CURVES FRANCHISE OWNERS: Share Your Story Here
July 15, 2008 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
Curves franchise owners and ex-franchise owners:
What’s it like to own a Curves for Women franchise?
Was it a good investment decision? Was the Curves franchise ownership what you expected?
Has it enriched you financially? Emotionally?
Would you recommend the Curves franchise to would-be franchise owners?
SHARE YOUR STORY, EXPERIENCES, INSIGHTS WITH A COMMENT.
I am happy to hear from some of the owners who are doing well in these ruff times but I totally disagree when you state that the dissatisfied owners are few. I still own our franchises and am showing a profit but I have personnaly talked to over 2000 franchise owners and more than 86 percent are losing money and have problems with curves international and howard. The lawsuit is the only way we will ever get change in the way that corporate treats it’s franchisees. You say you are a happy owner but I for one doubt that you are. Go to the yahoo group for owners and look at all the posts which complain about CI. Everyday there are posts about being over charged by Ideas in Action for their mistakes on billing. The advertising fee that each franchise pays monthly does no good and is not efective nor is it acceptable. Last year over 30 million dollars were paid from the franchisee and can you truthfully tell me that you saw adds in your area. You know that you paid out of our ad fees for diane to go to china. How did our clubs benifit by that? How long has it been since you saw a district rep in your club? You are in denile and while you may still be positive about curves you need to wake up and see the writing on the wall. Curves is on the verge of bankrupcy and if you can’t see that you have blinders on. The first 200 lawsuits are going to court by the first of the year and there are many more to follow. You club is worth less than what you paid for it and alot of clubs are being sold for a single dollar. Tell us if you can why is curves international now charging 10,000 dollars to close a club. The curves smart has been a disaster and is not new technology but over 10 years old and doesn’t work. For every club that you say is doing well with it I can give two names and address of clubs that have thrown it out and gone back to the regular circuit. Anyone who is considering buying a curves franchise had better look at it real close as it is a bad investment and is only going to get worse. Futhermore I have contacted over 70 percent of the Ca. franchise’s and it’s not a few that are having trouble. Over 62 percent in Ca are strrugling to stay open and many of them have joined the lawsuit. Quit drinking the cool aid from howard and face the facts curves is going down as fast as it grew.
so many are in trouble because of the greed that comes from corporate, They do not help with the problems. Legal dept is a joke. For those that have been taken write down all that they have done and keep records as I have and get hold of secound class action lawsuit that is now formed. For those believing in the cult of curves I pity them, for they will eventually find out the hard way after they are left with great dept and a closed club
I am familair to this site but was unaware of another whats the url for yahoo for owners curios to see what they have to say get back to me thanks
go to yahoo groups and type in curves owners. you have to own a curves to be able to join and must fill out a form. There are plenty of other sites about curves. go to franchisepick.com, unhappyfranchisee.com, bluemaumau, my lot just to name a few. By searching these anyone can tell that the curves franchise are in trouble across the country and in fact the whole world. Anyone who tries to tell you differently either works for howard or has his or her’s head in the sand. All owners should consider joining the group lawsuit.
