Curves Franchise Failures Prompt Attorney General’s Review
April 20, 2008 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
(FranchisePick.Com) Also read:
Curves For Women Franchise: 20% of Curves Franchises Closed in MA,
HAS CURVES FOR WOMEN ABANDONED ITS FRANCHISE OWNERS?,
Insider Advice for Curves Resale Franchise Buyers,
200+ comments: Is Curves for Women a Good Franchise Investment?
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In a recent Concord Monitor article, AG bureau looks into gym closings, Kate Davidson reports that 2 more Curves for Women franchises have closed their doors abruptly, leaving their members stranded and their owners’ dreams dashed. Davidson writes that unhappy members who paid for services they didn’t receive have taken their complaints to the MA Attorney General :
The attorney general’s consumer protection bureau is reviewing complaints against Curves For Women gyms in Concord and Penacook, which closed last month without notice and without refunds for members who already paid membership fees.
The Curves franchises closed during the first week in March, displacing about 400 women who worked out at the two locations, according to owners of other Curves gyms who have taken on some of the members. The memberships are transferable to any other Curves location, but compensation was not offered to women who decided not to move to a new gym.
The attorney general’s office received four complaints in March and April against Atasal Enterprises LLC – owned by Janet Lasata of Gilmanton – which was doing business as Curves For Women in Concord and Penacook.
According to Senior Assistant Attorney General Lauren Noether said the complaints were from members who had paid for services they never received. The AG lists the complaints on its website as “open – in progress.” According to the story, Atasal Enterprises was “not in good standing” by the secretary of state’s corporation division, as the company failed to file its annual report by the April 1 deadline.
Hat tip to sadderbutwiser for the article link. Photo: Bobu. Licensed by Creative Commons.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
We closed on July 31, 2008, and collected no fees after June 30. We followed all their instructions for closing. We sold the equipment which we did not donate to a women’s prison. We also sold other office furniture and exercise equipment we had. We finished paying off the lease and the state taxes. We are about to file our list tax return for the business and are glad to get out before we lost everything.
If someone knows the address or phone number of the Zarco law firm, I would appreciate receiving it. I got in touch with a law firm in Florida. Is that the same one?
Did u you pay them the failure fee and back ad fees/franchise fees?
We did not pay the failure fee. They said we would hear from their attorneys but to date we have not. We were current with our ad and franchise fees. They got their due from us.
Genny
Just curious, where are you from? There was someone who owned a Curves 10 minutes from mine with the same name. Or mayber her name was Ginny. I didn’t think she closed her gym though.
Does anyone here know why the “unhappy franchisee” site with Robert Lay’s story is “temporarily disabled”? Just curious!
Thanks, Cori
Does anyone here know why the “unhappy franchisee” site with Robert Lay’s story is “temporarily disabled”? Just curious!
Cori:
The server is temporarily down. It’s being worked on and should be back up shortly.
Sean or Unhappy
Do we have a status yet of what has been going on with the lawsuit? I know it was mentioned that it would be posted Jan 5. I also need to know what rights if any I have as a resale. I have emailed Zarco and left a voicemail. No one has gotten back to me. I just called the office. no one answered. I spoke to the attorney in charge months ago who said anyone who bought a resale doesn’t have as great as a case as those who bought from the franchisor. Has anything changed? What about the lack of franchisor support? What about the advertising monies? I have an appointment with my attorney this week. I want to fill him in on this stuff.
Generally, in a resale, you have signed a contractual release of liability to the franchisor as a condition of the franchisor approving the transfer-sale.
These contracts are upheld by the courts generally as are the original contracts of the first owners.
If Sean or “unhappy” know the actual status of the Zarco lawsuit, I would also be interested in this information.
