CURVES: Robert Lay’s Story
The American dream of owning your own successful business seems to be going up in smoke for a lot of the Curves Franchise owners. The story you are about to read may seem like a Steven King horror novel but it is a real story that has happened to my wife and I. To all of the past, present and future owners of a Curves franchise please take the time to read the whole story as at the end we explain what we plan to do and how you as an ex or present owner may want to get involved.
My wife and I had owned and operated our own business for over 20 years and had been very successful at doing so. While we were making a great income from our business there was something missing in our life. Neither us felt that we were contributing to society but just taking and we decided to make a major change in our life. That was when we heard about Curves for Women. It was a new franchise that only had 300 or so clubs and for the first time in years we both became excited at the prospect of actually helping people reach their goals. We bought our first club in 1997 located in a city of thirty thousand. From the first day it opened it was more successful than our wildest dreams. Not only were we making excellent money but the personal rewards helping people better their lives was a truly rewarding feeling. I can still remember as if it was yesterday the first time a Dr. of one of our members came in to check out what we were doing as he couldn’t believe the ch
anges his patient had gone through. She had gotten off her high blood medication and had lost over 40 pounds in 4 months. It was truly amazing and over the years we have seen it happen numerous times over and over.
We sold our first club in 2001 and bought two more franchises. My wife became a mentor for Curves International around this time and I was helping to sell franchise for Curves International as so many of are members wanted to own a club. It was at this time that we started to see problems arising with Curves International but we attributed it to the fast growth that Curves was going through. In 2002 we bought two more franchises but this time they were in what was called a metro-area instead of city under thirty thousand in population.
The first problem we encountered with Curves International was in early 2003. Curves sold a franchise that was a corridor of land between one of our franchise’s and the next city 8 miles from our southern boarder. It was obvious to us that the territory didn’t have the necessary population to support a facility and that Curves International was selling any location just out of greed and the fact that there were so many people who wanted a franchise. The people who bought that franchise tried to open up on our border but it had always been an unwritten but followed rule of Curves International that you open in the middle of your territory so that disputes between owners over stealing members from your territory didn’t arise. We immediately filed a complaint with Curves International and they stopped the new owner from opening at that location. Unfortunately for the new owners there were no other commercial locations between the two cities so they were forced into selling that franchise back to Curves International for a loss.
It was also at this time that Curves International started to change personnel. The employee’s who we had a personal relationship with that had started Curves International with Gary Heavin were leaving the company at an alarming rate. Seven employees that were the top management of Curves left or were forced out because of Gary Heavin’s greed. They ended up filling a law suit against Curves which was later settled out of court. It was at this time that Diane Heavin became involved with Curves and a whole new history was being written about how Curves was started. The original Curves member guide which was written by Gary Heavin and June Manley was taken off the market and the new Curves book authored by of course Gary Heavin was on the top 10 of the Times best seller list.. To make sure it was on the Times best seller list all the clubs had to order at least on case. That is when we as owners realized Heavin was a manipulator and not the born again Christian he portrayed to be. It was also at this time that the price to buy a franchise more than doubled in price. This came as quite a surprise as Heavin had always maintained that he would never ever increase his franchise price and he even swore on the bible in front of a group at club camp that he would never break his word on that. Well as we all know he didn’t keep that promise for long, which just shows his greed.
At this point my wife and I became quite concerned and even considered selling our business but other problems arose concerning Curves International that demanded our full attention. In 2004 another Curves location located on our boarder of one of our metro-areas hired two of our employees and stole around 15 members from our club. Both employees had signed the anti covenant not to compete and in our state those agreements are strictly enforced by the courts. We considered going to court but since it was another Curves facility we decided to file a complaint with Curves International. And to let them handle it. What a mistake that was as they did nothing. We transferred the members files but refused to transfer the money for the members dues until such time that Curves International responded to our complaint. We were told by the area director, which was a new position at Curves International, that we were trouble makers and he refused to send any of are clubs the members appreciation bags. Shortly thereafter Curves International resold the corridor of land that had been sold back to them at a loss from the previous owners and they allowed the new owners to open up in nearly the same location that they had refuse the previous owners only a year and a half before. The new owners advertised in our area and ended up getting 10 or 11 members to transfer to their club. Again we held their monthly dues but did transfer the members files. We immediately filed a complaint but again got the same response nothing. It didn’t take long for most of the members who transferred to come back to our club as the other location was small and in a very run down area and to this day that club has not shown a profit and has been sold numerous times over the years for little to nothing.
