rogers7808 writes:
I was interested in purchasing a Curves until I read some of the posts.
If Curves is such a bad deal, why has it been named “Franchisor of the Year for 2009?
Rogers7808:
There are no valid franchise awards/rankings that I know of (Though FranSurvey.Com at one time seemed to be useful and well-intentioned.  I’m not sure of its status currently). All are somehow driven by a self-serving motive. For Entrepreneur magazine, the 800 lb. gorilla of franchise rankings, it is ad sales and perpetuation of the franchise myth of great opportunities galore.
The 2009 Franchisor of the Year award was …read more

That wacky AAFD is at it again!  The American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD) has named Curves International its 2009 Franchisor of the Year!
(In other news, Bernard Madoff has been named Investment Advisor of the Year and Kim Jong Il has won the Nobel Peace Prize…)
You may remember the AAFD as the supposedly pro-franchisee organization that gave Cuppy’s Coffee the “fair franchising” award and public praise it needed to help scam many more out of $30K – $40K deposits before completely abandoning the lucky franchisees who managed to get open (and lose hundreds of thousands).
According to the breaking …read more

(FranchisePick.Com)  Related reading:  Cuppy’s Coffee, Elite Manufacturing Franchise Complaint on Rip-off Report
Cuppy’s Coffee Franchise, Elite Manufacturing, Medina Complaints
Cuppy’s Coffee’s AAFD Award for “Fair Franchising”
CUPPY’S COFFEE, Java Jo’z, Elite Manufacturing, Medina Blogliography
Tough break.  It looks like the AAFD won’t be getting a share of the blood, sweat or tears of Cuppy’s Coffee franchise owners unless they extract it themselves.
Like many of the Cuppy’s Coffee employees fired after Dale Nabors bought the company, the American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD) surely misses the good old days when previous owner Morg Morgan cut them in on a share of the plunder. 
In …read more

Links the AAFD would rather you forget about:
 AAFD: Franchising Watchdog… or Lapdog? Part 1
AAFD: Franchising Watchog… or Lapdog? Part 2
AAFD Quietly Suspends Cuppy’s Franchisor Accreditation
Cuppy’s Coffee: Some Words from AAFD Raises More Questions
Answer This Franchise Due Diligence Quiz Question
Franchise Buyers: Don’t Get Fooled by Fair Franchising Awards
Cuppy’s Coffee Franchisees: Show Some Gratitude!
In what passes for a boldness in the world of franchise associations, The American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) announced today that it has “suspended its recognition of Cuppy’s Coffee and More, LLC as an AAFD Accredited Contract recipient, pending a determination of the Association’s Board …read more

Franchising’s Worst-Case Scenarios:
Unhappy Franchisee: Franchising rumors, rants, controversies, issues, complaints & insider information you’re not supposed to know.
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Self-Proclaimed Fairness Advocacy Group Quietly Takes its Ball and Goes Home.
What does it take to for a franchisor to lose its “fair franchising” accreditation with the American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD )*?
Outcries from dozens of franchisees claiming they were defrauded out of their life savings? No, that’s OK….
Allegations that current franchisees were paid to tell prospective franchisees they were happy? No big deal…
What about a public acknowledgement from the company Prez that they violated AAFD standards? No …read more

What’s the fuss about Cuppy’s Coffee? This’ll get you up to speed: CUPPY’S COFFEE, Java Jo’z, Elite Manufacturing, Medina Blogliography
Cuppy’s Coffee franchisees: Enough is enough! There’s been a lot of whining and snivelling around here lately from Cuppy’s Coffee franchisees (or “depositers” as we call them. Or “Involuntary Investors”).
I paid Cuppy’s Coffee $30,000 and they won’t give it back! and I took a home equity loan to give $39,500 for a Cuppy’s Coffee franchise and they won’t give it back! and even I made a $52,000 deposit for a Cuppy’s franchise and they won’t …read more

(FranchisePick.Com)  If you’re trying to discern whether a given franchise company is trustworthy, you might be tempted to interprete a “Fair Franchising Award,” a membership seal of a franchise association, a top ranking in a franchise list, or “approval” by the SBA franchise registry as an indication of trustworthiness.
Don’t.
History ain’t changed… ‘Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war…
In fact, those badges of credibility may actually indicate a company trying to compensate for negative press and unhappy franchise owners.
The meaninglessness of awards from seemingly credible organizations was made crystal clear by Blue Mau Mau publisher Don …read more

(FranchisePick.Com) NEWPORT NEWS – The American Association of Franchisees and Dealers are converging on Newport News to promote franchise fairways fairness and to celebrate the exciting first anniversary of the AAFD’s decision to sell-out out the interests of franchisees in favor of the much lower-handicapped franchisors. FranchisePick.Com offers some suggestions for fun, last minute awards!
The AAFD’s 16th Anniversary Franchisee Leadership Summit And Annual Meeting Kicks off tomorrow in Newport News, Virginia.
You can tell the AAFD is run by attornies by the catchiness of the 9-word conference name: AAFD’s 16th Anniversary Franchisee Leadership Summit And Annual …read more

(FranchisePick.Com)
According to the AAFD, “Cuppy’s Coffee has committed itself to a collaborative franchise culture that adopts high standards of mutual respect between franchisor and franchisees.”
- Cuppy’s Coffee website
In doing your homework investigating which franchise opportunities are best, and which franchise companies are trustworthy, you’ll encounter many “badges of credibility,” such as franchise rankings, satisfaction surveys, and awards from such organizations as the non-profit American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD). To test your interpretive skills, answer this question:
What does the fair franchising award (as pictured and described above) indicate about the recipient company:
A) The award-recipient …read more

Sean Kelly, publisher of franchise blog FranchisePick.Com and occasional troublemaker, responds to Bob Purvin’s response (Some Words From AAFD On Cuppy’s Coffee and Elite Manufacturing) to the FranchisePick.Com list of alleged franchisee complaints about Cuppy’s Coffee & affiliate Elite Manufacturing (Cuppy’s Coffee Franchise Allegations Are Disturbingly Familiar).
Bob writes: I am delighted that Sean Kelly has now got religion…
I don’t know that I’ve found religion, Bob, but I have found another complaint: Another Cuppy’s Coffee Franchise Allegation on Rip-Off Report.
Bob writes [emphasis mine]: …let me offer a few facts and observations about the AAFD handling of the 5-6 complaints about …read more