Gary Heavin on ABC Secret Millionaire: What do CURVES Franchisees Think?

View Comments

• ME TOO

• I have just coles my club after trying to make a go of it for just over 3 years. I find that Curves International just doesn't care. I asked for help and got nothing. To be honest I'm not sure what they could have done to help since I feel I already put 110% into making a go of it. I agree with these others that the Heavins are getting rich while the clubs out there go under.

• Too bad the Heavins haven't shown the benevolence to their franchisees (the people who gave them their millionaire status) that they're showing total strangers. Many of us have gone bankrupt, ruined our health from the stress of d/b/a Curves, lost our homes and our spouses, taken on second and third jobs - you name it; it's happened to us. And all because any time we've asked for just the slightest consideration (a break on our royalty and/or advertising fees, better national advertising to help us build our businesses), we've been flatly denied.

  We were told to be "nice people" and let members walk away from their contracts without penalty. Yet no one at Curves International would ever consider allowing us to do likewise. In fact, knowing that we're bleeding ourselves dry, they ask for penalties and interest and even equipment that WE purchased with our own money subsequent to signing our franchise agreement - equipment that isn't even mentioned in the agreement. And when we refuse to turn over that equipment, we are threatened with legal action.

  We were told that we should give freebies such as t-shirts and gifts and this would motivate mature women to be faithful to us. All the while we were required to purchase these "freebies" from family-owned Curves Products and pay exorbitant prices, not only for the item itself but for inflated shipping prices. Having been in the position of purchasing t-shirts for local events (but in much smaller quantities than Curves International purchases), I KNOW what kind of pricing you can get for bulk orders. Many times we were paying AT LEAST retail price for the honor of GIVING AWAY our profit.

  Yes, you may say, "How stupid were you?", and that's true to a certain extent. However, when you purchase a franchise, you expect the franchisor to have your best interests at heart because, after all, if you are successful he/she will surely also be successful. However, it appears the Heavins were in this for the big, fast buck and did NOT have the long-term interest of their franchisees at heart.

  I believe that the ONLY reason the Heavins have participated in "Secret Millionaire" is to feed Gary's ego and get his name out there for the benefit of whatever his NEXT scam is going to be - and I'd bet my last dollar (oops, it's already gone!) that there IS another scam in the works.

  These people are DISGUSTING, and it's a slap in the face of every Curves franchisee out there to see them portrayed in such an "honorable" way. Again, too bad they aren't as nice to their needy business partners (Curves franchisees) as they are to others. But in that case they wouldn't get nearly the national press, now would they?

  I really would love to see ABC reconsider airing the Heavins' "Secret Millionaire" segment.

• Hello Barbara,

  Are you the original owner or a resale?

• I too would love to see ABC reconsider airing this particular segment.

  [Diane Heavin:] “I’m not sure I understand poverty in America like this…”

  All they had to do was look in their own backyard. How they sleep at night is beyond me!

  As a former Curves Franchisee I cringe at the hypocrisy of the whole thing. How can someone publicly portray themselves as generous and giving when they know that many of the people who helped them make their millions have lost everything in the process?

  The real story of generosity would have been to do a show on the franchisees who have given so very much of their time, money and heart to provide a service for people at the expense of their own well being. Not a story about the ones who publicly made millions when the real secret they try to keep is how many others have been devastated in the process.

  I'm happy to know that some are receiving a benefit from the Heavin's millions, but knowing what I do about CI's policies this show goes so far beyond a slap in the face there aren't even words to describe it.

• I too would love to have seen them being placed among franchisees who have gone bankrupt, had their lives ruined... There have even been suicides! ... while Gary continues to insist we run things exactly the way he said over 15 years ago, and says no to every possible thing he could have done to keep us profitable, in spite of feedback from the franchisee association and individual franchisees for years. He could never put money in our advertising fund without having to brag on stage at convention about how generous he'd been to help advertise his business... with totally inappropriate and unhelpful ads. He doesn't seem to get that the franchisees are where his money comes from. I would so love to have seen him do this show with his own ruined franchisees instead of strangers. Maybe we should all be sending him our horror stories. He's probably not going to read them here.