Then in 2005 the real problems with Curves International started that we are still contending with today. In one of our metro-areas a competitor by the name of Ladies Workout Express opened up right across the street from our location. Unknown to us they had hired our manager and one other employee from that location and when the employee’s left they had stolen off our computer our member files. They ended up stealing over two thirds of our membership with in a week. The employees had signed the covenant not to compete so we immediately hired a lawyer and prepared for a lawsuit. As I stated before in our state that agreement is strictly enforced but it took four months to get it into court. During this time that location was losing so much money that we decided to move the location next to our other territory so that both clubs could stay open. We sent in the required change of location form to Curves International but never heard anything back from them so we went ahead and relocated in late 05. The owners of the Ladies Workout Express eventually went broke because of the lawsuit and the fact that they would end up owing us monetary damages. They filed for bankruptcy to prevent us from collecting any monetary awards in Dec 05 but we did have the satisfaction knowing that we did what was right
In early 06 we were informed by Curves International that because we abandon that location they were terminating all of our franchise agreements. We immediately requested mediation for all of our clubs which is authorized by our franchise agreements with Curves International. We never heard back from them so we hired a lawyer in Waco, TX to represent us. He proceeded to send them a letter requesting the same mediation process and they did respond to him. They sent him letter stating that it was premature to go through the mediation process at that time as they were in the process of researching our reason for moving. Curves International continued to debit our account for the franchise and advertising fees for all the other clubs we owned but stopped talking the fees for the one territory that they stated we abandoned. The lawyer had us send Curves International a check for the fees and a new authorization form for them to deduct it from our account. Neither our lawyer or ourselves ever heard anything back from Curves International so we all assumed that things were back to normal.
In the spring of 07 we made the decision to start selling off all of our clubs and to completely retire. It didn’t take me long to sell the club we owned that wasn’t in a metro-area and I agreed to stay with the new owner’s to help train them how to run the business. We sent all the documentation into Curves International and the sale was completed by January 08. That freed my wife and I up to concentrate on our metro-area clubs and to get them ready for sale. In Feb of 08 we heard that a Curves club was opening in one of our territories within a mile of our current club. We could not understand how Curves International could do such a thing. We again filed a complaint by phone and e-mail to Curves International and several weeks later we were informed by e-mail that they didn’t know what we were talking about. We were told we didn’t own any franchises and hadn’t since we were terminated in 05. That came as quite a shock to my wife and I as our franchise and advertising fee’s had been deducted all along from our checking account and we had just recently sold a club that they were telling us we never owned. We had a local lawyer send a letter to the new owners explaining the situation and that we would be seeking legal recourse against Curves International and depending on the outcome they were opening themselves up to a potential lawsuit. During this time we had bought and paid in full for the Smart Equipment for Curves International and were waiting for the installation which was scheduled for the June 24th. On June 20th , a Friday we received a phone message telling us that the Curves Smart Installation was canceled and that we had to call Curves legal for an explanation. We left messages both e-mail and phone every 30 minutes on Monday June 23rd and finally late in the afternoon we received an e-mail stating that one of there lawyers would be in touch with us before the end of the day, They never sent an e-mail or a phone call as was promised but by mid day the next day they did respond by e-mail. It stated because of the problems with the members transfers, the fact that we abandoned a franchise, and that we had interfered with the opening of the new franchise located in our territory we weren’t approved for the Curves Smart. Yet in late May they had sent all the promotional ad material for the Curves Smart and of course we had gone to a considerable amount of expense for training the employees, advertising and promotion of the Curves Smart equipment. It was at this point that my wife and I decided that drastic action had to be taken against Heavin and Curves International.
While we still love the concept of Curves we feel that because of the deceptive and we believe fraudulent business practices that Heavin has allowed under his management Curves will eventually end up in the toilet so to speak. After spending many hours on the internet we have found that there are many lawsuits against this man and his company. Just read some of the post’s that are on franchisepick.com from owners concerning the new ten thousand fee if your club goes under and closes to the vitamins that were sold in Feb and March by Ideas in Action at a discount to owners without telling them that they would expire at the end of May. The lack of support and communication from Curves International that all of us owners are going through is intolerable. It is impossible for an owner to get through to them on the phone and good luck if you expect a call back in a timely manor. The fact that we as owners pay a lot of money for our advertising fees and have no accounting of where it is spent and a quite frankly we never see many ads in our area.
I have taken the time to do the necessary research to find several good lawyers who handle franchise law who are more than willing to help Curves owners who are having similar problems with Curves. I for one am going to go after Curves International and Gary Heavin in a court of law. These are not class action but group action lawsuit and if you don’t understand the difference contact me and I will explain it to you. There have been over 200 such lawsuit filed against Curves in the last several years and while some have been settled in mediation others are in the process of going to litigation. If you are a past or present Curves owner who has experienced these problems and want satisfaction whether it be monetary or revenge please contact me. We have several options that we can go and I for one am positive we will win as the other lawsuits have been successful so far and have set a precedent for ours. It is time for the owners of Curves franchises either past or present to stand up together and put a stop to Heavins’s ramped destruction of peoples lives just for monetary greed.
