Yes, here we have it. The worst franchisors of 2009, and what a lovely
little list we have compiled. 2 franchises to talk about, or should I
say, 2 people, however a good half dozen franchises between them.
Let's start with Probate Solutions.
Probate solutions is a will writing franchise of some
description. You whack them 10-12k (varies depending on which salesman
you got) and they will give you nothing in return. Sound a good deal
huh? Well at least 40 people thought so and invested their savings and
bank loans with this company, only to be told that "They are an ungrateful bunch of lazy whiners" when they complained that they received nothing for their money.
Many received the standard training but were left with no leads, no
marketing materials and, well, nothing. I got that lovely quote above
straight from the MD himself when I phoned to enquire about Probate
Solutions and to ask why their franchisee's were phoning me up
complaining that it was a scam, well you know what Tony? It is a scam
and no, these people who gave you their savings are not "an ungrateful bunch of lazy whiners" but your franchisees that YOU are supposed to be looking after. BTW
did anyone ever see that SKY TV commercial they promised would help
bring leads in? I did, on YouTube, but never on SKY.
- Would I buy this franchise? NO
- Success or Fail? FAIL
- Would I ever buy a franchise from Tony? NO
- Is this business still franchising? NO - however watch out for care home solutions, as they are the same people trying out the same SCAM.
Number 2 on the list is Finance Select UK, who also run Boogie Bounce
(bouncy castle hire franchise), some cleaning franchise, Trash Express
and whatever else they could dream up. Did they bring these franchises
to you so you could in turn expand their business and run your own in
profit, earning a good living and looking after your family? No, I
don't think they did. No, they set up this weird bunch of unrelated
businesses so that they could then steal your hard earned or borrowed
money to line their own pockets and buy that Merc you see them
driving.
We spotted them mid last year and put our a warning, having seen that
they had their licence to operate revoked in the courts, and the
subsequent name change by depol so they could carry on their scamming
ways. However a few threats later and we removed the warning, knowing
well that Chris Lake loves going to court we really did not want to
travel all the way to England to meet this little guy with the big
voice.
Excerpt from Email:
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It has been brought to our attention that you have a link under
Finance Select where you have used a libellous remark, accusing our
franchise as a scam.
Any further allegations will be met by litigation without any further warnings!
Regards
Miss G Allen - Accounts Manager
Finance Select
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Oh really Miss G Allen? Well, I have a funny feeling there is NO Miss
G Allen and this is a fictitious name for someone Chris knows.
However the good news was that all their franchisees complained and
again they had their license to operate revoked (a few weeks after our
correspondence with them). Sometime soon I have no doubt they will
change name again and start trying to sell franchises so LOOK OUT.
- Would I buy this franchise? NO
- Success or Fail? FAIL
- Would I ever buy a franchise from Chris Lake? NO
- Is this business still franchising? NO - however watch out for them coming to a screen near you, as I have no doubt they will try, try again.
So there we have it - Probate solutions (Tony) & Finance Select UK,
"Some Cleaning Franchise", Boogie Bounce and Trash Express (Chris Lake)
Not very nice people and not very good "opportunities" yet they
probably did OK out of it, funding lavish lifestyles and Villas in
Spain.
Most franchise opportunities are viable, the good news is that the bad
guys are rare however they are there and need to be watched out for.
Don't be one of the losers and never fall for promises of a good return
in year 1. A flashing sign saying earn 30k-200k in year one pretty
much says "do not touch with a barge pole".