Gian F

Disillusioned Franchisee

<p>I invested in a Franchise called "Inspect-a-Home" just over two years ago due to seriously misleading information that was advertised by the Founder of the Franchisor in the Aldes Business Brokers Website. I eventually plucked up the courage to contact the Founder and was interviewed by him at his home in Westville who then gave me further misleading information that made the business appear to be exteemly profitable. I was so convinced that I took out a loan and invested R165 300.00 to purchase the Franchise for the Natal North Coast area. I had been unemployed for two years before this so I had to secure the loan with the morgage of my home. Several months after having registering the business I was not able to get work from all the potential clients that the Franchisor had mentioned to me. No calls were forthcoming from their "Call Centre" I have subsequently discovered that Estate Agents do not support the concept of home inspections and nor are any of the other nominated clients supporting the brand. I have inspected a total of 4 houses in two years. 6 other Franchisees have ceased trading for the same reason as I. The Franchisor has not once visited my area in two years. We have not had one National Meeting in two years. We have not seen one National Advert by the Franchisor in two years. Yet we are bound by his contract which says that we are obligated to pay royalties at 15% a minimum of 12 Inspections per month at an average cost of R3000 per inspection. This amounts to R5400 per Franchisee per month whether we are doing inspections or not. This is a staggering R140 400 per month that he would receive.  I have requested that he refunds me the money and we are entering into a legal battle because he refuses to do so. I have not consulted with an Attorney as yet because I had hoped that we could resolve our issues without going legal. But now I will box and this is round 1.</p>