When you have 140 locations and then you are down to 55 or 60 and then 1/2 of your base dealers sue you, you aren't doing things right. Let the evidence speak for itself. When normal hard working dealers all take legal action, despite their fears you have really screwed things up. Congratulations PMD! Live by the sword . . .

..the plate, and when is it a curve ball? When UPS is on the mound, that's when! Expect some spit on that little stitched-leather orb! It was a curve, Gold Shield was! A "misrepresentation" of assertations! A way to trick the MBE franchisees! Now ... all we can do is await the jury's [post-trial] verdict!

The thing about rotten franchisors that franchisees don’t understand is that they expect franchisees to do nothing.  That is how it all works and it relies on franchisees doing nothing. Only when one voice representing many emerges will the franchisor get nervous.  REAL freakin nervous!

When a franchisee is likely to be a problem [e.g. DDL] they deal with them, individually. I made an offer to assist BD franchisees in initial setup and communication so they cannot be targeted but I need more numbers before the 27th.  The 28th is too late. That is my ‘get out’.

I agree with Les and Guest101 and the guy who wrote this blog.  I hope it helps franchisees to understand what they are up against when entering franchising.  I hope they stop wasting time believing there is a magic wand to pull them out of hell when it’s too late to rely on anyone. At that stage, once again and as it was before they signed, it’s up to them to take informed action.

Some good advice here;

There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.– Quiznos franchisee G.W. Bush

I also believe the peasants have a right to continually remind governments that we are not stupid enough to consider them honest simply because the world is full of suckers. Some politicians get caught; but not enough.  If there were more caught it would be bloody hilareous.

Unfortunately for me, I was recruited through the unethical means outlined in the article. There are over 400 ex-dealers who lost a lot of money because of PMD Furniture Direct deception. This story needs to stay out there to prevent this from happening to any other innocent, hard-working people. PMD's CEO, Jeff Hosking, and the CMO, Joe Armetta, are too full of themselves to realize that the dealers aren't as stupid as they think. We were always a captive audience at their useless sales conferences and were forced to sit there listening to them talk down to us. Just because we have the grace to sit quietly and let the nonsense fly past us doesn't mean we're stupid. Quite the contrary. We let the buffoons talk big. We let them strut around. We let them spread their tail feathers. All the while thinking how stupid and out of touch they are. And, darn it for PMD management, collecting direct quotes which incriminate them and taking them straight to the Franklin County Courthouse. We've had enough of you. See you in court.

I think you will find at least one divisional who won't provide any information regarding current/any previous franchisees unless the prospective franchisee pays money up front to get the information and weather or not that information is correct is another story.

qud249/2009 accc vs ormond

nsd7346/2001 mcdonald vs ormond regadring bankruptcy

nsd7250/2001 news ltd vs ormond regadring bankruptcy

I wonder how many others didn't make it after he "discouraged people from seeking legal advice" (media release accc)

>>The UPS Store is UPS’s premiere retail channel offering ‘Full Service Premium’ service. The observation and opportunity is to identify and market to a segment of customers seeking out a higher customer service offering and are willing to pay a higher price. FAC disagrees with this
assessment and anticipates a significant portion of our losses in customer counts are due
to the significant UPS price increases over the past three years.<<

The study they supposedly conducted said that only 4% of the public would pay more than postal prices if the store and post office were equi-distant. Since their were and still are almost ten times as many post offices as MBE's (Now UPSS's) that was an already flawed premise. So, they stripped the perception of a higher level of service by putting the UPS name over the door, advertising lower prices and taking away the viability of a multiple carrier offering. This spurred Fedex and USPS to become more competitive. The UPS response to flat rate was to eliminate the only flat rate offering in their arsenal (the next day air letter which now goes at package rates if it exceeds 8 ounces).

They lowered the prices and with this lowered the perceived value of the service, eliminating choices for the consumer. In response, Fedex has become more competitive retaining a flat rate overnight envelope with no upcharge for over 8 ounces, a far superior transit time average on ground and lower pricing on ground.

The UPS response - raise prices, make residential and rural surcharges prohibitive and suspend guarantees for longer periods in peak as well as repudiate guaranteed services on larger packages etc.

Now, they say raise prices and create a perception of a higher level of service when in fact none exists and at the very time that the consumer is more cost conscious than ever!

I dare say the jury might be quite interested in this complete reversal of the "pitch" they used to persuade people to convert!

before they figured this out!

>>The message of Pack & Ship Promise has not brought new customers into our centers and
is a more difficult message to convey as well as for customers to retain.<<

Gee, plenty of franchisees tried to tell them. You don't get a big boost in business by advertising something that the customer already expects as part of the proposition to begin with.

Corruption should not be disregarded and its part in how franchising is allowed to operate shouldn’t be overlooked. Since there won’t be any change to political corruption then the answer lies with those contemplating franchising. I don’t see that letting politicians know we know they are as a rule corrupt as excusing franchisees from getting plenty smarter.

...for what is interpreted by some as "corruption". (This brokering is done everyday by every western democracy across every policy area, btw.)

2. The environment of being a franchisee is what creates the passivity, muddied thinking and self-doubt that is so much on display.

Focusing on the individual in each arena, blinds us to a way out of this maze.

Nonsense Idea: Franchisees' bodies are changed as a by-product of franchising. Their medical or bio-chemical state is altered which improves some faculties while retarding others.

Franchisees appear to be "retards" because of an, up-to-now unrecognized form of  disease (are at dis-ease).

Blaming a group of Down Syndrome individuals doesn't seem very productive to me. Shaming is not a solution, but part of the probem.

Everyone is free to interprete this post as another exercise in excuse-making...

...and they will react against UPS when they learn about this non-payment for work performed (drop-off internet/corporate account packages) scheme perpetrated by UPS! They will be uncomfortable with dropping their "stuff" off at TUPSS, and where they used to blame the owner (if they were not well-received), they will now fault UPS (because they have heard and understand what is going on...the word is spreading)! Not all, but many. Once they learn, they will put themselves in the shoes of the EXPLOITED owner, and walk away from that store, and quite possibly UPS! Just like a strike, or a boycott, or a protest! They will hear about this UNFAIR PRACTICE, and their sense of fair-play will bring them to oppose UPS! ..to stop using them, and drop their package off at FedEx, or the Post Office. Just like the sale of animal firs, or lettuce picked by underpaid farm-workers, or sneakers made by child labor! That's why owners need to "get the word out"! UPS. ...Oh, what ye shall (in ever-increasing quantities) forever more sew!!!