LIBERTY TAX SERVICE Franchise Complaints

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

• Frustrated and disgusted writes “People like Honestly and Guest have received some type of favor or kickback from LT, hence they are defending a bad investment…”

  F&D makes 2 assertions here, both of them wrong. Sorry, but
  1) Not everyone with a different point of view is being paid to disrupt Whinefest 2011
  2) I’m neither defending nor promoting the Liberty Tax franchise or any other franchise. In fact, I agree that those who are complaining shouldn’t have bought this franchise and probably shouldn’t have gone into business at all.

  Speaking of looking yourself in the mirror, perhaps Frustrated & Disgusted, Mike, Bill, Antonio & First year zee in NC can share what mistakes THEY made that led them to signing and agreeing to adhere to Liberty Tax franchise agreement?

  How many Liberty Tax franchisees did you speak to? Should you have spoken to more?

  Should you have worked for a season at for a Liberty Tax franchise location before sinking your money and time into a franchise?

  If you were given bogus projections by LT and its minions, should you have independently verified their accuracy? Or do you still believe anyone who tells you you can “do as many returns as you want” like new zee?

  I’m sure LT salespeople easily dismiss even your valid points by branding you as whiners who don’t take responsibility for their own actions. Your points might be a little more credible if you acknowledge that you should have done things differently rather than simply claim to be an innocent victims of the “LT devil”

• GUESS & HONESTLY,

  You could not have responded any better to Frustrated blaming his problems to “LT Devil” and the bigot ” New Fanchise zeew” ………. They both must be Sarah Palin supporters and part of the Tea Party too….. Blame everything on illegal immigrants or anyone is is a shade darker than them…..

• Re: guest

  Your comment: If you were given bogus projections by LT and its minions, should you have independently verified their accuracy? Or do you still believe anyone who tells you you can “do as many returns as you want” like new zee?

  You prove my point better than I ever could. In other words, go out and give a franchise organization $40K and 19% of your gross, but don’t trust anything they say. I’ll bet there are a lot of people who would love to sign up for that opportunity.

• Frustrated, your last post was finaly dead on!!! Do not trust anything and verify everything. You are putting down and making accusations at people who do agree with many of the points you make?

  I have no illusions about what Liberty is and what Liberty isn’t. But in the end being a small buisness owner for many years I cannot put all the blame on them without taking at least an equal amount of responsiblity myself. It has been a very expensive lesson but one that will keep me from ever making the mistake again. Now if not blaming Liberty for all of my woes is something that makes you think I am a company plant or that I was in the grassy knoll at the Kennedys assasination I am not sure what to tell you.

• Honestly:

  If I understand your post right you wouldn’t invest in Liberty if you had the oppurtunity to do it over again but since you did, your willing to share the blame?

  My goal on here is to discourage people from buying a Liberty Tax Franchise. The reasons are clearly stated in many of the above post.

  From my personal experience I don’t believe Liberty is a well run company.

  Why have someone budget and staff for 600 returns if you know the average 1st year store does around 200 to 250 returns?

  E-smart software purchased it for over 2,000,000 and then had to write-it off as a bad investment!

  Unwillingness to have a national ad campaign. Ask AFLAC if advertising works?

  John Hewitt, while he did start Jackson Hewitt he was eventually given the gate. I believe he’s narcistic personality has a negative affect on the organization.

  There is very little effective training of franchisees and Area developers. The tax code is complex and without proper training you have inconsistent and inaccurate tax preparation.

  The landscape for the tax industry is changing. RALs are all but over. New regulations on paid preparers. The business model that Liberty currently uses is based on the early filer and the use of the bank products. It will be interesting to see what changes Liberty makes.

  The company is financially strong but a majority of their receivables are based on the underlying performance of their franchisees. While they do have allowance for doubtful accounts. I personally have not know of any franchisee who has been able to resell their franchisee for what they paid for it. So I guestion the valuation Liberty uses for it’s territories.

• Did everyone read the disclosure document that Liberty provides to you prior to signing on as a franchise. The numbers are all right there for averages 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, and 4th year offices……

• ALL i can say is disappointment and frustration for my first year. While i did verify everything, and know ultimate success depends on me, LT is very misleading. Their AD and chosen Zees, are there to brainwash you and suck you in deeper. I take full responsibility, but I can also honestly say LT suckers everyone out of there money, only empty promises and unrealistic goals are given to zees. All i kept hearing is follow the system and you will succedd, or everyone that fails did not follow the system..