First off Carol in one of your posts you state that “the appearance that franchisees are winning law suits has not been substantiated in any of the case law that I can find” which only goes to show me that you didn’t look hard enough or you intention is to discourage owners from joining the law suit. The number of cases that the Zarco law firm has won for franchisees is numerous and if you will Google Robert Zarco you will see a list of all the major cases he has won against franchisor’s . Furthermore you state that franchise attorneys do not take law suits on contingency which is true but you neglect to state that that is true of all cases except accident cases which involve personal injury. In the particular case of curves the reason as explained to me from on e of the participating lawyers is that you must have your financial records gone through by a forensic certified public accountant. This must be done regardless if you had an accountant keep your book in your area as when the case is brought into court, which in this case is in Waco TX., the forensic CPA will be giving expert testimony on each litigants behalf. The majority of the retainer that each of us must pay will be paid to that firm for going through our books and providing that expert testimony. With the number of owners that are signing on to the second wave of lawsuits I’m sure you can understand why the law firm is charging the retainer. For one if they do not succeed they would be stuck paying the accounting firm and the other is that the expense of covering the accounting fees upfront would be considerable considering the number of owners joining the suit. Your statements Carol makes it sound like you believe it is just spending good money after bad. Again I quote “Unless your attorney can find and prove an actual breach of contract, where will you be” statement and than you follow it up with “ I continue to believe the deck is nicely and legally stacked against franchisees who cannot over come the constructive fraud of the franchise contract in government disclosure procedures”. You obviously have not seen the franchise agreement nor the UFOC document that all Curves owners have in their files that the group action law suit is based on. You have drawn your conclusions as to the merit of our case without even knowing the facts of our case. At this point you ask us “to cite some case law where franchisees have won in the courts “ I will refer you to the Zarco Law firm site and you will see all the cases where they have won large settlements through the courts and this does not include the cases which were settled out of court.
You do state that your are neither an attorney or a researcher but you certainly pretend to know everything about franchise law ant that we as litigants have no hope of winning which Carol is not the case with the Curves lawsuit. In previous posts I have given the information on how to contact the court in Waco TX. to prove to themselves what is going on as the litigants have won every motion so far. As some of the owners have done and found out there is a charge for this information but if you go to PACER search you can receive all the information for two dollars and fifty cents. All you need is the case number or doc number which I again posted in earlier posts. If I’m not mistaken you once posted that your husband and son have filed a lawsuit against UPS stores franchise which you were against and that the results have not been forth coming and the attorney have changed several times. I’m sorry to hear that they are having problems in court but with all your negativity it a wonder to me how they have even continued with the case as
To North Jersey owner,
Please send an e-mail to Sean at franchiseepick.com requesting him to forward it to me with your phone number and I’ll get right back to you. Aslo the posts will appear sometime today on this site concerning the curves problems we are all having as owners.
Thanks “Unhappy” for your comments and I accept your criticisms of my comments that I understand you make in good faith.
But you misunderstand the purpose of the comments that I have made. I hope you win and I understand why you want to recruit other failed or failing franchisees to your cause. You believe you were defrauded and that Curves breeched their contract and I believe you were defrauded and I sincerely hope that Zarco Law Firm can prove that Curves breached the tems of the non-negotiable contracts that were signed.
I am not trying to discourage Curves failed and failing franchisees from joining a lawsuit filed in the Courts by the ZARCO law firm.
Robert Zarco himself, who is allied with Susan Kezios of the American Franchise Association, would tell you that the FATAL FLAW OF THE FTC RULE AND THE UFOC/FDD is that franchisors are NOT required to disclose unit performance statistics that would reveal profitability or failure odds to new buyers of franchises.
Susan Kezios and Robert Purvin (the AAFD) have both told the FTC that this omission of historical unit performance data in the sales and disclosure process is misleading and unfair to buyers of franchises. Apparently, however, after thinking about it for ten years, the Government, in the new FTC Rule, last year, did not mandate that unit performance statistics or even “earnings” be disclosed to new buyers—- Probably, because of their fear that any true disclosure by the franchisors would slow the economy even more.
It is misleading and unfair to new buyers of retail franchises because the new buyer invests without being provided with MATERIAL risk information that is in the possession of the franchisor, the seller of the franchise. Without this information, new buyers of franchises are brought to purchase franchises with low or no profitability experience and with high failure rates of first owners of the franchise. They are shockied when their franchised businesses fail because they believed the risks were minimal when they made their investment. When the concept sector itself starts to fail in great numbers for long-term owners, what then?
