PET CORNER INTERNATIONAL: Scam or No Scam?

Pet Corner International claims it offers a low-investment, home-based distributorship that will enable you to capitalize on the $54 billion pet care industry.  Is Pet Corner International a scam?

(UnhappyFranchisee.com) The Pet Corner International distributor program claims it offers “an affordable, easy to operate business in a thriving industry.”

According to the Pet Corner International website:

Enjoy a proven business model with numerous competitive advantages:

• Recession-resistant industry
• Flexible, home-based business model
• Ground Floor Opportunity
• Offer the most in-demand, all natural pet products
• Company Established Accounts
• Growth Opportunities
• National Television Advertising
• Strong Company Support and Local One-On-One Training

The company claims:  “PCI can be your vehicle to a reliable and growing income and a business that, with our help, can develop for you into long term financial security.”

PET CORNER INTERNATIONAL Complaints

Numerous complaints about the Pet Corner International business opportunity have been popping up on complaint sites lately.

Don’t Buy into Pet Corner* wrote:

Posted: Friday, September 16, 2011

Reported By: Don’t Buy into Pet Corner — Sneads Ferry North Carolina United States of America

Pet Corner International

Pet Corner International This Company misrepresented itself to me and hasn’t done the things it said it would do. Deerfield Beach, Florida

I bought a distributorship from Pet Corner International in December 2010. They claimed to be audited and inspected by the National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation has denied that they have any relationship with Pet Corner International. That claim was one of the main reasons I bought into this Company. Also,the product hasn’t sold very much at all in 9 months. Pet Corner has abandoned me as a distributor, not contacting me anymore. They haven’t done a thing to help me in this business as promised. I just want the public to be aware of them so people won’t make the same mistake I did.

* UnhappyFranchisee.com received the following message 12/7/11 from the author of this complaint:  “There is an agreement in place to resolve all the issues between Pet Corner International and myself. These issues have been resolved to both Parties mutual satisfaction.”

October 14, 2011 EJ wrote:

I purchaed a distributorship in Sept 2010. Product doesn’t sell like they tell you.I’ve yet to see one advertisement on TV. The 2 distributors they gave me to contact (Norfolk Va. and Seattle Wa) told me the products sell immediately off the shelf. Vets and store owners tell me the product price is too high at $19.99. In one year 11 retail accounts I’ve sold less than 25 bottles. In this time frame not one representative from Pet Corner has called to ask how I was doing or if they can help. I’m fairly well off so I can handle the loss. I understood the risk going in. What I don’t get is if we as distributors can’t sell the product Pet Corner International will never survive. They should have a vested interest in making sure we succeed but that just doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m going to think about trying different approaches to sell the product. To those of you thinking about buying –BUYER BEWARE

October 25, 2011, Hamond B3 wrote:

…The product only has a 30% profit for the retailer. Even on consignment they turn it down because everything they sell outside of pet food they work on 50 to 60 % margin. They dont tell you that in the sales pitch.

The displays they have for the product are lame at best. The bottles do not stand up straight. One has to kneel down to read what the bottle says. They will tell you the average distributer sell 60 bottles a month or one a day. Not even close at 19.95 I was lucky to sell one a week. The product is overpriced for the market. My displays were located in high end car washes with plenty of traffic. My peeve with them they are very evasive to give you any information on there dealer network if they even have one. They are more interested in the short term of selling start up inventory at 15,000 a pop. I thought I did all my home work after months of research but obviously that was not enough. There is no company dealership or distributorship that will not allow you to use social media to advertise. I believe they do not want there failure rate to be known through this media. Be very aware of them. These guys are preditors on the phone.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE PET CORNER INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTORSHIP? IS IT A GREAT OPPORTUNITY OR IS PET CORNER INTERNATIONAL A SCAM? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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FETCH! PET CARE Paul Mann Complaints

Fetch! Pet Care is a Berkeley, CA dogwalking and pet-sitting franchise founded by its current President Paul Mann.

There are disturbing allegations about the Fetch! pet care franchise opportunity scattered across the Internet, but no cohesive franchise story as of yet. 

Paul Mann is not beloved, by any means, by the independent pet sitters he competes with nor those who post as disgruntled franchise owners. It seems clear that the Fetch! Pet Care franchisor has played fast and loose in terms of franchise compliance in registration states.  The Attorney General of Maryland issued a Consent Order[pdf] alleging that Fetch! Pet Care sold unregistered franchises in its state, and the CA Department of Corporations issued a Notice of Violation [.pdf] for noncompliance with its franchise laws.

If you’re familiar with the Fetch! Pet Care franchise opportunity and its founder, Paul Mann, please share your impressions below.

Here are some of the warnings posted on the Internet regarding Fetch! Pet Care franchise:

Deborah posted this comment on 4/24/11 on Crain’s NY Business:

“I pity the people that may have purchased a Fetch franchise.  Paul Mann is under investigation by multiple states for NOT being legally registered to sell franchises in certain states, including New York!  And, more than one former franchisee is suing Paul Mann and Fetch for fraud.  The state of New Jersey is also looking into Paul Mann’s business activities, with regard to classification of contractors.  The state of NY requires that Fetch pet sitters be classified as employees but the franchisor continues to promote a failed and illegal business model… Check public the records: Fetch was fined for misclassifing contractors and recently, the franchisor had to refund monies to victims that were sold franchises in New York illegally.”

Sacmen4fun wrote on Yahoo! Answers August 20, 2010:

“…2 [New Jersey] franchises, Greater Wayne-East Hanover and Somerset Hills-Long Valley, are joined in a law suit against Fetch and Paul Mann. In addition, at this point, one—Greater Wayne is being audited by the state of NJ. Contrary to buzz, the case has not been moved to California. It is before the Appellate Court of NJ.