• Looks like Liberty Tax franchise owners Tonia and Derek Barefield may have figured out a surefire way to turn a profit: Just keep your customers’ tax refunds.

  “GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A month after they were supposed to receive their tax refunds, one Grand Junction couple says their money has disappeared. They filed with Liberty Tax Services – a temporary business that’s storefront is now gone along with this couple’s money….

  “The company’s signs are still up, but nobody’s home. And now thousands of dollars worth of tax refunds seem to have gone missing. “We need our money,” Schultz said. “It’s irritating.”

  She and Stout went with Liberty Tax for the first time this year. They were promised their money back in April. But, it has been a month and a half and they still haven’t seen a penny.

  “They said 8-15 days and we got a prepaid debit card that they were supposed to put the money on,” Stout explained. “I haven’t seen any of it.”

  It seems that they’re not alone. Business owners in the four area shopping malls that Liberty Tax calls home tell us they have seen crowds of people banging on the tax service’s doors with the same questions about their money. “It’s terrible because there’s nothing, really, that we can do,” Schultz said.

  Over the past week, she and Stout started looking for answers. Quickly, they ran into dead ends. The doors are locked and the phones are disconnected at every location but one on North Avenue. “We’ve called [that store],” Stout said. “They’ve told us they were supposed to be open Thursday and Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.”

  But, during our 12:30 pm interview on Friday, the lights were on, but the business was closed. The next place to turn was the Liberty Tax corporate office. “It seems like every time we call, they blow us off,” Schultz said.

  “We called and they keep transferring us to some lady’s voice-mail and she never calls us back,” Stout added.

  That is when it was time to contact the IRS. “We called the IRS and they said on April 15th the money was transferred to Liberty Tax and I haven’t seen a single dime of it,” Stout said.

  One more company is involved in this transaction. The debit card company, NetSpend. So, we called them, but they haven’t seen the money either. “Sir, we haven’t received any yet,” the company’s agent told Stout.

  So, the question is, what happened with the money? Since they can’t get a hold of anyone at Liberty Tax and because their calls haven’t been returned, Stout and Schultz fear the company is behind it. “They just cashed and ran,” Schultz believes. “What else could it have been?”

  That scenario, though, is far from the company’s symbol or it’s guarantee.

  Apparently, the refunds aren’t the only money that’s missing. A notice on the North Avenue location shows that they owe rent, as well. Our calls to the listed owner of that Liberty Tax location went straight to voice-mail.

  As for Stout and Schultz, they are holding out hope that will eventually see their money. But, they say this headache is enough to make them never want to file with Liberty Tax again.

  We are also trying to get answers from the corporate office, but have not heard back. We’ll continue to follow this developing story as more details emerge

  http://www.kjct8.com/news/27891256/detail.html

• This one speaks volumes………………….

• The poor zees in CO were probably trying to “follow the system” went in over thier heads by passing out too many pizza’s. Liberty would probably say, you need to do xyz more Business to Business marketing, maybe have five wavers not just one or two, etc. etc. and what happened next? Their fees were “FEE INTERCEPTED” and Liberty took all fees collected from bank products, such as those from NETSPEND! I hope this gets resolved for the clients that may have lost thier money. I also hope the zees from CO will post on this and many other boards the truth what happened and share their stories to keep others from getting into this POS!

• The poor zees in CO? You mean the alleged thieves? The suspected con artists? The people who betrayed the trust of their customers and whose national press will now speed the demise of many other lts zees?

  Is there any scenario you won’t twist to make the franchisee the victim?

  Hilarious, really.

• Improve wrote: “Did everyone read the disclosure document that Liberty provides to you prior to signing on as a franchise. The numbers are all right there for averages 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, and 4th year offices……”

  Why has no one answered this? Aren’t these numbers more important than the post-sale projections everyone is whining about?

• I think we have already determined that you cannot believe a thing LT tells you, shows you, or prints.

• Dear Guest,

  Then why doesn’t Corp respond?

  Please speak on their behalf.