This is not a “rational bulletin board” – this is a few irrational disgruntled owners trying to talk others into being “victims”. They cant afford all the foolish lawyer fees – so they are hoping to talk others into helping them pay. Lets call this website what it is -a recrutiing station to draw people into your meritless lawsuit. If you put as much energy into moving on and doing something productive as you do by bllaming Curves for everything – you would be in much better shape. MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE – and stop trying to get others to pay your lawyers…
there are more than a few if you can read. If you have ever had the pleasure of dealing with legal dept or area directors as soon as there is a problem they wrap themselves in a cocoon and you never hear from them. They have ruined this business and all that have delt with them know it and for the thousands I have lost I will and am part of this lawsuit and will do my part in getting restitution and yes I blame this shady company called curves 100 percent
I can pay for my own lawyer and yes we are recruiting as many as we can. This web is for all to wake up and see that curves has taken advantantagr of good peolple that were lied to in reference to owning a real franchise. We all were being productive. that is until the bloodsuckers that they are bailed out on us and stole our money and are souls. You have a lot of nerve telling us to move on. This lawsuit is far from meritless, it is the same over andover andover again read the whole log and there are several more like this one. DO you see connection between low membership all over the country and closings everyday. curves is finished. So start looking for a job
It does seem to be a trend of lots of closure and clubs bailing out. What does that say about the franshisor. I could only determine that what has been said is true. You know what they say live and learn. Greed has a way of always catching up, God bless all that were taken advantage of. I think there is a real awareness of what this company is really about. Not one story of anyone being helped by the franchor. One would have to assume this company is a scham. I remember when curves was hot, but I do agree that something is definatly wrong with a company that loses so many so quickly
I am glad for everyone else who is able to try to recoup some of their losses. My only question is what about those who signed a waiver already or those who sold their clubs with great losses? I think it’s a shame there is no recourse for them. It shouldn’t be only certain ones who are allowed to sue. In a general class action suit it doesn’t work that way, so I take it that Franchise law is different? Also I don’t know of any Curves who are doing well. Most owners are in so much debt. If there are a handful who are doing good, I am glad for them. I do however find it hard to believe they are doing good . More than likely it’s Howard’s family on here posting or maybe even him.
I wish victory for those who are the select few.
to happy owner,
you are such a fool and I wouldn’t doubt that you either work for howard or are howard. It is very doubtful that you are even a curves owner. If you are you would know that its not just a few people or owners who are upset and everyone has to pay to get in on the lawsuit. curves has bad karma right now and almost all the franchises are having financial problems. For every one in the black I can show you 6 that are in the red. Curves international lies and does not help franchises in trouble. We pay through the nose for advertising fees and never see ads, the curves smart is a joke and the technology is over ten years old but is being sold as new tecnology. Face it happy you are not so happy if you are truly an owner you would beaware of the problems with curves international and howard. You don’t need to believe us disgruted owners. Prove it to yourself by going to the waco tribune and looking up the news reports on curves or better yet contact the waco federal court and ask how many lawsuits have been filed against curves. Do some home work instead of mouthing off about how happy you are. Send me your address and I’ll send you a crying towel as you will certainly need it once youv’e done your homework…..
QUESTION FOR CURVES OWNERS:
It’s clear that many, many Curves owners are struggling and many are failing. From what I’ve seen in following Curves from the beginning, it’s clear that Curves franchise support is minimal, at best, and that certain practices, such as charging a $10K store closing fee, seem to indicate an indifference to their franchisee.
HOWEVER… isn’t every women’s express fitness chain struggling with the same, or worse, problems? Would you really be in better shape if you had bought a Contours Express, Butterfly Life, ShapeXpress, Fit for Her, etc.?
Would you have been successful if you had just opened your own independent fitness club?
In the end, did you invest in a bad company… or in a bad concept?
