WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Signs of Discontent
January 13, 2009 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
Lesson 1: Think twice before you cross the people who have the long suction cup pole and spare letters to your motel marquis.
The sign at the right was allegedly created by the unhappy and unpaid employees of the DuBois, PA Clarion Inn shortly before they walked off the job and caused franchisee Kronos Hotels to lock the doors.
Tip of the hat to the Kronos Hotels protest site for the story and permission to post the picture.
Lesson 2: Think twice before you cross franchise owners with access to paper, tape and a Sharpie.
The photo below shows a sign in a closed Quiznos franchise in Chicago.
It reads: This store is closed due to corp. incompetence. The owner is suing the corp. for clasic [sic] fraud… 3 Quiznos stores in 4 blocks! This is the way how the corp. does business.
The picture was taken by Rude Zombie July 13, 2007, but now lives for eternity on Flickr.com
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Clarion Inn photo credit: Kronos Hotels protest site. Used by permission.
Quiznos photo credit: RudeZombie License: Creative Commons
Lol…I love both the pics…if you didnt list the credits I would have sworn Kronos owned a Quiznos too…Allegedly.
Signs of Discontent may lead to “Change” in Franchising if our new administration takes a good look at franchise law and the tainting of our legal system because of the capture of the regulators by the franchisors and the other special interests.
How can a franchisor like Quiznos who allegedly quickly grows its visibility in the QSR sector by rampant encroachment, churning, and pumping and dumping of its good faith franchisees survive in our courts? But, they do! don’t they?
Why won’t the courts and the regulators look at
Churning and Encroachment that renders good faith franchisees to be just expendable resources for the franchisors. This one picture of the sign above speaks to all of us but why doesn’t it speak to the courts?
Quiznos completed a multi-million dollar securitization in 2006 and legally sold the contracts and future royalties of its franchisees to a special entity in order to qualify for a lower interest rate on the deal, and at the same time immunized itself from its creditors in the event of bankruptcy.
What is going on here? Will there be thousands of notices hung on the doors of the businesses of failed franchisees in the coming months? What about the innocents who invest in the securities produced by these securitization deals that have enriched the big law firms of this country? When legal opinions are up for sale and the rule of law is manipulated, it is those on the bottom of the pyramid who suffer the most.
Let’s hope that President Obama will work to give the rule of law back to the people and tame corporate greed and trickery, as he has promised.
Very Nice article, digg it!
I know I shouldn’t laugh. Obviously these were created by (understandably) very distressed people but the wit they displayed in expressing their displeasure cracks me up.
I can especially sympathize with the hotel workers in DuBois. My mother is originally from Clearfield, not far from there, and still has family in the area. That part of PA has never had what you’d call a “thriving economy”, even in good times. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for the people there at present.
I’m in Eastern PA and drive through that area quite a bit. Slim pickings on the job scene.
The signs are mild compared to what the Pizza Time employee did to protest the lack of heat in his shop. Made national news:
http://www.franchisepick.com/franchisee-from-hell-awards-luke-benjamin-pizza-time/
Ya gotta say what ya gotta say. People need to be able to speak out! :D
Signs of the times! Happy WW and thank you for stopping by :)
Having worked for Kronos In Cedar Rapids and having my paycheck (allegedly bounce several times) I can fully understand the frustration in PA. Its a shame the Crowne Plaza in Cedar Rapids dosnt have a sign out front like that.