• Frustrated and Disgusted:

  Please dig out the Liberty Tax UFOC that you thoroughly reviewed with your attorney, scrutinized, and signed and turn to Item 19 Earnings Claim.

  What are the averages 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, and 4th year offices disclosed in that legally binding document? I’m sure they’re all “lies” that Liberty submitted to the FTC and state franchise regulators, but humor us.

• So the number is 500 or 1000, that is really not the point. The fact remains this is a lousy investment with a company that doesn’t understand their business well enough to help the people they rob for $40K and 19%. You and the rest keep blaming it on the people who purchase the business. I can show you store after store that is losing money, following the system. You might be one of the lucky ones who does well, but you may be one of the many who does not. You can say that about any business, but if you pay someone that amount of money, and they cannot help you, or won’t, you made a lousy investment. That is the point with Liberty. After giving them a franchise fee you are put in the hands of a A/D who could care less what happens. For several months after giving Liberty my franchise fee, I left message after message for mine, and got no return. After opening , when my return count was lower than expected, I asked for help, and was told to read the EOT manual. I asked what others were doing to increase their customer base, and he couldn’t tell me. There are others in the area with the same experience. Only those in really low income areas are breaking even, the rest are failing, and Liberty does nothing. Ask for tax help, or software support, and good luck getting an answer. Have a problem with an invoice, good luck getting someone to respond with something that works. This is what you paid good money for.

• Frustrated and Disgusted:

  It’s interesting that you claim Liberty Tax robs people by giving them deceptive numbers, yet you refuse to post the numbers that you relied on. Weren’t you given actual averages for 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, and 4th year offices? How is that not the point?

  Aren’t you being a bit deceptive by posting internal, hypothetical numbers being used for goal-setting as if they were used to sell franchises, but refuse to post the real numbers you relied on?

  I’m not saying this is a great franchise or great franchisor, but your credibility seems a bit questionable when you dismiss anything that doesn’t support your role as poor innocent victim as irrelevant.

• guest:

  Item 19 is not required to be filled out. Have you ever seen a UFOC for Liberty and if so what where their earning claims?

• Guest:

  I am going to come at you from a different point, going back to something many have said on this forum. That Liberty will sell a franchise to anyone, regardless of business acumen. As mentioned in many of my previous posts, I have visited several franchises, to date well over 30. I have seen those who are successful, and those who are not. I will give you an insight into my visits. Those who are succeeding have made this into a business, very little of it resembles what you learn in EOT. They have found their niche, found good customers who return, and built a business that succeeds on hard work and effort. What is unfortunate is that these people would succeed with or without Liberty. It should not take this level of talent to be successful in a franchise business. Franchises have been built on taking a system that should work with some local tweaks, and be successful 70%+ of the time. With Liberty, the system fails way too often, and most cannot recover, or find their niche quick enough to right the sinking ship without losing it. This is due to the high cost of marketing, especially the first year. Many have spent so much on a losing year, that they cannot make it to the 3-5 when they actually can see their tweaks work. Liberty is at fault for their unrealistic forecasts and expectations. Your thoughts ?

• Frustrated & Disgusted:

  – I’ll ask for the 3rd time: What does it say under Item 19 of the Liberty Tax UFOC that you signed? If you duck the question again, for the 3rd time, we must conclude that you do so either because 1) the contents disprove your claim that LT provides deceptive numbers to sell franchises, or 2) that you do not have a UFOC because you are not really an LT franchisee.

  Anyone can come on here and say they’ve talked to 30 franchisees, even a competitor. It’s curious that you keep ducking the question about the agreement you signed. Could it be that you won’t reference it because you’re not a franchisee?

• I agree with guest the franchise is overpriced and so are the royalties. the only ones making money is corporate. i invested almost 100k this year and stlll only did 220 returns at average fee of 200.00. A mcdonalds make money even on their first year (operating expenses) What they sell you is a viable franchisee, but it is not worth 40k it is worth 10k at the most and the royalties at 15%. Maybe we should all group together and ask for part of our franchisee fees back.

