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.
Melissa,
Please send ADMIN (unhappyfranchisee[at] gmail.com) an email with your email address and phone number and I will contact you asap. I have helped over 800 owners get through this process and you are not alone. Do not pay curves any money or sign anything before you talk to me. Unhappy
Dear Unhappy..
I need some help with Curves trying to collect money also.. what do I do? Please help.. we haven’t been contacted since the first threat of 10K.. we didn’t respond cause we are lost on what to do.. thank you for any information you can give me!
I would offer what you can pay just to get it over with. That is what we did. I was just ready to have it done and over with. They will probably take it if they are hurting enough!
Sheila,
Again send Sean at unhappyfranchisee@gmail.com an email with your phone numberasking him to forward it to me and I will be more than happy to call an explain what your rights are and how to proceed.
Here’s a Curves tale that sounds promising, until we find out the “Health Challenge” mentioned in the article has added a whopping TEN MEMBERS to this Curves, and membership is now at 230 since it first opened in 2005.
Who can make a profit – or break even – with only 230 members?
http://www.auroranewsregister.com/Stories/HealthChallengehelpsboostnumbersforexercise/tabid/515/Default.aspx
“..I would offer what you can pay just to get it over with. That is what we did. I was just ready to have it done and over with. They will probably take it if they are hurting enough!”
I couldn’t help but respond to this outragous post which of course wasn’t signed. ARE YOU NUTS OR FROM CORPORATE. Your advise is not only looney but an insult to the many owners who have been ripped offf by Howie. Don’t pay them a thing, not one dime, do you hear me NOT ONE Dime. You don’t owe them anything in fact they owe you for their deseptive, illegal, immoral, and unethical business tactics. Sue Sue and Sue them again for all they are worth. Send in complaints to the following:
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
I’m not an owner, but rather a member, of 2 gyms right now, 24 Hour and a local club closer to my house. There is a Curves in the neighborhood.
Somewhere in CA, I think in the Bay Area, some fellow sued a women’s only gym for denying him membership, discrimination, and he won.
I thought that was right, because males can also benefit from the program, the 30-minute or so circuit type program. They have tried to replicate this in 24, but due to space limitations, usually, it gets kind of lost among the other equipment.
But here’s the main point: Open up to males and the membership will soar. It could still maybe be women during certain hours and men certain other hours, but men and women have no trouble mixing in 24 or any other club I’ve seen, Gold’s, Bally’s, LA Fitness, LA Workout, and so forth.
If this CEO Heavrin you all are writing about has any sense, which he apparently has not, he will go co-ed and keep his franchisees in the black.
I did not sign my name because I do not want Curves coming back to haunt me. The contract that we signed when we opened Curves has everything and the kitchen sink. When I decided to close my Curves I did not realize that there was going to be a fee because I had not been open for five years. I kept offering a much lower settlement fee and finally they accepted. I think the concept of Curves is great and all of you that opened one at one time did too. You can bash my blog all you want but I am done with closing my Curves now and never had any debt along with it. I still work out at my local Curves and enjoy it. Good luck with your law suite.
I’m sorry if I offended you but it really sounded like you were a CI plant. I don’t blame you at all knowing as much as I do about Howie and how vindictive he is and has been. But just because you paid the closing fee don’t think you are out of the woods yet. There have been many posts from owners who did just what you did only to end up 6 to 8 months latter being sent a notice that they owed more money for closing. They even had signed a release that Curves demands that you sign when you close. That release is very one sided. It only prevents you the owner from suing Curves International not from Curves suing you. If you will check the different post on this site and the related sites you will see that this is the truth and that it is happening more often than not.
i’m g;ad to hear that you are still working out at Curves as we all know the benefits and believe in the concept. I wish you all the happyness and success with any endevor that your path in life takes and I’m sorry that you were taken as so many others have been by Howie. God Bles you and your family.
