7-Eleven Franchise Complaints
7-Eleven franchise owners are invited to share their complaints, frustrations and advice with prospective franchise owners below.
UnhappyFranchisee.com believes that no franchise system is perfect, and that it benefits everyone when new franchisees sign on with realistic expectations and advance knowledge of the challenges and frustrations they may face.
7-Eleven franchise website promises its franchisees world-class support: “Because we want you to spend your time operating your store and growing your business, we provide you with a level of support that is not just among the best in the convenience store industry—our support goes above and beyond, setting standards for franchises across all industries.”
7-Eleven franchise website boasts that it provides support by sending a business consultant to each store twice per week:
In order for 7-Eleven® to be successful, you have to be successful. That’s why we provide a personal Business Consultant to help you with all the challenges involved with running your own business.
We provide personal support to help you succeed
What are Business Consultants?
A Business Consultant is a 7-Eleven employee assigned to your store and who visits your store twice a week.
Here are just a few of the things your Business Consultant can do for you:
- Assist in the development of budgets and business plans for your store
- Provide advice, coaching and assistance on how to improve the business
- Assist with the analysis of your store’s sales data
- Provide continual training and guidance on our ever-improving system
- Promote efficiency to help maximize your store’s profitability
7-Eleven named the #1 franchise in Entrepreneur magazine’s 2011 Franchise 500. (See the UnhappyFranchisee.com discussion here: Top 100 Franchise Opportunities 2011: Behind The Hype) and has now been named the #3 franchise in Entrepreneur magazine’s 2012 Franchise 500 as well.
Are the accolades well-deserved?
Does 7-Eleven provide the training, support, marketing and systems it promises?
Is 7-Eleven genuinely dedicated to the success of its franchise owners?
Please share a comment, opinion or insight below.
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ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE 7-ELEVEN FRANCHISE? WHAT COMPLAINTS DO 7-ELEVEN FRANCHISEES HAVE? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
I’m a Newbie and Ready to Jump In buying this 7 /11 franchise after reading all the tread above make me wonder. I’m going to the conference next 2 week in NYC and I want to see what is going on. I heard Good Review and Bad to Worse Review.
What is the Catch Running or Buying this 7/11. I’m ready to read and listen.
I asked few 7/11 owner most said its Great!! is it a lie or they think I’m the guy from Corporate Office???
I want to know what is going to happen after I sign the Contract??
Whats good about it?
Whats bad about it?
Abudiman.
You must think, not once,not twice, not three times about this adventure.
Do you want to buy a job,
or do you want to own a Business.
Don’t know where you are planning to buy. A few stores are gold mines, but will cost a huge premium. Most stores will give you a living but not economic prosperity. The illusion that is 7-Eleven thrives on convincing you that a second, a third, a fourth store etc. will make you wealthy…..it is a lie. More stores, more hesdaches….there are no economies of scale as a FZ. Then the issue of return on investment, SEI is big on this for them….but for you they could care less. SEI now makes more $$$$ from what you are forced to purchase through BT than through the cash register. Save your money….there are better opportunities available. There was a time when being a store owner meant you had a shot at real financial success.
Hey Anonymous FZ….
Darren did not leave Joe high and dry….Joe fired him for among other things incompetence. Darren single handedly destroyed the relationship between SEI & FZ’s which led to all the lawsuits. A few others need to go too….Stine first and foremost.
Ben Dover,
How can you be sure Darren was fired ? So JDP wants to pass on the buck to his subordinates now? When will he own up his mistakes like a good leader? Remember the buck stops with him.
Be cause a) he disappeared quietly and b) the typical “he is leaving to pursue other interests” doesn’t sound like a retirement. Joe foolishly thought his West Point buddies would run the company while he played mergers and aquisition footsies, the West Pointers ran the company like a boot camp. More need to go.
Good that you have so much faith in JDP. But his actions and thereby the results that negatively affected the entire 7-Eleven Franchisee community speak a very different story. I think running a Public Enterprise seems to be JDPs wet dream (sic). All this actions/policies of years past were pointing in that direction.
I don’t have much faith in JDP. In fact I will bet the clock is running out on his tenure. His Japanese keepers are probably lining up his replacement as we speak. He was told by Tokyo to get things settled down get rid of the lawsuits and when they do their IPO he gets the Jim Keyes deal …..except the damage from the LI immigration scandals and the terrible retail environment that too many stores are in means that willing investors will pass on a SEI IPO.
Ben I don’t agree with you I that his tenure is running out .
His simply cleaning house now by getting rid of his disciples . He now realizes that all the ruthless no sense policies they implemented are biting themselves in the ass.
Time to come up with a new way to screw Franchisees is coming.
