BLIMPIE Franchise Complaints
The Blimpie Subs & Salads franchise has an alarmingly high SBA loan default rate of 46%.
Blimpie is owned by Kahala, franchisor of Cereality, Cold Stone Creamery, Frullati Café & Bakery, Great Steak & Potato, Johnnie’s, Nrgize, Ranch 1, Rollerz, Samurai Sam’s, Surf City Squeeze and TacoTime.
Blimpie franchisees have received 203 SBA-guaranteed loans since 2001; nearly half of those loans have been defaulted on by Blimpie franchise owners.
Are you familiar with the Blimpie franchise opportunity? Please share a comment below.
The Blimpie Franchise has a failure rate of 46% for SBA-backed franchise loans
In 2009, according to Entrepreneur, Blimpie had 1,089 U.S. franchises.
By 2012, Blimpie had just 738 U.S. franchises.
That’s a decline in size by 351 franchises, a reduction by 32% of its entire chain.
What Blimpie doesn’t point out in its franchise marketing is that it’s likely that Blimpie franchise owners who received SBA loans may have collateralized their franchise loan with their houses or other personal assets, and nearly half were unable to repay those franchise loans… despite serious incentive to do so.
Are you familiar with the Blimpie franchise opportunity?
What do you think accounts for the SBA loan failure rate of Blimpie franchise owners?
What steps should Blimpie and Kahala be taking to stop further franchise failures?
Has Blimpie taken serious action to address the problems that led to the 46% loan failures?
Please share a comment, opinion or insight below.
ARE YOU A BLIMPIE FRANCHISE OWNER OR FORMER BLIMPIE FRANCHISEE? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH KAHALA & THE BLIMPIE FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Tags: Blimpie, Blimpie Subs & Salads, Blimpie franchise, Blimpie complaints, sub franchise, salad franchise, sandwich franchise, franchise opportunity, restaurant franchise, food franchise, franchise failure rate, worst franchise, sba failure rates, SBA franchise loans, franchise information, Kahala Corporation, Kahala Cold Stone
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I went to blimpies for the 1st time. I had a coupon buy 1 get 1 sand for free.I went to the davenport location in the walmart. This girl named Brenda waited on me. I ordered 2 same subs. I gave her the coupon and she said oh no I have to charge you full price. I asked what was the full $ and she came up with $12 and some cents. I said it says buy 1 get 1. The only thing it said on the coupon was that it wasn’t for value meals.She said it would be $12+ and that I would be getting only a half free? I should have only paid for 1 sandwich. She was argueing with me and said absoulutly she woulld not give it to me for that price. When I checked out at walmart and asked the cashier she said she was the owners wife. She washed down counter ect. with the same rag without washing it. Never changed her gloves after all that. I walked out thinking maybe she did me a favor. The store is a bit dirty and the girl didn’t look much better. I went back to subway where there is never a problem. Always treated with kindness and they never give me a problem with coupons.. The store is on Elmore. What a upsetting experience it was. You need an undercover boss..lol
Sad i totally agree, it used to be a great sub shop but some owners not saying race have ran it into the ground. In it hay day it tasted better than subway….if i own one i wouldl be one top of it everyday not cutting corner and not hiring people with bad hygiene. Def need undercover boss stat lol
Blimpies in elmwood pk changing the order for them to make more money b careful then when u complain they call the cops on u how dare them b careful or just boycott them an stsy away
Im here again to tell u100 bdwy elmwood park ripping off customers up grading ur orderr then when u complain he calls the cops on u beware stay away
Again 100 bdwy elmwwod pk blimpie ripping off customers
Just to let you know, blimpies in elmwood park 100 broadway doing the customer in injustice. Stay away if u can!! Thank u
I had a coupom for blimpies that is buy one get one free, The Blimpies on 161st Street and Concourse Village West does not honor them. What is the point of giving out coupons, if you are not going to honor the paper they are written on. Any Blimpies that does not honor the coupons of their Franchise should have their Franchise pulled from the,.
That was in New York, the Bronx.
Susan:
Don’t automatically blame the franchisee. Many are just fighting to survive.