Thanks for reading our post and God Bless you all.
ARE YOU AN CURVES FRANCHISE OWNER OR FORMER CURVES FRANCHISEE?
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE CURVES FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY?
PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
To the employee of CI
Thank you for your post and your encouragement on the lawsuit. It’s such a shame that Howard has done this to his business and for mthose of us that have been their since the beginnig would all agree with you on the cause of the problems CI is having. This all started in 03 when he forced out the top management of the company and replaced them with his family members.
( previous post continued)
All the owners who have signed up for the group lawsuit know we are going to win as every motion that has been brought before the court has been ruled on in favor for the litigants. Owners who would like to get prove of that can call the federal district court house in waco Texas and request all the filings that have been filed in court on this case. Heavin stated at the convention that he had won all the hearings and he tried to dismiss the lawsuit as if the lawyers would be the only ones to see money. He has lost his mind on this as it is a no brainer if you check the facts of the case.
At one time, and I think it was a link on this website, I found a list (pdf) of all Curves for Women that had either CLOSED or was sold since their opening. But I have been unable to find that list again.
Do any of you know what I’m talking about and how I can get to it again??
Unhappy & Disgusted & Disenchanted with Curves & the Heavins…(they are such braggers!!)
Here’s the link:
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/curvesexzees0408.pdf
It’s posted on this post, along with the Curves disclosure doc.:
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/2008/06/curves-for-women-ufoc-dated-march-2008/
I WAS A CURVES MANAGER IN AUSTRALIA, AND I HAVE SEEN THE LADIES GET REALLY BORED WITH THIS PROGRAM. WE IN AUSTRALIA ARE NOT FAR BEHIND YOU, IN THE USA, CURVES OWNERS ARE NOW SELLING, THEY ARE SELLING AREAS EVERYWHERE NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE IF YOU LOSE ALL YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY, I THINK A DOCUMENTARY ON THIS SHOULD BE AIRED ALL OVER THE WORLD, ITS A GOOD CONCEPT BUT JUST MIS MANAGED
I HAVE STARTED MY OWN LADIES FITNESS CENTER, I HAVE FRANCHISED IT AND ITS DOING REALLY WELL, I CARE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO BUY ONE OF MINE.
ALL I CAN SAY IS SEND EMAILS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW : STOP BEFORE YOU BUY :
I am in the same boat as the rest of you! They are doing the same thing with us.. we closed this past Wednesday.. the town was so small that a Curves should have approved it.. there is a prison there and the stupid city that they are included the prisoners as part of their population.. so we opened with their approval thinking we were going to do awesome and as with everyone else it started going down hill over 2 years ago.. we have been open 4 1/2 years and just can’t do it anymore.. all of our credit cards are maxed to the limits and we did our best.. I love the people I have met and friends I have made but this is ridiculous.. Curves is making their millions why aren’t we? I’m so sick of their fees and you owe us this and that.. like everyone here has said Howard is supposed to be a Christian? Why doesn’t he understand that peoples lives are getting ruined by his fees? Haven’t we had enough punishment when we have sacraficed so much? The economy should be telling him something when the franchisees and members are dropping like flies! We just got the paper saying we owe them the 10K.. we are right along with the rest of you.. if I had 10K don’t you think I’d be in business right now? DUH.. you know what really makes me mad is they get their money.. now popcorn sales, cereal sales, curves bars etc and we are all suffering.. I haven’t had a paycheck in 2 years.. I did my best.. I gave my all.. and now to find out you want 10K? Are these people for real? I will never ever in my life own nor participate in any franchise ever again.. thanks Howard for teaching us that the hard way… you are NO Christian.. you are a greedy jerk that got way over his head and doesn’t give a crap about all of us who believed in your dream.. God will get you for this! Oh and Diane don’t think we forgot about your better than everyone attitude.. you are just as guilty! You are both going to hell for all of the good hearted people you are trying to screw to the wall.. thanks for nothing!!!
Sorry the town was so small that Curves should have NEVER approved it.. ooops!
If everyone did their homework before they bought a Curves franchise, you would have discovered that the industry only has a life expectancy of 2 – 4 years depending on the location and population that you opened in. I got into Curves in 96′ and got totally out in late 99′. The writing was on the wall before I decided to invest in this and I opened 12 locations. I did Very well in all my locations but i knew that women in general get bored easily after a period of time. Also when I was involved, there weren’t tons of women only fitness business out there. Now, they’re everywhere. Whoever still owns a Curves should have had an exit plan before they bought in.
