Is Snappy Auctions a Great Franchise Opportunity?
April 20, 2007 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
While the largest, most celebrated eBay drop-off store franchise concept , iSold It, has closed 60 stores, suspended domestic franchise sales and warned it may be on the verge of collapse, its next-largest competitor remains upbeat and continues to promote its franchise program.
In a company press release, Snappy Auctions celebrates inclusion on the list that made iSold It famous:
Snappy Auctions has been listed in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 list for the first time… With over 63 units open, Snappy Auctions ranked 309th in the survey, in only its 2nd full year of operation. The Nashville, Tenn. based franchise enables customers to make money off of items that are sold on eBay…
Snappy Auctions CEO Debby Gordon claims that Snappy Auctions is not suffering the same fate as competitor iSold It. In fact, snappy Auctions is doing phenomenally:
“We are poised for a phenomenal 2007, after an incredible 2006,” Gordon continued, “and this accolade is just the beginning.” In 2006, Snappy Auctions launched Snappy Sales Solutions, S3, which has contributed to its recent success. “S3 is yet another step toward our goal of changing the way businesses get value from retired equipment and inventory.”
Snappy Auction also boasts having been named one of Franchise Business Review’s Franchise 50, which honors franchise systems based on outstanding franchisee satisfaction through owner surveys and comments.
According to a Ina Steiner’s column on AuctionBytes.com, “Despite the challenges, Snappy Auctions CEO Debbie Gordon believes in the concept and says it’s all about execution.”
Can Snappy Auctions really be succeeding while iSold It, with much the same business model, is fighting for survival? Have they successfully overcome the challenges that eBay drop-off store critics contend make the concept unworkable? What do you think?
YOU’RE INVITED TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON WHETHER YOU THINK SNAPPY AUCTIONS IS A GREAT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY.
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Beauty is only skin deep.
Give me a break!! Pock marked, fat a$$ed and has to get a guy on match.com, a l-o-s-e-r…..
Professionally and personally…
Well….I guess guys from Manhatten (ex-snappy) like ‘em that way…..
Any update on the AERC lawsuit? I’m guessing these guys will not back and and that Debbie is counting on that. She’s been wring before… a lot.
There was an email sent out to stores posted on the Snappy web site as open, telling them about AITOO. Out of all the emails sent out, there was one request to be taken off the list, one diehard, Adrienne-clone owner who claims to be profitable with sales of $9K a month. However, there were several emails asking for help (using their personal email accounts of course). I know we will be able to help them to stop the bleeding. These store owners told the same old story especially about how they are only open until they can figure out how to get out of their lease. They are getting no support from Snappy on how to close their store(big surprise). They also tell of intimidation from Snappy and how they are afraid to say anything or even talk to other store owners. I challenged the one diehard to visit this forum and post how he was able to be profitable and show other stores how its done, but, alas, he has not shown up yet. Once again, we ask for someone to show how it can be successful and no one can. Since no one has been able to show how to make it work, we will help stores who want to shut down. BTW, I think Adrienne reads this column, so I agree with the comments on her attitude being lousy and think she should go in to bill collecting. She certainly has the callous customer-be-damned attitude it takes and could be quite successful once Snappy folds. Consider her time there as job training for an exciting career in bounty hunting!
We are happy to help how ever we can, but it would be nice if a copy of the email were forwarded to us as well.
Threats and intimidation are VERY character of bad franchisors, and Snappy is no exception. Help and support will not stop the bleeding. These stores are money pits and do not work because the primary concept (and all its alternatives) are seriously flawed. These franchisors are aware of this and still tout the stores as successful. They have NEVER been able to prove that the concept works, and still can’t. Unfortunately, there are still people who think they can perfect the obvious flaws, and the franchisors prey on this.
As for the lease, we would be glad to talk to any franchisees with concerns, and share some of the things that have helped fellow stores. There is life beyond the eBay drop off stores!
Damn, Get Real — first you need to learn how to spell “Manhattan” before you start to diss someone else :-)
And hey, I’m not taking up for Snappy. I’m just saying that my only positive experience with Snappy corporate was looking at Adrienne.
