Tell her you love her each day / You’ll make her happy that way.
A simple “I love you” means more than money,
And with a kiss or two her life is sunny. Frank Sinatra

Franchisors:  Have you hugged your franchisee today?
The franchisor-franchisee relationship is often compared to marriage.  Like a marriage, the courtship shouldn’t end once the deal is consummated.  Franchisors who allow themselves to lapse into complacency or indifference do so at their own risk.  Franchisors who are abusive or who get caught cheating on their franchisees (with new concepts or unrelated profit centers) may learn that hell hath no fury like a franchisee scorned.

Children’s Orchard:  One-time lovers become orch-enemies

Have you been following the reality-show-like domestic drama of Children’s Orchard over at UnhappyFranchisee.com?  The CO franchisees are definitely not feeling the love.  They claim their spouse (CEO Taylor Bond) never says “I love you” and is imposing unreasonable demands and restrictions.  He’s distant, cold, doesn’t care about their feelings.  What’s worse: they claim he’s been unfaithful, chasing the pretty skirts of younger, flashy franchise ventures while the franchisees are stuck home with the kids (kid’s clothing, actually).

According to WakeUp’s comment on a post on Taylor Bond:

Here’s what I see: The Children’s Orchard franchisees love their chain, love their brand, and some (TOC) are willing to fight for it. Taylor Bond has consistently shown he is not committed to the brand or the growth of the system. Since he bought CO, his focus is always elsewhere and he has wasted massive time, energy and resources on wild goose chases.

Bond bought the chain in 2004 “Under Mr. Bond’s leadership, the number of stores has declined steadily from 86 in 2004, to 77 in 2007, to 71 in 2008, and to 61 in 2009.”

Press releases on Bison tell the story. http://www.bison.com/press_egismoz_01122006, http://www.bison.com/press_egismoz_03092006

In 2005 Taylor diverted his energy into the lamebrain egismoz franchise concept. He hired an upper level exec, ad agencies, pr firms, did commercials. He launched egismoz in 2006. It was an embarrassing failure and the investment was squandered. Meanwhile CO franchisees failed.

Instead of putting energy and resources into CO, he acquired Newcomer’s Welcome Service and plowed energy and resources into that. According to a press release at http://www.bison.com/press_NewcomersWelcomeService_04182007:

“Since purchasing Newcomers Welcome Service late last year, Bond’s corporate team has been busy refining and documenting Newcomers business systems, creating marketing and support programs, and developing a suite of customized, web-based business software that allows franchisees to manage leads, schedule home visits, support representatives, and invoice sponsors.”
He launched the Newcomer’s Welcome Service in 2007. Nothing happened but silence and more squandered investment. More CO stores closed.

The franchisees have always been focused solely on Children’s Orchard. It seems Bond is always focused elsewhere and just trying to use CO as a springboard for ill-conceived, wasteful diversions.

Yore cheatin’ heart will tell on you…

The franchisees have tried to get hubby to go to counseling (the American Association of Franchisees & Dealers) or even to talk about their relationship, but he’s (supposedly) having none of it.  They claim Taylor Bond is “the indifferent spouse who won’t change and refuses to go to counseling.”

Not knowing what else to do, they’ve planted a sign in their front yard (TOC website) that says:  “My hubby’s a bozo.”

A cautionary tale for franchisors

Is it too late for the Children’s Orchard marriage to be salvaged? I don’t believe so.  I doubt the franchisees would be vying for hubby’s attention so aggressively if they didn’t think the relationship could be salvaged.

Will the marriage be salvaged? Looks doubtful.  Hubby has refused to respond in a meaningful way, and will not meet with the franchisee group.  I called the home office, but never got a return call.

Looks like Hubby’s reaction is to close the den door and turn up the TV.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

image:  Zuma Press

Also read:  Franbest franchise information

According to a new post on Unhappy Franchisee (CHILDREN’S ORCHARD: Unhappy Franchisees Launch Site), the Children’s Orchard franchise owners association thinks it’s got a bad apple in its midst, and they’re afraid he will ruin the whole barrel.