You are right the knock offs that tried to capitalize on howards idea failed also but remember they all made a bundle too.Leaving their small group in the same despair. But it is a sheer greed of CI that brought done a truly good concept of helping women. Instead he let the company take a turn for the worst not supporting his franchisees, not addressing the problems and letting them sink,only to lose everything. That my friend is poor business. It was only a matter of time before everyone figured it out. Remember the owners talk often, they see a trend. When he doesnt follow his own plan it then becomes apparent he does not care. Anybody can open a curves and do what they wish. For those of us following the plan we were the ones being hurt, we were the one who suffered the most loses. When a franchisor sees his flock going astray he need to step in and help, not by telling them free shipping for one month. Noone that I spoke to will buy anything from them .They are already stuck with products they cant sell. For those that trusted him and put curvessmart in their clubs they are the first to close because they count aford it in the first place. They used it as a last ditch effort to remain open. only it was the nail in the coffin. Only to get deeper in dept. But thats what the franchisor is about how much money he can get out of you. The other companys were smart enough to say this is not working and close. He however will take every last penny until you starve I know women that are sick because they believed in this phony and invested everything they had. What is that called oh yea a cult as Ive heard in the past.I have heard horror stories, and for the few select few that are so called doing well I dont believe them If you own a curves or was lucky enough to dump it like I did be honest in as you numbers have been going steadily down. I just feel bad that I sold to a poor believer and she will be closing soon too. Thats something that I have to live with
No Sean, I believe that the concept is good and it works. I have been an owner since 1997 and I can vouch for the effectivenes of the workout and have seen the results. Curves owners problems started in 2003 when all of the top management of curves international was released. Once howard got total control and greed took over this company started to decline. Never before were clubs sold in territories less than 20,000 in population. At that time he started to sell territories in popoualtion of 6,000 and in some cases even less. Anyone in there right mind with the expertise that howard states he has would have known that those franchises would never show a profit but he only wanted the up front fees for the purchase of the franchise. At the same time he started to over sell metropolitian areas in the states. He knew that he was doing so and that it would mean that many of the franchises would go broke but he did it anyway. He even had the balls to tell his franchisee’s that he did it intentially at the convention in 06. He stated that if he hadn’t over sold them compition would have moved in to those areas. That was the logic he used to over sell the areas. He knew the obvious outcome and told all the franchisee’s that the franchise wars were on and that it was not his concern what owner won or lost because he would come through it ok. He even told owners at that convention that at least half of the US franchises would be closing and that he knew that when he oversold the areas.
When he ran out of territories to sell in the US he came up with the Curves Smart. He has tried to sell this to all his franchises as new techonology and a lot of the franchises bought into that idea. They figured that if they could be the first to have it in there clubs it would be benificial in giving them the edge over the other curves clubs which didn’t have it. At first you had to be a shinning star in order to get the curves smart equipment. In order to become a shinning star you had to conform to howards standards and he tried to weed out franchises that he felt were not running their business the Curves way. Curves owners that were having problems were sold on buying curves smart and invested more money in buying the equipment thinking it was going to change things around and make them profitable. Unfortunatly the curves smart was just another way for howard to scam more money from his franchises. The tecnologhy which was promoted as “new” was in fact 10 years old and didn’t work when it was invented and doesn’t work now. The owners who bought into it soon found out that he had made it availlabe to all clubs weather or not they were shinning stars or not and that the program didn’t work. The national advertising program he promised never materialized and was not successful. Forthermore the equipment never has worked properly and they, curves international, refused to even address the problems that the franchisee that bought into that concept were having with the curves smart equipment. Once again the franchisee’s were left on their own to work through the problems without any help from corporate. To make maters worse howard statred to buy up all of his suppliers as he became invious of any one who was making money off his franchises. Each time he bought out one of the suppliers their service and quality of goods went down and the prices the franchisee’s had to pay went up. Again howard was only interested in him makling money and could have cared less about the franchisee.
While many people can try to blame the economy and it has certainly not helped the curves franchises were on their way out way before the economy went south. The trouble is with the way corporate run by howard has treated it’s franchises. He has always been his worst enemy if you look at his past history in bussines. His greed, mismangement, lies and unetical bussiness practices have brought this company to it’s knees. While we are in tough times right now and all business are feeling it the problems with curves has more underlining issues. If it was just the economy curves owners would have a chance to adjust to the times by various business methods but because of the disaster that heaven is leaving in his wake it is doubtfull that curves will make it to 2010.
THERE ARE SOME HERE ON THIS SITE THAT DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING IS THAT BAD WITH CURVES. WELL FOLKS IT IS AND FOR THOSE WHO WOULD QUESTION THAT WHY DON’T YOU PROVE IT TO YOUR SELF BY DOING THE RESEARCH ON THE LAWSUIT. HERE IS WHO YOU NEED TO CONTACT.