She certainly wasn’t fat or ugly or anything like that AT ALL. She was a cutie. Luckily, once I left the store, I never had to have any more contact with Snappy, and I feel sorry for all the people who bought that franchise.
And I am still sucessfully selling high-dollar items on eBay, just as I did on the internet BEFORE eBay existed. Independently working for select clients who have items they want sold for top dollar. Little overhead, no corporate vig, and no crappy software.
And I would still do Adrienne :-)
Are you ten years old?
Listen, you can’t stop getting older, but you can always be immature :-)
And one thing “Rupert” said is true — anyone who did not perform due diligence and really research what it takes to sell on eBay — they are the ones who bought some stupid franchise and ended up getting screwed.
ALL franchises make things looks REALLY rosy to the prospective franchisee. That’s called “sales”.
There are VERY few franchises that I would ever consider owning, and Snappy is not one of them.
I feel bad for the people who got swept up in “eBay mania” and bought a franchise like Snappy or any of the others…but….no one held a gun to their head to make them sign the agreement.
And no, I’m not 10 years old. I’ve been on the “internets” since they were ARPANET. You do the math.
It seems ex-snappy has a model that works: cancel your contract with Snappy, don’t sign a lease for expensive retail space, only work with high end clients and get some decent software.
OK, store owners….here’s the way to go. Let us know how it works out.
Cute can be overshadowed by a bad attitude, if you’re thinking with your head and not your ……… Ten may be too young. I”m thinking more like 13.
Oops I was beginning to think ex-snappy was actually on to something about franchises, but since he never actually paid for one, he doesn’t have the life experience to pass judgement on others. The due diligence argument doesn’t hold water and you know it. We all did our research and can prove it.
You almost had me there. Move 13 to 15 since he was able to google ARPANET.And if you are actually old enough to remember the pre-internet days, stop acting like a 15 year old!
Yes, thank you Get Real. Anyone who says what he says on a public blog really has very little to say…that most of us want to hear.
Sean, you may want to consider editing those posts – they’re a little too much.
Actually boys, The point here is that all the due dilligence in the world won’t help if “salesman” are LYING! Opps, I mean “misrepresenting” the “turnkey” (ie:perfected) product! Believe it or not, all franchisors do not have to lie to get franchisees. If you have a good product (example: Dunkin Donuts), it sells itself. So whether you are 10, 30, or 60, you were still screwed if you purchased an ebay drop off store!
The average ebay store does less than $10,000 gross a month (this won’t pay the rent), and more are closing each week, and NONE are successful even after four years!
As for a winning idea…NOTHING is selling worth a #$%^ on ebay, and I heard the convention was a bust! Any other good ideas?
NEWS FLASH…………DO NOT BUY INTO THIS CONCEPT! As for the rest of you who need help, are trying to get out of this mess, I suggest you suck it up and email AITOO, Death by franchise, blue mau mau, or Sean here at Franchise pick, and get on with your life.
PS: Sean, Where’s the chocolate cake ? 1000?
I agree with you Chance. eBay STINKS right now. Of course, eBay sales are always worse in the summertime for certain categories, but these days it seems worse than ever. eBay itself is a good example of a company that grew too fast at the expense of its patrons.
Even without the overhead of a formal drop-off franchise or storefront, eBay and PayPal fees have shot through the roof, shipping fees are also a killer because of rising gas prices, both making the cost of doing business on eBay impossibly high for those of us who have maintained it as an occasional source of income. (Note that I do NOT refer to it as a STEADY source of income, because for most of us, it certainly is not, nor has it ever been)
eBay is in a panic. It seems they are so concerned with buyer retention that they no longer allow sellers to leave negative feedback, neutrals count against us, it is harder to resolve disputes, and the answer time from eBay’s PowerSeller help team is a week +! It is not even worth it to sell on eBay anymore, even if you are a volume seller. We just don’t have the support.
Sure, you BUY something on eBay and all the sudden you are bombarded with $10 coupons off the total of your next purchase, off the shipping of your next purchase, they’ll even send you a coupon to list 5 items for sale with free listing fees. All because you bought something. What incentives have they given out to sellers? I can’t think of one. Without sellers, they have no buyers, so where is the disconnect here? Franchise or no, the system itself is broken!