They’ve launched a new website with the intent of warning prospective franchisees about what they describe as an “unconscionable” new Children’s Orchard franchise agreement, as well as the downward spiral they claim the chain has experienced since CEO Taylor Bond and his investor group acquired the franchised resale shop chain in 2004.

According to the overview of The Orchard Cooperative’s complaints:  “Since 2004 when Mr. Bond took charge, 23 new stores have opened, more than twice that number, 49, have closed… Each… lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process. As if that’s not enough, the franchise invariably and aggressively pursues these owners demanding that they pay them royalties and ad fees for the balance of the ten year franchise period.”

Read more:

CHILDREN’S ORCHARD: Overview & Links

CHILDREN’S ORCHARD: Unhappy Franchisees Launch Site

Children’s Orchard: Hyped to the Core?

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE CHILDREN’S ORCHARD?  WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Franchisee Andie Turner, Phoenix North

At their franchise convention in Scottsdale, Ariz., on March 6-8, MaidPro had the opportunity to recognize the outstanding performers among their MaidPro franchise owners, managers and home office staff. The winners of MaidPro’s annual recognition awards were announced at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort and Casino on March 7 by MaidPro President, Richard Sparacio. The winners are:

• Marketing Achievement Award – Janet Sklar, Carrollton, TX
• Customer Acquisition Award –Dan McGowan, Lake Elmo, MN / Brent Ashley, Maple Grove, MN
• Freshman Award – Kathy Ward, Phoenix – Central, AZ
• Right-Hand Award – Modesta Mejia, Carrollton, TX
• Mentor Award – Greg Ford, Tulsa, OK and Lee’s Summit, MO
• Woman-Owned Business Award – Maxine Kenefsky, Bellevue/Seattle, WA
• Male-Owned Business Award – Matt Sherman, Denver, CO
• Partnership-Owned Business Award – Rhonda Peege and Carla Stone, Louisville KY

With over 28 new offices open since last MaidPro’s last convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2007, this was a

Matt Turner, Richard Sparacio

new experience for a lot of the audience in Arizona. New owner, Michelle Hunter (MaidPro in Gaylord, MI) said “I love the small company feel. All the home office employees know us like we’ve been around forever.” Hunter states MaidPro is “very welcoming to newbies.” More than half of the MaidPro offices enjoyed the warm weather, networked, participated in roundtable discussions including profitability, management principles, social media and training among other topics.

MaidPro is a Boston-based franchisor of housecleaning services with more than 100 offices in 33 states, in addition to the District of Columbia and Canada. The company, which began franchising in 1997, takes pride in its strong owner community, cutting-edge technology and creative marketing.

Congratulations to all the winners from FranchisePick.com

Modesta Mejia, Carrollton, TX

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH MAIDPRO?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Images:  MaidPro

Blogs and blogging is transforming the way franchise opportunities are researched, marketed and selected by franchise buyers.  Blogs are also giving franchise owners a chance to interact as they never have before.  And the mainstream business media is starting to take notice.

Today, the Wall Street Journal published Richard Gibson’s story Blogs Provide Insight to Would-Be Franchisee. While FranchisePick.com escaped mention (undoubtedly because the Wall Street Journal is nervous we’re eclipsing them ;)), Gibson featured one of my other blogs, Unhappy Franchisee.  Here’s my 84 words of WSJ fame:

Unhappy Franchisee (www.unhappyfranchisee.com). Franchisees with gripes about their business can post them at this Web site, run by multisite blogger Sean Kelly. The site sorts anonymous concerns and complaints by brand. Mr. Kelly says he was put off by the promotional hype he had read in the franchise trade press about numerous concepts. “Almost nobody was writing anything bad,” he says, “and I wanted to give those with negative experiences a voice.” The site encourages visitors to post closures of franchises in their communities.