Mitch,
I am not opposed to Curves ensuring that we follow ‘the rules’ and to take some sort of action against those who are in violation of them; i.e. advertising in other franchisees territories or making payments to the other clubs when a member transfers. However, I am not sure what they can really do about it anyway. Many franchise agreements may not have some of the things Curves now wants to ‘mandates’ us. Additionally, I am not really sure if the remedy is there either if one violates the agreement.
Regardless, what is shocking or not so shocking depending on where one is on the fence is this: the $75 fee and the overall approach of Curves.
Why is Curves going to try to charge us $75 to monitor compliance? First off, what are they going to monitor and is that not the job of the area director in the first place? Two years ago Howard stated at convention that he was going in increase the number of Area Directors and that each club would be visited by these AD 4 times a year. Well, not sure about the rest of you out there but in the past two years my clubs were never visited by any employee of Curves. Therefore, the way I see it, Curves is not fulfilling there own promise and now they want to charge me for doing something they never did in the first place. Also, let us do the math here again shall we. At the end of 2007 there were 7100 clubs in the US and Curves is contracting (shrinking) at about 10% a year. That would leave is with about 6400 clubs by the end of 2008. At $75 for 6400 clubs that would leave Curves with revenue of $480,000. Think about this people – Do we want to pay Curves $480,000 for something they were suppose to do in the first place?
If that does not make you red in the face, you really need to think this though. We pay Curves a franchise fee each month (this is part of that so called monitoring), an advertising fee (I never seen where this month goes each month) which should be about 15 million dollars (for the advertising fee only) from the US clubs alone. We also pay monthly licensing fees for Go Figure which is owned by Curves (whose support on the phone is worse the horrible). And we have to go through the wholly owned subsidiary “Ideas in Action”, which products I can easily find cheaper elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong – I am a capitalist. I do not mind paying a fair price for product or service. What I am opposed to is overpaying for a product or service, or getting substandard products or services. This is exactly what we are all getting from Curves these past few years and complaining by us has not fixed it.
Howard should rather look for ways to improve upon failing business model for us franchisees’. In this manner we can generate revenue so that we can pay out franchise, license and advertising fees. Furthermore, we can then also sell more Curves products that will generate more revenue for Howard. This of course is hard work and will take time. The easier course for him is to generate revenue streams that will generate more cash for Curves immediately. We have seen this before, though product promotions (which we do the work), Howard’s book, deals with General Mills, deals with Avon and now though additional fees billed to us.
Messages to Howard:
There is a recession in case you don’t read the newspapers, watch TV and listen to conversations at the local dinner. Recession means less disposable income for the masses. That means to you, Howard, there is a decline in Curves membership and an escalation of clubs closing. From your own documentation, Howard, 2007 alone saw a closure rate of 8.5% in the US alone while the stock market INCREASED in value by almost 8%. This year’s closure rate is going to be appalling if we use this year’s loss of 33% of the market as an indicator to the health of our economy. I am sure you saw some of the numbers already, please don’t insult our intelligence by ‘spinning’ the facts.
Rather than focus on generating more revenue streams focus on refining the business model and help your franchisees weather the current economic storm that we are facing. Surly you can afford this given that you have made in excess of 60 million dollars in 2005 along.
Finally remember this Howard: “Pigs get fat, Hogs get slaughtered”
I will see in you court.
To Guest in CO–
Do I have your permission to post your message on the Yahoo Curves Owners group and the Yahoo FA group also? Not the message to “Howard”…..only the first part about the revenue he will collect from the $75 monitering fee, etc.
Thanks.
Connie,
If you repost on there, repost up to, but not including the parts:
“Finally remember this Howard: “Pigs get fat, Hogs get slaughtered”
I will see in you court.”
The prior messages are rather important in my opinon.
