendy’s produced TV spots featuring the company namesake Wendy, daughter of founder Dave Thomas.  They did a masterful job getting widespread press.  Media outlets from Howard Stern to USA Today were promoting the story of the care and research that went into the burger reinvention.

Everyone seemed to be buzzing about the relaunch of Wendy’s main product.  Everyone except the managers and staff at Wendy’s restaurants, that is.

[Photos, left: top shows Wendy's video of idealized Dave's Hot'N Juicy burger, bottom is what I got.  Top photo credit: Wendy's International]

How to Kill a Promotion, The Franchisee Way

So I went to a local Wendy’s to see if the buzz was justified.  The first franchise location had no posters or sign of Dave’s Hot’N Juicy hamburgers so I kept driving to a 2nd location.

That one had no mention of the new groundbreaking product launch either, but I went in anyway.

The menuboard and point-of-sale materials made no mention of Dave’s Hot’N Juicy , so I thought perhaps they hadn’t converted yet.

The man ahead of me in line was asking the manager (let’s call him Dwayne) about it, but Dwayne knew nothing about the Dave’s Hot’N Juicy launch.  Dwayne didn’t even know the name.  The man had heard about it on Howard Stern and said the buns were toasted, etc.  Dwayne said yeah, they now toast the buns with a new toaster and have different meat, but he knew nothing about the naming or significance of the new product.

The man behind me also had come in because he had read about it in the press.  The order-taker also knew nothing about it, but said they had converted to new 4 oz.patties a month ago, and the 2 oz. patties were supposed to change soon.  When the man told her that they had an article about the new burger in the local paper, she said “Hmmm, I guess I gotta start reading the paper.”

The wait for the burgers seemed interminable, but the manager put the fries and drinks on the tray so they could get cold and watery, respectively, while the workers laughed and swore at each other in the back.  The second man said “Maybe they should find a new term for ‘fast food’.”

I asked Dwayne which franchisee owned this location and he said didn’t know.  “They own like 10 or something,” he said but didn’t know where his own employer was headquartered.  There was no plaque or information anywhere in the store.

My 1/2 lb. Dave’s Hot’N Juicy reinvented burger was wrapped in the same sandwich wrap as usual.  No special packaging, no fanfare, and no resemblance to the promotional photos whatsoever.

It was OK, the meat was more like it used to be at Wendy’s, but it was a gloppy mess with a few strands of red onion and a single flat leaf of lettuce.

Somehow, I think the burgers in the test kitchen (and certainly in the photos) bore little resemblance to this franchisee version of Wendy’s great next hope.

“Franchising Would be Great if it Weren’t for the Franchisees”

I have no doubt that Wendy’s International put forth an honest and erstwhile effort to put out an excellent product and stop the erosion of its market share against those who are kicking its ass (McDonald’s, Five Guys).  If my experience is typical, though, that effort will have been sabotaged at the unit level by lack of execution by Wendy’s franchisees.  In fact, two of the largest Wendy’s franchise groups refused to purchase the required equipment and are being sued by the franchisor.

Franchising works great when franchisors, franchisees and franchise vendors can align their own self interests and work together to beat the competition.  Unfortunately, they so often end up putting more effort into fighting each other than fighting for the customer.

In this case, the franchisees can’t blame the franchisor for that.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Contact the author or site ADMIN at unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com.

QUIZNOS: Biggest Collapse in Restaurant History?

Just three years ago, [Quiznos] topped $2 billion in sales. Now, industry observers say the Quiznos sandwich chain, led by Denver investors Rick and Richard Schaden — is $875 million in debt, with sales down 14 percent and 600 stores closed last year. “It’s one of the biggest restaurant collapses in American history,” says restaurant analyst – John Gordon.

(UnhappyFranchisee.com)  The Denver Post reports that the Quiznos chain faces tough finance issues, and may earn the distinction of becoming one of the biggest financial collapses in restaurant chain history.

UnhappyFranchisee.com has been reporting on the rancor between Quiznos corporate and its Quiznos franchise owners for years now.  The Denver Post article cites a report that lists Quiznos adversarial relationship with its franchisees as a major factor in its current dire financial situation:

The problems stem from a highly leveraged investment in 2006, competition from other sandwich purveyors and a protracted battle with the company’s franchisees over operating costs and profitability.

