CURVES franchise owners don’t get a helping hand when they fail. No thank you card or best wishes. Just legal threats and a demand for tens of thousands of dollars.
Curves has new ownership, but not much has changed in the lack-of-compassion department.
Curves franchise owners who are unable to save their failing clubs (more than half of Curves clubs have failed) still should not expect a helping hand from Curves International.
They shouldn’t expect a nice letter thanking them for building the Curves brand, for paying years of royalties, for enabling Gary Heavin to strut like an altruistic peacock on national TV and cash out with an untold fortune.
What they can expect is a legal demand for the future royalties they would have had to pay if they hadn’t run out of money and could stay open to the end of their contract.
And they can expect Curves International to tell them they don’t actually own the equipment they paid for, and they should return it.
aussie z wrote:
Well I closed my club at the end of June, 4 years prior to the end of my agreement.
I did everything that CI wanted me to do in regards to closing.
I did not give them my equipment or CS [Curves Smart]I figured that I paid good money for it so I will do what I want with it.
I received a letter of demand for $64,000 to be paid within 7 days (what a joke).
I asked them to review this amount as I had no money, I then got another email telling me the figure was now $17,000, again I explained that I had no money and then a month later I got a letter delivered to my home signed by a person I have never heard of in the 6 years I have been dealing with Curves (must be from the new people who have taken over) telling me that I owe $64,000 again.
I sent an email to this person and have not heard anything since, it has now been a month since I received that letter.
I know that this will not be the last I hear from them but they will not be getting a red cent out of me. The restraints they put on you regarding getting rid of the equipment is ridiculous, there is no brand name on the equipment so what right do they have?
If they want my CS they can pay me the $12,000 I paid for it. I will not let CI bully me into anything and I will help anyone else who is being bullied by them. They need to be stopped.
In Australia we have gone from over 400 clubs in 2006 to 283 in 2012 with still many in the process of closing. I think that Curves has run its course over here and I would encourage any owner who has a profitable club to try and get rid of it before its too late. CI are putting to much emphasis on Curves Complete, I personally think it is a rip off. None of the members I had would have been able to afford the $199-$299.
I am so stressless since closing my club BUT I do miss my incredible members everyday.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE CURVES FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY AND CURVE INTERNATIONAL? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
__
DonutNV Franchising Inc. vs. Sean Kelly and Relentless Inc. is a bullying lawsuit (SLAPP) backed…
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) The death of a franchise business, the death of an entrepreneurial dream, is a…
Have you had an encounter with Christy Ogle and/or Max Ogle? The couple recently operated from the…
Homefront Brands (HFB) is a leading home services franchisor and the umbrella company for Top…
It took outspoken citizens, free speech advocates, and Pennsylvania lawmakers more than a decade to…
Being a multi-SLAPP Defendant doesn’t pay well… actually… doesn’t pay at all. But on this…
View Comments
Patti, I had 3 more to go. I am doing a business bankruptcy to wipe out the huge debt Curves says I owe them.
Even with that, I am definately far less stressed and financially already recovering.
Other than the initial bill from Curves, I have not heard anything. I do know my attorney is in contact with them, however, and they shouldnt be in contact with me at all, at this point.
Those of you that have closed your clubs, please let me know what you did with the equipment. Also, the fees Curves imposes when you close the club seem to vary. Have you all (that have closed) paid a fee (assuming you closed before your Franchise Agreement was up) to Curves? If so, if you care to share, I would be interested in how much, and what Curves did to enforce that paymet. Thanks for your sharing the information.
Regards, Connnie
Thank you for all your input I too have been sucker punched by the previous owner with all her lies of members etc., to find out we had a lot less than what we were told. I have spent a year and a half rebuilding a club. We too are the Curves colors from 3 years ago and I DO NOT intend to change the colors at this time as we purchased the paint and have done touch ups.
Questions I have is were are most of you from? Are you in the mid-west, east, west? Also what is the update on the attorney, my feeling is we due not have a leg to stand on as we signed the agreement and it does state if Curves changes ownership we are still under the new owner.