So it seems there are an amazing amount of people that have lost everything emotionally and financially because of CI. there smart equiptment is junk It does not work properly . This was another scam to get money from owners. All they do is force owners to buy more and more products. How many of you are stuck with products you cant sell. how many have dying curves on every corner . They play onwners against one another. This was supposed to be a christian company. Thats a a sick joke.They dont stand behind owners and they lie like rugs. My experience has been awful like so many others. I have been told judgement day is near with all the lawsuits pending CI will be bankrupt also. Then justise will prevail. Those of us that got stuck with this company will also prevail a supreme courts will also be involved and restitution will begin possible jail time. I have been researching this for a while now. UN fortunatly their are still believers of this cult. They need to open their eyes and listen add up how much they have lost and come aboard with the majority, pass these writings on to every curve owner you know and see what happens. You know what they say in america majority rules Curves your done. This is not a real franchise. The real ones follow there own rules, It is how good businesses are made and then they are around for ever> CI are theieves and all that associate with them all in coporate should have to anwser as well. I saw diane on the news last week she looked alittle stressed, Ask yourself how much are you now in debt, How has business practises changed Do franchisor stand up for what is right or do they only care how much money they can make from you. Will they sell to anyone that breathes.Look around you are they closing by the dozens. If the anwser is yes then join us in this good fight and get your money back from this thief. we will prevail unhappy about Curves INternational
I have been a curves fitness rep for six years working with my Mom there for four years now . Come to find is for sale and the owner is offering us to take over the club and make payments later on if we can get more members . I love Love ehat I do at curves and I feel really wishy washy my parents would be buying with funds they survive on and well the other catch is all the other coworkers would have to be let go and if we dont go for it we are out of a job ! Its not fair to the faithfull hard working employees like my Mom and I who found a job they rock at and now what are we going to do .What can be done for those like my Mom and I ? Anything I have two kids one in diapers and i enjoy the extra money i earn even though its only $100.00 it helps us get by. This sucks ! I’m very uneasy about this I dont feel confident about the purchase of curves by my loving Parents! As much as it has always been my dream to have my own Curves from what i’ve read here sounds like a bad dream a nightmare! I hope my Mom and I can find another Job we both enjoy. Thanks Mandy
Is anyone aware of how many franchises are open now? and has anything else been said by corporate of the $75 fee??
Mandy, If you love your parents, DO NOT let them invest in this scam, It will be a giant loser. That is why they are giving it to you so they can get out of all those fees they dont tell you about. Find another job.Walk away for your babys sake and for your parents.
Mandy,
You sound like a sweet young person and I hope and prey for you. But Mandy if you and your mother end up buying that curves not even the pope could pray enough to save you from the biggest mistake of you life. don’t walk away RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN. My advice would be to look at a pet grooming business as they seem to be very strong and profitable which your curves won’t be. Good luck and let us know how things work out Mandy.
THERE ARE SOME HERE ON THIS SITE THAT DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING IS THAT BAD WITH CURVES. WELL FOLKS IT IS AND FOR THOSE WHO WOULD QUESTION THAT WHY DON’T YOU PROVE IT TO YOUR SELF BY DOING THE RESEARCH ON THE LAWSUIT. HERE IS WHO YOU NEED TO CONTACT.
FEDERAL COURT
U.S. CLERK OFFICE
800 FRANKLIN ROOM 800
WACO TX. 76701
254-750-1501
CASE OR DOC # 07′ CV’ 048
YOU CAN CALL AND REQUEST ALL DOCUMENTS REGARDING THE CASE AND PROVE TO YOUR SELF THAT HEAVIN IS NOT TELLING THE TRUTH TO THE CURVES OWNERS. SEE YOU IN COURT REAL SOON HEAVIN
I purchase 2 curves a year ago december. I was scammed by the prior owner and mccord brokers! I wanted to purchase just one of the curves, but the prior owner and mccord made me buy the 2. They made the member numbers look like the clubs were making money. In july 08 I had to close one of my curves, since it was costing us $3000 per month out of our personal monies. Curves waived the 10k fee for me. However with all the money i pay out, legal won’t help us anyway with getting out of lease or help with information to go after the rat that lied to me! The prior owner states he is a Christian, we trusted him since he lives in my neighborhood and attends the same church! I will never trust anyone again. I also found out that mccord broker is not licence in most states that requires real estate licences, he is making commission iilegally! I feel for most of you, i love the curves concept–but i don’t like the situation it has placed on my family. We have lost a lot of money purchasing curves. We are people who goes along with the Bible and sueing is not an option for us. I just pray daily that we will make it through this mess and that God will bless us. I know I can be a blessing to the members at the club! I will keep you all in thought and pray that God will bless all of you.
Hi Debbie.. I was just curious how and why they let you out of paying the 10K for the first club? We still haven’t figured anything out and I know they are going to put a lien on us for that fee.. but we can’t afford to send them the machines and I’m trying to find another Curves that wants them.. this bites! We just don’t know what to do.. like I said if I had 10K in the bank don’t ya think I would still be open? DUH.. so much for understanding our economy at this time.. thanks for being the great “Christians” they call themselves.. I’m still angry and depressed about it.. we just don’t know what to do or where to turn.. thank you for all your help!
Hi Debbie,
You are not the first to be taken by McCords and in all likely hood won’t be the last. I’m sorry to read about you problems with Curves but as you know by finding and reading these sites you are not alone. Any one who is selling a curves franchise should be very carefull picking a broker as McCords is not the only crooked one out there that is selling curves franchises. Most repticable brookers won’t even list curves franchises anymore. It’s such a shame that this is what it has come to and the only way to really set things straight is through the group action lawsuit. PAY ATTENTION OWNERS AND JOIN THE LAWSUIT BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.