FEDERAL COURT
U.S. CLERK OFFICE
800 FRANKLIN ROOM 800
WACO TX. 76701
254-750-1501
CASE OR DOC # 07′ CV’ 048
YOU CAN CALL AND REQUEST ALL DOCUMENTS REGARDING THE CASE AND PROVE TO YOUR SELF THAT HEAVIN IS NOT TELLING THE TRUTH TO THE CURVES OWNERS. SEE YOU IN COURT REAL SOON HEAVIN
I bought my franchise 3 years ago, and paid too much money for it. However, I did my homework. Other clubs at the time were going for twice the price… I have a great location. Lots of seniors- and over 100 members from insurance alone. This year I built my club from 225 members to 304. I DID purchase Curves Smart, and everyone LOVES the results. It improved motivation tremendously, and has really reduced our attrition rate!! I have over 120 members using Curves smart- and only got it in July!
I think location is everything… And for me- seniors rule! 65% of my club are over 65.
We have 3 curves in my town- each approximately 5 miles apart. So it helps to have the seniors, insurance members, and location with more homes being built. (Yes, I am in Florida). I get LOTS of support from CI. My new area director runs a webinar every week. And she always answers any questions I have via email quickly. The CLE learning cd’s and DVD’s make training staff much easier. The paperwork takes me forever- but I choose to do it myself- since I can’t afford to pay someone to do it yet. My rent is high- but I will see a profit this year! I WOULD recommend a Curves franchise to gals that really have their heart in it, AND – do the legwork…. CHECK out the location and population BEFORE you buy. I did- and I will never be sorry!
Dear “Still Luvin It” – Happy to hear you take personal responsibility for your initial mistakes – and to see that you – like so many of us owners – are having a positive experience with Curves.
Unfortuantely – this site is dedicated to the “bitter few” who want to blame their business failures on others. They are seeking to get others to help them pay for thier frivalous lawsuit – so your optiomisitic report will be met with scorn and recriminations.
Hurray for persoanl accoutnability1
Another happy owner x’s 2 wrote: Unfortuantely – this site is dedicated to the “bitter few” who want to blame their business failures on others.
Another happy owner x’s 2: As the one who writes this site, I can assure you it’s not dedicated to one side or the other. If you take a look at the post your commenting on, it asks for all stories – good or bad. If you look at other posts (linked below), you’ll see I’ve gone out of my way to solicit success stories and represent positive franchisee views. CI is welcome any time, as are you, to rebut any criticisms of the Curves concept, support or franchisor.
Unhappy people tend to be much more vocal in forums like this than happy or content people. It’s always a challenge to get the positive side represented. However, it’s clear that those who are struggling are much more than a “bitter few.” More than 100 franchisees have inquired about where to find info on a lawsuit. That’s unprecedented.
Whether Curves International is ultimately to blame or not, there is clearly a problem. CI intentionally solicits franchisees with no prior experience with the promise that they’ll be “in business for themselves, but not by themselves.” Many struggling franchisees and failing franchisees are certainly feeling that they are all alone. A perception problem is still a problem. What is CI doing to address this problem? I will be more than happy to publicize the positive efforts and message you feel these franchisees are missing.
These are clearly neutral or positive posts:
Is Curves for Women a Good Franchise Investment?
Curves For Women Franchise Owner Defends her Chain
CURVES FOR WOMEN: Successful Franchise Owner Renews for 10 More Years
You are coorect Sean – my apologies…
well thanks for the info I did call and found all to be true anybody can call to find out they are quite helpful and forthcoming they ajurned it in october and are setting a new trial date. There seem to be several attorneys involved also They said this is a very big case so many involved. they decided to group them together as the complaints are the same also some separate. They are aware of secound group forming They said it should go alot quicker depending on out come INteresting to say the least So you nonbelievers call youll see it is indeed more than a few WOW
So they are going to court? Whopdeedoo? Anyone can sue anyone in America. That does not mean the case has merits. Lawyers LOVE to go to court and crete false hopes – but YOU get stuck paying the bill. Keep dreaming…
Well “Another happy owner x’s 2”, considering that Howard and Company have tried to get the suit dismissed at every opportunity and failed each and every time shows that there is merit to this case. Even those with the very basic logic skills can figure that one out. In fact, on the last attempt at a “Motion to Dismiss”, Howard stated 12 reasons for the suit to be dismissed. The judge denied the motion on each of them. Let’s take a gander at the score board:
Curves Motions to Dismiss Score Board
Curves Attempts to Dismiss: 3
Curves Motions to Dismiss Granted: 0
What is important here “Another happy owner x’s 2” is that a federal judge is specifically stating that this case has merits to be tried in a court of law.
