Log Cabin BBQ Franchise: Where There’s Smoke…?

(Franchisepick.com)  When you’re looking for a franchise opportunity, it pays to do your homework.  And when you see smoke, you better make sure it’s the hickory smoker and not some previous franchise owner’s dreams going up in flames. 

The Log Cabin BBQ website has the look and feel of a small, regional chain that’s obsessed and proud of its signature product.  It’s racked up some awards for its BBQ, and the locations and franchisee websites have somewhat of a hokey charm. 

The first puff of smoke came on the franchise section of their website, in the form of the bogus survival statistics that signal a franchisor that either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that they’re using made-up statistics to create a false sense of safety (Read Lies, Damned Lies & Franchise Statistics for more information).

Puffs of Smoke #2 & #3 came from the reference to profits per square foot (a franchise marketing legal no-no) within the franchise pages and the cheesy franchise information button with a hand grasping for money.  So I searched a bit more extensively and found disturbing allegations about Log Cabin BBQ on one of the best places to uncover scams, the Rip-Off Report. 

On 4/9/2005, Trip from Crossville, TN wrote:

We were the start-up franchisee… We have since closed and are trying to sell the building and equipment. At best we will lose over half our investment not to mention 2 years of our time. My parents will also lose their investment…. As a final thought, there are plenty of good franchises out there probably even some BBQ. This isn’t one of them and the slogan on the website is wrong… you will be in business ‘by yourself!’

On 2/6/2008, Anonymous from Panora, Iowa wrote:

Serious problems with this Franchise!

I am an ex-franchisee and lost a lot of money also with this franchise. Last year there were 8 Franchisee’s and now only 2 of them left. Everyone lost a lot of money as the lack of support and false promises on advertising proved correct. What Trip stated in his first response was 100% accurate and correct and it just got worse over the next several years. We are all told that Trips location made a ton of money and he closed due to a death in the family, so after reading this report it was a total shock and outrage! Two people only running the company and the problems were always blamed on all the franchisees when they failed to make any money and had to shut down.
The two stores left are newer ones, in which one has lost money from the start….

On 2/7/2008, Brian from Atlanta, GA wrote:

Total Scam

I also am an ex-franchisee and lost a ton of money with this franchise. All problems were placed back on the franchisee, when the Corportate office didn’t have a clue what they were doing. They took your franchise money and that was all they cared about, period!. No support, not much of anything for your money besides a name that doesn’t mean anything. But they continue on to sell new franchises knowing all their past ones have went out of business. We all fell for the same scam and now it’s payback time. To many people have been hurt by this company, and looking for a good lawyer to help us out!

Keep in mind that commenters may not be who they say, and that their allegations are not necessarily factual.  However, it pays to do extensive research and due diligence both on- and off-line before making such a serious investment.  Trip’s allegations have been posted since 2005.  Had these two searched online they may have saved themselves a lot of time, money and heartache.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE LOG CABIN BBQ FRANCHISE?  PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH A COMMENT BELOW.

Companies discussed are invited to respond below, or by emailing is at info[at]ideafarm.net with your company name in the subject.

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