My story is unfortunate also. I had to file Chapter 7 -I closed one club this summer but was stuck in a lease at the second location for another 2 years. I was down to 65 members – faithful but could not increase it due to economy and I had a captured audience in a high rise. I had been told by Curves and McCOrd that they would not let someone buy it yet they told me to get rid of it and move the other one exactly 7 months earlier. So I closed the one by paying them and the other by filing bankruptcy. In my credit report I had not missed or had a late payment in 14.7 years. I went through chemo, radiation and surgery this year and still paid my bills. The high rise I am in had two major customers Bellsouth and CSX. AT&T bought bell south and I lost 109 members in 10 days due to layoffs, transfers and fear. It happened 8 months after I opened so the rest quit in Janurary. Then in Janurary the second blow came when CSX put in their own gym at 15 a month. I lost 68 that week – they all had been members exactly 1 year – not much I could do about that. One thing people don;t realize is that this CLUB is 1.3 miles from the resale I bought that I had been a member of. She had 1000 members at one time and had barely over 100 when I bought it but I thought I could get them back – not knowing that when a club is that bad (previous owner fought Curves International over alot of things) that you never recover from that kind of history. The second CLub was in my territory and I was really hoping to get a break on the fee but they said it was a new territory because of the bridge between them (you could see the clubs from each other). The second club never took off and I had to wok hard to keep getting new members in a downtown environment – I was down to 48 members with 3700 rent for 18 months. I also had the unfortunate issue of my first club was flooded twice and had to rebuild twice in 2 weeks. The area director told me to do the right thing and every member who had not been in in 30 days or we could not get ahold of should be cancelled since legally I had broken the agreeement for being closed 15 days total in a 1 year period. I rebuilt in record time – all new carpet, paint, computer’s, extreme professional cleaning etc. When I cancelled all the members and got under 80 – I never recovered – I was operating at a 2500 loss each month from then on until I closed the next June. I still had 3 more months on the lease but I left with no bills. When I was rebuilding the second time – I was called on my cell and told to just move it and close the downtown own. (I quote ‘ We never thouht the downtown one in that city would make it?” They let me purchase alot of extra equipement as I was under the impression they thought it was a good idea. When I quoted the executive to my area director I was called back and told that comment was from a friend not a Curves International representative. I did not know that person was my friend….The downtown’s one losses were more that 3500 a month for 24 months and with all the medical expenses this year – I gave up. It kills me that even though I only ended up with two creditors (Curves and lease holder) I had to file Chapter 7 to get rid of them as Curves now is saying I abandoned it….. I am so glad I did not go to the SMART I would have lost even more. They called me and tried to get me to go to SMART for 8 weeks. I was harrassed at the 2007 convention and that is a book in itself. Well my life is starting over. 320000 spent in 3.5 years with nothing to show but a Bankrupcy – as everything belongs to the trustee now. It was a dream that failed.
Hi Dawn,
I am so sorry to hear about your loss and your health.. I hope at least your health is better.. bless your heart for trying so hard.. I am also glad that I didn’t do the SMART equipment.. we could never afford it.. the town was so small I had no real competitors till another gym came in and was 29 a month when we were 34.. it was a 24 hour gym and that got the attention of some members… whatever.. I’m glad we are done with all the bs but I’m worried what’s coming next from Curves Int’l… did you get out of paying that 10K fee? What did you do with your equipment? We haven’t done anything as we have no idea what to do.. we have no money to send it back to them and my only hope is to give it to another Curves but most of them are already full with equipment.. and I agree.. my dream failed miserably and now I’m worried what’s next.. any advice you could give me I would appreciate.. thank you! I hope you have a very healthy new year hun! Happy Holidays!
To all Curves Owners,
It is time we take our complaints about Curves to another level. All owners who are posting here should file a complaint with the BBB in their area and file a complaint with the Attorney General of their state. Than they need to go to the Federal Trade Commission web site and file a complaint with that federal agency also. Here is the link for the FTC http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm. Just maybe Howie will get the message that it is time to change the way he operates his business.
For those that read my story above. Yes I paid Curves to close one and asked to close the other one for the same fee 14 days later. They said I could not close at that fee I must sale it. Yet In January John McCord told me Curves would not let anyone buy it. In fact I was told that more than once. So I was truly stuck with it. My equipment belongs to the trustee and 11 from the previous club was donated. I finally go to court next week and can you belive it – since I have a job I have to buy all my personal property back (to give to Curves) down to my tooth brush and since I had 14000 in medical expenses over what insurance paid and busines loss I was to get a tax return and the bankruptcy court is siezing that for 2008 – so a 59000 business loss is an asset the next year when you file ….
The only good thing is I am cancer free….just not free of giving CI $ yet
Dawne.
