Quiznos. Ever thought of opening one, or a similar major franchise?

[Thomas N]

I guess having one of the fastest growing franchise names backing you is no sure path to success... Read these horror stories, I found it very eye-opening.

DEAR CHRIS,

I FOUND OUT ABOUT YOUR WEBSITE FROM ANOTHER DISGRUNTLED FRANCHISEE. I LOGGED ON WITH GREAT INTEREST & WAS RELIEVED TO FIND I WAS NOT ALONE IN THE " HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME " WORLD OF QUIZNOS FRANCHISEES.

I TOO LOST EVERYTHING, HOUSE, SAVINGS, RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS AND AN ADDITIONAL STRAIN ON AN ALREADY TROUBLED MARRIAGE THAT FINALLY LED TO DIVORCE. NOT TO MENTION THE EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL STRAIN PUT ON ME PERSONALLY.

WHEN I CALLED QUIZNOS TO INFORM THAM OF MY INTENSION TO CLOSE MY STORE BEING THAT I HAD NO FUNDING LEFT TO STAY OPEN & WAIT FOR A SALE, THE RESPONSE WAS " WELL, YOU'D BETTER NOT BECAUSE WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE TO SUE YOU". BUT EVEN BEFORE THAT WHEN I CALLED MY A.D., THERE WAS NO ATTEMPT TO HELP OR WHAT CAN WE DO TYPE ATTITUDE JUST " HERES THE NUMBER AT QUIZNOS YOU'LL NEED TO CALL. THE GUY AT CORPORATE ALSO SAID " BY THE WAY, HALF THE STORES IN JACKSONVILLE ARE FOR SALE AND NOBODY WANTS THEM".

SO I CLOSED THE STORE AND WALKED AWAY. THEN A LETTER COMES SAYING I OWE DAMAGES OF UNPAID ROYALTIES OF $277K. GREAT, IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER. I'LL BE LUCKY TO EARN THAT MUCH IN THE REMAINDER OF MY LIFETIME BEING I'M JUST NOT THAT YOUG ANYMORE.

PLEASE E-MAIL ME BACK WITH INFO ON HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE TSFA. CAN I BE A MEMBER IF I NO LONGER OWN A FRANCHISE OR OPERATE A STORE? I'D LIKE TO PUT IN MY TWO CENTS WORTH.

THANKS FOR YOUR EFFORTS.

SINCERELY,

GLENN E. POYER.....#9189
(904) 620-****

Chris,

This is a hard letter to write. I have been an advocate for this lawsuit for so long, not being a part of it takes prayer on my part. But after the 3 hour deposition that my husband was put through on Saturday, we are so upset with what the trustee is doing to us, we don't want to put another penny in their hands. I am going to share this with you because you have walked this story with us for over a year.

As you know, we went bankrupt and lost the note that we held on our first store ($131,000). Well, because the bankruptcy trustee has that, they are trying to soak up as much in legal fees as possible. So they are trying to say we are the criminals. That we hid money and didn't bother to report everything to them. The fact that we lost everything doesn?t seem to mean anything, The fact that Quiznos lied to us from the beginning, is truly a ?Buyers beware? scenario.

The trustee is also in the process of suing my brother - in - law in California, because my husband and I shared the estate funds from his mother's death with his brother (before the stores where opened). And after we sold a rental property, because it had gone into foreclosure due to the money we had to use to keep the stores open, btw after we declared bankruptcy. We were told not to put the money under our name because the Quiznos supplier had sued us for $5,000. (of which we didn't owe) and was trying to take money out of our bank account. So we put $4800 in our bank account. We have submitted receipts on how that money was spent, but they are still going after her (she is 26) for the repayment of the money. The legal fees for all this is stacking up (we are up to about $3000, we already spent $3200). They are even making noises about reversing our bankruptcy discharge (that won't happen, they are just being pricks). Essentially, they are giving us hell over less than 3% of what we lost and less than 2% of what we owe.

There are several other issues that are weighing in on this, tax refunds not received, tax deposits, sales tax issues from the store, missing restaurant equipment, landlord keeping equipment and changing the locks... They even came into our home to inventory all our possessions to see if you bought anything with the money we used to bring up the two stores, so they could sell it. We hadn?t brought anything, even carpeting, in 8 years, just because we were using all our resources to buy into a business. All of which are directly because we were stupid enough to believe the Quiznos hype.