“Another happy owner x’s 2” it maybe true that it is easy to sue someone here in the US. But, to have dismissal motions turned down every time is cause for concern for those filing the motion. With that being said, I doubt Howard is really that nervous. You see, for as ignorant as you are of the financial health of the vast majority of the franchisees and your ignorance of the issues and concerns they have, Howard is arrogant. You have demonstrated this by lack of factual evidence to the current status of the case. But more importantly to how the complaints are being billed, which is basically only a retainer plus a percentage of the reward. Meanwhile, Howard is displaying his arrogance by not paying his lawyers on an hourly rate. Thus for every motion he files, every conference he has with the plaintiff and every hearing this case takes, Howard has to pay. He is the one that choose this arrangement rather then paying a firm for the job. Much like how we pay a contractor for work; we either pay them for a job or by the hour. Clearly, Howard thought this was going to be quick and painless because he thought he was in the right. Well, Howard could not have been more wrong. He has lost at every twist and turn. He thought that no one would show up at mediation – he was wrong, the owners showed. He thought he would get a dismissal, he was wrong time and again. Now the owners are going to trial.
“Another happy owner x’s 2”, you have provide no facts or the wrong facts. I suggest you do simple research so that you don’t continue to document your lack or intelligence on this subject.
That reminds me of an old saying, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.” That should be your motto.
On a final note: You must be working for CI, come on and admit it. I would have more respect for if you did.
I am a curves owner who is coming up on renewal. What are the cost involved in that process? Does only a few renew?
Cost to Renew? That makes me laugh…Howie should be paying you to renew!!
It’s good to hear that some of the owners of curves franchises are still happy with the way curvesd international is running their franchise. Unfortunally they are in the minority. While our clubs are still profitable we have many complaints with howie and how he runs his business. Most of those complaints have been gone over many times on this site and others like it. While some owners feel that they can change the company by working with the frnachisor we have come to the conclution that the only way to get them to change is to sue howie to get his attention. Well guess what we have his attention and he is not happy and is now coinsidering filling bankrupcy. Good luck howie cus thats not going to help as you are personally on the lawsuit as well and we know your lawyers have informed you of this.
All I ask is that you happy owners need to do your own research by calling the district court in Waco. Become informed before you spout off and tell the truth about how you have been treated by curves international as all owners have the same poroblems with them and I for one know you are having problems too. I have talked to over 500 franchise owners as of last week and not one, angain not one has had a good thing to say about curves international or howie. We all feel that the concept of curves is great and that the workout does work. We all have seen the results of our members but don’t let howie off the hook for how he is running his franchisee’s.
You are correct. I have looked into lawsuit and the numbers are correct. There has to be a corralation in all of this. CI needs to prove to franchisees that they are willing to put our money to work. The first of the year is coming, very big time for all of us. They know these numbers will carry us through the rest of the year. WHERE is nationally advertising. WHERE is our money we pay every month going. If it doesnt happen you will see thousands more close. The proof will be there. I have not seen a commercial in almost i year. So much for the new curvessmart he sold us and promised us he would advertise. For all you believers whatch and wait. Lets see what happens in 09. Lets see if curves makes it through the year I think not
I work as a Manager for Curves starting in 2005 at a Club thats membership was around 160. In 2007 after increasing the memebership to over 300 I bought the Club for a reasonable price. 5 Months after I purchased the Club a new one was opened less than 3 miles for my door and right on the Territory boarder. My membership went back to the 160’s with in 5 months. CI never disclosed to me thet they had another Club opening soon close to mine when I was going thru the resale and signing. When at Club camp I asked the Lawyers why this was not disclosed to me and they stated that they had no Idea that a new franchise was opening in that area and acted like someone was opening without there knowledge or approval…We’ll look into this right away and contact you…never heard back…after complaining to the area director about not being contacted with the answers, the response was that that territory was purchased a couple years previous and had not opened until then due to realestate issues where the Club is. Just a line of crap…what made it ok 2 years prior.