Apparently, when franchisees incorporate themselves to buy and do business with a franchisor, they are considered “sophisticated” investors under Securities laws, and the franchisors are then not required to disclose historical unit performance statistics in their possession to new buyers of the franchise.
Susan Kezios and Robert Purvin and others (both EXPERTS in franchising) have indicated that the PURPOSE and the effect of the FTC Rule and the UFOC/FDD is to protect franchisors from charges of fraud from that percentage of franchisees who fail to thrive after they have exhausted their startup funds, etc..or at any time during the term of the contract. . The package of the government disclosure as required by the UFOC/FDD and the signed, adhesory, unbargained contract does generally protect the franchisors from fraud in the courts, and “churning” –either directly by the franchisor or by assisting third party fire sales does mean that franchisors can retain the advantage of the failed units to maintain their gross sales figures.
The purpose of the regulation of the Franchise Industry (the public policy) is to protect the franchisors AND the franchisees who thrive in the system, and to prevent the failed franchisees from bringing the system down through claims that they have been defrauded in the sales and disclosure process. This is rationalized as serving the GREATEST GOOD by our government because those who do survive do feed the economy and those who have failed do serve and stimulate the economy all of the time they are working to break even. BUT, the failures must not be allowed to destroy the franchisor’s system through successful lawsuits claiming fraudulent inducement to contract or fraudulent concealment of material facts. This would not serve the “greatest good.” And, mandated disclosure of the risk as revealed by unit performance statistics could inhibit franchising and this would not serve the “greatest good.”
If Zarco has won big settlements for franchisees, this is wonderful – but I still can’t find the cases. Of course, if the cases were won in arbitration or settled, this information is not open to the view of the public.
You misquoted me when you said that I said the UPS Store attorneys had changed many times. I said that the original lawsuit was filed by Robert Shapiro (his lawfirm) the famous attorney of the OJ Simpson trial, but then was taken over by excellent attorneys with excellent reputations who would now have to take the case to the Court of Appeals because they were thrown out of Court in a Summary Judgement by the federal district court judge. This is fact and not fiction and this could happen in your case as well.
I understand that attorneys, especially in franchising and in cases involving contract law, cannot take cases on contingency and under law plaintiffs have to have an investment in their lawsuits. I agree that it is only fair that regardless of whether the attorneys win or lose a lawsuit, they must be compensated for their their time and efforts BUT franchiSEE attorneys do fight upstream against great odds under the status quo of the law surrounding franchising, as a result of the FTC Rule.
It is real simple and even a child could find a listing of the cases that Zarco has won against major franchisor’s by just googling Robert Zarco and surfing his web page but like you said in previous posts your not a researcher. Zarco is a trail lawyer and usually does not accept offers done through mediation or arbitration as the awards are larger when you win the jury trial.
Before you post another misleading, negative post about how hard it is to win why don’t you go to their site and read about all of their accomplishments and succesful cases against a whole list of franchisor’s. When your husband and son hired an attorney maybe they should have done more research and hired Zarco. Than just maybe you would have a different out look concerning your case as most of us curves owners have with Zarco. While I don’t have a lot of experence dealing with law suits I do know the outcome is directly related to the quality of representation you have so it has always been my belief to hire the absolute best in that field of law. Zarco’s firm is the best with out a doubt in the US in franchise law and they will prevail in this suit. It’s just a matter of time and how much each litigant will recieve.
My dear Unhappy —-why do you persist in attacking me and my message? I am on your side.
If it is true that money alone only buys the kind of representation that can determine the outcome in civil cases and in franchise litigation, isn’t this a pity? There are, of course, thousands of attorneys to be found in a Google Search who advertise themselves as franchise attorneys whom you offend by your remarks. And yes, probably most of them don’t charge the plaintiff franchisees as much as ZARCO.
I have only asked WHY Zarco wins these cases that you say have resulted in large awards for franchisees. If there have been jury trials where he has had great victories, this is encouraging for me, because then perhaps the BSA excellent attorneys will have success if they win the right to a jury trial from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the federal district court in California —with a different judge, of course.