• By the way, when i went to EOT last year, a funny comment at the time, was made by one of the EOT Trainers. They were amused there was a mexican lady at EOT that had bought a territory but spoke no english only mexican. so she sat at EOT all week long looking confused. once in a while someone from the hispanic marketing dept would come in and ask her if she had any questions, she would just smile and say yes or no. Last i heard since we all exchanged information, she did 84 returns and went broke. NoW you tell me liberty wont sell a franchissee to anyone aslong as they can fog a mirror.

• guest

  I don’t believe Liberty does publish those numbers of 1st, 2nd and 3rd stores in their UFOC and if your not a franchisee or a plant how would you know?

  As “Frustrated & Disqusted” and many other people on this site have stated the value of being a Liberty franchisee does not justify the cost. If you are already knowledgable about the tax industry and can meet the IRS licensing reguirements you would be better served investing the money in yourself vs. Liberty.

  The brand while growing is not a “name brand” with most individuals and won’t be because there is no national/regional advertising campaign.

• guest:

  What is your purpose for being on here? Why don’t you tell us what Liberty’s UFOC says under item 19?

  I don’t believe they included in their UFOC that I reviewed in 2005.

• New Zee: Thanks for the story about the woman who only spoke “mexican.” You proved Liberty Tax will sell to anyone even better than you know.

  bill: Don’t you think it’s curious that Frustrated & Disgusted has been posting on here for a year but cannot say what’s in the Item 19 of the agreement that he signed? His whole argument is that Liberty Tax is deceptive. Now all of a sudden he’s silent. Remember all the flack the ADs got for not being forthright? If he’s not really a franchisee, he should just say so.

  Many here are criticizing Liberty Tax for giving unrealistic projections, as if these projections are being used to deceptively sell franchises. Is that the case? The Item 19 either gives actual sales numbers, as “Improve” contends, or it gives a disclaimer saying that LTI does not disclose sales numbers and you agree that no representations have been made or relied on.

  The only contentions I see here that LT is dishonest in the sales process is running franchise ads disguised as employment ads. Was lied to BEFORE they signed on?

• Liberty Tax DOES NOT, and certainly did not when I purchased my territories, show the average returns prepared by year.
  This is an absolute lie….
  As an accountant, it would have been my first question as to why I would be asked and inclined to reduce my expected 800 first year return count to 600 because that’s more likely when in fact it nowhere resembles what the disclosure states.

  Clearly, there’s a few a little more about guest we don’t really know.

• Did you read the FDD????

• Does anyone have a recent Liberty Tax FDD? If so, please email it in confidence to unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com. If you’ve got a hard copy and would rather fax the item 19 pages, email me for the Fax #. Thanks.

  Odd that some claim there’s a financial performance representation while others say there isn’t. Fewer than 1/3 of franchisors provide a FPR. Did Liberty Tax add it at some point? Improve… do you have one?

• There was no FDD. It was an UFOC.

  Get your facts straight.
  UFOC FDD didn’t change until less than three years ago.
  Our territories were purchased more than six years ago.
  And according to the Federal Trade Commission, there are only 15 states that require franchisors to give a FDD to franchisees before any franchise agreement is signed and before any money changes hands.

  From the Federal Trade Commission:

  19. Financial Performance Representations.
  Earnings information can be misleading.
  Franchisors are not required to disclose information about potential income or sales, but if they do, the law requires that they have a reasonable basis for their claims and that they make the substantiation for their claims.
  Franchisors practicing Franchise fraud may have a high number of former franchisees under a Gag order, preventing a potential new franchisee from obtaining a clear picture of financial performance.
  Sample Size
  The disclosure document should tell the sample size and the number and percentage of franchisees who reported earnings at the level claimed.
  Average Incomes
  Average figures tell very little about how individual franchisees perform. An average figure may make the overall franchise system look more successful than it is because just a few very successful franchisees can inflate the average.
  Gross Sales
  These figures don’t really tell about the franchisees’ actual costs or profits. An outlet with a high gross sales revenue on paper may be losing money because of high overhead, rent, and other expenses.
  Net Profits
  Franchisors often do not have data on net profits of their franchisees.
  Geographic Relevance
  Earnings may vary with geography. The disclosure document should note geographic or other differences among the group of franchisees whose earnings are reported and a franchisee’s likely location.
  Franchisees’ Backgrounds
  Franchisees have different skill sets and educational backgrounds. The success of some franchisees doesn’t guarantee success for all.
  Reliance on Earnings Claims
  Franchisors may ask a franchisee to sign a statement— sometimes presented as a written interview or questionnaire—that asks whether a franchisee received any earnings or financial performance representations during the course of buying a franchise.