This new out source accounting & RIS system suck , they don’t resolve it . We have to create same case 5 to 6 times . If u call u get answer from Philippine or India . Those people don’t know what’s going on . 7/11 charge franchise more then 50/ percent almost 53 percent & don’t care about franchise . Today I had to spend two hour on phone to resolve the problem still didn’t resolve it . Couldn’t close the cash report of 5/29/2015 . There is glitch error is more million dollar . Same thing they charge me in audit Pepsi & coke which was delivered next day at my other store , what accounting is doing our system tell them these delievries were not scan . R they sleepin ?
why do you have one employee on a 10pm shift and no lunch or breaks as per state and federal laws,not allowed adequate time for rest
Well, Mr Potter, the graveyard shift (10pm to 6am) usually has very less customer count and thereby generates a lot less revenue. State Laws (California) lets employers get around it if they pay the night shift clerk an extra hour of pay if he/she does not get a full 30 minutes of uniterrupted break. Its called the Premium Wage Hour.
This just in !!!
Bruce Maples has been appointed Senior Director, Franchising, at SEI. He has already moved to Dallas !
Now isn’t that sweet !!!
He finally went somewhere where he can call home sweet home.
Et tu, Bruce? Why am I surprised? Now everything is falling into place…. the bad, one sided contracts, SEI always having the upper hand. Dissidents being singled out in all FOAs by SEI and then silenced…. etc. etc..GOOD JOB SELLING US OUT BRUCE. HOPE YOUR HEART IS LIGHT!
30 pieces of silver
I brought a small claims case against a 7-eleven franchise. Unfortunately, the owner of the franchise lied in court as he knew he would lose his business. He promised to tell the truth prior to that and said that I would help him to make things better!. 7-11 takes foreignerners in who need the money but the places are a mess. My car was wrecked due to no bollards…many others were wrecked and the franchise owner said that I had done him a favor until he showed up in court with the 7-11 attorney and lied all of the way through out of fear. It was very sad as he had promised to take care of me. I will NEVER EVER use a 7-11 store or gas station again!! I would love to participate in a class action suit againse these people who are dragging needy foreigners into their business without any support and very poor and dangerous quality. Be careful when visiting one of these…I am sorry for the brain-washed owners of the franchises but 7-11 does not care!
I am looking into purchasing a 7 11 in NY that is located right next to a subway stop. The store is about a year old. What do you guys think? After reading through this thread the answer seems to be NO, but given that this is the “Unhappyfranchisee” I didn’t expect to see any positive answers.
NY 7 11:
I would suggest that you spend a good amount of time digging through the 50 or so posts on 7-Eleven here:
7-ELEVEN on UnhappyFranchisee.Com [UPDATED]
Many of these posts involve franchisee lawsuits and the actual complaints are downloadable from the pages. Some involve 7-Eleven suing franchisees, and some involve single or multiple groups of franchisees suing 7-Eleven.
You are right not to rely solely on some anonymous comments on an unhappy franchisee site. The complaints in these lawsuits are well-reasoned and factually supported, so you should read through a bunch and see if you spot common themes.
Even those with 7-Eleven as Plaintiff reveal the control and surveillance over franchisees exerted by corporate. This is what makes 7-Eleven different than any other franchise. Whether you perceive that as acceptable or a deal-breaker is really up to you, but you’d be wise to spend time reading these posts, documents and spending time with a bunch of franchisees prior to making that major decision.
Good luck! Let us know what you decide.
Given a location like that I assume the fee is sky high. Only open one year….what are the sales? Gross Profit % and $’s? 7-Eleven operates based on THEIR ROI….what is your ROI? This franchise is the only one I am aware of that the franchisee can be killed in the course of doing business. …factor in that risk when calculating your ROI.
My son and I went to a 7-11 on Sunday 09/06/2015, my son went in and got a monster energy drink and I went over to get cash out of the Citibank ATM and then my son walked over to where I was at and the ATM machine took forever to give me my cash then my son said what’s taking long I said the ATM machine is taking forever then I got my cash then my son put the energy drink down on the counter and then we walked out then the cashier yelled at us and told us where’s the beer so we stopped and said what beer we don’t have anything and the cashier said yes he has a beer and my son said what beer I had an energy drink and it’s right there on the counter so I got mad and told the cashier that next time he accuses of anyone stealing to make sure they did have the product ,
the address is 7607 Broadway Lemon Grove 919451607 Store # 24013 and the cashiers name is Bcrara, I really think he owed us an apology which he didn’t and this is not the first time that he accuses us of stealing I would appreciate if you do something about him accusing us of stealing and I will be going back to that 7-11 and I hope you do something about it!!!! Thank You Irene ( I hope I here back from you).
Irene Miranda:
Your son went to the cooler and took out a cold energy drink.
He walked around the store with it for a long time.
Then he left it on the counter and you both walked out without buying anything.
You used a service they provided, didn’t buy anything and your punk*ss son is too lazy to put the energy drink back where he got it..
And the 7-Eleven clerk owes YOU an apology?