Why are you so defensive? I have only tried to share my experiences with you. The BSA Group who is litigating against MBE-UPS in the Federal Court in California has excellent representation from long-time franchise attorneys who enjoy excellent reputations in the field of franchising. They have worked hard and long for the BSA Group since March of 2006 but they were thrown out of Court on Summary Judgment just before Christmas and AFTER DISCOVERY and AFTER the BSA Plaintiffs paid for Expert witness testimony and expensive electronic mediation with over 200 Plaintiffs. NOW, they will have to approach the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to continue their quest for a jury trial that is provided for civil cases under our Constitution. This delay, of course, means thousands and thousands of dollars more that will have to be provided by the plaintiffs to support their attorneys before these test cases can be presented to a jury.
Did ZARCO win his jury trials in the State Court or the Federal Courts? Since the Class Action Fairness Act came into being, most of the class action franchise litigation will be heard in the Federal Courts. This could make a difference for ZARCO.
MBE-UPS have millions of dollars to fight the BSA Group in the courts and are delighted that the federal judge used his discretion and his view of the law to kick this group of over 200 plaintiff franchisees out of the federal district court.
Are you “shilling” for ZARCO when you suggest that ZARCO is winning all the motions and that it will be a slam dunk? Shouldn’t you be careful and not imply that because it is the Zarco Law Firm, failing Curves franchisees will win and be made whole, etc.. Are you sure that the failing franchisees whom you are asking to support the case will have the financial resources to support the case for three or four or five years until ZARCO can get before a jury?
I’m just asking you to be realistic and to understand that it is federal regulatory policy to protect the franchisor and the thriving franchises from destruction from the failing franchisees.
Any child could see this if they would open their eyes.
Carol & Unhappy:
Knowing you both (at least from your comments here) I believe you both genuinely want the same thing: the best possible outcome for the struggling Curves franchisees and ex-franchisees.
You both donate considerable time here, at unhappyfranchisee.com and elsewhere furthering that mission.
If you let the rhetoric turn this into a personal squabble your message will be lost.
In defense of unhappy: I don’t think unhappy is “shilling” for Zarco any more than the Brown Shield Association (BSA) was “shilling” for their law firm when they were recruiting fellow franchisees to join their lawsuit against UPS. He’s definitely promoting that course of action, but out of belief, not for personal gain. “Shilling” also implies some sort of collusion with the firm. Zarco, or other reputable law firms, would never participate in such a practice – and don’t need to.
Plus, “Any child could see this…” is just inflammatory.
In defense of Carol: I spar with carol a bit on 2 issues. First, she tends to be broadly anti-franchisor where I am anti-bad-franchisor, and pro-good-franchisor. Second, she believes that government regulation can fix the problems in the franchise industry, and I focus on things that might happen in our lifetimes. At times, she states these broad beliefs in specific forums like this, and they get misconstrued.
But Carol is on a mission. After a bad experience with MBE/UPS she neither skulked off in defeat (without warning others) nor played the passive victim. She took up the cause. She read and reread books on franchise law, learned difficult legal concepts, interacted with attorneys online, and spends every day trying to educate others trying to get in – or out – of franchising.
Want to know the truth of why franchise regulation is so much slanted in the franchisor’s favor? It’s simple: Franchisor’s effectively worked – and work – together, and franchisees never have.
Maybe you guys can change that.
Most of the posts here are about Curves. Let’s get back to the issue at hand here which Howard Gary Heavin and CI’s immoral and fraudulant money hungry business practices.
We are in the process of closing down our club. We have an appointment with our attorney tomorrow. We aren’t paying CI $10,000 and and we are not paying back fees. We are accepting the fact that they will hold a judgement on us for 3 years. We are in such poor financial shape because of this mistake that it will take at least that time if not more to rectify our financial situation. So let them put a judgement against us. We are not staying in a situation where we keep getting more and more in debt for a company who couldn’t give a rats rear end about its franchisees. We are not going to be bullied or backed into a corner just so Greedy Gary can get his money.
I agree with you 100 percent but lets all start a new tactic to get results. Most all of us here that are or have been Curves owners need to start writing not only the BBB in our areas but also we also need to file complaints with the Attorney General of our state and tell them our horror stories with Curves International and Garry Heavin. But lets all take it one more step and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission ass well. You can do this by going on line at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm and filling in a form. Lets see how Howie likes that and how he responds to them.