So really, we have established that the drop-off concept is not a good one. Maybe once upon a time it seemed like it would work (clearly many people believed it would, myself included). But now it seems as though a tanking economy and consistent drops in consumer spending habits coupled with the rise of the cost of doing business has affected our industry as well as it has so many others. No one remains untouched. I have a basement FULL of B&I equipment that I’m not even motivated to try to sell on eBay any longer.
So bottom line, the system is broken. Not just drop-offs, but the big picture as well.
I have a question for ex-snappy. If you “… am still sucessfully selling high-dollar items on eBay, just as I did on the internet BEFORE eBay existed”, then why did you work at a Snappy store? I would think that was a step down for a successful internet business person.
Here’s what I see as a major failing on many eBay sellers — they simply list things on eBay and think that their job is done. It’s not so easy.
One major secret of success is this — SELL what you KNOW. This was a bit harder with the Snappy model, as no one knows everything….
And you have to DRIVE buyers to your listings. This is done any number of ways. There are innumerable websites and user forums for all manner of items.
For me, it’s a bit easier, since I have been indeed lurking on “the internets” for nearly 26 years (and yes, I was indeed on Arpanet, regardless if a prior poster thinks I merely googled it). For items that I specialize in selling, I have also been on all manner of forums, usenet groups, websites, etc…..that are all dedicated to those items.
Of course you have to have great photos, great and accurate descriptions, and be as informative as possible on your listings. Sometimes it may take me a few DAYS to do a proper listing. I may end up communicating with the manufacturer of the item, getting a build sheet or other pertinent info.
But once it is listed on eBay, how are you going to let the buyers know who rarely if ever use eBay? My auctions actually make more buyers for eBay, because I have had people sign up for eBay just to bid on one of my auctions. How did that happen? Because I went OUTSIDE OF EBAY to advertise my items.
There is a very fine line between advertising and SPAM, so one has to be careful there. Hopefully, if you are on a user forum or website, you can be a contributing member, and not just a spamming advertiser.
Why did I work for Snappy? I was in NYC and needed a job, that’s why! And I really liked my boss, he was a great guy who thought this could work. And it DID work for the time I was there. As far as being an independent seller in NYC — it would have been nearly impossible — just trying to get your stuff shipped without a car or truck in NYC would have been tough.
But — and this is a big BUT — eBay seems on a downhill slide. Fees are going through the roof. Now sellers can’t leave negative feedback for crappy buyers. And somewhere…..hopefully…..someone is going to compete with the massive behemoth that eBay has become. I am going to start severely cutting down my listings, and simply selling privately, perhaps with a boutique website of my own.
The times, they are a-changing…..
2nd CHALLENGE TO RUPERTG (aka Adrienne)
You never answered these questions:
I throw down the gauntlet yet again. If Snappy is so good you should be able to reply to these questions:
1) Why is the failure rate so high? You said the concept is sound.
2) Why are all the other competitors also failing?
3) Why did Snappy close their own stores? They should be able to run a successful store.
4) Why did Snappy lay off most of their staff?
5) Why are the flagship stores in Atlanta closing?
6) Why is Debbie having to work other jobs if Snappy is doing so well?
7) Why didn’t Snappy buy back any stores if the concept is so sound?
We’re stiiiilllll waaaaaaiting!!!!
How do you know Atlanta is closing?
Let’s see, if the sign stuck on the door says “We have moved to xyz location(where their other store is)” I’d call this closing! And they had deep pockets too! Just more proof that the CONCEPT DOESN’T WORK! Surprise, surprise!
That happened in the Nashville area when Snappy closed their west Nashville store and posted a sign that said they moved to Green Hills. THe problem with that was the store in Green Hills was opened way before the one in west Nashville. And that was one of the corporate stores that they bought through a owner bankruptcy. So, they got it for practically nothing and still couldn’t make it work!! Like Chance said “the CONCEPT DOESN’T WORK!”. Take THAT Adrienne!! Boooyah!
