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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

GEEKS ON CALL: Franchisee Geeks Squeal on Papa Geek

December 26, 2008 by Sean Kelly  
Filed under Business

(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.”

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Comments

8 Responses to “GEEKS ON CALL: Franchisee Geeks Squeal on Papa Geek”
  1. memburu says:

    Geek Oh Geek.. dreaming becoming a geek in coming year lolz

  2. geekxpert says:

    A copy of the lawsuit was released. I’m not sure if Mark Baumgartner’s statement that the case is without merit is entirely true after reading it. Of course he is a lawyer too. I’m sure everything they say is true. ;)

    http://historyofgeeksoncall.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/copy-of-lawsuit-released/#more-370

  3. People say that 2009 is going to be the year of the Geek. Do you think that’s true? Wasn’t 2008 the year of the geek?

  4. 2 of the largest and most successful Geeks on Call owners filed for Chapter 11 protection and a lawsuit in federal court on May 15. see the following link to one of them:

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-vaedce/case_no-1:2009cv00555/case_id-242486/

    According to the docket they named 3 corporate individuals; Richard Cole; CEO; Rich Artese; COO and Keith Wesp; CFO, personally along with the corporation they own stock and work for Geeks on Call America and Geeks on Call Holdings.

    For more information or to join suit with other current or former franchise owners the lawyer handling the cases is below.

    Patrick R. Blasz
    Law Offices of Patrick R. Blasz, LLC
    11490 Commerce Park Drive
    Suite 240
    Reston, Virginia 20191

    (703) 964-3180 office
    (703) 964-3183 fax

    pblasz@blaszlaw.com

  5. Geek Expert says:

    Has anyone heard that Geeks on Call has left their offices of 10 years and now have a virtual office in some building while their dispatchers answer the phones from their own home? They have also co-located their IT infrastructure and customer records with some other IT company. They say they are doing it to provide better services to their franchise owners but say nothing about the lawsuit against them for not paying their rent.

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