When is this UFOC from? http://www.freeufoc.com/pdf/CurvesUFOC2.pdf
NJCO,
If this is off the frachisepick site it is probably from o7 but Sean will be able to tell you for sure.
I need the most recent one they have so I can tell my attorney how to access it. We are meeting with him today.
The best way to get the new one is to send in a the form to curves international that a person is interested in buying your club. They will send him or her one by e-mail. Once CI recieves the form which can be done on line they usually will send it out asap. But again Sean may have an answer for you. You may want to try the FTC web site.
This may be the one you have. Go to this site http://www.franchisepick.com/franchise-controversies/curves-watch-curves-franchise-posts-discussions/ and there is one posted dated march of 08 but that would be inforomation that is for 07.
“THE POWER TO AMAZE OURSELFS”
A fellow owner and friend sent this post to me and I decied to put it up here as she is right it need to be told.
Hello Curves sisters, and former sisters.
A thought occurred to me today about writing our senators, congressmen, representatives and all in Washington about this travesty that has occurred to us. Remind them that we pay their salary and they can be replaced in the next election. We have to start taking the power back. They are part of the problem. They are the ones that helped to draft the laws and help to enforce them that have caused us great pain. There is an old saying one hand washes the other, well I am not washing anymore of their hands, until they help to free us out here. If we all write, past owners and current in every state the FTC and AG’s in every state will start to make things change. I for one am going to start this week. So tell everyone you know about this campaign, there is strength in numbers, it is time that we stop being the minority and become the majority. Perhaps in doing so, it will send a message to Washington that we are tired of all the crap that they are dishing out and other things will change as well. Be bold be strong! After all we have “The Power to Amaze Ourselves”, don’t we? Let’s use the slogan that Gary gave us to turn the tables! My thoughts and prayers will be with you all, my battle is heating up right now, but I am determined to walk away the victor in all this.
May God’s Blessing be upon you all, use your righteous anger for good, after all Jesus cleared the temple of the money changers didn’t he?
Important message to all Curves owners.
There is another site that all current owners of a curves franchise needs to be aware of. The site was set up by Curves using our advertising dollars so we all need to use it. It’s intent is to allow owners to converse with other owners and to share ideas. It is a good site if you are looking for ideas on how to save your club or just have questions for other owners. Here is the link http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/curvesowners/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1
Please go there to check it out and voice your opinion on the current posts and voice your concerns. This site is strictly for owners.
To all past and present curves owners
It is time for all past and present owners of Curves franchises to stand up and file complaints against Curves International and Gary Howard Heavin. I’m sure we can all agree that this company is in serious trouble with all the club closures and while the economy certainly has hurt our business the main set back is how the company is being run into the ground by Gary Heavin and his co-hearts. It should be obvious to all owners that the only way this will change is if we take action as a group. Some owners have been talking about a boycott of the monthly franchise and advertising fees that we pay. While that will certainly get their attention if enough of us follow through we can accomplish it even faster if we all file complaints with the BBB in Waco, TX, the BBB in your area, the Attorney General of your state, the Attorney General of the state of TX. and the Federal Trade Commission. I have included web site addresses where you can go to file such a complaint. Please do so ASAP and lets see how Howie handles the complaints.
http://www.bbb.org/
http://waco.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=40&id=ab5100aa-4c5a-4314-8e1b-f5996973f10c
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/index.shtml
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml
Curves franchisees
In your heart did you really follow the systems, did you really follow the controls by the business. Or did you follow what you could in the time frame available of you and your family life……
Did you really invest to make millions or was it to replace your day job. Did you live within your means during your business?
How did you do Local Area Marketing in your areas? Did you go out into your target market and perform a good 8-10 hours every week with your own sweat of promoting your business?
Did you follow to the letter the program Curves offered?
Did you reread the manual after training?
Did you listen to other franchisees during the buying and operating?
