JDog Franchise for Veterans: Open Letter to Tracy & Jerry Flanagan

Here are questions raised in “Does the JDog Franchise Program Exploit Veterans & Military Families?”

1)  Are JDog franchisees and former franchisees free to share their honest opinions and experiences publicly without fear of reprisals or legal action?

Both JDog Junk Removal FDD dated September 30, 2022 and the JDog Carpet Cleaning FDD dated June 15, 2022 state:

No franchisees have signed confidentiality clauses limiting their ability to discuss their
experience with us during the last three fiscal years.

Does that continue to be true?

2)  Are current & former JDog franchisees, who are U.S. veterans or military family members,  free to share their candid opinions, experiences and other things they think prospective JDog franchisees should know?  Why or why not?

3)  Have you identified the reason(s) that half of your veteran-owned franchisees exited the system prematurely in the past three years?

4) Is it safe to assume that the “owners” of the 157 franchises who were terminated (133) or transferred ownership (24) lost all or most of their initial investments, and incurred additional credit card and other debt?

5) What steps have you taken – if any – to reduce or eliminate this high failure rate?

6)  Does your franchise sales presentation address inform prospective franchisees of this high failure rate, and explain the causes?

7)  Your PR materials alternatively state that JDog has “300 units,” “nearly 300 units,” “300 locations,” “300 franchises,” “nearly 300 territories” and even 1000 locations (“JDog expands to over 1,000 locations with Workiz.”)  According to your FDD, JDog had 178 operating franchises at the beginning of this fiscal year.  Is this an effort to exaggerate the size and growth of the JDog system?

8)  Veterans who struggled unsuccessfully to save and maintain a family business often suffer not only financial devastation, but also from the emotional and physical toll of stress, anxiety and depression.  Does JDog or its foundation acknowledge and address the crises faced by those who lost everything after investing in a JDog franchise?

9)  You claim that JDog is a “Proven” system.  With a 100% franchise turnover rate, JDog Junk Removal franchise has proven that your current business model doesn’t work.   How can you continue to publicly promote your concern for veterans and military families while knowing that many of, if not most of, your JDog franchisees will fail?  How will you salvage your reputation now that the ugly truth is public and you keep selling?

10)  Will you please stop selling JDog franchises until and unless your current franchisee’s businesses receive the assistance and support they need to establish viable and profitable operations that survive through their entire contract terms?

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.