Geeks On Call (GOCHE) Troubles Deepen
August 18, 2009 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
The Unhappy Franchisee post GEEKS ON CALL: System Crashing? Can They Reboot? reports more bad news for the once-promising now-troubled computer support franchise Geeks on Call.
Geeks on Call Board Member Douglas Glenn Resigned
Unhappy Franchisee reports that According to an 8K Report filed by Geeks on Call Holdings, Inc.(GOCHE) “On August 4, 2009 The Company received from Douglas Glenn his formal resignation from the Geeks On Call Holdings, Inc. Board of Directors.” Glenn also served as General Counsel and Secretary of Geeks on Call America, Inc., which he helped form in 1999.
Geeks on Call Holdings, Inc. (GOCHE) Could be Delisted
On July 15, 2009, CEO Richard T. Cole filed a Notification of Late Filing for Geeks on Call Holdings, Inc. (GOCHE), stating that “The Company has experienced delays in completing its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended May 31, 2009 due to reductions in staff in connection with cost-cutting measures… The Company intends to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as soon as practicable but no later than the expiration of the prescribed 5 calendar day period after July 15, 2009.”
According to the Unhappy Franchisee story, it appears that Geeks on Call Holdings, Inc. (GOCHE) has not yet filed the Quarterly Report as required and is in danger of being delisted. GOCHE stock is currently valued at .028 cents per share.
Another Lawsuit for Geeks on Call Holdings, Inc.
Yesterday on Franchise Pick, commenter GOCHE Stockholder wrote:
After a couple members of the board for Geeks on Call Holdings (GOCH) resigned we checked to find that GOCH (stock symbol GOCHE) has not filed their quarterly reports with the SEC and could be delisted any day as more than 30 days has past since what appears to be the required filing date.
When we looked a bit deeper we found that it appears that Geeks on Call America is being sued my their landlord in Norfolk, VA who is asking for immediate possession of the full floor of office space. The case has been continued to its 3rd and possibly last date.
How will Geeks on Call America run a national call center without offices? Will they file reports in time or be removed from the stock exchange and will millions be wasted going public? Stockholders of Geeks on Call Holdings want to know.
Weekly Blog Updates Have Ceased
The Geeks on Call blog’s weekly updates haven’t been updated since July 16, 2009: Geeks on Call blog.
Also read:
GEEKS ON CALL Franchise Owner Phelps Terminated
Geeks On Call Franchisees Allege Their Franchisor is Breaking Law
GEEKS ON CALL: Franchisee Geeks Squeal on Papa Geek
Geeks on Call Franchisees Sue Struggling Franchisor
GEEKS ON CALL: A Geek Tragedy in the Making
GEEKS ON CALL: Beware of Geeks Baring Rifts
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
It appears Geeks on Call Holdings now GOCH is selling on Pink Sheets for only 1 cent per share. I am pretty sure this means they have been delisted and will no longer be reporting to to the SEC.
It really is too bad. A company that had so much potential but poor strategic business decisions caused by poor management is leading them into failure.
Most of franchisees in DC area have gone bankrupt, fled or closed. What’s going on?
Stock price is now $0.02, was as low as $0.0025.
When will the dead lay down?
What has happened is that GOCA management forced these owners into bankruptcy by continuing to take their large royalties and advertising fees and did not provide the services or the TV ads the owners were being told every month they were getting.
GOCA put the owners in Phoenix, Portland, KC, Boston, DC and Chicago out of business so they could take over their revenues and all of the hard work they did in building a customer base that was loyal by using top of the line techs.
Since GOCA controlled the phone number and email addresses and our bank accounts they decided to put their largest owners out of business and to put ONforce techs in our place for what their 10Q called “a more profitable 3rd party tech model”. Instead of getting 11% royalty for each invoice GOCA is now able to pay these non certified, inexperienced 3rd party techs a small fee per call and keep the rest for themselves. Most of these Onforce techs do not have background checks and none of them have to drive company cars.
GOCA let us build the regions with our monies and sweat then forced us out of business to take over the good will and brand we were able to hold on to through their myriad of bad decisions and brand changes.
As they say what comes around goes around and the lawsuits against GOCA are not over and are just beginning once the other owners across the country find out that Richard Cole was working with one of their largest franchise owners to buy up failed franchises to keep them off of the UFOC and to hide their failing business from them and and prospective investors.
The Geeks on Call system did not work from the beginning and this was a constant concern of many but GOCA kept selling franchises to unsuspecting investors and then their stock which is selling for less than a penny per pink sheet the last I checked having been delisted.
Looks like the GOC corporate offices are no longer at their 814 Kempsville Rd location. A big moving truck came in the darkness of night and moved all the stuff out of there.
Calls to the call center and asking for a mailing address they will still provide the 814 Kempsville Rd address, but when pressed will admit that they are no longer at that location.