Some franchisees believe that by purchasing a franchise from Curves means that you own your own business. Well you DO NOT!! You are a member of a franchise system operated by the Franchisor where the tools are given, the manuals are written, the systems are set and you have to follow those 100% to reach MINIMUM. Fact, you will need to do double that to excel past average.
Unfortunately it is tough to get non focused franchisees or franchisees that purchased for the wrong reason to do the first 100%… as a franchisee I understand that I have excelled in my business due to the “above average” I performed. It was not luck.
For Christ sake lady my wife is a mentor for Curves and we have been owners since 1997. I personally have sold more franchises in the early days than you can shake a stick at. We helped make Curves into the largest women’s health franchise in the world only to watch as Howie has proceeded to destroy it with his unethical and dishonest business practices. He has tried to rewrite the whole history of Curves to include his wife Diane who was never involved at the beginning. He has been sued by his management team for 20 million dollars that he fired in 03. They reached a settlement out of court shortly there after. Even his first book which he brags was on the Times Top Ten List was a fraud. It got on the top ten list because he made owners buy at the minimum one case each. He is trying to do this with his new book that was just published. In all honesty, do you call that fair and ethical? This not to mention all the other shady business practices that he has pulled on franchises just so he could make more money. But I will name a few such as selling Vitamins and other dated products on sale to his franchises with out informing them that they were within a month of their expiration date. He than refused to take them back or to give any of the franchisee’s credit for products that they had to throw out. How about the new program for weight management? The franchises are to offer free classes which they use to charge for so that the member will buy curves nutritional products on line through Curves rather from the franchises once again taking money from the franchises. What about the advertising fees that all Curves owners pay monthly and has no accountability of from Curves International. It obviously isn’t being spent on ads but is being misspent on things like Diane’s trip to the Chinese wall. Or the Curves granola bar that the franchise owners sold through there clubs until Curves International got greedy and sold them to discounters such as Wal-Mart who in return sold them for less than Curves franchise’s could buy them. This is just a few of the examples of how Curves International has damaged the franchisee’s and if you are an owner ( which I doubt) you can list many many more. How dare you try to blame it all on the individual franchises who have put their blood, money and tears on the line to help build this franchise only to be let down by Howie with his dishonest, unethical, deceptive business tactics. There are hundreds upon hundreds of franchises world wide that are closing and filing suit against Howie and he will in time be held accountable for his actions. There were 10,000 franchises in 05 and now there is less than 5,000 from some estimates and most insiders suspect that the total now is even less than that. That alone should give you a clue as to what is happening and the future of the franchise. It is very bleak and the only hope is that either the management does a drastic turn around or Howie sells out to someone who caries about franchises and knows how to run a franchise business.
I own a curves in MA. I really believe in this fitness program. I believe what it does for women is incredible. Especially older women and women with disabilities. BUT, Curves INC has been nothing but a disappointment. My area director has never come to visit me. So called “buddy refferals” do not work. My AD does nothing but spout the Heavin party line.
What really makes me sad is that I didn’t do this for the money. I did it because I wanted to help women. I have in so many ways and if this keeps up I will have to let these Women go.
Shame on Gary Heavin.
Shame on you Diane and Gary Heavin
You are so right and it is such a shame. Be sure to send in a complaint letter to the BBB of your area and of Waco .Tx as well as to the attorney general of your state and TX. But don’t stop there send in a complaint to the FTC also. All owners past and present should do this at once!!!!
PAST AND PRESENT OWNERS,
Don’t forget to send your complaint letters to the BBB in your area as well as waco Tx. and your states attorney general as well as TX. and the FTC. Here are the links that you can go to to file the complaints.
http://www.bbb.org/
http://waco.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=40&id=ab5100aa-4c5a-4314-8e1b-f5996973f10c
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/index.shtml
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml
To unhappy:
The Yahoo Groups “curvesowners” you referenced was NOT set up by Curves International, nor did it cost anything. It was set up by an owner and is maintained by owners–all volunteer, no pay–as were many of the other networking list serves that have been established. Indeed, it’s been around longer than CI has had Internet access.
Just wanted to clarify. It IS an excellent resource for owners. Indeed, one of the best we have.
FYI:
We set up a separate site for those wanting to buy or sell fitness clubs and/or equipment.