I was truly touched by you story and am saddened by what you have had to go through with your curves experience. You are not alone as many of us have had similar experience’s and for a lot of owners the nightmare is not over yet. It is nice to hear that you are cancer free and god bless you and your family. When I read or hear of nightmares such as these I often think back to a play I saw on broadway called Annie. There is a song that goes through my mind which I believe the tytle is “The Sun Will Come Out Tomarrow”. In our case it may not be tomarrow but it will come out and I truly believe it will it will be sooner that later. Thank you for your post Dawne and again God Bless you.
I would like to get information on a class action lawsuit if possible. Thank you.
Please contact me and my wife. We have lost over $150,000 actual money and lost the opportunity for another $150K. We would like to know what we can do to help the group effort.
Curves franchise owners:
What do you think of Curves partnering with the aggressively anti-gay American Family Association (AFA)?
Is this a good use of advertising dollars, or is it playing with fire? Comments encouraged here:
http://www.franchisepick.com/curves-for-women-anti-gay/
Regarding the Curves promotional partnership with the anti-gay American Family Association, Becky Frusher, Director, Corporate Communications, Curves International, Inc. has posted her response here:
http://www.franchisepick.com/curves-for-women-anti-gay/
Important message to all Curves owners.
There is another site that all current owners of a curves franchise needs to be aware of. The site was set up by Curves using our advertising dollars so we all need to use it. It’s intent is to allow owners to converse with other owners and to share ideas. It is a good site if you are looking for ideas on how to save your club or just have questions for other owners. Here is the link http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/curvesowners/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1
Please go there to check it out and voice your opinion on the current posts and voice your concerns. This site is strictly for owners.
To all past and present curves owners
It is time for all past and present owners of Curves franchises to stand up and file complaints against Curves International and Gary Howard Heavin. I’m sure we can all agree that this company is in serious trouble with all the club closures and while the economy certainly has hurt our business the main set back is how the company is being run into the ground by Gary Heavin and his co-hearts. It should be obvious to all owners that the only way this will change is if we take action as a group. Some owners have been talking about a boycott of the monthly franchise and advertising fees that we pay. While that will certainly get their attention if enough of us follow through we can accomplish it even faster if we all file complaints with the BBB in Waco, TX, the BBB in your area, the Attorney General of your state, the Attorney General of the state of TX. and the Federal Trade Commission. I have included web site addresses where you can go to file such a complaint. Please do so ASAP and lets see how Howie handles the complaints.
http://www.bbb.org/
http://waco.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=40&id=ab5100aa-4c5a-4314-8e1b-f5996973f10c
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/index.shtml
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml
Another sad Curves story
http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/36701
The story Wipedout linked to above is sad but very interesting.
The couple who owned the Curves lost $100K. They tried to sell for a year, then closed. They brought a potential buyer to Curves and claim Curves cut them out of the loop. Curves has the right to sell the location now, not the franchisees.
Members claim the franchisees spent their prepaid fees and even cashed checks after they had closed. The franchisees blame CI for not allowing them to sell and thereby repay their members.
Are the franchisees any more ethical than the franchisor? They have no qualms about dumping their loser business on the next sucker, do they? And if they cashed membership fee checks AFTER they closed, do you think they’d repay members if they got, say, $20K for their store? I doubt it.
Seems like CI has no problem selling a failed location that maxxed at 120 members without even looking into the viability of the location. Seems like a swell bunch of folks all around.
Listen there are bad apples on every grocery store shelf and it’s a shame but from my experence most of the curves franchise owners are a decent group of people.. Two wrongs don’t make a right and if this is true shame on both the franchisor and the franchisee. In this case without knowing the all circumstances I would still give the franchisee the benifit of doubt but I certainly wouldn’t believe anything the franchisor says as I know Howie can’t be trusted. His actions and words have proved that time and time again.
My Curves (two of them had a total ot under 100 members) since Curves told me to cancel anyone who had not been in that I could not get ahold of due to the flooding. I was closed 6 and 7 days total. Curves and MCCORD said they would not approve any buyers – but they would only let me pay to close one the other one which they absolutely said “we never thought this one would work” – 14 days after I closed one they claimed I only had the option of selling the one they had told me 6 months earlier they would not approve a buyer. They gave me no choice but to file bankruptcy. It’s really sad. 8 Curves in our area have closed. The rest are in trouble……They have not even had a good Januray – I am so glad I am done. Once I am done paying out required Chapter 7 assets to the courts – CI can no longer get any of my $. YEA there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not a train.