I also agree with you that it is so stressful being in the circuit and keeping up the smile etc., when you are exhausted from the hours you work.
Appreciate anyone getting back to me regarding where you are from and also with Connie on how you closed and why the payments are different.
Thank you, Linda
Dear Linda and Connie, you are correct in that the fees vary...one thing I am aware of is that those who have used a really good attorney have been more successful in negotiating lower fees, and those who dont get served with papers to pay the highest fees. Also its impossible to get details on the outcomes because each person is told by their attorney that they can not talk about the case...so there isnt any details given as to how much they paid. It seems that those who start out on the site openly share until they connect with an attorney and then you dont hear much anymore, so there arent any clear answers. Im on the west coast...and I am still going in the hole and stressed to the max as well. I wish you the best, and like you wish there was more answers to be found here.
Thank you Hope for getting back. It is frustrating and sad as Curves works for the woman it is Corporate who makes it stressful.
We were informed by a video that the West Coast was doing well with Curves and Curves Complete and that the East Coast (where I am) was not and they were trying to figure out why one was doing better than the other. Do you know Hope if there is any truth to that, meaning the West Coast is doing well?
Thanks for your time, wish you the best also - Linda
Curves franchisees and former franchisees:
It’s really time to bring Curves’ closing practices out in the open and put a stop to the insensitive and unethical way Curves continues to treat its failed and failing franchisees.
While there are not a lot of comments lately, make no mistake – this is not a “dead” thread… there are a tremendous number of franchisees reading every day as they search for answers and help… they just aren’t posting.
I need to hear from you. I need to hear your stories – what you have gone through and what you are going through… What Curves demanded from you and what they settled for (if you’re already through the closing process) I would like to get copies of correspondence that they’ve sent you. I will keep it confidential and won’t post anything without your consent.
If you can provide me with some current demands, especially from the current owners, I will reach out to franchisee attorneys and others in the hopes of getting some assistance pro bono or on contingency. I will also try to reach out to the company to get them to change the practices and policies toward those who believed and invested in their brand, and have lost enough already. I believe Curves & North Castle Partners will be better off taking a more enlightened approach, rather than face a national PR campaign and petition to stop their current tactics.
Please send an email to UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com if you wish to share your story, information, documents, or even if you just wish to receive our email updates (no spam). If you have items to mail, email me for the address.
Thanks,
ADMIN
UnhappyFranchisee.com
UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com
Dear ADMIN, thank you thank you thank you!!! Yes what you say is true, there are many suffering, broken owners and we all need each other! I have communicated with you previously as well as provided you with some of the new requirements, Im not sure what more you need from me...however I am with you and will share more if you know of anything I can do. If you need me to write my story and send it to you or anything else please email me your address. I hope that all the others will do the same, I appreciate your site and your communication.
Dear Linda,
I can not believe you guys on the east coast were given a video message like that!! No the west coast is not doing great...I know of others who are failing and if you check the curves for sale for california theres a truck load that are trying to sale in hopes of getting out....rest assured they rarely sell and then they close, so its not over! So from east to west its a nightmare!!
We are closing our club very soon and have contacted a lawyer. We're still not sure what we have to do with the equipment but I would love to auction it off to members who would like to buy a machine for their personal use. It would help to offset costs of closing. The lawyer did say that the bankruptcy language in the contract is not lawful, if that is helpful to anyone. We haven't gotten any further than that as yet. Hoping to have more answers soon. I looked online for a current number of clubs and it looks like less than 2500 as of January 2013. Also found a site that showed that the numbers have been going down about 1000 per year in the last several years. Hope this helps. If anyone knows anything about the equipment it would be great if you would let us know!
The Curves FDD filed in May, 2012 had these numbers listed for franchises open at the end of each year:
2009 5214
2010 4387
2011 3523
Net change
2009 -1041
2010 -827
2011 -864
At that rate, it could be down to 2500 locations. What websites are you looking at, Getting Out?
I googled number of Curves locations and found it on aggdata.com/gym_locations/curves. It lists 2486 locations as of 1-10-2013 in the US only.