Alan,
Thank you for taking time to read all of our sad posts and for offering your input. Curves has been sued for discrimination in several states when it first opened in the late 90’s. I am not sure which states but I do know they paid a large settlement and lost the ablity to finance through SBA. That is why they changed their name from Curves For Women to just plain Curves around 2000. While I personnaly don’t think accepting men is the anwser some clubs back east are now accepting men and have even gone to 24 hour access. It is too early to see if the results are going to be worth it but will just have to see how it works out. Unfortunatly Howie has no common sense or for that matter any sense as you can tell from all the posts. You have a great day and again thank you for taking the time to read the posts . God Bless
In response to Allan. I am from the Bay Area. The suit was not against Curves. Men are allowed to join and in fact they have. But the system is specifically designed for the female body. The founders of Curves originated with co-ed and it didn’t fly.
This just in…Wellnes memberships that pay the Club owner $4.00 per visit, CI has just announced that they will charge each Club $1.00 per wellness member per month. CI claims that there are currently 200,000 wellness members country wide…nice raise for GH.
This is so typical of Howie and the way he run his business. Once againg the frachisee takes it in the you know what. And believe me its not a pleasent experence.
Just pulled the key out of my Club doors for the last time…sold every piece of equipment except Smart…Can’t get rid of it due to clauses in software contract staing that they have to test every piece, take apart, set up at new location for up front fees plus $100.00 an hour to do all this. So a Club that can not afford the $7000.00 plus to buy direct, can not take advantage of a big savings because MYTRAC will not honor warrenties or provide software support because they where not paid the couple of thousand more they would have made on the deal.
LOL what an experience…Thank God I have a good lawyer!
Hey–Another Not Cut Out–I like your attitude. Obviously having the Smart Equipment was not enough to bring the members in to join in mega numbers. I opted not to get it and glad I didn’t……just more debt when I have to close my doors. I believe in the Curves concept, but I curse the day I ever heard of Gary Heavin and decided to by a Curves franchise.
In what state are you located? Good Luck. And I hope Gary has to answer to his God about all the lives he has ruined.
Hey, it was very interesting to learn about the history of Curves in this thread. As I noted, I’m a member, not of Curves, but of 24 Hour Fitness and a local club, called oddly enough 2597 (the address), here in Southern California.
But I would join Curves if I knew it accepted men, as someone said above.
But regardless of that, here’s another idea that most of you probably already saw, and this will be done whether any of your entrepreneurs do it or not, and it’s only a matter of time: a hybrid workout/brain gym.
Check out the recent article in Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123819562420161343.html
Here’s one approach: You have a little bank of computers set to go online. As motivation for the members, once they finish their workout circuit, they get 1/2 or 1 hour on the computer, to check their email, do whatever.
Yes, a lot of people can do this at home. But guess what…a lot of people can’t. That’s why public libraries are so full these days: people going online at the only place they have access.
Meanwhile, their getting more fit on the circuit.
This is just one idea of combining brain work with physical work. Don’t worry, someone’s going to do it soon, if they haven’t already. So do it!
Another idea: A workshop combined with the gym. Few people these days have the space and/or funds to get done at home what they can do in a shared workshop. Yes, Home Depot et al. do offer some rudiments of this, but no one yet, to my knowledge, has put both physical fitness and handiness together yet. There is a tool club in the Bay Area, but that’s expensive tools, like lasers. Just a few tools to get household and automobile jobs done would do it for most.
What a come on for the average woman AND man!
To all Curves Owners,
I just heard the most out landish bull crap about Curves International and it is very important that we as owners stand up and be counted and express our opinion so that we can try to prevent this from happening. You maybe wondering what is it and I will tell you right now. There is an organization that is called the American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD). It is supposed to be a pro-franchisee advocacy group. However, it is obvious that this is not the case as Sean Kelly has been an outspoken critic of the way they “sell” their fair franchising awards to companies that want to offset & dismiss online criticism. Furthermore, owners, this group is giving an award as AAFD’s Franchisor of the Year to Curves International on April 30 of this year in San Antonio, TX. Unhappyfranchisee.com has started a new page to post our feeling on this at
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/curves-aafd-names-curves-franchisor-of-the-year/ . You can go there to read all about it but we must do more than post there on that site. We all need to write e-mails to AAFD Chairman Robert Purvin informing him of the dishonest and unethical business practices used by Curves International. His e-mail is rpurvin@AAFD.org . Please e-mail him at once telling him about how you feel about Gary Howard Heavin and his dishonest, unethical and immoral business practices so we can put a stop to this ASAP.