PAST AND PRESENT OWNERS,
Don’t forget to send your complaint letters to the BBB in your area as well as waco Tx. and your states attorney general as well as TX. and the FTC. Here are the links that you can go to to file the complaints.
http://www.bbb.org/
http://waco.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=40&id=ab5100aa-4c5a-4314-8e1b-f5996973f10c
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/index.shtml
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml
Could someone answer this for me. Should I or should I not pay the closing fee they are demanding. I am now down to $2,500 to settle the closing of my Curves. I do not have the money to send them and if I did I do not want to give them one more penny. I am $85,000 in debt which I will be paying on until I’m very old (hopefully I live!). I was advised to join a class action suit by a business owner friend. Can someone help that has been through this? Thanks
I would say not to send them another cent! But you should decide for yourself after reading this.
We closed our club in August. Curves demanded $10,000. We refused and they lowered it several times (down to $6,000) and we still refused.
Next legal sent us a letter demanding over $42,000 for future franchise fees and future advertising. We sent a letter refusing to pay that. Look above and read: CA Ex-owner on October 16th, 2008 for more details – that’s our story. Then look above at the answer of what could happen: unhappycurvesownerz on October 25th, 2008. (He is an extremely informed person on this subject)
So far, we have not heard back from them. It’s been since October that we sent our last letter to them and it’s only been 4 months, so we don’t know what, if anything, will happen. We are hoping that is the end of that, as we are just like everyone else – we are in debt for a huge amount of money that we will be paying off for a very long time! Read the many stories above and become familiar on what options you have such as the group action lawsuit. Know that you are not alone!
Carrie,
That charge for closing will not hold up in Tx court so why would you pay it? They are just trying to get more money from you. It is just greed on their part? I wouldn’t send them a dime not one dime. Also the suit is a group action not class action and your friend is right you should join and you should also send complaint letters to the BBB, and the attorney general of your state as well as TX. Also send a complaint to the federal trade commission. If you will look at the previously posts it gives you the info you need to file. Please do this at once.
I closed my Curves Dec. 30, 2009. Curves reduced the closing fee to $3000 and then in Jan. they reduced it to $2000. I told them I did not have the money to pay them. I not working and I had surgery on Jan. 19. I now have received a legal paper from them that I have to pay them over $28000 in franchise fee and advertising fees. Please forward this to Robert Lay and unhappycurvesownerz
Thanks
I would like to find out what the cost is to join the group action lawsuit. Also I would like to get in contact with Robert Lay, how can I do this.
Hi my parents and i took your advise and did not except the curves franchise being offered to us for free. Now the sad part it did sale and now after six years of being a great worker i’m being told my hours there are up for grabs to all the employees and same has happend to my Mom . Now what ? My Mom really got hit hard her hours taken that she spends on health care . Is there anything that can help us? My Mom does not have a whole lot of work exspierience has been a very reliable curves rep all the way around . Anyways Curves hurts lots of folks thought maybe we could get some advise . Be well,Mandy
Betty, Send your email address and phone number to Sean at this site and he will forward it to me. asap so I can explain the options you have. thanks
Mandy,
I’m so sorry to hear about you and your mothers problem but I do believe you made a good decision not to take the curves club on as the new owners will in all liklyhood fail. I need to know more about your situation so please send Sean an e-mail at this site with your phone number and he will forward it to me.
Send email forward requests to unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com
Another sad story of a failed Curves club. January 2007 is the same month that our Curves took a serious nosedive, too. We lost nearly 100 members that month and never recovered.
http://www.milannews.com/stories/031909/loc_20090319005.shtml
So many sad stories, and sadder because some of them were preventable. The Curves story just points out the need to perform one’s due diligence, or what’s called “validation” in the industry.
My website offers resources including questions to ask before buying a franchise.
Looking at a new business is always exciting. However, one should never fall prey to “top franchise listings” or similar hype. And most importantly, as in all negotiations, one must be able to walk away if the deal just doesn’t add up.
Dennis Krieger
Here’s a 400-member Curves that couldn’t stay afloat during this Great Recession . . .
http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/2009/03/26/20090326ar-curves0325.html#comments
Go to McCord Business Brokers and see how few listings they currently have of Curves for Sale.
For example, the For Sale by Owner listings for Florida used to fill the whole screen in February. Today there’s only a handful left.
March 30, 2009
I am evidently getting ready to face my real nightmares, concerning my closing of my Curves. I am at the threat stage with them and have not agreed to any amount yet. Mostly because I have nothing left. I am closing in two weeks. I gave it all of my money and my best shot the past six years. I do not believe Curves is the only blame, I am sure the failing economy didn’t help. I am just confused about whether or not to agree to a settlement with them or not. I am hearing they will still sue me even if we agree to an amount. I wish I had some answers, even though I have no money left to give anyone. I really don’t know what to do next. Also there is another club in my small town, just six miles down the road, so at least my members have someplace to go if they choose so. How can they hurt so many people financially and get away with it? All we wanted was to work hard and make a decent living, totally impossible with two clubs in our area!! We haven’t even broken even in three years. I hope I find some answers soon.