The result is an estimated 14 percent drop in sales last year and the loss of 600 restaurants — the steepest decline of any major fast-food chain, according to restaurant consulting firm Technomic Inc.

Sales in 2010 were about $1.55 billion, down from the 2008 peak of $2.02 billion, Technomic estimated. During the same period, stores declined from about 5,000 to 3,500 and likely are fewer than 3,000 this year.

Quiznos took a big hit when rival Subway introduced toasted subs in 2005, effectively stripping Quiznos of its key differentiator.

Subway delivered another blow with its highly successful $5 foot-long campaign in 2008.  Quiznos’ attempted counter-punch, the $4 “torpedo,” failed to bring back its lost customers.

Instead of working in a unified fashion to beat the competition, Quiznos has also been at war with its franchisees over price gouging and poor marketing strategies, especially in terms of discount promotions:

As Quiznos has fought to maintain market share, it has suffered lingering animosity from some franchisees who say profit margins are lean or nonexistent — due in part to a requirement that franchisees buy food at allegedly above-market prices from a Quiznos-mandated supplier network.

In 2009 Quiznos settled a franchisee class-action lawsuit by agreeing to pay up to $95 million.

The corporate debt problems are troubling to remaining franchise operators, said Justin Klein, a New Jersey attorney who represented franchisees in the lawsuit.

If Quiznos were to default on its debt and file for bankruptcy reorganization, “it would have a negative impact on the investment these franchisees have made in the company. It pretty much puts that investment into the toilet,” Klein said.

Quiznos seems destined to become a franchise restaurant chain cautionary tale, with the moral being that franchisor indifference to franchisee profitability and a callous disregard for the welfare of those who financed your growth will result in a catastrophic failure for all involved.

Quiznos had a great product, strong, enthusiastic franchisees and a golden opportunity to be a leader in the fast casual segment.  What a shame it had to come to this.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH QUIZNOS?  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.

QUIZNOS Franchise Failure Blamed on Corporate Policies

Quiznos franchise failure in Elgin, Illinois is being blamed on Quiznos corporate policy decisions, the recession and prolonged street construction according to a story in the Courier News.

After eight years in business, Quiznos franchise owners Joe Follrath and Suzanne Pfaff said they’ll shut their doors for good next week “unless someone makes us a last-minute offer to buy the place.”

The Douglas Avenue sandwich shop, which has been in business downtown for eight years, will stay open until it runs out of stock, which probably will be by the end of next week, they said. The owners plan to hold an auction sometime thereafter.

The Quiznos franchise owners have been looking at options for about six months but the business is no longer financially viable.  They plan to hold an auction once they run out of stock.

In addition to the tight economy and downtown construction, Quiznos onerous company policies helped cause shrinking margins tight and dwindling profits.  According to the article:

“We originally chose to open a Quiznos franchise because of the company’s growth potential and the quality of its products,” said Follrath. “We did great business for the first few years, but sales have been swiftly declining since we hit our peak in 2007.”

According to information provided by Elgin’s Downtown Neighborhood Association, with the recession on the horizon, between 2007 and 2009, more than 1,000 franchisee-owned Quiznos closed.

“Franchisees cite rising Quiznos-distributor food costs, drastic coupon discounts such as buy-one, get-one-free sandwiches, and other corporate policy decisions,” the release stated. “Currently, Quiznos is requiring its franchisees to undergo a complete interior renovation and point-of-sale system upgrade.”

Tonya Hudson, executive director of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, said she is amazed that the Quiznos franchise owners persevered as long as they did, calling it “a testament to the loyal customer base they built in downtown over the past eight years.”

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE QUIZNOS FRANCHISE?  SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH A COMMENT BELOW.

Also Read:

QUIZNOS OVERVIEW & DISCUSSION

Failure Rates of the 10 Most Popular Franchises

Franchise Owner Claims It’s “Impossible to Make Money” With Quiznos

QUIZNOS Franchisee Blasts HQ’s Coupons and Discounts

QUIZNOS: Franchisees Lost $2.25 per Sub on Giveaway

TACO DEL MAR Franchise Co. Sold at Bankruptcy Auction

Bankrupt Taco Del Mar was sold at auction last week, and Connecticut-based Franchise Brands had the winning bid of $3.25 million.

The sale of the Mexican food chain operator and franchisor must still be approved by a bankruptcy judge.  Taco Del Mar has lost money for several years, and now has debt in excess of $3 million.

