Cuppy’s Coffee / Elite Manufacturing Infuriates Franchisees With Form Email

(FranchisePick.com The franchise blog)  Nothing says We Care like a vague, generic message passed down to a subsidiary VP, then further passed down to an underling.  When Fransynergy purchased Medina Enterprises and all its entities, including both Cuppy’s Coffee and Elite Manufacturing, CEO Dale Nabors vowed to quickly right the wrongs of the previous ownership, and to return the $30,000 – $40,000 deposits rightfully owed to many franchisees  as quickly as possible.

Two months later, well, it’s two months later.  More "depositers" have come forward seeking refunds.  The same old runaround and bullying tactics have reportedly continued.  And then several individuals who have sought return of $39,500 or more for over a year, get this email:

RE: Your request for a refund

As you may be aware, there was a recent change in the ownership of Elite Manufacturing, LLC (“Elite”) and its affiliated entities. The new management understands that you may have concerns regarding your recent request for a refund of your deposit. Please be assured that the company fully intends to repay the deposits of those that are entitled to a refund. We take this issue very seriously.

A great deal of time has been committed to streamlining internal processes and eliminating unnecessary expenses. We are confident that these ongoing changes will ensure that Elite can maintain current operations and commit to commercially reasonable refund repayment schedules for those individuals entitled to a refund of their deposit.

During this transition, we humbly request your patience as these positive changes occur and your refund request is processed. Please allow us until the end of July of 2008 to fully create and implement these changes. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Thank you in advance for your understanding. We invite you to contact Elite Manufacturing, LLC with any questions or concerns regarding this transition. We look forward to working together to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

Theresa St. Clair

Vice President

Elite Manufacturing

According to at least one franchisee, this email wasn’t even sent by Ms. St. Clair, but by the same Elite underling that called "2 to 3 times a day to get a status check" on when the initial (ill-fated) deposit was to be made.

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