As your emailed complaints will undoubtedly be disregarded, please also copy (CC) them to unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com and I will publish them here using initials only.
But be advised… complaint emails sent to AAFD regarding Cuppy’s were forwarded to the franchisor. If you would like to post an open letter to the AAFD, feel free to post it at http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/curves-aafd-names-curves-franchisor-of-the-year/ or email it to unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com.
Curves is named AAFD’s Total Quality Franchising Franchisor of the Year.
Comments invited:
http://www.bizzia.com/franchisepick/curves-is-franchisor-of-year-say-what/
AAFD = All Available Finances Drained
Wiped Out: Funny :) (unfortunately)
New post on failure fee at FranchisePick.com:
Curves International: You Failed? Pay up!
http://www.bizzia.com/franchisepick/curves-international-you-failed-pay-up/
Comments invited
ALSO: Is anyone involved with the Curves Independent Franchisee Association? CI is reportedly giving the Assoc. significant support.
Are you optimistic that the IndFA can bring about positive changes?
Why or why not?
I closed my Curves at the end of Dec. I have a oblique machine for sale. I’m asking $300 and you pay for delivery or pick up. Location is Colon MI. My email is dbpriest@peoplepc.com
Does anyone know if Mr Heavin is trying to correct these on going issues? Please give me your thoughts.
Heavin is trying to avoid insolvency. The first wave of group-action lawsuits against Curves is likely heading to trial in the coming months. And there’s a second wave after that.
It doesn’t appear that Howie has even addressed the issues and problems that are causing the unrest with the franchisee’s. In fact he has blamed the owners for all the closings and the high default rate on SBA loans.
( web site below) It has been rumored that all he has done is to have his lawyers rewrite the contracts to include the closing fee of 10,000 dollars and to have situations in the wording so that an owner could never sue. I don’t believe that any owner has seen the new franchise agreement as of yet but there are many 5 year contracts coming due very soon. Many owners feel that even more clubs will close because not many owners will sign such an agreement. Furthermore many owners are concerned that it will make them harder to sell than they already are.
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/curves-gary-heavin-blames-greedy-3rd-party-resellers-for-franchise-failures/
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/curves-overview/
Does anyone know how the Curves outside the United States are doing? Are they having the same problems in their countries?
yes they are having the same problems over seas as we are in the states. Howie does not show any special treatment to any of the clubs. He is running them all into the ground because of his unethical, immoral, dishonest business practices. His ego and pinchant for hirering family members has led to the down fall of Curves.. Howie day in court is coming soon and he will have to pay up for the hundreds of owners he has ripped off………..
Wipedout,
What is the second lawsuit? Something resales can get in on?
The Curves story just points out what has been know by many about franchising for years. A franchise is not guaranteed to succeed. First one has to be in the right franchise. What’s that? Well, one that first and foremost fits your personality and then one with a proven business concept in the area it will serve, and last, a franchise system that is honorable, successful, financialy stable, and focused on one primary objective: making their franchisees successful. When the franchisee is successful, the franchisor will be too.
Dennis
I couldn’t agree with you more. The main objective of all successfull franchisor’s is to make sure the franchisee’s are successfull. In return the franchisor will even be more so but with curves since 2003 the home ofice has not cared about the franchisee. Just how much Howie can line his pockets with. What a shame. He always wanted to be in the record books and Howie will get there for being the worst womens franchise around and world wide. He will certainly be remembered for a long time and once he is done in the courts he will certainly be in the record books. but someday he will be acountable to ST. Peter and I just wish I could be there to see the look in his eyes whin he is sent to he——.
I am interested in joining the “group” lawsuit (or arbitration) against Curves International. I would like to find out who to contact. Thank you.
Victoria,
Send an email with your phone number and e-mail address on it to unhappyfranchisee@gmail.com requesting Sean to forward it to me and I will fill you in on all the lawsuits.
Unhappy,
What you say here is so true.