• I don't even know where to start! I bought my Curves 6 years ago when I truly believed Gary Heavin was sincere about helping women who never exercised to turn their lives around. He also seemed to really want to help women own a business and be successful. WOW--I took it hook, line and sinker!

  I have seen over the years, the true intentions of this man and his family owned companies that we Curves owners must purchase from. GREED does not even begin to cover it! No choices, no improvements, no advertising, no support, no compassion, no ANYTHING but total disregard of our circumstances.

  We are supposed to be the hand that feeds him, but he has devoured us.
  So many of us have lost our life savings, our homes, our SANITY! My husband worked 2 full time jobs for 4 years to see us through. He lost one of the jobs, and now I am just fading away--every month we lose more members than we gain. I ask anyone--when was the last time you saw a Curves commercial? How about Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem? You get the picture.

  I, too, want an accounting of my advertising fee. Every month, Curves International takes a percentage out of every owner's bank account--where is that money going? We want to know-we have a right to know!

  I have written some strong emails to the CEO, Mike Raymond. I know he sees my name and files them under "garbage". I tell him what we are going through, but he doesn't care. He said in an interview that the loss of so many Curves "was an intentional 'pruning' of the system"! I guess, then, it was their intention to financially ruin those people. Someone said it earlier in these comments that there have even been owners who committed suicide-that is true. Even when they lost it all, Curves continued their threats and pressured them til they could not take it anymore.

  I don't know of any other franchise that is so hated by its franchisees. We stay open, first of all, because we LOVE OUR LADIES and don't want to let them down, and secondly, because of the threats of heavy fines if we close before the end of our contracts. But some owners cannot hang on that long. So when they have nothing left, Curves fines them on top of it all. They just kick them when they are already down and devastated. That's a Christian company? Certainly not my definition of "Christian".

  I can't explain it. You would think they would be doing anything and everything to help us succeed. When the economy fell, owners asked if franchise fees could be lowered to help us get through it. Instead, they told us to ask our landlords to lower the rent! When Gary spoke at regional meetings and conventions, he told us that "there IS NO recession if you just 'BELIEVE' there is no recession!" Have you ever heard anything so stupid?

  To see him on this show makes me sick. He loves the attention and wants people to think he is a kind, generous man! I am here to tell you that he is a heartless SOB. He has to face his Maker someday, and I hope he likes HOT weather!

• Have any of you actualy commented to the airing network? I believe all these comments are being wasted on this site alone. Don't get me wrong, this site is a wonderful place to come to for help and support, but there is a comment site on the actual network that you can sign into anonymously. I believe the "world" needs to see and hear what the rest of us have suffered at the hands of these horrible people

• I actually have commented on that site, but I didn't get as detailed as I did here. I must have been having a better day!

• Placing comments on other sites is a great idea, especially if you link back to the thousands of comments and sad stories on UnhappyFranchisee.com. It's easy to dismiss a single commenter as disgruntled, but not so easy to dismiss the experiences, stories and hardships Curves franchisees have had the courage to share here over the past three years. Letters to ABC and news organizations can refer back here as well.

  Here are some examples of comments you can make, along with the top three links to share. Feel free to copy and paste:

  - For the past 3 years, UnhappyFranchisee.com has been hosting the insider's view of the Curves collapse from the viewpoint of those who know it best: struggling Curves franchise owners. Read the posts at CURVES: Curves Posts on Unhappy Franchisee
  https://unhappyfranchisee.mystagingwebsite.com/curves-unhappy-franchisee/

  - 2500 Curves domestic franchises have failed in the past three years. That's 1/3 of the total US clubs. Instead of the support and compassion the franchisees expected, Curves International unleashed a collection agency on the ruined franchisees for having the nerve to fail before their contracts were up. Here's what they think of
  Gary Heavin on ABC Secret Millionaire appearance:
  https://unhappyfranchisee.mystagingwebsite.com/curves-gary-heavin-secret-millionaire/

  - The millionaire has another, bigger secret. More than 1000 comments by Curves franchisees tell the real story behind the Curves hype:
  https://unhappyfranchisee.mystagingwebsite.com/curves-robert-lays-story/

  Writers and news media can feel free to contact the publisher of this site at unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com