LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints

5,730 thoughts on “LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints”

• I’m sorry to hear you did not get the support you needed. You are right this is where our perceptions differ about Liberty.

  Curiously how did your 2nd year turn out?

• Frustrated and Disgusted,

  If you want to talk outside of this forum I would be happy to talk to you. We disagree on here but I think by us speaking one on one and finding the common ground that we do agree on I may be able to share some things that will change your business. I have always been willing to put my money where my mouth is and I would be happy to speak to you confidentialy and would be happy to help increase your business no strings attached.

  I have never said Liberty was perfect but no company is and I am willing to bet my first year was as challenging if not more challenging than anyone out there. There is no Franchise out there thats perfect or that does not make mistakes. The difference is I refused to quit and I refused to be average even though my first year was a disaster. It is up to you but I am willing to talk one on one and my only intention is to see if I can help, our conversation will never go any farther than you and I. I can tell just from the posts you have natural talent and your name Frustrated and Disgusted describes more of how your feeling than your talent level.

• NJ Zee

  My experience was after I bought my original territory in November., none of the sites I had chosen were considered acceptable locations by the AD/Corp office. Because the tax season would be starting soon and because we couldn’t agreee on my site locations I was (foolishly on my part) persuaded to swap my territory for one with the right type of location i.e. urban/poor AGI 28,000. Didn’t get approval for the Certificate of occupancy until Feb. 3 so my first tax season was a bust. Never got over 100 returns. The following season I moved to a different store location and after 3 seasons finally had to call it quits. In talking with other franchisees my situation is not unique. My only motive for posting on this website is to offer insight to potential franchisees and maybe help them avoid the type of mistake that I made.

  The tax prepartion business is more complex then Liberty makes it out to be. The system that they developed works best in urban/poor areas where you can get low rents and maintain a high net fee through bank products. However, this area of the tax business is starting to change as fewer banks are offering this product, The IRS is doing a way with the debt indicater and is working on a new program to speed up the refund process. Also due to the economic downturn there are less people filing and the biggest group hit by unemployement are the poor. No wages no EIC.

  Liberty Tax does not do any national advertising… You can talk all you want about guerilla marketing but it does not build brand recognition as quickly as a national marketing campaign. Just look at “AFLAC” for an example of how well national advertising works. The reason Liberty doesn’t have a national TV campaign is because it’s too expenses and JH doesn’t want to spend the money. Is it any wonder why the online tax service e-smart failed. Who would know it’s available if the company doesn’t advertise it.

  I could go on but I’ll wait for the usual comments from you about how I didn’t follow the system.

• If this is the way the Liberty zees talk TO each other… have fun with yourselves. I’m outta here.

• Bill:

  Over the last couple of weeks, I have made several phone calls and done some significant research. Situations like yours are not unique by a long shot. I have also found out through the same research that a significant number of stores and owners are in deep financial trouble. Much of what you discuss is the issue. Strip mall store fronts in many areas are very expensive, add to that the significant cost of marketing, and you have an unworkable business plan. For Liberty to survive, they need to bring down the costs to a sustainable level. Some of that needs to be national advertising, some needs to be additional support for services that will bring in revenue off season, and to your point, realize this is a much more complex business because the revenues from EIC and RAL’s are quickly going away. It is unfortunate that they have their heads in the sand thinking that this will all go away and be good again when the economy improves. I have serious doubts.

• Frustrated and Disgusted

  I don’t know how long you have been a franchisee but I know from my own experience that I wanted it to work and didn’t want to admit I made a mistake.
  I was warned in my 2nd year from another franchisee that I should get out and not waste any more money. Another Zee said if your not at 400 returns by the end of your 2nd year you need to get out. I choose to ignore those warnings along with my own early results, the result, after 4 years I nearly went broke.

  Liberty the corporation is in the business of selling franchises 1st and tax preparation 2nd. I don’t beleive in the long run this is the best strategy but maybe their long run goal and the franchisee’s goals aren’t the same.

