CHEM-DRY Franchise Warning
CHEM-DRY franchise warnings submitted by a self-described 15-year Chem-Dry franchise owner include oversaturated franchise areas, price wars between franchisees, franchisee failures, an indifferent, greedy private-equity franchisor, and little-to-no franchise resale value.
Are you familiar with the Chem-Dry franchise? Please leave a comment – positive or negative – below, or on the Chem-Dry complaint post: CHEM-DRY Franchise Complaints.
According to the Chem-Dry franchise website, Chem-Dry gives would-be owners tremendous advantages over independently owned carpet cleaning businesses:
“Chem-Dry is the largest carpet cleaning business in North America, with more than 2,000 franchise units in the United States and Canada.
“Our franchisees clean 7-8% of all carpet in the United States, which is twice as much as our nearest competitor.
“Even though ChemDry is large, there is a lot of room to grow. Carpet cleaning is a highly fragmented industry, with about 75% of the industry made up of independent carpet cleaners that pop up thanks to relatively low startup costs, then disappear due to a lack of skills, business experience or marketing savvy.
“ChemDry provides franchisees more than the tools they need to succeed — we also provide training and ongoing support to help you win customers, understand and master your business finances, market yourself effectively and boost profits.”
Chem-Dry Franchise owner: “Just say NO!”
An UnhappyFranchisee.Com commenter warns that their Chem-Dry franchise experience was like “bad job from Hitler,” and that they have done much better as independent carpet cleaners than they did as franchisees.
Yianni wrote:
My brother and I spent a combined 30 years of our lives doing everything they told us to do, running up costs while they kept making more and more demands out of us. The whole time they just built their profitability into the constantly changing franchise agreements.
It was like renting a bad job from Hitler with no benefits.
They over saturated franchise areas, created price wars among franchisees, were responsible for franchisee failures, and even competed against franchisees by selling repossessed franchises on the cheap to keep their revenue stream from being interrupted, making it very difficult for a franchisee to resale their franchise for a decent price.
Return on investment = an F grade.
The owner sold us out on two occasions to privately held venture capitalists while keeping a good share for himself. They are basically unregulated so they just kept the ripoff going.
…The original founder and his dad are part of the Mormon church (the dad being a Bishop)… The founders showed little empathy for the franchisee and seemed to focus only on the money, why would this situation be any different. Profiting from others is what venture capitalists do.
We have been out of it for nearly 10 years now since I’ve gone independent. I cut my costs dramatically, have received Angie’s List Super Service Award 7 Times and from this large metropolitan area which at one time had 50 Chem Dry Franchises, and this year is the first year a Chem Dry has made the list.
Save your money, your health, your back, your dignity, your family’s future and just say no to Chem Dry!
They do not care about you!
I knew a gentleman who had his franchise for about 10 years, when he was diagnosed with a heart condition, he tried to sell it. He could not sell it so he just gave it back to them and walked away. He went on a heart transplant list and shortly thereafter died while waiting for a transplant. He was not able to leave anything to his family as a result of the 10 years he invested, the blood, the sweat, and the hope he had put into the position of being an owner of a chem dry franchise.
It is Bad, they are immoral, and most of you will Lose more than I can say.
Also read:
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TAGS: Chem-Dry, Chem-Dry franchise, Chem-Dry franchise complaints, Chem-Dry franchise failures, Chem-Dry franchise warning, Harris Research, Baird Capital, carpet cleaning franchise, low-cost franchise
Just heard the great news that the entire Japanese management of Kumon North America, Inc., was terminated by the parent company KIE Japan for financial irregularities. The fired team consisted of Akira Hamanaka (President), Atsushi (KUMA) Nose (EVP), Masaki Katsumata (COO) and Taka Yamauchi (VP – Corporate Communications). This is a great moment for all of us KNA franchisees who have seen our growth rates tumble and are struggling since the arrival of this management team from Kumon Asia in 2011. The team was unpopular among franchisees and staff. Poor communication of policies, shutting down Junior Kumon, new worst advertising agency Dentsu, cutbacks in subsidies and elimination of Cosmic Kumon were some of the wrong policies that hurt franchisees in the U.S. This news thus comes as a welcome surprise by all US, Canadian and Mexican franchisees.
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Kumon Franchise Complaints
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ADMIN
I feel they got what they deserved. Not sure what took Japan so long to find out what their counterparts at Kumon North America were upto. The general feeling among staff and instructors is that Atsushi Nose and Takatoshi Yamauchi were the main culprits in the multi-country scam that is unfolding. Akira Hamanaka was considered a senior in the corporate hierarchy and had worked with the founder himself. It is interesting to see what will happen next.
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Kumon Franchise Complaints
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ADMIN
I geared about the Kumon financial scandal involving Akira Hamanaka and Atsushi Nose. This sounds like Enron. I think the CFO should be held liable for the graft. Why was the CFO not fired?
Andrew Fastow, the CFO at Enron, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Houston, Texas on 78 counts including fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
I feel that where there is smoke there is fire and surely the CFO would be involved. Such enormous sums could not ‘ve pocketed with Simone knowing.
We franchisees deserve better. We demand a full report and removal of the CFO.
NOTE: The Kumon discussion has moved. Please post Kumon comments here:
Kumon Franchise Complaints
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ADMIN