Gee Fed Up it’s the same old crap that curves international has been doing since 03. You are not alone in your disgust and contary to what some posters try to say the dissatified owners are in the majority and most are mad as hell. You need to consider the lawsuit as do all curves owners. If the enconomy isn’t bad enough and than we have to put up with the unethical, dishonest, and boarderline fradulent business tactics that curves is based on. It should be obvious that the only way this is going to stop is through a court of law. Howard will pay the price in the end but the bigger question is will he learn from it. That my friends is very doubtfull.
you are correct the cat is out of the bag. All the owner that I have spoke to are fuming mad.There has been no national advertising that was promised that are billed to us every month.Maybe this lawsuit will change the way company does business. It was a great concept gettind ordinary women off the couch and getting them moving, but as owner. It is hard to make them stick with it. If you have a good location its not a problem to replace new members. most do not. further more parking is important. If your club is not doing well or if its costing you money to stay open. then close and go on to somthing else. Dont beat yourself up do what is right for you. as for the huge lawsuit this I found to be true. Some invested alot and need retrubtion. Curves has lied about alot, but so do alot of large companys. Its their greed that takes over. I myself pick and choose what works in the club, and noone tells me what to buy and how to spend my money not even CI. New equipt and new manuals and all their products only puts money in the franchors pockets,not yoursso wake up and do whats right for you. Once all these hurting clubs close the ones that are left standing will be o.k.CI knew this in 06.This was how they made a great deal of money. There are only one good club to about fourthose will eventually closeand so on. This is the fact of business and franchising. The clubs that are failing know they just cant admit it yet. 09 will be a really hard year. Only the strong will survive
Unfortunatley, the next time I will have any funds to join the law suit will be in the spring (tax refunds) Will I have enough time to join the suit? It’s either pay my property rent thats behind 2 months or join the suit.
Dear fed up
We are all fed up and while I would love to see you join the suit your best option is to pay your rent and hopefully you will still be able to join the suit in the spring. Take care and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I closed three clubs in Cincinnati in 2005; I actually turned down buyers because I knew the risk of financial ruin. I can give you some advice as I know what threats from corporate to take seriously or what is just crap. I have been through this. No fee, I’ll just try to help.
Good for you Karin. I as well turned down a buyer.
As bad as I needed the cash, I couldn’t live with myself knowing (trust me I knew) I would be ruining someones financial future and dreams. I decided to fight this out with CI and let the cards fall where they may. However this works out, I sleep good at night knowing I did the right thing.
Unlike the Curves owner 10 miles from me, she sold her sinking club last summer to a very nice lady who invested everything only to find out 45 days into running the place she was duped.
Somehow this will all work out.
Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless Us All.
Dear Karin Martin, Could you please tell me how to negotiate so that I dont have to pay a closing a fee of $10.000. They are pushing me to pay and I am broke.
Dear karin Martin,
In o5 curves was not charging anything for closing but since Feb of 08 they have been charging a 10,000 dollars for closing a club. At first all they wanted to get the owners to do was to sign a release form which curves international stated was so they could resell the franchise but included in the release form was a clause stating that you as an owner couls not sue for damages. At that time you could agree to no or lillte fees if you signed the release. In Auguest that all changed. Now if you refuse to pay a closing fee which they will lower to 3,000 dollars from the requested 10,000 they are taking owners to court. Here is what they do. If you refuse to sign and pay a fee they send you a termination of your franchise letter for abandonment and tell you that you owe 49,900. This letter is sent by registard mail. If you don’t respond to it they than go to court in Waco and file a suit against you for that amount. They than have you served a summons by a process server, sheriff or a constable. You have 20 days to respond in Waco and if you don’t that the courts will automaticly award curves international a judgement for that amount. This way curves international can write off that amout off their federal taxes. In order for them to take advantage of this tax loop hole they have to get a judgement and try to collect it before they can take the writeoff. By doing this they have reached another low. That is why so many owners are joining the group action lawsuit
Yes, franchisors use the law that they have developed to protect themselves to “legally” squeeze their franchisees in whichever ways are the most beneficial to them.