Paul Mann and Fetch were served with complaints on the following counts:

First Count: Breach of Contract

Second Count: Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing

Third Count: Fraud and Misrepresentation

Fourth Count: Violation of the Franchise Practices Act

Fifth Count: Violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act”

On ComplaintsBoard, 11/13/10 sjtlymt wrote under the heading “Franchise CEO Dishonest”:

“Fetch! Pet Care franchise ownership

”Be very cautious before you get engaged with the purchase of a Fetch! Pet Care franchise. They are experiencing a lot of problems due to compliance issues with each individual state labor law. In my experience the current Fetch! franchise owners tend to be extremely responsible, caring and animal-dedicated individuals. It’s the corporate office you need to be cautious of.

”The sales numbers they “projected” tended to be grossly inflated from the actual numbers of franchise owners we spoke with. Working with pets seems like such a wonderful way to make a living; however, please, help yourself by going through a thorough due diligence process. Learning your state labor laws, the cost of insurance (liability, damage, workers comp., unemployment, etc., etc., etc.) the increasing franchise fees each year you’re in business, the difficulty of finding/retaining quality Pet Sitters, the number of fixed monthly expenses, and understanding the massive responsibility/stress of caring for people’s homes and dearly beloved pets.

”As any small business owner will tell you, all of the “small” monthly expenditures/taxes that you don’t always figure, really eat into your margin and make it difficult to be profitable….”

On ComplaintsBoard, 108 days ago, fetch pet care scam wrote:

“All of the Fetch Pet Care franchises in the state of Oregon have closed due to the business model created by scam artist Paul Mann is not legal! It’s not legal in his own state of California! Paul Mann is a thief! Numerous franchises have had to deal with being audited by their state, and have found out the business model of using independent contractors as pet sitters isn’t legal since their being instructed directly by the local franchise they are in fact misclassified as independent contractors, and are in fact employee’s. Their is simply not enough margin in the pet sitting business to pay for employee’s. DON’T PURCHASE THIS FRANCHISE SCAM!”

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE FETCH! CARE FRANCHISE & FOUNDER PAUL MANN?  SHARE A COMMENT – POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE – BELOW.

KITTY LITTER DELIVERY: Hot New Franchise?

Here’s a new franchise opportunity being promoted on Franchise Gator and elsewhere: KittyLitterDelivery.Com.

With a franchise fee that ranges from $2000 – $45,000 (depending on population), the Kitty Litter Delivery franchise requires an initial investment of between $7,050 – $74,425.

According to the Kitty Litter Delivery franchise marketing kit at their website, “KittyLitterDelivery.com was started by two cat owners who understand the frustrations of(a) continually handling bulky bags of cat litter and (b) having to remember to actually buy it from the store when you have depleted your household supply.”

How do KLD franchise owners solve the massive kitty litter problem plaguing America?

If you guessed “by delivering it,” you would be correct:

KittyLitterDelivery.com delivers the most popular brands to a customer’s doorstep relieving them of the headaches associated with buying such a cumbersome product. By doing this, we’d like to think we are making people’s lives easier, and more important, enabling some people (i.e. seniors, the handicapped, etc.) to continue to enjoy the company and companionship that cats can bring into their lives, companionship that can enhance one’s emotional well-being.”

Couldn’t someone just get a van, buy kitty litter wholesale and deliver it without a franchise?

Kitty Litter Delivery answers that in their marketing Q&A:

Q) Why can’t someone compete against KLD?

A) They can- but it would be very difficult. Not only do we have all the systems in place
for the marketing, distribution and logistics of cat litter…through our research, we have
figured out how to efficiently run this business…and we also have over 40 similar
domain names locked up that greatly limit any competitor’s market potential.

Surely, the elderly are cruising only top domains for kitty litter delivery. But the real benefit of paying up to a $42,000 is the intensive 1.5 day franchisee training program:

Q) What kind of training will I receive?

A) Your training is complete and comprehensive. A new KittyLitterDelivery.com
franchisee receives 1 ½ days of classroom and field training* near our Headquarters in the Metro NY/ NJ region that includes lessons on product selection, storage & logistics,
customer service, and sales/ marketing. In addition to hands-on training, you will receive

What about marketing?

Q) How will I market my franchise?

A) A combination of grass-roots marketing/ networking, direct mail, on-line/ social
media, word-of-mouth, print, etc., should help to make your business successful! In the
near future, we have plans for product line expansion that will include working with you
to include offering your customers pet food and other pet supplies.

Grass roots marketing… social media… word-of-mouth… in other words, you’re on your own.

What do you think?  Is KittyLitterDelivery.Com the next great franchise opportunity?  Or will it be one of the next hot topics on UnhappyFranchisee.com in a year or so?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

LOGO:  KittyLitterDelivery.com

* emphasis ours

Petland Chain Sued by Unhappy Franchisees

Over at franchise website FranchisePick.com (PETLAND: Who’s the Sick Puppy Here?), the 200-unit Petland franchised pet chain is under attack both from failed franchisees who allege they were victims of a scam, and animal rights groups claiming Petland is the largest supporter of inhumane puppy mills.  As to the first charge:

According to the Petland franchise website, when you become a Petland franchisee, “The Petland corporate staff has one focus: your success. From the president to the receptionist, everyone’s job is rooted in the support of the strategic partners.”

However, former Petland Inc. franchisees are suing the Ohio-based franchisor for fraud, alleging that the business model doesn’t work, that the stores are doomed from the start, and they sell them anyway.

As to the pet welfare charge:

The Humane Society of the United States tells a different story, claiming that Petland Inc. is “the nation’s largest retail supporter of puppy mills.”  On their website, they provide a video showing puppy mill cruelty and asking supporters to write to Petland to ask them to stop selling puppies altogether.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.