• Current franchisee who would like to be happy. Besides the bad advice, ridiculous requirements, and over bearing expense I would like to make this a success. Will John do something to make this work for us? If you google “liberty tax franchise” this page pops up on the first page. One would assume that this is hurting the abilitity to sell new franchises.

• Justwatchin

  If you google Liberty tax service the first site listed is Liberty Tax Franchise and the next one listed is Income Tax Prep – Liberty Tax Service. This shows you the company’s priorities. If Liberty sells a franchise at $40,000.00 and can sell 200 a year that’s $8,000,000. To receive this much money in royalties (14%) these 200 stores would need to have total net fees of $57,142,857. Everything is in the company’s favor. The franchisee pays the fees, absorbs all the cost and if the franchisee fails their still contractually obligated to pay at least the minimum franchise fees for the years they where in business. $5000 1st yr, $8000 2nd yr and $11000 for every year after.

• No wonder you guys are struggling and failing. I will challenge either of you to call me and learn. There is no reason for this kind of hand ringing. Liberty is in the business of selling territories and in the business of collecting royalties thats their business. Now with that they have created a brand and a track for Zs to run on along with tax and tech support amongst many other important items such as banking relationships. Liberty is not showing any disloyalty or showing lack of interest in their current Zs by selling territories. National Advertising will do nothing to bring costs down and you are allowed to do a number of things to create off season revenue if that is a priority. Or do you want them to hand it to you on a silver platter with guranteed income and guranteed profit margins because thats not owning a business thats being an employee. Of course Liberty wants final approval on Zs putting other businesses or services in operating in the same office that bears there name, any franchisor would, but they are completely reasonable and I have never seen them turn down anything within reason.

  Zs job is to build their business and attain profitablity. Liberty system is a great system and one that profit margins can be attained in that very few other franchises can come close too. I know you want to talk about the first and second year and how its impossible to build without all this outside help. I will make the offer again, call me. You can continue to ring your hands and see black helicopters over your house or over the hilltops or you can get the support you say you want and the success you say you desperatley desire!! No one will come in and do this for you. You can make this hard or you can make it easy, it is realy a choice you make, especially today when we have so many talented Zs willing to take the time to share and help.

  I sold one of my offices to my Manager last season. He put no money down was financed 100 percent over 4 years plus had additional financing for start up costs. Oh yea he paid 1.20 times net fees!!! First year he still attained profitablity putting 40k in his pocket with all the money needed to get into the next season in the bank! He started the year with a bad credit score and ended with a good credit score! he was well under 30 years of age also. He paid every singe red penny of royalties and Advertising Fee all of his note payments and banked enough to get to next season and put 40k in his pocket!

  Guys take the help that has been offered by several on here including myself or post your profit and loss and prove the imposiblity of making money which is impossible because it cannot be proven. What usualy happens is the P$L shows where the problems are and gives a ton of clues to what needs fixed. I know the numbers and percentages as well as anyone out there and this opportunity is not only rock solid its extremely exiting. I am more than willing to speak to you confidentialy or refer you to somone closer to you that can help with the road map to become succesfull that will do the same. Opportunity is too good to self defeat yourself. All I can do is make the offer. You can try to destroy your investment or try to make it work for you.

  Even though your doing everything possible to damage yourself further by the constant attacks against the company you invested in and doing the same to mine and many others also. I am still willing to help no strings attached and not a word will ever be said about it unless you say something. I am willing to spend my valuable time to back up what I say and what I know to be the facts. The choice is 100 percent yours and you have nothing to loose. Only thing I require is if I help, you have to concentrate on becoming profitable instead of this destructive behavior.

• Rob:

  Don’t you think it’s deceptive for you and NJ Zee not to disclose that your both area developers and that you get a percentage of the franchise fee when someone buys a franchise in your territory.