Like FranchisePick.com, the purpose of UnhappyFranchisee.com is not to be “gripe site,” but to have frank and honest discussions about the real nature of the sometimes turbulent franchise relationship.

Other sites featured in the article include Blue MauMau (www.bluemaumau.com), Franchise-Chat (www.franchise-chat.com), The Franchise Pundit (franchisepundit.com), & Rush On Business (www.rushonbusiness.com).

Notable sites that escaped mention include FranchisePick.Com, FranBest.com, TopNewFranchises.com, Michael Webster’s The BizOpp News, and Joel Libava’s The Franchise King blog. While not a blog, Richard Solomon’s Franchise Remedies also includes a wealth of information and insights.

Thanks to Richard Gibson for including our humble site, and thanks to all you who have contributed through your comments, information and insights.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HOW IS BLOGGING IMPACTING FRANCHISING?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

graphic:  unhappy franchisee

Quiznos continues to enrage customers, potential customers and franchise owners through its incomprehensible strategy of giving out a million free sub coupons that many of its franchisees refuse to honor.

(Read about the reasons for the Quiznos franchisees well-founded objections, and how they’ve been forced into “snubbing” an alienating customers,  at  Why Your Quiznos Won’t Give You a Free Sub).

FranchisePick.com reader Carol shares the fiery message she fired off to the Quiznos corporate office:

My husband and I took our little boy in to redeem our Free Sub from the
coupon issued to me in your Million Sub promo. The man at the register
said it had “already been used”, which is 100% false. They would not
accept the coupon, and they kept the coupon since I refused to pay for
what was supposed to be a free sub. He also said that they had many
customers with the same problem who were very angry.

This promotion of yours is a DISASTER. One million outraged and
disgruntled customers will tell another million people about what a
scam you people at Quiznos pulled. If restitution is not made to our
family, I can promise you that no one in our immediate and extended
family will EVER set foot in another Quiznos as long as we live (or as
long as there is a Quiznos, which, at this point, looks doubtful). I
also will be visiting a great number of the consumer complaint websites
such as http://www.gripenet.com and http://www.complaints.com, as well as registering
a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and our NJ Office of
Consumer Affairs…

This entire experience was horrible. People in Quiznos were hearing
everything I had to say about never ever returning to Quiznos, and
frankly, the sandwich didn’t even look that appealing. The franchise
in Wayne Hills Mall is not very welcoming anyway.

The way this Million Sub giveaway was handled is an bright shining
example of how NOT to run a promotion. If it was meant to foster good
will with your customers, you have failed miserably. Right now,
Quiznos is Public Enemy Number 1.

Related stories:

QUIZNOS OVERVIEW & DISCUSSION

QUIZNOS SUB Rick Schaden Back as CEO. Reactions?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Image:  dailylifeofmojo License:  Creative Commons

Quiznos has announced that CEO Dave Deno has resigned and the franchisor’s founder and largest shareholder, Rick Schaden, is taking over the reins again as the chief executive. 

Deno had joined Quiznos as president in 2007 and became CEO last September.  The company statement said he resigned “for personal reasons.”  Schaden had stepped down from day-to-day operations in 2007 after growing the chain from 18 franchisees in 1991 to more than 5,000 today.

In a released statement, Schaden said:

“I am excited about working closely with franchise owners to improve restaurant operations. I also look forward to spending time with the outstanding Quiznos management team developing new products. Moving forward, our strategy will be exactly as it is today. Our primary focus will be on increasing restaurant profitability for our franchise owners by bringing value and convenience to consumers so that they frequent Quiznos more often.”

Quiznos is one of the most controversial major franchise players in the nation.  According to franchise site Blue Mau Mau:

The Quiznos system has been riddled with problems and litigation over the past seven years. According to some lawsuits, franchisees allege that the company has been engaged in illegal and deceptive business practices, inducing unwitting prospects to purchase and operate Quiznos stores. The documents state that with 4,636 franchises in the U.S. today, a number that is continuing to grow, Quiznos classifies the majority of its franchisees as financially distressed.