Hopefully, the courts who have been made party to the scheme of federal regulatory policy and the franchise agreements (the malicious legal traps) because of the necessity to protect the “purity” of contract law will take a good look at the fraud that is going on in franchising today under cover of government regulation that was supposed to have been developed to protect franchisees.
The scenario that is painted by “unhappy” in the above comment is truly disgusting but probably true.
Dear Karin Martin:
I have lost all I had since purchasing this resale Curves. I can’t afford the $10,000 fee and I can’t afford to stay open any longer. I already owe one month rent. Tell me about the fee.
Thank you,
Terry
I an an international franchisee and HAVE to close soon! My story is the same as everyone else’s and I am flat broke, in debt, etc. Is it better to send Curves a letter, or just shut down and then let them know? What happens to equipment etc.
Why are non of these stories on the evening news? Try fox news and submit a story or call talk radio!
Please email me law suit info — I closed my franchise in July and am waiting for legal to go after me.
I would also like to know how to bring the closing fee down from 10,000. I am going to have to close the doors and had invested almost 10,000 in curves smart, which I am still paying for. I would also like to have the law suit info. emailed to me as well.
Thanks
There is a post on another thread that Zarco law firm is not going through with the case. Is that true?
NO THIS IS NO TRUE!!!!!
I have taken the last couple weeks off to take care of some business and personal things that needed attenting but I will be posting a large post concerning all of the misleading and untruthfull posts that are appearing on most of the franchisepick and unhappyfranchisee web sites by carol. I will by the 5th have them up on the site with some documentation on what curves international is up to now and how they are trying to deal with the closed clubs. Until then be very leery of what you read and consider who is posting it as some of these people now posting have never had a curves franchise and seem to be trying to discurage owners from joining the lawsuit.
North New Jersey Curves Owner,
The latest news from the Zarco Law Firm is that they are in fact moving forward on the group action case against Curves International. I received this news as of yesterday, first hand, from the lawyer handling the case.
The case is entering the Discovery phase that would include depositions from witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants. Anything to the contrary is misleading and false.
I will not speculate on who or why someone would say such a lie. For those who still question the status of the case contact The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. The case name is: Momentum Marketing Sales & Services, INC. ET AL., (Plan tiffs) vs. Curves International, INC., ET AL. Civil Action No. W-07-CA-048.
Good news that the Zarco lawsuit is moving forward in The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Hopefully the plaintiffs will not be dismissed out of court, after Discovery, etc., on summary judgment as were the 200 or more plaintiffs in the BSA lawsuit in the California Federal District Court just before Christmas.
There is another lawsuit in the Federal District Court in Denver involving the Peaberry Coffee Company that is scheduled for trial in February that will inolve expert witness, Robert Purvin of the AAFD for the plaintiffs and Michael Seid, author of Franchising for Dummies and Franchise Advisor, etc., for the defendents.
Janet Sparks who writes for The Franchise Times wrote an article about this lawsuit that will perhaps, if it goes forward, determine whether or not franchisors, under current law and regulation, have any legal obligation to be competent or to offer a viable and proven franchise plan to prospective buyers of their franchised business opportunities.
One might ask what what is the purpose of regulation if not to assure that franchisors do have a duty to be competent and to sell a viable
franchise to the public. But, apparently, this hasn’t been settled in the law in these 30 years that franchising has been regulated because ALL franchisors require their franchisees to agree with their signature under the binding contracts that they understand that the franchisor has not promised them success or profits.
Please Google up this article and read about the experts point of view. Michael Seid appears to say that franchisors have no legal duty under current law and regulation to sell a proven franchise to the public. Robert Purvin, author of Franchise Fraud, disagrees.
The bad news is that Michael Webster of BizOp, an attorney, thinks that Michael Seid is probably right –even though this is immoral and unethical.