  I’m glad that you have been successful but as you know that’s not the case with many of the franchisees. What you are referring to as attacks I view as providing interested parties with valuable insight. People should be aware that Liberty Tax the corporation does not have regional or a national television campaign. That their marketing stratagy is based on the book “Guerrilla Marketing Handbook” That their system works best in high density, low income neighborhoods where rents are low and fees can be high due to a transit tax client base who relies on bank products to get their refunds. That the franchise agreement is for 5 years and there is a minimum franchise fee of $5,000 the 1st year 8,000 the 2nd yr and 11,000 for each yr after. That you pay a 5% royalty fees that then gets allocated back to your territory based on the wants of corp and the AD. That your site selection needs to be approved by the AD and corp. That rents vary depending on the area of the country. In Ky it may be 11.00per sq ft while in NJ it might be $23. All of this is relevant information in helping someone understand the true cost of doing business before they put out the $40,000.00 franchise fee.

  As for your reviewing someone’s P&L what areas would you suggest I look at?

• Why would it be deceptive to not focus on being an Area Developer? None of this conversation has anything to do with anyone owning a DMA? I honestly do not think you have any clue on the real business behind Libertys DMA process. Fact is that if I have a group of franchisees who are not profitable and have debt issues then I am going to not have very good if any real income at all depending if any of the DMA is financed. I paid allot of money to purchase the DMA and it is not near as easy as most think. But none of that matters one has nothing to do with the other and if you think Area Developers are out to somehow steal from Zs than your sadly mistaken and do need to look into the “Black Helicopters” chasing you.

  I have no clue what your P&L looks like nor has any complaining Z who swears no money can be made doing this, have posted their P$L In the past what I have seen in others in these spots is overspending on Labor plus an even worse level of productivity from the staff that was working. I have also seen off the wall spending on different marketing items where nothing really fit together just a bunch of individual actions thrown together (No Focus). Also I have seen a total lack of sales skills evident by avg net fee both early and late. I did over 30 percent of my entitys total returns in the month of March and those were paid returns not free and deep discounted!!!! On top of those few items the overriding problem was a total ineffective job of executing anything at a high level.

  All of your points about National Advertising, minimum royalties, site selection, advertising fee are all pointed out very clearly when a new Z purchases a territory. Tell me the Z who was told they should join Liberty because of their National TV Campaign? Anyone who just slightly studies Liberty knows their take on national TV advertising!!! None of which are issues anyway. And your lease is a fixed expense and yes it can have a slight impact on your profitability and cash flow your first several years but in no way will it ever be a huge issues in 99.9 percent of the cases or be such that it will keep you from positive cash flow or profit margin. Within 3 to 4 years it should be a non issue. I guarantee lease rates where I am are not that much different than where you are and once again even if yours are 25 percent higher your lease payment may slightly effect your margins in the long run but typically in areas that are high rent the fees are higher also which usually puts it back in the favor of the local Z.

  Lastly I want you to forget everything you think you understand so well about Liberty and go back and read the operations manual word for word being as objective and taking it for what the words on the page says not what your concept of what Libertys system is. Do that then call me and turn things around. Not sure how much more I can offer and how much more plain than I can be, I have done everything I can to maintain my patience. I have offered with no expectations in return to help you turn your business around. I have many success stories and references from Zs I have helped that will flat out tell you what I am saying is the truth!! Up to you. If not i wish you luck. Your best bet is to email me or text me. If you call and I do answer leave a message and or text me.

• Rob

  The fact that you are not up front about being an area developer is indicative of the culture Liberty Tax Service encourages. They where fined in California for false and misleading ads about refunds in 24 hours and then there is the misleading ads on career builders, The ad looks like a job with pay ranges from 56k-69k but it’s actually an advertisement to purchase a franchise. The ad is in direct violation of the FTC see: http://everyjoe.com/work/liberty-tax-deceptive-franchise-ads/. Just like a real estate agent is required to disclose that they are an investor in a piece of real estate you should be required to disclose that you have a financial interest in the sale of franchises in your territory.