WHAT DO QUIZNOS FRANCHISEES, INVESTORS & PUNDITS THINK OF QUIZNOS & SCHADEN’S RETURN? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

On the heels of Pizza Hut’s viral video effort, the 25-unit Pizza Time franchise chain has gone viral, too… much to their dismay.  The King 5 video of the Pizza Time owners who allegedly forced their employees to work in sub-freezing temperatures as a punishment is being delivered across the net.  Check it out:

The blogosphere weighs in:

Franchisee From Hell! Awards: Luke Benjamin, Pizza Time

Lacey, WA Pizza Time owners Luke & Gretchen Benjamin were immediately winners of our prestigious FFH! award, putting them in such distinguished company as Subway’s Cousin Vinny Agnello, Holiday Inn franchisee Charles Morais, and Quiznos’ sex offender and murder suspect Michael Mele.

*  *  *  *  *

Can the Lacey Pizza Time be Saved from Itself? What do you Think?

Pizza Pundits offer their advice for saving the Lacey Pizza Time.  Best idea wins a large Pizza Time pizza.  2nd best wins an extra-large Pizza Time Pizza.

*  *  *  *  *

Dirty Franchising, The Sequel, They Had The (Pizza) Time Of Their Lives

Bizlevity’s Mark Jabo’s idea for saving the Lacey Pizza Time is to turn it into a musical.  Good timing:  Patrick Swayze should have time on his hands once his new TV series debuts this month.

*  *  *  *  *

Leaders From Hell Win Award

Miki Saxon at  Leadership Turn bestows yet another title upon our Heroes, and also makes a good argument for the use of raping and pillaging as employee perks.

*  *  *  *  *

Lacey Pizza Time Feels the Heat but Employees Don’t

Our very own Bizzia channel editor Mary Jo Manzanares and blogger at The Seattle Traveller lives just a pepperoni’s throw from Lacey, WA.  One wonders if her constant travelling is motivated by the quality of the local pizza.

*  *  *  *  *

Boss From Hell? Or Frustrated, Cost-Conscious Employer?

There always has to be a rational, nice person willing to consider both sides who just ruins it for the rest of the mob ;)  Jean Murray at Small Business Boomers invites all comments, pro and con, and has set up a poll.  After the poll results are in… we attack at dawn!

Other links:

King 5 story, Boss of the Year at No-Name247, BuzzFeed,  Pizza Time on The Consumerist

Also check out:  PIZZA HUT: Viral Video Appeals to Racist Moron Demographic

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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(FranchisePick.Com) I guess when you’re already called geek, you don’t care if you’re known as a tattletale, too.

Geeks on Call franchisees kept up their attack on their own franchisor company by filing a formal complaint against it with the Virginia Division of Securities and Retail Franchising.  Their Geeks on Call franchisee press release indicates they believe that the squeaky geek gets the grease:

Concerned that Virginia Geeks On Call franchises would no longer be salable, [the franchisees' General Counsel] Mr. Blasz filed a formal complaint with the Virginia Division of Securities and Retail Franchising alleging Geeks On Call America, Inc. was entering into new franchise agreements while failing to comply with the registration requirement imposed on all franchisors by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Mr. Blasz further drew the agency’s attention to the faltering financial condition of Geeks on Call America Inc.

United We Geek, the Independent Owners Association of Geeks on Call America, Inc., is so concerned about upholding a favorable Geeks on Call brand image that it immediately issued a press release to national newswires to alert the world that its own company was violating franchise disclosure laws.  Attorney Blasz made sure to point out to the VA regulators that the company was in dire financial straits so that they could apply extra scrutiny to its registration or perhaps impose escrow or other additional requirements.