So needless to say, we don't want to put another penny in the trustees pocket. Especially, since we will not see a dime of the remedies from Quiznos, no matter what or how much they agree to. From what our attorney says, any money will first go to the trustee then to the creditors. They asked us about the lawsuit, my husband told them that we would not be involved since it would cost us, and we wouldn't get any relief from it.

We have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, all of our savings, our house (that is a whole nother story, but it has also gone into foreclosure.) What is amazing to us is that of the $489,000 we spent to get into this business, we are more than $800,000 in the hole and close to retirement age and have to start over from nothing. It took us 20+ years to save the $300,000 in cash that we dived into this business, and in less than 2 years we lost it all.

Our story needs to be told, but we won't get a chance, and nobody really cares that we were victims except you guys, and we can't help you with the suit directly.

Karen

Taken from here: http://toastedsubs.blogspot.com/
which is the blog for these unhappy franchise owners: http://www.toastedsubs.info/

Some interesting reading.

[Kevsh]

I would never, ever, under any circumstances buy, open, or manage any store or franchise that has to deal with the "general public" - be it a fast food crap, convenience store, jiffy lube, or whatever.

I'd rather stick needles in my eyes.

Just my .02

[Thomas N]

Originally Posted by Kevsh

I would never, ever, under any circumstances buy, open, or manage any store or franchise that has to deal with the "general public" - be it a fast food crap, convenience store, jiffy lube, or whatever.

I'd rather stick needles in my eyes.

Just my .02

I definitely understand that way of thinking. Much better not to have to deal with the general public if one can avoid it.

[Bozena X]

When I was in Charlotte, Nc I used to frequent a Quizzies there. The owner drove a Dodge Viper to work everyday, maybe a lease?

[Tdog]

Originally Posted by Kevsh

I would never, ever, under any circumstances buy, open, or manage any store or franchise that has to deal with the "general public" - be it a fast food crap, convenience store, jiffy lube, or whatever.

I'd rather stick needles in my eyes.

Just my .02

So true, everyone that I talked with that owned a franchise says it sucks and there is no money in it.

[MSV]

From what I read, it seems like the people who opened the franchises had no business sense, and just expected customers to flock into the door? when they didnt, and went bankrupt they decided to blame Quizno's?

WTF... Its a fucking franchise, which means you are buying the rights to use their name, and foods, etc... not a guarantee that you will have business - you still need to have a proper location, proper local advertising, etc.

[BlackCrayon]

its all about location. i agree with msv. there is no such thing as a 'turn key' business.

[Babagirls]

i live in a rather expensive area, alot of devoloping happening here (more and more businesses being built and striving!) and there was a quiznos that just opened earlier this year here, the owner sent out "buy 1 get 1 free" coupons, which is a hell of a deal cuz their subs are like $8 a piece. we went a couple of times and redeemed the coupons. the 3rd time, the owner was there and said "we're not taking any more of those coupons, sorry. im going bankrupt with those!"

a month later, we noticed that it was closed on a monday afternoon, took a peek inside, and on the window was a sign saying "employees, please go to [insert location here] to pick up your last checks."

that was it lol in less than 6 months, they opened & closed. tough biz i guess.

[wedouglas]

I am looking to buy a franchise. You guys are crazy. If you drop some coin on an established franchise, and no what you are doing, it is 10x more secure than internet money and pays great.

Easy 100K a year if you aren't retarded.

[wedouglas]

Originally Posted by BlackCrayon

its all about location. i agree with msv. there is no such thing as a 'turn key' business.

Sure there is. They just cost more.

[avalanche]

I have several friends who are area managers for Subway and the word on the street is that Quiznos is hurting big time. Most Franchisees are wanting out as the corporate structure gives little or no support. Subway on the other hand has a huge waiting list for stores and they seem to do quite well...