  When I asked you about the P&L I knew the only items you could come back with is labor and marketing. But the fact is a new franchisee has no clue what his labor cost is so he relies on the information provided by corp. That information ” the Liberty system” says you must open by the second week in January and maintain hours from 9 to 9 Mon. – friday and 9 to 5 on saturday. You are to keep these hour all through tax season closing on April 15,. All new stores receive a staff budget from corp. based on 600 returns. The marketing is also a result of following the system. The system says you are to spend x amount in my case I budgeted $6000.00. Because your a good franchisee you follow the system but because must 1st year stores only do somewhere between 125 to 200 returns payroll is much higher as a percentage of revenue then what was budgeted. The result is your AD says its “BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T FOLLOW THE SYSTEM”.

  As for national advertising I am stressing to potential franchisees to ask them selves what are you buying when you purchase a franchise. The most important element is brand recognition. Of the three national tax prep services only Liberty Tax Service doesn’t have a “National Advertising Campaign”. In the beginning you might have been able to justify not having a national marketing campain but now with 2500 stores and a franchise fee of $40,000.00 this argument just doesn’t hold any water.

  Rob regarding rent, thanks to the internet I can check commercial rates for different areas and the rates I gave are accurate.

  Unlike you Rob, my goal on this site is not financial. All I’m trying to do is simple present the facts about Liberty Tax Service. But regardless of what is said on these sites people will continue to buy “Liberty Tax Franchises” because, like I did, they want to believe they can make a year round living working only 4 months. Greed is part of human nature.

• Bill:

  You make some legit points. As for your “not following the system” point, watch this little video if you want a laugh. It’s just what you’re talking about http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/certapro-painters-certapro-sucks-the-movie-the-gripe-site/ Change Certa to Liberty and painting to tax prep and Liberty could have a new franchise sales video.

  As for national advertising, who do you think pays for the national advertising of franchise chains? Franchisees! Just saying, watch what you wish for. If you get it, be ready for another hefty expense on that P&L.

• Rob: I don’t think that being an area developer discredits your opinions or advice, but Bill is right that you should disclose it. You make money from the sale of Liberty franchises, right? Prospective franchisees read this thread, and what they read impacts your ability to sell them, right?

  So it is in your best financial interest to defend Liberty system and to argue that those who are struggling or failing are simply not following the system. In weighing motives behind viewpoints knowing that you sell franchises is relevant. It seems weird to me that you referred to being an AD as purchasing and owning a DMA. Seems like an awkward way to avoid saying you are a commissioned franchise sales person.

  Again, I don’t think that fact makes some of your points less valid. but less than full disclosure is just fuel for the black helicopters :) (that line was pretty funny).

• In my first year I did 359 returns, in my second year I did 775 returns. I am expecting to do over 1000 returns in my third year and through the help of many succesfull Zees including Rob, I plan on significantly raising my ANF this year. With all of that I plan on operating at a 30% margin this year on my store, which includes paying a GM to run my store. In addition I am buying an existing store this year to expand. All the naysayers on here keep saying you cannot make money doing this. I broke even in Year 1 and ran about a 23% margin in Year 2. I made a ton of mistakes in my first two years, yet I took responsibility for it, and reached out to the many helpful Zees out there to improve my operations. In my first year I did not blame Liberty at all and realized that I had made a ton of mistakes and needed to learn from it. And that had much greater success in Year 2, but still realized that I need to improve going into my third year. I don’t view this business as rocket science and as Rob says if you follow the Operations Manual and take ownership of your business the opportunity to be very succesfull is out there and very achievable.

• Mike:

  In 2008 and 2009 an average 1st year Jackson Hewitt Store did 234 and 205. Their 2nd year stores did an average of 273 returns in 2008 and 235 returns in 2009. Which is roughly an increase of 15% from the prior year. It’s a complement to you to do 359 returns your first year and it’s almost unbelievable that you increase to 775 returns your second year with only 95 free returns. That’s an increase of over 115% at a time when the economy was down and most individual stores saw tax return volumn decline.

