Consumerist
franchises
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franchises
Not All Camaro Owners Got Free Pizza From Papa John's
Like Quizno's and KFC before them, Papa John's went and set up a cute promotion without making sure that all of their franchisees have signed on. Papa John's founder John Schnatter was reunited with his long-lost 1971 Camaro, and to celebrate, promised free pizza to anyone who drove up to a Papa John's restaurant in a Camaro. Except, you guessed it, not at all Papa John's locations. More » -
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global flamebroiling
Memphis Burger Kings: Global Warming Is Baloney
At least three Burger Kings in Memphis have recently displayed "GLOBAL WARMING IS BALONEY" on their letter boards, according to the Memphis Flyer and a reader. More » -
fake offers
Fast Food Restaurants: Stop With The "Free" Promotions Already
Dear Quiznos, KFC, Arby's, and any other food chain that wants to offer freebies without first securing full buy-in from your franchisees: please stop it. Either the coupons are honored or they're not; there is no try. More » -
arbitration
Forced Arbitration: You Lose, Now Pay For Our Lunch
Mandatory binding arbitration, which corporations use to dodge accountability for their discrimination, negligence, or harassment, is a caricature of justice that offers no protection to consumers or employees. It's also terrible for small business owners, as one couple found out. More » -
quiznos
People Who Complained About Quiznos Million Sub Giveaway Imbroglio Get $5 Gift Cards
Readers who had problems with the Quiznos million free sub campaign and wrote in to the email address the sandwichery supplied to Consumerist report they're receiving $5 gift card in the mail along with a letter of apology from the marketing director. One reader reports that on the back of the card it says that a $1 service charge gets applied to it each month you don't use it. To see what some franchisees are saying are the *real* reasons for the problems, check out the comments section on this post at UnhappyFranchisee. Quiznos' letter is posted inside. More » -
quiznos
Why The Quiznos Free Sandwich Promo Burnt Some Customers
According to tipster Rich Piotrowski, a former Quiznos franchise owner who won a counter-suit against the company, the big reason why some Quiznos were being jerks about taking the free sandwich coupon is that at first corporate was making the franchises pay for all the sandwiches. (Quiznos mandates franchises buy all their ingredients from HQ, often at above-market rates...). Then it looks like they decided to reimburse up to 400 coupons, then bumped that up to 700 to meet the demand, and now they're going to reimburse all coupons. Don't give away free stuff in these times unless you're ready for an onslaught of interest, at the outset. Corporate seems to have realized this and contacted us to say that if you have any problems redeeming coupons you can email millionsubs@quiznos.com. Tipster's comment, and an internal Quiznos memo, inside... More » -
arbitration
Mandatory Binding Arbitration Isn't Just Bad For Consumers, It's Bad For Small Businesses
Mother Jones has an excellent writeup of Deborah Williams and Richard Welshans, the Maryland couple whose horrific experience with franchising a Coffee Beanery we've covered before. Inside, MoJo breaks down the arbitration award to show just how much more expensive arbitration is than litigation. More » -
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Petland
Petland Uses Puppy Mills
Jane Weaver of MSNBC writes:
After an eight-month investigation, the Humane Society of the United States accused Petland, the national pet store chain, of selling dogs bred under appalling conditions at puppy mills around the country.
While puppy mills aren't illegal, they're also not places where dogs are treated as anything more than merchandise—and the Humane Society says that the 21 Petland stores they investigated mislead buyers on where the dogs actually come from.
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abuse
Meet The Coupon-Throwing Papa John's Owner From Hell
Papa John's wouldn't let reader Adi redeem her coupon for a $9.99 extra-large pizza online, so she trekked over to the nearest store in Weymouth, Massachusetts, where she met the franchise owner from hell. The owner insisted that the coupon didn't apply to online orders, so Adi asked to cancel her online order and re-order her pizza in person to get the discount. This prompted the owner to angrily throw the coupon at Adi, before throwing away her ready-made pizza. And was just the start of the fun... More » -
franchise agreements
We Are Not Impressed By New York City's Proposed Cable Consumer Bill Of Rights
New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson has proposed tying a Cable Consumer Bill of Rights into the 10-year franchise renewals Time Warner and Cablevision are expected to sign later this year. The proposal would force cable operators to disclose information about their expenses and service goals—which sounds nice and important on paper—but wastes an unrivaled opportunity to end the cable operators' most hated practices. More » -
bad ideas
Coffee Shop Installs Fake Security Camera In Bathroom
A coffee shop in Montreal has removed a "dud" security camera from its bathroom after news of it hit the local papers. Corporate headquarters asked the franchise owner to take it down, and apologized/avoided blame in a press release that said they were "not consulted in advance." The franchise owner had installed it as a sort of junkie scarecrow, to frighten away heroin users who were leaving dirty needles in the bathroom stall. More » -
fines
Comcast Fined $12,000 For Having Crappy Customer Service
Comcast has been fined $12,000 for having crappy customer service by Montgomery County, Maryland.. More » -
success stories
Local Franchise Authorities Keep Cable Operators In Line
Cable companies must constantly prove their worth to local franchise authorities. The authorities grant the cable providers permission to operate, and can whip them into action for failing to meet basic customer service standards, as reader Darren shows. More » -
comcast
Local Government Powerless Against Comcast, Tells Residents To Switch To Satellite
Residents in Adams County Pennsylvania are so upset with Comcast's rate hikes that they complain to their local governments several times a week. Sadly, Comcast is the only cable provider in the area, so there's not much the government can do. Evening Sun: More » -
quiznos
Good Things We Found In The Quiznos Manual
We've been harshing on the Quiznos manual in our possession, but there's actually some good stuff in there about customer service. More » -
quiznos
Did Quiznos Even Read Book Included In Their Training Kit?
We have to wonder whether it's a cruel joke or if anyone at Quiznos actually read McDonald's: Behind The Arches, a book they include in their Quiznos University Training Kit. More »