Truth is, the owner of the W. Nashville store mismanaged the finances of the store so badly that by the time corporate bought it back it was too far gone to pull it back out of the depths of the debt it was in. The only reason they wanted to keep it was because it was a great location, a huge build out with a nice looking facade. Most of the promotional Snappy marketing and press materials were shot there. It would have made corporate look too bad to all the sudden have mass closures in Nashville, in their own hometown, so buying back the store was a way to save face. They were very clear that they did not want to alarm any franchisees with closures at that time. Obviously, it didn’t work. Up until then the NYC store was the only one that “was seeking new ownership” because the gestapo had already pillaged their way through it.
Right around that time was when the new “CEO” stepped in and everyone freaked out because we all knew then that the end was near for many of us. I’m sure you all recall the conference calls as clearly as I do. It was a very powerful collective “Holy S*&T” moment for so many. I think that was it. The fact that there are any stores left standing is a miracle. This company has been on a slow burn for a long time.
There’s one small fact you forgot about the W. Nashville store. Snappy acquired it thru bankruptcy court and not outright. Therefore they had very low initial costs. The reality is, they couldn’t make it work either.
http://www.franchisepick.com/is-snappy-auctions-a-great-franchise-opportunity/#comment-32658
They also bought the Hendersonville store out of bacnkruptcy, ran it for a while, sold it to the managers and they later closed it.
To add insult to injury, the Mt Juliet store is up for sale with little to no chance of finding a buyer, so that store is next to close in the Nashville area, leaving only the Green Hills store that is in one of the few markets that are the right fit: old money with lots of stuff and they don’t really care what it goes for.
If the press has the guts, they will now tell the Nashville area all about Snappy.
True, the W. Nashville store was no different than any other Snappy store, it was only a matter of time before it closed its doors, regardless of who owned it. Still, I would imagine it is pretty hard for even the most seasoned professionals to pull a business out of a $200K debt. You’d have to sell an awful lot of Barbie dolls to make that boat float. It’s not like corporate staffed, marketed or supported these stores in any way once they bought them out of BK. They tricked the Hendersonville manager in to buying her store and she lost everything too.
Poor decisions. This company is fueled by poor decisions.
I’m confused by what you mean by “pull a business out of a $200K debt”? The store was in bankruptcy court. Snappy did not assume the debt: they got the store for next to NOTHING!!! It was a way the bankruptcy court could ensure the landlord and others who had contracts with the store would remain whole. Even when they got the store for FREE they couldn’t keep it afloat.
The aforementioned store (They tricked the Hendersonville manager) was sold to the then managers and they closed it down in less than a year. BTW, they are still selling on eBay, but only used cellphones: a model that CAN work.
They did learn their lesson though. When they were offered three other Nashville area stores for free, they turned them all down. They knew the model wouldn’t work and preferred to let the owners suffer with the lease, etc.
You gotta love Debbie Gordon (Kahn).
Over 1000 posts later and still no one has been able to provide information on how to make it work. Despite challenges to RupertG, etc., not one person has been able to show how to make an eBay drop off store (using the Snappy model) work.
I guess that just about does it now. IT DOES NOT WORK, THEY KNEW IT, THEY CONTINUED TO SELL IT AND THEY CONTINUE TO BLAME IT ALL ON ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES.
Yes, we’re talking to you Debbie and Adrienne. Kay is just there to get a paycheck.
Kay is great, very helpful and very respectful.
FYI – The Greystone (Birmingham), AL store is closed.
RIP Greystone (Birmingham), AL Snappy Auctions.
We’re sorry for your loss.
Then there were 29 storefronts and 2 p/u locations listed.
Alabama
(Greystone, AL) CLOSED
Huntsville, AL
Arizona
Phoenix, AZ (Scottsdale)
Ahwatukee, AZ
Arkansas
North Little Rock, AR
Little Rock, AR
Colorado
Parker, CO (0 items)
Delaware
Newark, DE
Hockessin, DE
Florida
Coral Springs, FL
St. Augustine, FL
Merritt Island, FL
Plantation, FL
Sarasota, FL
Georgia
Atlanta, GA
Columbus, GA
Kansas
Leavenworth, KS
New Jersey
Belmar, NJ
Ohio
Dublin, OH
*Aurora, OH – Pick-up Only; no store?