Geeks on Call Franchisee Shep Bostin’s says there’s nothing hinky about the move, which is good for franchisees:
GEEKS ON CALL: Franchisee Applauds HQ Move
http://www.bizzia.com/franchisepick/geeks-on-call-franchisee-applauds-hq-move/
FYI:
Geeks On Call Holdings, Inc. has been served notice of default and foreclosure from a senior creditor on a note secured by substantially all the
assets of the corporation. The Geeks On Call Holdings, Inc. Board of Directors, acting with regard to their obligation under the security
agreement of the promissory note in default, passed a resolution to surrender the assets upon the request of the secured creditor. As a result of
the foreclosure and surrendering of substantially all of the assets of the corporation the Board of Directors has determined that the Company
can no longer continue operations.
The Board of Directors has accepted the resignations and termination of the Employment Agreements of Mr. Robert Crabb Secretary and Chief
Marketing Officer, Mr. Keith Wesp, Vice President of Finance and Assistant Secretary and Mr. Richard Artese, Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer. The termination of these agreements is effective upon the surrender of the assets. On October 23, 2009 Mr. Robert
Crabb tendered his formal resignation from the Geeks On Call Holdings, Inc. Board of Directors.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
· Completion of Acquisition or disposition of Assets, Including but not Limited to Mergers.
· Triggering Events That Accelerate or Increase a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet
Arrangement.
· Departure of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Principal Officers.
Date: October 27, 2009
Did the closure of this company suprise anyone?
Here is the full notice of foreclosure and announcements of resignations, posted on the Unhappy Franchisee website:
GEEKS ON CALL Notice of Default & Foreclosure
Shep;
All I have is a few questions for you as the so called Chairman of the FAC:
How did you even become a member of the FAC when everyone I spoke to in person and polled online did not vote for you including Kamrul and I who used to own 1/2 of the territories in the DC region?
After repeated attempts by many franchise owners to see the results of the elections why were they not posted and subsequently lost? You mean an IT company lost a list that was generated by a poll and its own techs, it’s owners and their techs could not recover the data? Does this sound fishy to anyone?
Can I ask what ever happened to the $100K in franchise fees you owed GOCA for those territories in Boston which never opened or the thousands you were behind in royalties and advertising? Did GOCA removing any of these debts from the books have anything to do with your new attitude and backing of their failing system when before you were one of its biggest critics?
With over 1/2 of the franchises closed in the DC region has your revenues and/or calls picked up now that we are all gone? Why in your position as the appointed FAC CHairman did you not do anything to help any of us being closed down for pennies compared to what we brought into this system over the years? Did you and are you benefiting from the takeover of our customers and brand in the DC region?
There has been complaints from someone that the large owners were working outside the system or doing something wrong. All of this was brought up to GOCA managers and for what ever reason we were allowed to continue as we did nothing against the law or worth breaching our franchise agreement.
Another funny note; I owned up to 26 franchises, Kamrul up to 36 and Laura 18 but to my knowledge neither of us were ever audited in 7 years when smaller owners like Crofton with 1 or 2 were audited 3 times and I hear they found nothing out of line? Any idea why? Have you ever been audited in 7 years? Have any of the FAC reps been audited?
Having been on the FAC myself and having to keep my mouth shut because of monies I owed GOCA I wonder how and why the rest of you were brought to the FAC. I know just months before the election Richard said Mark Sakurado owed him a favor and then he was elected to the FAC with the results being lost as well. I know Richard visited Houghton during the holidays who has been failing and sold me a franchise of his for $1 in Houston and was asked as a favor to Richard to join the FAC.
I challenge you Shep Bostin; any of the FAC reps or the executives of Geeks on Call; especially Richard Cole to take a polygraph (lie detector) right next to mine so the truth can be finally brought out into the open. I feel I was used to buy up failing franchises just to keep them off of the UFOC then put out of business for $12K in back fees when they did not need me anymore and I was not willing to lie for them so all of these territories that I saved would now belong to GOCA and their new Onforce techs at a much more profitable price point since they do not have to follow the same restraints as their franchise owners.
While I do not expect a polygraph to happen anytime soon; many of us will be swearing under the penalty of perjury in a court of law when mine and Kamrul’s lawsuits are refiled along with many other previous owners who are just now finding out about the alleged fraud charges against GOCA and possibly certain members of the FAC for conspiracy.
More to come I PROMISE…I just cannot divulge all of our proof and legal strategies before we get into court.
Jeff you are saying what I knew all along. RTC is a crook. GOC played lose with several of its franchise owners, Shep was one and so was several others that I know of. RTC’s ego got in the way of a successful company. If you followed the rules you could never make money, the numbers did not lie. You could not work enough hours in a week to every do much more than become a break even game.
Plus they would send out their fav owners on calls that were in your space. If called on it they GOC would tell you that you were too busy or some other weak excuse.
It did not take long to see the failure of GOC on the horizon and am glad I got out when I did and was making money. Speaking of which I was audited at least once and I think twice in less than a year and they found nothing.
Someday I am sure RTC and his band of crooks will end up in jail and many of us will applaud that day…Sue him and take everything but the starch in his to tight shirts…