[sextoyking]

One of our Quiznos in town has been forsale for months now... Franchises are hit and miss..

our couse someday I want to have a whole chain of bbq places, BBQ Shack

[Babagirls]

Originally Posted by sextoyking

One of our Quiznos in town has been forsale for months now... Franchises are hit and miss..

our couse someday I want to have a whole chain of bbq places, BBQ Shack

i'd love to have my own business as well. thats my DREAM goal. i have a few ideas in mind

[FreeFastHost]

I know a guy that owns 4-5 mcdonald's and he brings in around 1M per year.

[bknoob]

I was actually looking to open a jamba juice in my area.. but they are very selective

[OldSchoolJim]

If anyone ever wants to open a "Pizza Express"...just holler! almost ready for franchise and adult webmaster owned and operated!! weeeeeeeeee

"pizza and porn...mmmm good!"

[Z]

Dude, take it from me. My old man has been in the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) business for a long, long time. Franchises are just a way to let somebody take a % of your business, set the rules and be waiting for the first time your stumble to fuck you, while you do all the work.

If you want to start a business, hit me up about some of the opportunities down here in Panama.

[Kevsh]

Ok, so there IS money in franchises no doubt .. I think in Quizno's case you have to be extra-careful: Everyone knows how expensive they are so you can't just put one up anywhere and expect success. If these people researched it well enough, they probably would've figured that out.

I have no pity for someone who (gambles and) loses their life's fortune due to their own ignorance and/or stupidity.

Still, I'll stay clear of the franchisee route anyway. I still would rather deal with affiliate reps then drunk teenagers, klepto senior citizens, birthday party food fights and ghetto boys copin' an attitude

(No offense reps, you're cool in my books ... ;))

[Fred Quimby]

2 words

Krispy Kream

[BlackCrayon]

Originally Posted by wedouglas

I am looking to buy a franchise. You guys are crazy. If you drop some coin on an established franchise, and no what you are doing, it is 10x more secure than internet money and pays great.

Easy 100K a year if you aren't retarded.

keep us updated on your progress. i think most of us here want offline businesses as well but its not near as easy to get started out as the internet. i wanted to buy white castle franchises because there are none here in canada but they don't franchise.

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by wedouglas

I am looking to buy a franchise. You guys are crazy. If you drop some coin on an established franchise, and no what you are doing, it is 10x more secure than internet money and pays great.

Easy 100K a year if you aren't retarded.

100k a year isn't enough money. You should realize that everyone on here makes that in a month, wipes their ass with $50 bills and drives a different coloured Ferrari every day of the week.

Seriously though, you're partially right, depending on the franchise. Some can make you money without stupid levels of stress and hassle, and some aren't worth doing. Up here we have Pizza Pizza, and they absolutely assfuck you every chance they get. They tell you where you have to buy all of your supplies, and they reserve the right to drop another Pizza Pizza 10 feet down the road from you if the volume in the territory is high enough. They don't want you to get rich, they want you to work your ass off so they get rich.

[Thomas N]

Originally Posted by FreeFastHost

I know a guy that owns 4-5 mcdonald's and he brings in around 1M per year.

You know this guy and you know his annual income, but you don't know if he owns 4 stores or 5? Let me guess, it's your friend's cousin's roommate's neighbor, and he heard it all from his aunt, right? lol

[Wiggles]

i have been considering opening a tim hortons or a dairy queen, dq profit margin is huge due to low prices of ice cream, tim hortons never seem to fail anywhere in canada, my city has 200k people and about 27 tim hortons.

[Doctor Dre]

Unless you open a mcdonalds at a good location and run it well, there isn't that much money in franchises. You need a dozen of them

[Pipecrew]

I have seen 3 quiznos's already close down on busy streets around here, You cant actually believe these franchise owners are making a killing.. Half of the SUBWAYS i have been too, the OWNER is the guy making your sub trying to cut down on his overhead and his employees are all family.

[Big_Red]

hit and miss. a friend of mine opened up a Subway. he is top of the pile. making the bling.

[~Ray]

quizno's made one of the most disgusting sandwiches I have ever put in my mouth. The french dip looked so good, but that horrific onion sauce still gives me nightmares.

[minusonebit]

I wouldnt fuck around with any national franchise, with one exception: Payday loan stores.