Pennsylvania
West Chester, PA
Dallas, PA
Paoli, PA
Tennessee
Green Hills, TN
Mt. Juliet, TN
Chattanooga, TN
Texas
El Paso TX
Webster, TX
Virginia
*Alexandria, VA Pick-up only; no store?
Virginia Beach, VA
Chesapeake, VA
Ashburn, VA
Mt Juliet is up for sale and once they learn they can’t even give it away, they’ll be closing. Also, the Parker CO has been barely hanging on for some time.
I think Kay was a store manager so I wonder why she’s still with Snappy. She must have seen what happened to her and other stores. She was not with Snappy HQ when I had my store open so I can’t speak to your opinion of her, but why she would choose to work with Debbie and Adrianne is beyond me. Pam was great to work with, but she was glad to get out of Snappyville when they dumped her out on the street. After all, Debbie needed that money to make her Lexus payments and Pam was only a single mom.
If you really dig into most of these stores, there are only 12 or so stores with inventory. All the rest are on their way out or just haven’t told corp that they are closed.
OK, I got an interesting tidbit. Remember some time ago when there was supposed to be a new CEO for Snappy, then he backed out? Did anyone ever find out why he dropped out?
I know some people who work with him and I heard through the rumor mill that he was interested in the concept, but couldn’t work with Debbie, so he dropped out. Also, he wasn’t too happy about the premature press release she sent out. I guess her mammoth ego got in the way again.
If you look at the stores on eBay that are listed on the Snappy web site, I count 10 or more stores with 5 or less items listed and 2 that no longer have accounts on eBay. If you use a $100 average sale value, about 6 stores have a chance of covering costs.
Been had, even at $100 average sales (which is alot of $300 retail items that you never see at these stores) they won’t be paying the bills. Remember that the more sales, the higher the overheads. It never weighs out unless a minimum of $15.00 per item is collected UPFRONT. They will all close as the well runs dry.
As for the CEO, perhaps he got smart before he jumped in. Thanks to Sean and the folks at Am I The Only One, there was alot of information out here showing him the many problems!
You reap what you sow in life and this looks like it is coming full circle. Standing on the sidelines and watching this has been painful. I am sorry for each and every one of the Snappy investors who were duped. When you know a business model does not work and you sell it anyway, that is wrong. RupertG is a good kid and has a big heart. She sticks by her peeps and I would not expect any less of her. (Any respectable Hoosier would) The latest news on this lawsuit just proves the saying “where there is smoke their is fire” and if you had a hard time understanding anything about Snappy prior to this (doubt that), now you can see more of the true colors behind the scenes. Business deal gone bad, sexual comments or something of that nature? Did a sexual comment bother Debbie or was it more than that? Does anybody know? My guess is that it had to be more than a comment for Debbie to make that play. What do you say RupertG? Wanna tell us the scope? It is very sad that this story just gets worse.
You ask “Did a sexual comment bother Debbie”?
Come on…She’s just using the sexual harrassment card as a smoke screen. To imply that she’s bothered by a moral/ethical issue presupposes that she has morals/ethics. Your own comment “…you sell it anyway, that is wrong…” says she has little or no ethics.
This is just another feable attempt to show she is faultless and the victim: a typical tactic used by people who know they don’t have a leg to stand on. She’s playing the sex card, plain and simple. If you can’t attack the facts, attack the person. Its a tactic not a response, she’s done things like this before and its pathetic.
Here’s question for you: how do you know “RupertG is a good kid and has a big heart”? Is it from reading the posts above? She acts like a middle school kid so you got the kid part right! If she was really “sticking by her peeps” she would defend the company with facts instead of blaming it all on the franchisees. Based on your position she’s more of a cult follower than a real devotee. She’s been challenged several times to answer basic questions and has failed every time.
Yes it is a very sad story and we can only hope Debbie will be stopped in her tracks and cannot hurt anyone else. She may have to..dare I say it….get a job where she has to answer to someone else. Oh the humanity……
Snappy is NOT alone……..