  As an accountant it’s being my experience that most client’s are loyal and the higher the income of the client the more stable they are and the more likely they will continue to use your services. So for someone in an AGI demographic such as yours to increase business so dramatically is impressive. I know your store
  location is in Mass. What do you credit as your reason for such a marked increase? Please don’t say following the system. What was your average net fee? What was your retention rate? What size population do you draw from?

• I am also an accountant, a CPA by background. The demographic in my store is actually higher than most Liberty stores, I believe the average household income is around $55K, which I think is quite a bit higher than most stores. I believe my success was a result of certain early season marketing techniques as well as an effort to develop my late season and provide excellent customer service. I was able to increase my business due to developing relationships with my clients and they they referred their family and friends to my office. I strive on hiring prepares that provide excellent customer service, are intelligent, and have a drive to succeed. This year, per the advice of several other Zees, I am hiring employees for which their compensation will be tied to their volume and production and if they succeed they will make good money during the tax season. And I will be okay with paying them if they suceed because in turn that increases my revenues. Developing relationships with both clients and businesss will create success. We are members of our local Chamber of Commerce and actively involved in our territory. Going into our third year we are pretty well known. And we don’t have a good visible location at all. It is probably a “C-” location yet through relationship developing we were able to suceed.

• To all those people who have been or are considering purchasing a franchise, see what lengths the JTH kool-aid club will go in the posts above. It is very clear to me how corrupt this entire organization is from the top on down. They will hide the truth so that you will never know what you are getting yourself into, until it is too late. I am talking to more and more franchsiees every day and getting horror stories about their financial situation. Most are up to their ass in debt, and would get out if they could, but with the personal guarantee that Liberty requires (and again hides), most would have to declare bankruptcy. So again, do so at your own risk. You have been warned.

• NJ – I don’t receive any sort of compensation whether someone decides to join Liberty or not. There is no financial motive in me describing my success. You speak of all the negatives, but obviously there must be people suceeding as well, right?

• Yes Mike. There are people who have success with Amway too. Interested?

• Mike – I never made any such comments. I am too busy running tax school to argue with people on this message board.

  As I’ve said in the past, if you buy into a business without running different scenarios in Excel to determine your risk then how can you complain and blame the franchisor.

  I agree with Rob, running a business at a high level is not easy. Making important decisions and not procrastinating is not easy. Do your homework and if you are an entrepreneurial person this is a great opportunity. If you are not comfortable running your own business then you run a high risk of failure and losing money.

  I make decisions that maximize profitability, that’s why when a good Zee takes over an underperforming store the metrics explode. We can see where the franchisee is missing opportunities and wasting money on expenses.

  And finally I think discrediting Rob because he is an area developer is doing yourself a huge disservice. Rob made an investment to develop new great franchisees, he needs them to be successful to reap any rewards on his investment. He is not on this board advocating buying territories from him, just to look at the facts and decide if this business is for you.

  I havent’s posted in a while because it was pointless to argue with failing franchisees that are hemmoraging money.

• Sorry NJ – that was directed to Frusturated, not you. My fault. I agree – this site is no longer adding any value to me – talk to you all later.

• The reason this site does not add any value to you is because its called unhappy franchisee. Nothing can be solved when franchisees are left with a bad rates in their mouth. Certainly not by ADs masquerading as a see when in fact many ADs open new offices giving out free returns to boost the numbers and sell them off to unwitting new business hopefuls. Why bother costing. Need to bolster your own lack of confidence in your own operation by dictating to good business minds who made unfortunate bad decisions by buying into a franchises selling operation.

• Rob:

  It is clear to me that you have been successful in your business. I have nothing against you being successful. But here is the issue that you and Liberty seem to ignore. The major metro area where my stores are is not doing well. The store ages are between 2-5 yrs, and the average for all stores is under 300 per store. Many stores are below 200, a couple under 100. Are you going to blame all of the separate franchisees for not knowing how to run a business ? Libertys’ answer is business as usual, spend more money on marketing and make sure you make your royalty payment.s. And by the way, the turnover has been significant.