The complaint filing comes on the heels of 10 federal franchisee lawsuits filed against franchisor Geeks on Call Holdings (read: GEEKS ON CALL: Beware of Geeks Baring Rifts), despite reports GOCH is fighting for its own financial survival (read GEEKS ON CALL: A Geek Tragedy in the Making).

According to the press release, the United We Geek franchisee association has recruited more than 30% of all franchise owners  representing roughly 50% of the active territories. United We Geek was incorporated this past September 2008 to “provide Association members with a voice and to address Geeks on Call America, Inc.’s ineffective advertising, inadequate systems, deteriorating business processes, and also a distinct lack of urgency in addressing the franchisee’s needs.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Did you receive curt or downright rude service when dropping off packages at The UPS Store this holiday season?

It may be they were coping with the holiday rush.

Or it may be that The UPS Store franchise owner hates your guts. 

After all, you who drop off UPS packages without buying anything are freeloaders.  Non-paying leeches.  Bloodsucking parasites feeding off the host of their life savings.

Commenting at the post  Is The UPS Store a Good Franchise Opportunity?, the manager writes:

The person printing saving the 5.00 label is UPS customer and not a customer of the TUPSS…

THIS IS NOT A CUSTOMER. THIS IS A FREELOADER THAT WANTS US TO KEEP OUR STORES OPEN PAY OUR RENT SO THAT HE CAN GET LOW RATES FROM UPS YET HAVE THE CONVENIENCE OF US SERVICING HIM, ANSWERING HIS QUESTIONS, TAPING HIS PACKAGES.

Francois writes:

A person that comes into a store with a dropoff is not a customer, they have spent no money in that establishment, they are not supporting that establishment. The owner is well within his rights to charge for any ancillary service (which might normally be gratis to a paying customer) which assists the non paying leach…

financials writes:

It’s unfortunate that UPS chose to put the owner in the middle, and out of frustration, the owner now takes it out on UPS’ customer. (notice it is NOT the stores customer).

UPS Store Owners are Rightfully Pissed Off…

You can’t blame The UPS Store franchisees for being pissed off.  They were sold franchises under the promise of building a local shipping business with the power and brand name of shipping giant UPS.  Once they had invested their life savings, they claim the shipping giant undermined them by going direct to their potential customers with cheaper pricing.  Instead of paying The UPS Store, many customers pay UPS directly, print out their own labels and drop their packages off at The UPS Store.

The UPS Stores, which receive $1.00 or less per drop-off, claim they’ve become glorified drop-boxes for UPS.  And they’ve got a point…

…But Why Blame the Customer?

Some The UPS Store franchisees have let their justifiable anger at UPS undermine the service philosophy of their stores.  They think they’re justified in being nice to shipping customers and rude to drop-off customers.  Yelp! reviews of one CA The UPS Store show how these attitudes are not lost on customers:

UPS Store, CA

Rated:  2/5 stars  Customer comments:

“Good attitude if you ship from this store.  Bad attitude when you just drop off the package to ship.”

“The lady here is not nice…   it’s the first time I’ve ever been to The UPS Store. =( But probably not to this one again.”

“…she gave me attitude and said ‘you didn’t give me the business, and bring me in the trouble.’”

“Did I really need to be lectured twice…?”

“the lady behind the counter was pretty angry.”

“I’m not fond of being verbally abused”

“She’s ONLY nice if you bring an UNPAID package… avoid this place.”

Customer Abuse is Self-Defeating

While their anger is understandable, it’s both misplaced and self-defeating.  The commenters who defend maintaining a “caste system” of customers are operating under two dangerous misconceptions.  The first is that all people who drop-off packages are not customers, and the second is that you can be selectively rude without negatively affecting the reputation of the entire business.