For your information. Knowledge is power!
To all Curves Owners,
It is time we take our complaints about Curves to another level. All owners who are posting here should file a complaint with the BBB in their area and file a complaint with the Attorney General of their state. Than they need to go to the Federal Trade Commission web site and file a complaint with that federal agency also. Here is the link for the FTC http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm. Just maybe Howie will get the message that it is time to change the way he operates his business.
We need to put the complaint in a very intelligent and sophisticated way. Can you list what Curves Internatiomnal is being sued for exactly so we can add it to the complaint? What is the best way as a resale for me to go about this?
Each owner should tell their own story and be truthfull of your experience with curves international. The reasons for the group lawsuit are over selling of franchise areas, lack of CI to provide service, overestimated proffit potential and under estimated the costs to run a franchise. In the complaint we need to address the fact of what our rent was and that curves international approved that amopunt of rent, that when ever we would call to ask questions we were unable to get a hold of anyone at CI and how many time we ever saw a area representative from curves. If you explain the things such as paying for advertising that we never saw, buying merchadise that was on sale but was not told of the fact that they expired in one month and than CI refused to accept any returns of those out dated items, and the typical complaints that we all have with CI should be enough to start an investigation. Obviously you will want to tell your own story of what happened to you being absolutly truthfull of your experience with Curves and the broken promises that were given to you verbally when you went to club camp. We all have basicly the same complaints and by telling our story of our experiencein our own words it should show the common threads that we have all had. If enough owners do this imagine the head ache that howie will have anwsering all the complaints. It will certainly get his attention.
This can’t be over soon enough. I don’t know who BSA in California is, I have a hard time believing any judge would dismiss this case. All any one has to do is look at the facts and they can see how many families have been ruined. Howie is going to be a very unhappy camper when this is all said and done. I can’t wait for the day.
Closedclubowner: BSA is Brown Shield Association (as opposed to Boy Scouts of America) which is a group of UPS store franchisees that sued the franchisor for allegedly selling them on a business model they knew would not be profitable. Mike Webster has a good overview here:
http://www.bluemaumau.org/what_do_franchisors_have_tell_a_prospective_franchisee_about_their_business_model
UPS got Mailboxes, Etc. owners to convert to the UPS Store brand, and drop Fedex, dhl & other services, then went direct to the customers and cut their franchisees out of the shipping revenue. Neat trick – eliminated competitive shipping and turned MBEs into free UPS drop boxes.
And the judge threw it out on summary judgement.
So… I wouldn’t be that confident of knowing HOW and given judge will rule on such matters.
Thanks, Sean, for the concise overview of what UPS did to The UPS Store Franchisees.
Nobody could be confident of knowing HOW any given judge will rule on such matters, but it appears from my research that, on Appeal, the franchisors still appear to win handily because of 30 years of case law that protects the franchisors under federal regulatory policy for the “greater good.”
I believe, of course, that it is public policy and federal regulatory policy to support the franchisor and the surviving franchisees, and that failed or failing franchisees, under law, are merely expendable resources for franchisors who can churn and encroach to protect their cash flows, their EBITDA’s. (Who could read and understand the Coffee Beanery Case and not understand that the franchisors use the disclosure document packaged with the binding franchise contract to lie, cheat, and steal to protect their bottom lines?)
I still don’t understand why franchisees couldn’t receive true disclosure of the risks involved. Wouldn’t this mean that franchisors within concept sectors would have to compete for the investments of franchisees, and this would prevent some of the saturation that is threatening our economy that is in a BUST mode.
Not surprising, perhaps, that judges protect public policy goals, even if these goals are achieved through ineffective and immoral and unethical regulation. The “smallest fish” is the pond are there for the eating! The franchisors paper empires are held up by the franchise contracts and the franchisors borrow on these contracts in the free markets.
The franchisors know the courts are between a rock and a hard place as well because of the billions of dollars in securitizatized borrowing the franchisors have indulged in since 2000 and the franchisors feel more confident and surer than ever that they will WIN.