• I am curious to know if you have a plan in place to improve for the upcoming tax season? If not, why not just call Rob and talk candidly about the problems and challenges you face and get a new perspective of things that may help boost your numbers.

• It is clear to all why some are unhappy. They do not want help they just want to cause trouble and complain. I was accused of being less than honest which is funny yet I have offered time an again to help. This would not benefit me financialy or in any other way. No matter what is said he finds things to be distrustful of and make accusations of never once trying to improve. To answer NJ question he plans on doing the same thing and then complaining!!! Because thats what he does!

  Another issue I never blamed you or anyone for not knowing how to run a business. I blame you for not taking help and turning on people who would help you then blaming them and everyone else for your issues. It is clear that you enjoy this and you somehow convinced yourself that failing is ok as long as you have someone to blame.

  So I guess the hand ringing continues and we will leave you to your own destruction since that is what your determined to accomplish. There is only one Kool-Aid club going on and its not the 3 or 4 of us offering to help, its the ones who see the Boogey Man arround every corner. I do wish you well and if at anytime you decide lashing out this way is not the answer and you want to succeed I am available.

• Rob,

  You say “It is clear to all why some are unhappy. They do not want help they just want to cause trouble and complain.”
  That sounds like Totalitarianism to me . Perhaps a little communist and fascist too!
  Keep your mouth shut huh?

  You say “I blame you for not taking help and turning on people who would help you then blaming them and everyone else for your issues….” When AD’s send you thirty candy tins with no candy, hispanic marketing when you have no hispanics in your area and allocate the majority of the DMA marketing expense in the territories with the highest return count… well yes, I complained, to the corporate office. Who passed my complaint to my AD’s, who berated me and several other nearby zees. Well that helped. And these were the people who I turned to for help.

  My business did not fail because I lacked support. I sold them all.

  I am on this board to warn potential franchisees on the pitfalls, not of buying a franchise (because the premise is good) but of purchasing a “Liberty Tax” franchise.

  And what is the deal with your preoccupation with “Kool-Aid”. If anyone is Rev. Jim Jones…It’s John Hewitt and his cronies.

  Focusing on the low end income earners in the worst demographic who for the most part cannot work the basic math on why they should wait 8-15 days to save $100+
  I got involved in a leech business, the opposite of a Robin Hood. I stole from the poor to give to the semi poor (me).
  I wanted to buy a business where I could prepare taxes, help people and make a reasonable living. Instead I “nearly” went bankrupt by following the “plan” almost to the cent. Gave out thousands of free returns, limited discounting, always had multiple wavers, had two dynamic EA’s and one CPA working for me and delivered donuts by the thousands.

  Had it not been for my spouse working we would have lost it all.

  Don’t lecture any of us on why we failed. Lecture your franchisor on why they are failing you.

  And what the hell is this unhappyfranchisee.com website for, to explain our failures or share our grievances?

  If you are so happy and busy with tax school, why do you bother visiting this site? Because you may not be as content as you wish you were.

• I guess when facts are not on your side name calling is the only option. Fact is I do over 30 percent of my returns in March and those are paid returns and I run professional tax offices. I did not come on here trying to tear anyone down instead I have been more than willing to help and I along with others have offered to help. And no one is failing me. Sorry but Candy Tins without candy has never been one of those things that I would let hurt my performance. I do understand what your trying to say but I don’t think you realize how it sounds.

  I know you would rather be able to say whatever you want unchallenged and you think that the creator of this site made this for people to make any type of accusations without any challenges but if you read what the goal of the person who created this was to attempt to find out the facts.

  Honestly my post was not directed at you nor was I thinking of you at all. I was speaking to the current franchisees who are on this board but since it is an open board you can jump on and scream and yell and revert to name calling if you want.

  It is funny that I offer help and get nailed with all sorts of accusations and insults. My offer to help was sincere and still stands. I am not a corporate employee and my willingness to help has been the way I have operated for years. I would much rather see a franchisee turn things around and eventualy sell and make a profit than to go down the path of letting their frustration block them from any kind of success. But those are individual decisions that people must make for themselves.

