Yesterday I went to buy a sandwich at a franchised point of sale. As I was driving, I thought the owner would be there to help and save some money on labor, knowing that a holiday weekend is hard to come by. As I was driving to the place where a man driving a Lexus-made SUV, nice too, cut me off stealing my parking spot. It parked crooked and blocked part of the stall I wanted and part of the handicap stall next to it.

Did everyone think he was rich? Customers and store employees, I could see it by their gaping gaze from the vehicle. He didn’t try to downplay that observation, carefully glancing at his Rolex watch and pressing the alarm and walking with a tinge of arrogance. Everyone was staring at his Lexus with all the bells and whistles. A Lexus built in Japan, and part of the reason auto workers and auto parts manufacturers were displaced in America, not to mention the plant closure in the next city. There were five minutes left to close, he arrives and I. He cuts me off so I can’t get into the parking space as I started my last turn. So I went back and found another. Apparently he had come just before closing like me to buy a sandwich. Then I see him go into the cash register. Then I realized that he was the owner of the place. And go behind a wall to, I guess, get the money out of the safe too. He comes back and puts the money in his pocket. Perhaps to deposit or withdraw the cash or to make sure the employee did not take it? Then he puts the cash in a pocket and the checks in one of those zippered bags and ignores me, now I’m a customer in front of the cash register, he looks at his watch and asks
“I can help?” Not like you want to ask, but “Why are you here?” I said yes, I would like the “King Club Combo” (Name change so as not to condemn a very worthy franchise chain and one of my favorite franchise systems).

One, who started out quite small with a history of perseverance and hard work. The founder I met personally about five years ago at an International Franchise Association meeting in 1997. He had also been at the top of the food chain, literally, in many franchise surveys in widely read entrepreneurship magazines. Apparently the owner of this franchise must not have been properly vetted. With a bumper sticker that said; “Long live better, labor union” had obviously been fired probably by the same nearby auto plant and probably all the things he hated and cursed as an employee, in fact he was now the epitome of that former nemesis of the paid corporate executive. except without the high paycheck. The treatment of employees was literally non-existent, neither good nor bad, as if employees were irrelevant, and he looked at me as if I was irrelevant, which in his overall business scheme I probably was. He looked up and said, we are closed. I said “Oh, but is it still five minutes from closing?” He said “well I guess we can accept your order. But how are you paying?” Did I say cash or ATM card? He said, “Well, we can do the ATM transaction, but not the cash. I closed the cash register unless you have exact change.” I was a bit puzzled but hungry. So we swipe the ATM credit card and I ask him how business was doing. Said I can’t get any “damn employees worth shit.”

Hmm, I said. Once again, thinking about it, he just told his employee who he put away that he sucked, with his curses, but that he didn’t want to get into it, all he wanted is my sandwich. Then a lady appears and asks him: “Mark?” Yah said, why do you want to know? She said, well my guys are in the ‘so-and-so group’ and we wonder if you have a gift certificate that I can donate to our event on the ‘so-and-so’ date … for the group of ‘ so and so ‘…. which will help your business and be served by many potential’ so in so ‘customers for your sandwich shop …. However, you probably didn’t even hear a word of what she said.

Meanwhile my sandwich was almost ready to be spilled as the clerk probably didn’t care after being told she was a “Damn” employee, isn’t it worth it? I was a bit upset but the sloppy sandwich wasn’t that important, I want to stick with my Atkins diet and they do it with the correct ingredients. Basically, he told the lady no, I’m not interested. Then he turned to me and said, “I can’t believe all these groups came and wanted me to give them something.” I told him it was a sign of the times, as the economy was still on the mend and money was flowing out of the country the wrong way. He said, “Yah, business has slowed down too, I can’t pay all these groups, so they walk away when I say no?” Then he started blaming the franchisor for the cost of food, shipping, fees, the US President, Congressmen and said he was thinking of going out of business, maybe selling? The clerk was told to clean up fast, and they walked me outside as I looked at the tables in front and blocked another customer from entering the store, “we are closed” as I turned the sign over.

The guy was quite upset that he had a list of four sandwiches with various toppings for, I guess, his family. He was annoyed as he looked at the store clock that indicated three minutes left. He couldn’t help it and brought it up. So said the owner of the store; “Well it’s a holiday weekend, we’re closed tomorrow and we really have to get out of here.” As he moved the tables, he slammed them against the door and shattered the painting. He called his employee and said “hurry up!” Then he said, come on, we can clean it up on Monday.

I’m still standing trying to eat my sandwich standing knowing it was messy and unkempt to eat in my car. And half of me wanting to see what happens next. I am thinking well, they did not clean the store, both because of the food safety rules and the cockroaches, I noticed a level of cleaning of the store “Level 3”, which did not make me feel comfortable anyway, while I was waiting for my sandwich. The clerk says he starts to leave and says, hold on my bag, the guy says, oh for the love of Pete, hooray uuuuppp !!! “She grabs her bag and runs off. He closes the door, sets some kind of alarm and walks over to Leaving the back light on where I could see, so having fun I said” You left the light on “He doesn’t answer, just picks up hand in an attitude of disgust, your basic ‘so what’ gesture signal. He jumps into his truck and drives away causing the worker to jump back and wait to cross the parking lot in front of him (she walks after and gets into an old rusty old Ford Fajita that barely works – orange and bondo) and he runs out of the parking lot. So guess what?

Well being a franchisor I picked up a ‘Customer Satisfaction Survey’ from the counter while waiting, of course no one noticed this. When he sped out of the parking lot, it was almost a minute before closing. WOW? However. There was no community support, this guy complained about the franchisor, he buys a foreign car but complains about the economy, the former union guesses from the bumper sticker, but treats employees like hell when in charge. It is disrespectful to disabled people. You are not trying to save energy costs by leaving the lights on. Complains about business but rejects 4 sandwiches, which could have been $ 20.00 in the last five minutes of business. $ 20 for 29 days per month, which works out to $ 580.00 per month, but apparently you are concerned that business has slowed down. Still complaining about franchisor fees, $ 580 for 12 months is almost $ 7,000 per year. Selling such a business could generate gross monthly income 10 to 24 times. That is, $ 5,800 to about $ 14,000 at your appraised price when you list your business with a business broker. A disabled person who saw this event would never patronize that store again. The lady who came for a donation, was treated badly, will never return. The guy with the order for all four sandwiches probably won’t be back for 10 visits. Ray Kroc used to tell his trained managers at Hamburger University in Oak Brook, IL that a dissatisfied customer will likely go elsewhere 10 times if upset and tell up to 20 people, leading to negative word of mouth. So let’s think what else?

Well, will I send my survey? Now my question to the audience is, should this franchisee be allowed to have that brand name? Should you be able to sue the franchisor after their “best efforts” were less than a meteoric attempt at good service? Should this franchise be complaining at all? Economy? The American president? Work? Franchisor? I offer this last experience, because it is clear to me that there is much more to franchising than a franchise agreement, a franchise website, a regulatory compliance agency, some franchise associations, and a group of attorneys who seek to specialize in knowledge about franchises. Look in the mirror? Before someone complains, speak out of place, look in the mirror. Do you treat customers, employees and the community badly?

Well, I must say: silly human franchised businesses or any small business don’t work like that. Any comment, for or against. I hate the mail or congratulations always glad to hear it. Please, without regulators or lawyers, you have done enough to ruin the franchise model in America. Much more than renegade franchisees like the guy mentioned here, if you can believe it.