• From the Liberty site…. make note mention of item 19:
  “Also check to see if a financial performance representation is included; this will give new franchisees an idea of the company’s revenue, and usually appears as Item 19.”

  http://www.libertytaxfranchise.com/franchise-news.html?a=19835442

  What to look for in an FDD
  – Monday, June 14, 2010
  At some point in the process of opening a franchise, business owners will have to sign a Franchise Disclosure Document. The agreement, typically around 100-150 pages in length, will be sent to the franchisees two weeks in advance of any contract agreements. They are intended to let the new business owner know the background and terms of his or her new franchise opportunity. As such, franchisees should make sure to read the document thoroughly and take special care when looking over a few key areas.

  Finances are, of course, of high concern to the franchisee. In the FDD, pay attention to the initial franchise fee, ongoing royalty fees and any other fees that might be present. See if any of the money being spent goes toward training or ongoing support.

  Though many businesspeople are already familiar with their franchisor, reviewing the company’s history and background in the FDD is still smart. Entrepreneur magazine recommends looking for any litigation history, how long the company has been in business and the experience of the company management. Also check to see if a financial performance representation is included; this will give new franchisees an idea of the company’s revenue, and usually appears as Item 19.

  Remember that franchisors are there to help. If business owners have any questions about the document or their new business, contacting the franchisor is a smart move and can reassure entrepreneurs that they’re pursuing a franchising opportunity intelligently

• Antonio writes “Get your facts straight… according to the Federal Trade Commission, there are only 15 states that require franchisors to give a FDD to franchisees before any franchise agreement is signed and before any money changes hands.”

  Antonio: YOU need to get your facts straight. Franchisors in EVERY state are required to give prospective franchisees an FDD (and formerly the UFOC). It’s amazing how little homework franchisees do before they jump in with both feet.

• Thank you “guest” for your expected response.

  Check the FTC. Check WIKI for goodness sake.

  Quote: It’s amazing how little homework franchisees do before they jump in with both feet.

  So receiving an FDD will eliminate failure as a franchisee?
  Or does it mean they will succeed?
  What does the FDD mean?
  And what the Liberty Tax FDD doeesn’t state is that the franchisor offers 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year average numbers.

  Easy enough….. scan that page from your FDD and upload to a photobucket or similar anonymous site.

  Then….. and only then will you be believed.

  So do you want to put up… or shut up.

• how are you so sure it does not offer those averages?

• Antonio:
  It’s called the FEDERAL Trade Commission for a reason. Requiring an FDD is a FEDERAL requirement, which means it applies to all states. Only certain states require franchisors to register or file their FDDs with them, but FDDs are required even in non-registration states.

  From the FTC site:
  “The Franchise Rule requires franchise and business opportunity sellers to provide to prospective purchasers with a Franchise Disclosure Document. The FTC does not require filings of these documents, so we are unable to provide copies to consumers. A total of 13 states keep franchise offering circulars on file, and 26 states require business opportunity disclosure filings.”

  As I said, it’s amazing how little homework franchisees do before sinking their life savings into a venture. I think the FTC should require “Franchising for Dummies” to be handed out with the FTC, though they probably wouldn’t read that either.

• This might be too much for the comments section, but here goes.

  In 2009, Source Book Publications published 93 Financial Performance Representations taken from franchisor disclosure documents in a book “How Much Can I Make?”

  Here’s an excerpt from the Liberty Tax Item 19 Financial Performance Representations from “…Liberty Tax storefront franchised offices of franchisees who operated one office during the time period May 1, 2007 – April 30, 2008.  During this time period we had 2374 franchised offices in the United States and 970 of them met the characteristics for inclusion in this section.”  Not included were kiosks, Kmart locations or units owned by multiunit franchisees.