I really feel for the people who work at 7-Eleven. I bet the crap they have to deal with from this food stamp royalty class is unbelievable. Not to mention having to worry about getting stabbed or shot when Junior comes back some night soon.
Good grief.
Irene call 800-255-0711…they will help you
Irene this is a blatant violation of the 7-Eleven store code of conduct, and you should report this incident right away.
Like Bruce said, call 800-255-0711 right away and ask for Joey DePinto. He is in charge of maintaining brand standards in the stores, and he will be outraged to hear how you and and your son were treated.
It’s a big office there, so be insistent that the receptionist puts you in touch with Joey even if he’s in a meeting or something.
First off, this is the wrong forum for customer complaints. Try yelp or something. And to you others, Joe Depinto works for 7-Eleven Corp. We as franchisees DO NOT. Unless this was a corp. Store, we handle our own customer complaints.
Do call the 1-800 number and make your complaint, they’ll let the store know of it and that will be the end of it.
On behalf of franchisees, I apologize for the way you felt.
Like I said try yelp, not Unhappy Franchisee.
Why is Bruce Maples still trolling on this page? Is’nt he on the other side? Hey Bruce, old habits die hard, eh?
As always I just want to help improve and enhance the brand and protect the 7-Eleven image.
spoken like a true soldier !!
Any inside scoop on what we might expect on the 2019 master contract ?
We will be poorer
We must insist that the split be changed in our favor to accommodate rising labor costs 42-58 is a start. 7-Eleven is making money, which they do not share, from our purchases and our scan information. ..time to level the field.
So I just met with my FC and he has been pushing me to attend the 7-11 Trade Show in Las Vegas in February. I asked him the purpose of such Trade shows by the Franchisor when we have perfectly good and local trade shows sponsored by our local FOAs. His answer was downright pitiful. He has no idea why. Just following orders, he says. So I decided that I should not waste my time on the minions. Maybe, I’ll get lucky and run into Sir Bruce Maples :) in Vegas. I sure would like to tell him how highly (sic) he is regarded in the FZ community since he became a turncoat.
I was in the 7-11 store in Philadelphia PA near Pine Rd and Rhawn St There was a black guy had a backpack and wearing glasses he was asking for money CO workers there did not tell him to stop
If your looking for Franchise then run away fast from these tyrants. After they usurp all you hard earned money for the franchise fee you are treated as less than a manger. They suck till it hurts and you make less than a Burger King Manager. The only way you can make any money from these thieves is to learn to cheat their way. The FC and Market managers prompt and push you to ring up the promotions on item such as coffee and a muffin even if the customer says they don’t want it and collect the pennies by cheating the customer. Now, if you are subservient and want to bow down a lick their feet and become a yes man then this is the job for you. They love people they can control and bend to their will. If the Market manager has a bad day and decides he doesn’t like you then look out they will manufacturer every antic they can to steal the business back from you and resale it again. This is the biggest churned business on the market today… beware the corruption and do your research before jumping on-board this sinking ship. Bad investment!!
Thanks Jack… your words are honest and true. I owned a store and all was great until I had a confrontation over the pricing as you say. Charge even though the customer says no. wow this was an eye opener to be told to cheat your patrons. I also was make to take cigarettes back after they were sold and brought back the next day which is against the law. They will never admit to any of this as expected but this is truth. Anything for a sale is their motto right or wrong. This was an eye opener and the moment I refused to cheat the way the wanted they make my life a living hell. These guys are the worst ever business partners to work with. Consider doing something else rather than supporting these crooks. I would not franchisee this business it is better to take your money and buy an independent store and make it your own. Or become a 7 Eleven Slave.
Whats new?
Hello I’m Tiffany I was working at a franchise house 7-eleven I worked over forty hours in training with no pay I don’t think that it is right please contact me ASAP
SEI in here for them an not for anyone else. There rules this days are where they make sure franchisee don’t make any money and work their tails off in fear that if they did not please SEI’s FC’s they will complain to Market Manager and they be given three breaches store is taken back.
Executives are coming in town make sure stores are ready, Why are there so many out of stocks? give you an example 100 out of stock for inventory over 4k skus is nothing but they don’t like to see holes they don’t consider that their vendors are not supplying in time and vendors are out of stock.
I hate being a 7-eleven franchise. Honestly this is the worst decision i have made in my life to associate myself with this lame company.
They don’t want to consider area the store located in, they don’t want to consider the store is old, equipment’s old but still why is this not clean? why is a cup under fountain machine? why was is not taken out? why are the window ledges on outside not wiped? why are pumps not wiped everyday? why are ice box outside is not wiped? Oh i am your FC and when i come in why is not everything picture perfect?
Screw this i am so sick and tired i am on urge to throw the freaking store keys on their face and walk away. Its this constant fear is where i live in everyday. I hate this franchise system.
Too bad my 200k is going to go free to this assholes.