Here are some fun stats for Isoldit:
Out of 283 stores (worldwide, and we probably missed a few) only 94 stores are still open,
61 of them have less than 100 items out each,
19 have less than 50.
only 12 have more than 200 each and that includes the stores that combine their auctions(ie three stores report as one).
About 50% of all items listed, are store buy it nows.
And on ISI’s website, 11 of the listed stores are closed, 2 are repeated once, one is listed three times. (Desperate attempts!)
Their “alternative” listings (websites etc.) aren’t worth the count. (5, 6, 7 items here and there)
ISI only has 11,000 total items for sale, which is less than 120 items each for the few open stores remaining.
And their flagship stores are dead and gone or close to it!!!
Their 67% attrition rate is deplorable, and THEY ARE FAILING MISERABLY!
Yet, what does it take for some people to see that this concept doesn’t work! There is a new article listed on AmITheOnlyOne.org with two idiots talking about how wonderful these franchise concepts are (of course they don’t own one and they have 89 feedbacks as a seller for expertise). Perhaps they just like to hear themselves talk(they obviously have nothing else going for them! )LOL
RupertG is just defending her friend. Not a friend of anyone else’s, just hers. Some of her comments are indeed true and painful for the people reading them. I have not read all her posts, but if RupertG is indeed Adriene, then I do not need to read them. As far as playing a sexual card, I am not sure that I agree with the previous post. I do not think Debbie would play the sex card or any card without something to stand on. She may be a bad business person, but she is not stupid. There have been many bad business people that are great people. Being bad in business does not mean a person should burn in hell. Sometimes people swallow more than they can chew and just see the $$$ signs. This whole thing with Snappy and this law suite just further re-enforce things that some of us already knew. (RupertG knows, but she stands behind her peeps) In the immortal words of the late great Rick James…
Puuuulllleeeasssee!
There is a HUGE difference between being bad in business and what DG did. Many people have made mistakes in a business ventures, that’s understandable. You learn from your mistakes, make things right and move on. However, part of being a great person is acknowledging one’s mistakes, making amends and do what’s right to help the people you hurt. Debbie refuses to admit any mistakes and has made no attempts to make things right. Instead, she has put all the blame on the people she approved to buy and run a store, threatened people who try to help the stores that are in trouble and made illegal threats to others. That’s not the mark of a great person. That’s the mark of a person who should not be in a position of any power because they will misuse it.
As or DG playing the sex card, I’ve seen her be “one of the boys” when she could use it to her advantage, so I have no doubt she would do anything to get herself out of the mess she created: including playing the sex card to her advantage. She’s not stupid, just not trustworthy. She can say anything about alleged sexual harrassment and the accused will have to defend themselves. She knows that and will use the legal system (and our tax $s) in an attempt to divert attention away from her.
We all heard what she said on those store calls! It was all the stores fault, never Snappy’s: not the mark of a great leader.
Some of RupertG’s comments are true, but just because a small percentage are true doesn’t make the rest of what she said true or accurate. She has NEVER, I repeat, NEVER been able to repute the facts presented here nor answer the questions presented directly to her.
If being a loyal friend despite knowing your loyalty is with someone who is not trustworthy is to be prized, I don’t need friends like that. I want freinds who will challenge me when I do things that are not right. That’s a REAL friend: someone who will hold you accountable. What you describe is a yes man, minion, devotee or zealot.
I appreciate your comments even though I disagree with most of them. Keep them coming!
So we’ve reached a thousand comments on this blog and nothing has changed. I say we put it to rest. SA and DG screwed us and it’s time to just move on with our lives and stop re-hashing every post on what a dishonorable person DG and A were and are – it’s getting boring. I personally have lost about $150k in this venture, yeah I feel screwed by SA but I’ve moved on, paid my creditors and found a job back in corporate America.
The constant input that she sucks, she did this or that , is getting old, very old. If we’re going to sue her then then let’s get it on (and I have emailed to be a part of this and never heard back – was this just a threat or was it real?), if not, well, then I say get over it and move on in your life.
In my opinion DG is a pathetic, POS that deserves what she gets. A is just a follower with no mind of her own – she’s a follower and has been mesmerized by DG – feel sorry for her.