Drop-offs aren’t customers? Successful shop owners don’t perceive customers as single, isolated transactions.  They perceive the lifetime value of customers and potential customers.  Low shipping revenue means that the store owners must work to maximize non-shipping revenue, such as document imaging, photocopying, mailbox rental, notary services, etc.  Today’s drop-off visitor is likely tomorrow’s (or yesterday’s) purchaser of other products and/or services.  UPS Store owners are missing the concept of the loss leader, getting potential customers into the store to sell them on higher-margin purchases.

Rudeness is anti-branding. Word of mouth marketing is critical, especially when times are hard.  Imagine how many people leave the store above unhappy.  Imagine how many people they complain to.  Imagine how much business they send to competitors.  The UPS Store franchisees need to realize that even drop-off visitors still provide powerful word-of-mouth marketing and referrals.  It’s up to them whether they get the referrals, or their competitor does.

Some of The UPS Stores Are Doing It Right

Some of The UPS Store franchisees have decided to take a healthier approach to running a service business.  They keep their ongoing battle between themselves and UPS, and focus on what successful b2b service businesses do: help their customers succeed.  Consider the reviews of this The UPS Store in the same state as the one cited earlier:

UPS Store, Portal Ave, San Francisco
Rated: 5/5 stars   Customer comments:

“I… had the opportunity to witness them service other customers.  They were great to all of them too.”

“I’ll definitely ship through this store from now on :)”

“I can tell you “ALL” of their staff are so helpful and great people. They treat all the customers that come there, even the crazy ones with kindness and professionalism.”

“I listen to them telling someone information that they probably repeat hundreds of time and just think, how they always say it in an informal nice way? I don’t know how they train or pick their people but it empresses me.”

“They win the award for best businesses in San Francisco for me.”

Which of these stores do you think does better financially?  Which of these franchisees is happier (or less miserable)?  And which has more credibility in building a case against UPS?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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FEATURED STORY:

TanWorld: Creating the Next-Generation Tanning Salon Franchise

OVERVIEW Interview with Tanworld V.P. Bob McQuillan

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Hell hath no fury like a geek scorned.  According to a post on Unhappy Franchisee (Geeks on Call Franchisees Sue Struggling Franchisor), 10 Geeks on Call franchisees have launched a salvo of lawsuits against their franchisor in federal court.

7 Geek plaintiffs are suing for $1 million for damages and the other three want $1.4 million, $4 million and $5 million, plus, assumedly, new tape for their glasses.

The franchisee Geeks allege that franchisor Geeks On Call America Inc. company breached its contracts and engaged in fraud.

Geeks Prepare for Battle

A news report by The Virginian-Pilot states the suits contends that “Geeks On Call took business away from franchisees by operating a competing online repair service. Meanwhile, the installation of a new system for routing customers to specific franchisees has hampered their customer service and ability to communicate with Geeks On Call, the plaintiffs said.”

Geeks Suing to Protect Their Brand Image.  Seriously.

The Geeks On Call franchisees also contend that the company abandoned its Geeks On Call trademark for the brand 1 800 905 GEEK, creating brand confusion and deflating the value of their franchises.

Yes, it’s true.  The Geeks are suing protect their ultra-cool image as Geeks on Call.

It’s all Geek to Me.

General counsel for defendant Geeks On Call Holdings Inc., Mark Baumgartner, denied the allegations and claimed the franchisees were blaming their own financial troubles on the franchisor.  He claims:

• Some of those who have filed suit are in financial trouble & owe money to the franchisor
• The company didn’t abandon the Geeks On Call brand, just expanded it
• The company-owned repair service is only offered where there’re no franchisees, so is not a competitor
• Concerns about call center cutbacks are unfounded, as there has been no reduction in the staff

A Classic Geek Tragedy in the Making?

Earlier this month, Geeks On Call Holdings Inc. reported a net loss of $4.96 million on revenue of $5.24 million for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31.  The company has reported it has enough working capital to sustain itself for another six months.  The question is:  Can it survive this attack from within?

What do you think about the Revenge of the Geeks? Share a comment below.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.