Buyers:
http://www.yourtownhealthclub.com
Sellers:
http://www.yourtownhealthclub.com/category/sell-your-equipment/
We have been closed for years….had to close the doors on a lot of women. Very sad about having to do it but were going broke and had exhausted all means. We just recently received a letter from the Curves attorneys for back pay and fees. I guess they are making a last ditch effort to collect. Good luck Gary…..don’t have much left at this point.
I worked for Curves for 3 years. I was called 15 minutes before close on Dec 15th 2008. that we were closing, There was no notice given to members either. I was also told I would not get paid “for awhile” Merry christmas ! I called the owner ( who still owned another curves 30 miles away) and was yelled at for calling that Curves and requesting my pay check. Like “how dare me”.. for wanting to get paid before Christmas.” So, now it is March, and I am still out of a job, I did finally get my pay check, and others got theirs in Feb. of 2009, along with a late w-2. I loved the concept for Curves, but My thoughts are changed now, so much for the “strong” women concept. A lot is said of the owners, and their problems, but it all goes down stream. Much more is lost, please if you close, give a notice to your workers, for they too, believed.
I am interested in purchasing a franchise and being an owner operator. I recently visited a curve gym for the first time and I loved the concept and joined. From reading all the commits on this site I have alot of homework to do.
Curves is named AAFD’s Total Quality Franchising Franchisor of the Year.
Comments invited:
http://www.bizzia.com/franchisepick/curves-is-franchisor-of-year-say-what/
I am talking to a Curves franchise owner about buying her business. I want to find out how long I am obligated to Curves. I know that I have to pay a royalty fee and advertising fee while operating the business. Do my doors have to stay open XX amount of years? If the business is not profitable and I have to sell or close what penalty am I charged by Curves Headquarters?
Thank you for any information you can provide to me.
I am wondering if anyone has information on the amount of New Jersey franchises there were at their peak and what the total is now. I see many, many clubs closing around me and I am still standing in northern New Jersey. How can I get this information? Can anyone help me out?
To all curves owners who have had problems with curves International and Gary Howie Havein please send your complaints to the BBB of your city and Waco TX. As well as the attorney general of your state and TX. And the federal trade commission. Below are web links where you can file the complaints on line.
http://www.bbb.org/
http://waco.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=40&id=ab5100aa-4c5a-4314-8e1b-f5996973f10c
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/index.shtml
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml
I am/was thinking about a curves franchise but now I’m afraid to consider it. I live in a rural farming community is middle G. The nearest curves is 30 miles away. I thought having one here was a good idea because I love the concept but the above horror stories have scaried the beejeeus out of me! Good to know beforehand!
This is the value of the Internet and websites like Franchise Pick that permit uncensored conversations that do warn prospective buyers of franchises about the possibility of failure with supposedly “proven” concepts.
Sean has always pointed out that there are some localities where it would be impossible to survive —even with a good concept —because of saturation of the concept, or a territory that would not produce enough customers to make the concept profitable for a franchisee.
Sean also is not adverse to warning franchisee prospects that once you buy a franchise and sign the unilateral franchise agreement in which the franchisor promises very little, there is generally no recourse if you fail because the risk wasn’t disclolsed to you in your due diligence endeavors.
I too am interested and made an offer to the owners yesturday and waiting to hear back from them. I have spoken with tons of current owners, happy and unhappy. I think as long as you can use a low price and do your homework on the numbers and have a smart marketing plan that works, it is doable. What area are you looking in, some markets are better than others?
ja:
You should definitely read through all the comments left on the top posts here:
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/curves-overview/
You are liable to royalties and ad fund contributions through the term of your agreement, whether you remain open or not. Plus, Curves requires a $10,000 failure fee (our term) for closing before the full term is up.
If you fail, not only will you owe the $10,000 failure fee but you will be responsible for the balance on the term of the lease that you will have probably personally guaranteed with your any assets that haven’t already been committed to the purchase of the Curves.
In order to buy the Curves you will have to release the franchisor for any liability for the sale-transfer of the franchised business, and you will have to sign a realease of liability to the seller as well.