  Ive done all I can and will leave the board to other people. No reason to continue since it has gotten to name calling and smears. Good luck to all. Signing Off

• Rob::

  Fact: Liberty Tax franchise cost $40,000
  Fact: Liberty has no national television advertising

• Rob:

  Fact: Liberty least known tax preparation service of the top three
  Fact: Taxes are much more complicated then most franchisees without a
  tax backgroung realize.
  Fact Business model is best suited to high density low income neighborhoods.
  Fact Tax preparation industry down over 6% do to economy in 2009
  Fact On-line tax preparation is continuing to take market share from brick and morter stores.
  Fact Rob and NJ Zee are Area Developers and have an incentive to promote Liberty more then just a regular franchisee.

  My whole point of being on here is to point out the facts.

• Bill – Are you still a Zee or did you sell your store(s)?

• Rob:

  You clearly have a much better business skill set than my AD. How do I get someone who understands Liberty Tax and the issues the region faces.

• Bill, I have no incentive to come on here financialy. I have helped many many Zs that have called and asked for help nationwide and when I do that their is no financial gain or motive. I do it to continue a culture I believe in. We understand you think everything at Liberty is bad and you are not interested in any help. The tax business is changing rapidly. The opportunity is huge right now for those able to see it. I wish you well and my offer will always stand.

• Frustated,

  I will not get into other ADs. You do have someone who understands Liberty and for the regional issues their is not much difference when it comes to executing in regions. Yes their is some but overall the region is not that much different. I can explain that later. All you have to do is email or call and I would be happy to speak with you confidentialy. I know with the level of distrust you have that may be difficult but all I can do is offer and give my word its confidential. I have a track record and I think that should give you an idication on my word.

• Mike:

  The territory was turned back over to the company. As many former franchisees have experienced there was no re-sale value. As you know there is a transfer fee of $5,000 and any potential buyers have to be approved by the company.

  Rob:

  Your and area developer with stores to sell in your territory. The fact that you and the NJ Zee don’t disclose that fact makes your comments suspect..

• Potential Franchisee:

  Please read all the post on this site. There is a lot of good information/experiences posted here.

  Keep in mind everything that is being said on this site has to do with people who made a financial commitment to LIberty Tax Service. The ones who are still involved whether their successful or not ‘want to succeed.”. The frustration for those who/or have followed the system and struggled is that their AD and JTH continue to insist that they really didn’t follow the system. It’s a “catch 22”.

  Unfortunately, the ones who are speaking out so strongly against the struggling franchisee’s are individuals who paid Liberty Tax Service a fee to have rights to sell individual stores in a defined area. Rob and NJ Zee are two such individuals but for some reason they don’t want to acknoweldge or in Rob’s case don’t want to believe it’s necessary for potential franchisees to know that they have an additional motive for talking “positively about Liberty Tax Service.

  As I have stated in my earlier post, my whole reason for posting here is to present a fair and honest view of being a franchisee with Liberty Tax Service. I encourage potential franchisee’s to write in and ask questions. This will give everyone an oppurtunity to respond.

• Well said Bill.

  Proceed with all caution.

• I would like to join any lclass action lawsuit being taken against LTS, for ripping off those signed uo and didnt even open, and still cant leave until they sign off and give up their entire money, its a very different scenario considering those that did open

• Sunil sapra,

  I am confused, why did you not open up as the agreement you signed said you should? Why you you expect to be able to leave an get your money back without them signing off? Just not sure i understand, please explain.

• FYI. Comments invited. New Liberty Tax post:

  LIBERTY TAX Offers Franchise Test-Drive Opportunity

  “What do you think?  Is the Liberty Tax “Franchise Boot Camp” an innovative, risk-free way to enable franchise prospects to make more informed decisions regarding the Liberty Tax franchise opportunity?