I laughed out loud when I heard DG was going to sue someone for sexual harassment – jeez – she should welcome any guy that comes on to her – she’s gross. She can’t even get a date on any of the internet services she subscribes to. A did snag a guy on match.com – poor fellow – let’s see how long that relationship lasts.
Well, that’s all I have for now. I’ll check back in a few weeks to see if anything has changed – I doubt it will.
Oh and new yorker – how many rides thru the Holland tunnel could you have gotten for the $25k you gave snappy – and you know exactly what you would have gotten – no questions and they would have looked better than A anyways….
I agree, this is an old and tired subject. I check in on this site every 6 months or so and catch up on all the trash about SA and DG. I have some background with some of these people and it is interesting to me. When DG started the company and came up with the model, I was intrigued. I watched as the business grew and the model did not appear to be working very well. I had high hopes for SA and DG and wanted to see the business succeed. As this thing appeared to be turning south, I wondered how people could invest in something that was so apparently flawed. Then I was further disappointed by some things that I heard through the grapevine from certain people in Nashville. These are the type of rumors that I knew had a chance of being true, but actually hoped were not true. I was disappointed, but I am sure it was not nearly as deflating to me has it was to a SA investor who lost a bundle. Say what you want about DG, but A is a good person. You can question her lack of intelligence in following DG blindly, but she is someone with character and most importantly, she respects herself.
Hey Lone Texan, if you wanna take on the legal action. go for it. It wouldn’t hurt to have 2 or even 3 people workin on this. Its not hard to find a lawyer to take this on. They all say we have a case. You just need to find the right one.
This has officially become comical. Nobody has the actual _b*lls_ to back up their “e-mail me if you want to sue.”
Just idiots, people actually phishing for that kind of crap is pathetic. If there is a lawsuit, set up a website to discuss with a un/pw that can only be accessed by those called. I am sure that people will want to talk about it. Start talking about it, and make it _actually_ happen if you’re serious. If not, shut up and just go away.
This has now become a bunch of children yapping about how much a $#%^&$%^&& DG has created. Give it a rest already. If you’re going to do something about it, stop talking about it and get us the information that we can all convene and figure it out.
.02 done.
Hey…Just for the record…
Let us know the web site address. We’ll be there. I already tried this once. Maybe you’ll have more luck. Lots of interest, but that’s about all.
I wasn’t saying I would be the one, more like all those coming to the forum saying they were pressing forward. Those are the people I’d like to talk to.
However, they will never put something together because it’s all smoke.
So why isn’t Scott the lawyer in this?? He seems to be the most knowledgeable and has been involved since the beginning. Gotta figure if thought there was a case he’d be all over it.
Like I said earlier, I also am tired of the same bellyaching over the same thing over and over again. Either get on with it or post something relevent – not the same old stuff repeated ad nauseum.
Scott is willing and able to take on the case…if we can ante up the $$.
Whose willing to put up the $$?
I’ve tried to get people to get involved. Lone Texan, maybe you will have more luck than me. I had another attorney lined up, but he left the firm and his boss wants the same thing: $$s.
How much $$$ are we talking about to pay the lawyers?
Good lord, you’d think this is a pissing contest! Lets stay focused. We all know that the franchisors misrepresented this concept, and that there are a number of things to sue them over. However discussing the legal issues here is not advisable.
What can be discussed is some of the ways to close a store, including getting out of the lease, paying off creditors and clients, and alternative work for those getting ready to call it quits. Perhaps you can share the intimidating threats you received, the problems your working through, and the reality of how poor this concept really is. This could help fledgling franchisees and potential investors.
The saddest part is that the unscrupulous franchisors are STILL trying to sell this concept, and YOU each need to notify the state franchise divisions and the feds. Enough reporting and they WILL do something, in fact some things have already been done and some hands have already been slapped. So despite the fact that you don’t SEE something actively happening doesn’t mean it isn’t! Take a proactive approach and remember that YOU can keep one more family from losing everything they have!
Good lord Chance, give it a rest. I’m sick of this crap too.
Someone set something up where we can talk about suing these people. Password protect it and let’s get on with it.
How much? Easily $250-300 per hour.
If this is such a lock – wouldn’t a lawyer take on a contingency basis??