A while back Quiznos decided to give away a million subs. Only their poor franchisees had to pay for the ingredients. From what we heard quiznos corporate still made money on it marking up ingredients it required the franchisees to buy from them. Many of those Q franchisees are gone now, having lost everything.
A franchise company is supposed to help franchisees raise their sales and profits, not drive them under with excessive discounting. Owners do not like to piss off customers, but they’d like to be there next month to serve you.
On August 19, 2015, I ordered four ham and cheese subs for my family from Circle K Store #5341 (Blimpie) at 3503 Peach Orchard Road, Augusta, GA 30906. Time: 17:51; Shift: 3. Retailer ID: 57544355803. The store telephone number is (706) 796-2939. After I went home, I realized that I had been overcharged. The subs should have been $6.00 each, but I was charged $7.00 per subs. So I called Blimpie and spoke to Bridgette Taylor and explained to her what had happened … that I had been overcharged for the subs that I received. Ms. Taylor told me to return to the store and she will refund me the different for all four subs. I asked her did I need to bring the sub to let her see it and she said no. When I returned to Blimpie the same day, Ms. Bridgette called her Manager on the phone and asked me to speak to her. Ms. Bridgette gave me the phone so I can talk to the her Manager. So I did.
The manager (She was a Black Female. She did not identify her name). I explained to her that I ordered 4 ham and cheese footlong subs at $6.00, but paid for 4 Blimpie Clubs 12 inch at $7.00 each. I also told her that the subs that I received were made correctly (with ham and cheese), but I was overcharged. The employees and the Manager of Blimpie made me feel belittled and cheated because two employees who fixed the subs told Ms. Bridgette and the manager that they put Ham and Turkey on my subs and that’s why they charged me for Blimpie Club. I told them that I did not get Turkey on my subs, and in fact, my family doesn’t like turkey on their subs. I told them I watched you put ham and cheese and you did not put Turkey on my subs. They basically told me that I was lying in front of customers. I felt so badly especially having to explain what I had ordered and paid for in front of customers. I told the employees and Ms. Bridgette Taylor that I was telling the true and I was going home to bring the subs back to the store to show them that I only had ham and cheese on it. I also told the manager that I could go home and bring the sub back to the store to show Ms. Bridgette what was put on the sub. The manager told me not to bring the sub to the store tonight and to wait until she return to work tomorrow because Ms. Bridgette cannot refund me any money. The manager told me that she can only refund me for a half of sub since I had eaten one-half and my family had eaten their subs. I told her that I was only asking for a refund of $4.00 for 4 subs that I ordered. I was not asking for the total cost of each subs. She said that she could not do it. I left the store and told the employees and Bridgette that I will return to let them see how they made the sub. So when I returned to the store, I showed them the sub. It only had Ham and Cheese; no turkey. Bridgette said that she could not give me a refund and I will have to bring the sub back to the Manager tommorrow (9/20/15). One of the employee tried to throw my sub in the trash can and I told her not to throw it away because I wanted to keep it. I could believe she would throw my sub away without offering me another one after she had fingered it and put her hands on it to check it. The manager of Blimpie has poor customer service and it is very shameful and disgrading for a customer to be treated this way over $4.00. The manager also told me that she would have to pay me out of her pocket. She also told me that I had ordered subs for the school before and she remembered I did not know exactly what I wanted. She said that she believe that her employees put ham and turkey on my subs and charged me correctly.
Please someone resolved this case. This could have been avoided if management would have spoken to me with respect and refunded my money.
I usually go to Subway because it’s closer to my house but today we decided to go to Blimpies on old country road in Westbury. The staff wasn’t too Friendly and they kind of rushed us along. But what made me sure to never return is the girl behind the counter was making the sandwiches with her fully down and over her shoulders. Her hair was dipping into the food prep area and I was terrified to find hair in my sandwich. Very unsanitary and I will be staying with my Subway..
Long Island, New York
I went to a Blimpies on gunhill road near Jerome Avenue in the Bronx N.Y.and ordered a Blimpies Best. I was surprised to learn that they do not make their BB with the same cold cuts. Their B B came with ham salami turkey and provolone. Also the bread tasted different. Correct me if im wrong but dosent the BB come with ham salami cappy ham prosciutto cotto ham and provolone cheese on their freshly baked bread.