   

  1st yr ofcs	# in cat.	Avg. # Returns	% ofcs excdng
  Top 1/3	99	559	11.15%
  Mid 1/3	99	284	50.68%
  Btm 1/3	99	148	85.14%
  2nd yr ofcs
  Top 1/3	70	681	11.43%
  Mid 1/3	70	362	50.95%
  Btm 1/3	70	180	85.71%
  3rd yr ofcs
  Top 1/3	155	1113	10.34%
  Mid 1/3	155	667	50.22%
  Btm 1/3	154	383	86.42%

  “Average Price – The average price of paid tax returns in the chart above is $164.20.  Free tax returns, as explained below, are not included when calculating this average.

  “Free Tax Return Policy – We encourage our offices to offer free tax returns during tax season… 17.63% of the returns done by offices included in the figures above were prepared free of charge in the hope of gaining future repeat or referral business…”

• Guest:

  I do not live where my offices are, and do not have immediate access to files where my FDD is. I will be more than happy to give you what I relied upon as a basis for my decision.

• What was written and what was promised were two different things, They keep telling me those figures applied to the losers and i was a winner. I was suckered, my fault, but still i was suckered by a deceptive company. IF THEY WERE TO TELL EVERY PROSPECTIVE FRANCHISEE THE TRUTH, THAT YOU WONT MAKE ANY MONEY, NOBODY WOULD BUY THERE SHIT.

• New Zee, WAY TO GO!! TELL EVERYONE EVERYWHERE!

• New Zee wrote: “IF THEY WERE TO TELL EVERY PROSPECTIVE FRANCHISEE THE TRUTH, THAT YOU WONT MAKE ANY MONEY, NOBODY WOULD BUY THERE SHIT.”

  It looks to me like Liberty Tax told you exactly what you would make and you bought it anyway.

  New Zee stated that he did 220 returns @ $200 each, which is $44,000.

  In the earnings claim provided by Liberty Tax above they stated the average 1st yr store did 284 minus 17.63% which equals 234 paid returns @ $164.20 for a total of $38,422.80.

  They gave you actual sales figures and you did about $5577.20 above the average that they gave you. I don’t see how you can claim they were deceptive. Please don’t say that they made verbal representations that contradicted the legal document because you swore in the Franchise Agreement that you didn’t rely on any other representations and that would make you a liar and I’m sure that’s not the case!

• You forgot the FREE returns… ~200

• According to the figures put up by admin it shows that 89% of 1st and 2nd year offices are loosing money and the 11% on top are barely getting by after expenses. Wish I would have been giving these figures at the LT meet and greet instead of the hype that was spread around. Without any national ads Lt has no name recognition unless you look up the number of law suits pending. Their marketing strategy just does not work in most areas today. Of the 12 stores that opened in my area 9 has been giving back to Liberty and my 2 are next. The one store that made profit, very little at that, was a z that owned his own building and had another business operating in the same office. As far as the z’s that are failing i”ve heard from guest that we must be stupid of don’t know how to run a business. Well I have run businesses for three individuals and my own for 10 years befor retiring and all were successful because we had a good marketing strategy and advertised locally in the media. What is LT doing with the advertising dollars that are paid to them? I personally believe that the money is used to sell franchises and not used to benifit the franchisee. The majority of us that have bought franchises were smart enough to save for their retirement so I don’t believe anyone of us is stupid, we just fell for a good con. I take full responsibility for my actions and will suffer the consequences but I just don’t want anyone else who worked their whole life loose their money to this scam artist. I will work to stop this as hard as I have worked over the last 65 years.

• He said he did 220 paid returns.

• Isn’t it obvious that guest is a AD or a LT plant? What city is your office located in? How many returns did you prepare?

• guest

  People believe what they want to believe. Look at Bernie Madoff and the people who got taken there.

  My only point for being on here is to inform potential franchisees that there are better ways to use their money then to invest in a “Liberty Tax Franchise”.

  The question every potential franchisee should ask themselves before they invest in any franchise is what can franchising provide me that I can’t do myself?. Am I getting a brand that is well recognized? Does the company provide national or regional television advertising campaign? What are current and former franchisees saying about the company? Do they have a strong business model? What about training? It was my experience that Liberty was lacking in all of these areas.

• Yes they were.

• Richard B, I am with you. I will forever each and every day, tell as many people as I can about Liberty Tax! I also post as often as possible on Block’s Yahoo board, Liberty’s F ac e Book , Tw it ter etc. I will continue to spend 2 hours per day sharing my experience with John and his POS company!