  “Or is Liberty Tax “Franchise Boot Camp” simply another slick franchise sales ploy meant to turn employment seekers into Liberty Tax franchisees?”

• A friend and fellow franchisee was encouraged to purchase three territories. He opened the first but with the heavy financial burden and a store which only prepared 600 returns (100+ free) he struggled to open the second and was in a worse state after the second year with two offices (the second prepared 400). He was unable to open the third and was forced to pay minimum royalties regardless. Needless to say he was unable to open the third territory the third year, his first store in fact dropped from 700 (second year) returns to 550+ in the third. He sold her territories to a local CPA who planned to pay $50,000 by the end of the first tax season. Which he didn’t. In fact I understand he did not even pay his royalties and the territories were taken back by Liberty and my friend lost everything.

• MoneyPit,

  He did 600 returns his first year with his first office? That sounds really good!

  I am not sure I understand how anything that happened to your friend was anyone else fault but his own. Why buy 3 territories right off the bat, especially when you are not well funded. The fact that he sold his business to someone that didnt pay him and he lost everything shows that your friend is not a good business man, and would have failed at any business he would have gotten into. Sorry but that is what i get from your post.

• Barilla,

  You just said:
  “He did 600 returns his first year with his first office? That sounds really good!”

  And you followed that up with:
  “The fact that he sold his business to someone that didnt pay him and he lost everything shows that your friend is not a good business man, and would have failed at any business he would have gotten into”

  His AD encouraged him to do this and said if he wasn’t paid he’d just get his territory back. He had no remaining equity in his house due to falling price of housing and this was his only offer made late in the year. The result was that he wanted the territories back but corporate said they were no longer his because he signed them away.

  No emails concerning the AD/zee were made. All by phone hence he had no recourse.

  Yes, he made this error. But as you cannot understand, the point is that he was not singularly responsible.

  The drop in numbers of office one was based road works.
  Never recovered and was approached by a CPA. The rest is history.

  And you’re a dick… :)

• Money Pit,

  I am a dick to you because the truth hurts. Your friend sucked at owning his own business. I am sure that friend is you and that you are mad you lost all your money and want to blame anyone else but your self!

• i sold my territories for a profit.
  Anyone who know me knows this is true.
  And anyone who knows me also knows who this other franchisee is and how they got screwed.
  You on the other hand, we don’t know. No franchisee by that name appears anywhere.. Google… zeenet etc… An AD maybe?

• More importantly, it looks Jackson Hewitt will only have RALs in half of the stores this year. Do you think this finally puts them in bankruptcy?

• Bought JTX @ $0.7645. Hit $1.21 yesterday after 4 weeks.
  ” it looks Jackson Hewitt will only have RALs in half of the stores this year”
  Where the heck do you get your information?
  JTX will announce by late October they have 95% RALS.
  Stock will rise to $3-4

• The comment about Jackson Hewitt going bankrupt describes Liberty’s culture. I noticed it when I did my trip to VB but it didnt register.. No one heard Ford gloating that GM was going out of business.. And the attitude against HR Block is worse. I understand having a fierce competitor but who cares about what the other guys are doing when most of your aren’t profitable? This type of culture is exactly what is the root of 90% of the problems I have with the brand. The focus should be on the success of its zees.. not how many HR block stores are closing.

• I get my info from Yahoo Finance News. Where do you get yours? You are sure confirming that you are an idiot!

• Yahoo Finance has no news on JTX.
  News of partial RAL funding was expected to see the stock drop to less than 50cents.
  Since the phone hook up four weeks ago the stock has risen 50%.
  So unless you know something the rest of the planet doesn’t.
  Clearly you didn’t check Yahoo Finance before you decided to try and sound all intelligent.
  The article “Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement, Termination of a Mater” which is dated Oct 6th is clearly too complex for you to understand.

  Now go and tell your boyfriend todefend your honor! lol

  You’re a joke.

  p.s By way of forum courtesy, would you please commence your rebuttal with “No…you’re the joke..” Thanks