They make a HUGE amount of money, have little to no inventory and very little overhead. Plus, there are all kinds of secondary products to market within the stores from prepaid cell phones, internet service, piss-poor credit history credit cards, prepaid calling cards, lottery tickets, no deposit phone service, money orders, wire transfer services, check cashing, soda machine, payphone... the list goes on and on.

A guy I know opened one of these 14 months ago, he now has three locations and is working on a fourth. He started by taking a home equity loan for seed money. Now he has his house in the clear, is building a new house and has all his cars paid off. It has been a true road to riches for him.

Fast food fads come and go. The resturant business is a pain in the ass, ask anyone who has run one. But no matter what, there will always be n1ggers in this country. People who cant get a bank account and have to live out of thier car. And as more and more illegals come here, there will be even more of a market for these kinds of services.

[L-Pink]

The right franchise, in the right city, in the right part of town, on the proper side of the street (in-going vs out-going), properly trained and financed can be a gold mine.

I was very successful as a franchise owner (auto related) year to year as well as eventually selling my stores for big bucks. Many were not.

Most franchisees are not cut out to own their own businesses. Fewer are competent enough to pick the right type of business to start with. Steve Lightspeed could open stores selling used rubbers and do well. Others on this board couldn't give away gold coins.

Quiznos ran a national ad campaign featuring a rat like mascot with dental problems that made you want to throw-up. Corporate spent money on ads to drive business away! They failed, duh ... every-time I saw one of those ads I went "what the hell are they doing?

Were any of those franchise owners impressed with the food, traffic flow, customer satisfaction, etc, at a corporate location before they invested?

Anyway, the two things that make a franchise worth the investment and royalties are ... Name recognition and purchasing power.

Repeat: Name recognition and purchasing power.

[ztik]

Quiznos sucks balls, taste like shit, and is over priced. Almost all of them are closed down here.

[pocketkangaroo]

The problem is that you have to know what you are doing when you invest in something like this. Can they be profitible? Yes, very. Those who make the most money by franchising typically have multiple stores though in multiple locations.

What happens though is the ease of setting up a store will attract the morons who have no business owning a business. They fail at it and blame everyone but themselves.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Doctor Dre

Unless you open a mcdonalds at a good location and run it well, there isn't that much money in franchises. You need a dozen of them

McDonald's are closing all over the place. It takes more than a name to be successful, the name is simply a jump start.

[Basic_man]

Suckssssssss, really suckss !

[Quotealex]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

They don't want you to get rich, they want you to work your ass off so they get rich.

Most franchisors are like that too. They basically want you to buy your job and become a slave to them.

[crockett]

Originally Posted by EpicJim

If anyone ever wants to open a "Pizza Express"...just holler! almost ready for franchise and adult webmaster owned and operated!! weeeeeeeeee

"pizza and porn...mmmm good!"

You have a local pizza place?

[Wagerboy]

I know a Quizno's owner. The 1st year he was making money hand over fist. Since, he claims he loses 10K a month and his store is still pretty busy. I would stay away.

[triumph]

I do not know how some Quiznos stay in business, they are very expensive and not that great.

[The Dawg]

Originally Posted by Pipecrew

Half of the SUBWAYS i have been too, the OWNER is the guy making your sub trying to cut down on his overhead and his employees are all family.

Most franchises dont allow absentee ownership. You have to put in X amount of hours in your store. Thats one reason I didnt go that route. Im not standing behind a counter waiting for some clown to come in to rob me for the $100 thats in the register.

Dealing with the public face-to-face is a thankless job. I see people catch attitudes with the clerks and its just not worth the headache.

BTW, Quiznos is overpriced and dont taste good.

[cyberstar]

great thread.. thx for the warning!

[cyberstar]

Originally Posted by Fred Quimby

2 words

Krispy Kream

one word: YUM!

[Rochard]

Way too much work and not enough profit!

[darkwood]

Quizno's seems like a nightmare. It's worse in Canada than in the US.

[jayeff]

Originally Posted by The Dawg

Dealing with the public face-to-face is a thankless job.

I understand where you are coming from, but I spent 25 years dealing with the public every day (if not always people walking into a store, then business owners in large enough numbers that their behavior wasn't overall so much different) and it was the most valuable tool I had.

