Unhappy Franchisees Offer Insider Advice to Franchise Buyers

(FranchisePick.Com)  We were immediately impressed with how friendly and family oriented the entire Cuppy’s Coffee organization was…. Once they had our money, everything changed. 

Criston Menz on UnhappyFranchisee.com.

Next week, at the AAFD (American Association of Franchisees and Dealer’s) convention in Newport News, VA, Cuppy’s Coffee will celebrate the first anniversary of the highly touted Fair Franchising award they received from the franchisee association.  The award was granted despite widespread complaints about the company’s franchise practices, including its habit of not returning $40,000 refundable deposits.  The award has since become a prominent marketing tool in selling more franchises and collecting more $40,000 deposits.

Two of the unhappy franchisees who share their stories and advice on a new website called UnhappyFranchisee.com will not be sending Cuppy’s Coffee anniversary  cards anytime soon.  Both Criston Menz, of Albuquerque, NM, and Robyn and Corey Rivera, of Houma, LA,  share their cautionary tales of what can go wrong when you join the wrong franchise organization.  They offer tips for would-be franchise owners to avoid the same mistakes they made.

“I am tired of being bullied by a company that did me wrong.”  Criston Menz

Criston Menz and her partner were excited when they answered an ad for the opportunity to own a Cuppy’s Coffee cafe franchise.  They were even more excited when after meeting their warm, friendly staff.  However, says Criston, that all changed as soon as the company had their money:

The initial contact was comfortable with people who knew our name, our background, and made us feel valued and wanted us as a part of their organization. The support was FABULOUS until they got our 20% down payment of $39,500 paid to Elite for the construction of the build out.

Once they had our money, everything changed. From then on, we were ignored and left wondering what was going on. Trying to get anyone from Cuppy’s to call us back was like waiting for it to snow in the summer time.

“Instead of a check, they sent us a settlement agreement…”  Criston Menz

The $39,500 deposit made to Cuppy’s Coffee affiliate was refundable in the event the Menz’s did not get financing for the rest of the investment.  In March, 2007, Criston sent a letter requesting the return of out $35,900 refundable deposit, per their agreement.  Said Criston:

Instead of sending us a check, they sent us a settlement agreement that stated they would keep the franchise fee of $15k and pay us $20,900 in 8 equal installments over 8 months. They stated that they had invested our monies in their “new” company.

We found that unacceptable and unethical. We thought they had our refundable deposit set aside in escrow, as a professional company would have…

To this date, neither Cuppy’s Coffee, Elite Manufacturing, nor their parent company Medina have returned a dime of the money Criston paid more than a year ago.  To would-be franchise owners, Criston offers this advice on UnhappyFranchisee.com:

Read the blogs. You will find out more information regarding any company by reading the blogs and asking all the right questions there. Be informed, very informed.

To read Criston’s story and advice from other franchisees, visit UnhappyFranchisee.Com.

If you would like information on sharing your story on UnhappyFranchisee.com, email UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.

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Photo source:  Criston Menz

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