Taco del Mar is an example of an aggressively promoted franchise concept that grew fast and crashed hard.  The Seattle-based quickservice restaurant chain grew from 74 locations in 2003 to 270 locations in 2008.  More than 200 shops closed between 2005 and 2009.

According to a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Taco Del Mar owns roughly 22 corporate stores in the U.S., Canada and Guam.  According to a recent company press release, “Taco Del Mar can be found in more than 200 locations.”

According to its website, Franchise Brands was founded “To acquire an interest in a diverse portfolio of businesses and expand them
through franchising.”

According to FranchiseBrandsLLC.Com:

Based in Milford, CT, Franchise Brands, LLC was created in 2005 with the support and guidance of the founders of SUBWAY^® restaurants. It was founded on a basic principle: to invest in small and mid-market companies with experienced management. Companies may currently be franchising or demonstrate the potential to do so.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE TACO DEL MAR FRANCHISE?  WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Sources:  Seattle Times, FranchiseBrandsLLC.Com

Contact UnhappyFranchisee.com:  UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com

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TACO DEL MAR: Ex Franchise Owner Blasts Franchisor, Master Developer

Is the Taco Del Mar franchise a great opportunity to gain the support of a franchisor dedicated to franchise owner profitability… or is it an unmitigated disaster?

It depends on whom you ask.

Taco Del Mar: “great franchise partnerships create great successes.”

The Taco Del Mar franchise website states:

“Taco Del Mar believes that great franchise partnerships create great successes. We have built our organization in order to develop positive and profitable relationships with our franchisees… We begin each day focused on franchise profitability… We developed our system to return the highest ROI to the franchisee in the shortest time… We believe in you.”

Taco Del Mar:  A franchise “disaster.”

Former Maryland Taco Del Mar franchise owner Suzanne Todd has a different opinion, calling her experience with the company a “disaster.”

According to a Wall Street Journal story, Todd claims she was recruited as a franchise owner by Master Developer and franchisee Thomas Murphy, who told her Taco Del Mar was the “next Subway.”  She claims Taco Del Mar executives “lured her to join the team by predicting future positive financial returns,” and “‘placed a great deal of pressure” on her to sign a franchise agreement before the prices increased.”

She signed in April 2007, paid a $20,000 franchise fee and opened her Frostburg, MD restaurant in December 2007.

Claims her Master Developer “doomed her… restaurant to failure.”

Todd claims her own Master Developer Murphy doomed her restaurant to failure by his alleged “ineptitude” and non-compliance with the system he was representing:

She blamed Murphy’s “ineptitude” as a master developer, deeming his flagship restaurant a failure that then doomed her own restaurant to failure. Why’s that? Well, Todd said Murphy’s branch had food that “was not up to standard” because it didn’t rely on the chain’s recipes. The branch used supplies from the wrong brands, handing out Cinnabon cups, Subway paper products, and – gasp – Wal-Mart-brand tortilla chips. And customers had even filed health safety complaints regarding food poisoning alleged to have resulted from eating there.

Franchisee Todd contends that the franchisor provided inadequate sources for food and supplies, and poor support especially in advertising.  The Maryland Attorney General’s office accused Taco Del Mar of violating Maryland law with regard to the offer and sale of the franchises.  The state and the franchisor struck a deal in February 2009 that gave Todd the option of rescinding her franchise agreement.  She jumped at the chance and her branch closed that same month.

Taco Del Mar bankruptcy halts arbitration proceeding.

Suzanne Todd initiated an arbitration proceeding against Taco Del Mar for $500,000.  The proceeding was halted, along with all other “creditor actions,” when Taco Del Mar Franchising Corp. sought Chapter 11 protection in January, 2010.

According to the WSJ article, Taco Del Mar blamed its bankruptcy on “ several years of financial losses it experienced on poor expense management, lawsuit expenses and its selection of ‘poor franchisees and poor sites’ for its new restaurants.”

Despite its troubled past, Taco Del Mar and its Master Developers continue to promote the Taco Del Mar franchise opportunity on its franchise website.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  IS TACO DEL MAR A GREAT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY DESIGNED FOR FRANCHISEE PROFITABILITY?  OR IT A FRANCHISE “DISASTER”?

logo:  Taco Del Mar

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