Working online deprives you of the opportunity to see how people react to what you are offering. Sure you see the money and maybe it is enough. But we turn away far more business than we close and we can only guess at why. Watching and listening to people, frustrating as it can be, gives you instant reaction, not only telling you what people like, but more importantly, what they don't like.

From experience, I would guess that if there were a way to interact effectively with our customers, many of us could be earning 2-3 times as much as we are now.

[JFK]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

100k a year isn't enough money. You should realize that everyone on here makes that in a month, wipes their ass with $50 bills and drives a different coloured Ferrari every day of the week.

Seriously though, you're partially right, depending on the franchise. Some can make you money without stupid levels of stress and hassle, and some aren't worth doing. Up here we have Pizza Pizza, and they absolutely assfuck you every chance they get. They tell you where you have to buy all of your supplies, and they reserve the right to drop another Pizza Pizza 10 feet down the road from you if the volume in the territory is high enough. They don't want you to get rich, they want you to work your ass off so they get rich.

The Pizza Pizza store next to my office sold 5 times in the last 8 yrs, people think its a pie in the sky. You still have to work for it.

[Babagirls]

me and the boyfriends dream is to own our own franchise someday, we keep our eyes peeled and do research here and there. we're not looking to do anything for years to come.

however, with that being said, theres an ice cream place called Maggie Moos, the boyfriend found this place down in D.C on vacation last year, and he became addicted to the ice cream...so did his mom and niece that went with him. When they all got back, they all raved about this ice cream place, i blew it off.

finally, a store opened up about 20 mins from us recently (they're having their grand opening right now actually), we went there last night and i have 3 words for you: OH MY GOD!!! the best ice cream, by far, I've ever tasted. After the first spoonful, i was HOOKED! Like crack to an addict, i wanted more. yes, its THAT good lol

so we checked out the franchise info, and at this point in our lives, its not possible for us to do. If i remember correctly, it said that you need proof that you make $250,000 or more a year, plus another $250,000 to put down, then theres a bunch more "fees". Would that shit sell though? Ohhh yes! No doubt!
So if you got big bucks and want something thats easy to sell and makes $$$, check out Maggie Moos.

[whitey]

Originally Posted by SwordFish

I guess having one of the fastest growing franchise names backing you is no sure path to success... Read these horror stories, I found it very eye-opening.





Taken from here: http://toastedsubs.blogspot.com/
which is the blog for these unhappy franchise owners: http://www.toastedsubs.info/

Some interesting reading.

Never, ever open a franchise. If you read the contracts thoroughly, you are better off getting a job.

I have started 8 businesses and sold them at significant profit. The only thing I ever lost money on was a franchise. Since I bought a bunch of them, my losses were in the bunches, to put it politely.

[whitey]

Originally Posted by wedouglas

I am looking to buy a franchise. You guys are crazy. If you drop some coin on an established franchise, and no what you are doing, it is 10x more secure than internet money and pays great.

Easy 100K a year if you aren't retarded.

Hmmm...talk to me after you have owned one.

Put it this way, I bought established stores (restaurants) of an established and stable franchisor. Six months after I closed on the deal, the franchisor sold to a new group. Said new group proceeded to drain the company (illegally) and the vast majority of franchisees (over 1200) were out of business in 18 months. The big risk in owning a franchise is that you are not in control of your destiny, someone else is. It is rather analogous to buying a job.

As a result of my experience, I was a leader in forming a franchisee association and leading a lawsuit. The class action lawsuit was started 4 years ago - that was almost 1.5 million US$ ago (in business losses) and the lawsuit is still trekking its way to trial.

I have since helped many franchisees of many different brands to help organize to fight similar situations.

I have met a few happy franchisees, but more often met people who lost money or have simply laid out considerable money in order to acquire a rather low paying job. Since a job is less risky, and more likely has more freedom, get a job if you are interested in buying a franchise is my advice.

[whitey]

Originally Posted by Alex from Montreal

Most franchisors are like that too. They basically want you to buy your job and become a slave to them.

Yep, I would advise any one looking to buy a franchise to review the contract very carefully. You generally have more freedom in a job.

[fl_prn_str]

dont forget about the flying rats