• I’m not saying you shouldn’t campaign to expose a crap franchise for what it is. You should. Go for it.
  But what good will it do if they just buy a different crap franchise because they didn’t do their homework about THAT one?
  Liberty Tax may be a crap franchise, but the real problem that franchisees don’t do their homework until after they are struggling and are looking for someone to blame.
  Most of you don’t have any idea what’s in the agreement you signed, or whether you were given the numbers above. Antonio doesn’t know FDDs are required. New Zee believed it when someone told him he could simply make as much as he wants.
  That’s not defending Liberty, just stating facts.
  Liberty Tax will continue to spend big bucks advertising its franchise and dishing out big commissions to franchise salespeople and brokers. Franchise mags and websites will continue to sell them awards and rankings.
  They will continue to sell franchises. Why? Because most franchisees are too lazy or trusting to even find this discussion until AFTER they’re failing.

• Guest:

  Unfortunately you are right. JTH told us the truth, that we would lose our shirts, and by gosh golly we did. He clearly printed in his FDD what our lousy return would be and we got suckered anyway. He took it out of the PT Barnum playbook, there is a sucker born every minute. Thank you for confirming what we already learned. Now that we know that, we can be like Cuppy’s Coffee and Curves as one of the worst franchises to buy. So to all that think there is gold in them hills, guess again. All I can suggest is that at some point, there will be enough bad press that people stop buying as Mike adeptly puts it, POS. It is unfortunate that so many had to find out the hard way.

• GUEST,
  You proved your point that people need to read their contracts, I think we all get that by now, but when they bring you to the meet and greet they have hand picked franchisees there telling everyone how great it is and how much money they are making, anyone remember Annie Fuller, everyone is drinking the Cool Aid at that point. Whould you believe that the fastest growing franchise two years ago would be dishonest? I wouldn’t, but it turned out that they are. Please quit bringing up the fact that we didn’t have an attorney read the contract for us or didn’t read it good enough ourselves, I think we all know that at this point. I believe you are truly trying to stop LT from selling more franchises and I appreciate it. You know everyone thinks they can do a better job than the next guy when it comes to business. God knows I did, I ran 4 sucessful businesses before retiring. I only got into LT to build a business for my son and his first experience was not a good one. All I’m trying to say is have a heart and work with us to warn people about them so others will not loose large sums of money investing in a franchise that does nothing to help it’s franchisees. Yes people on this site are mad and they have every right to be so as we all are loosing a lot of money at this point. Just saying?

• Let me see what LT has done for me since I opened 2 years ago, NOTHING!
  My first year opening my AD opened 10 stores of his own at the same time. What kind of help do you think I received from him? Can you imagine trying to get a site approved that wasn’t too close to one of his locations. Bad enough I was promised a franchise in an area that I picked out and later was told that it was sold already,this is after 4 weeks of negotation. Guess who they sold it too? Yep the AD. I was forced to select another location that as it turns out wasn’t as good as the first that I picked. Does anyone know what a AD does to earn his percentage other than try to sell franchises for LT. It is my understanding that each franchise they sell earns them $20,000, at least that is what my old AD told me. Everytime I asked him something about the tax business he told me he didn’t even know how to do a return that his wife did. This couple had prevously owned a few JH franchises and John couldn’t wait to get them away from JH. What an ego trip John is on, it’s all about outdoing JH.My new AD this year I actually saw for 1 hr one day and he had the nerve,over the phone, to tell me that I wasn’t following the system. This is from a man that never ever seen the daily operations of my company. Are you kidding? They didn’t even inform me that there was an AD change when it was made. By the way the previous AD turned all the stores back to LT at the end of the second year. His numbers were slightly up from the previous year but it wasn’t good enough for LT.
  Any of you out there get any advertising in your area to help you succeed? They charge us for that non service also.
  Any of you ever get Tech to figure out a problem for you? What a joke, My son fixed the majority of the glitches in their system or figured out how to make them work before they even responded.
  They rely on their marketing strategy to have wavers and signs and other attracting devices outside your store front all purchased by the franchisee. Guess what Code Enforcement allows none of it ,,except the live waver, in my area. There response at Liberty is do it anyway and break the law.
  What do we really get for out money, HYPE!