(The main objective of all successfull franchisor’s is to make sure the franchisee’s are successful)
I bought my club during this time. My club is here today because of what I’ve done. There was no support from Curves International. They should be held accountable for the resales that were sold at too high a price.
So many people are simply running out of money, which is due to the current overall economic situation. Everyone is affected. People aren’t buying like they were. If your club is teetering between the black and the red, just blame it on your unhappy childhood or Gary. Some of us take responsibility for our own success and keep going with a positive attitude. Some people just sit on their derrieres and complain to the bbb or anyone else who will listen.
Yes sw 90 % of the curves owners are going broke and some like you like to wallow in self pity. Grow up and admit it sw you have no clue and should have never been a curves owner. Some people when they see an injustice happening prefer to stand up and take a stand and fight so that others like you can rip the benefits. Howie is nothing but a crook and a dishonest human who has used Christianity to line his pockets with the almighty dollar. By speaking up and filling complaints owners are now being heard loud and clear and just because you are against the practice of speaking up why hold it against owners that do. If you were really an owner and not slime ball from the CI office of hell you would welcome the fact that many owners have had enough of Howie’s lies and false promises. Go head stick you head in the sand and swallow all the shit the Howie spews all day long. Howies day is coming real soon as the courts in Waco are tried of all his delay tactics and the trials are ready to start. He has no chance in court and will surly lose his shirt. So sw why don’t you just go back and crawl in the hole you came out of which of course is Howie’s ass.
‘Yes sw 90 % of the curves owners are going broke’
Please cite your source on this. Since you know so much, please tell me what percentage of these owners are re-sale buyers that over paid, how many are first time owners, etc.
Oh, and I guess since I’m doubting the almighty ‘unhappy’ I’m going to Gary hell too.
Mr, JD all you will succeed in doing is to bring from the bowels of the underworld…Carol Cross.
Dear unhappy
I wrote, “Some of US take responsibility for our own success and keep going with a positive attitude.”
And you write back, “some like you like to wallow in self pity.”
Some like ME?
CAN YOU READ?
You said, “some of us stand up and take a stand and fight so that others like you can rip the benefits”
You are not benefiting me.
You sure do sound mad, unhappy.
I take responsibility for my own success. YOU blame Gary
Go ahead and blame Gary. I’m sure he will be ok.
R U sure all your unhappiness doesn’t stem from your unhappy childhood, unhappy? Never mind-I’m sure it’s all Gary’s fault.
don’t worry. be happy!
lol lol lol lol ,lol lol
Have a great day, unhappy!
i’m sorry to see the name calling type of behavior. It’s much more productive to read peoples personal experience.
I had to close one of my curves franchises and am fighting to keep the other one open (for both my sake and the members). I’m fighting economically and i’m fighting Curves International. it’s so sad that they can’t be more cooperative.
Most recently they sent me a legal notice warning me to stop using the Curves name. Could it just a formality from the processing of paperwork related to the franchise i closed (‘abandoned” is their term)? Or are they directing me to close the other franchise too? I’m sure it is just a formality, but it feels more like a kick in the stomach. It does reflect how impersonal their operations are. And when I read how they sue other franchisees who’ve been in my shoes, I worry.
I agree and apologize for my part. I will try to stay more positive the next time unhappy tells me that I eat someones s*** and came out of their a**.
Well at least my posts are getting some feed back and by the way I don’t apologize to anyone who will try to stick up for Howie, the most unethical, immoral, dishonest business person I have ever met. Oh and just to set the record straight sw I actually didn’t tell say you came out of their ass. My reference is that you have your head so far up his ass that you can see his true colors.
Now JD you certainly won’t go to hell for disagreeing with me but you will if you try to stand up for Howie and spew his lies and try to help him continue ripping people off. Now as for your question of where I get the stats for that statement. First off I am working with or been in contact with over 2500 franchisee who are all having financial problems but that is not the 90 percent of all curves but it is a good indication of what is happening to the clubs. Secondly we did a random survey of 20 percent of all known open franchisee that are listed in the new franchise disclosure document and we actually came up with a slightly higher figure of 94 percent with an error factor of 3 percent. Thirdly there was a survey done on the yahoo curves owners group site that came up with a much higher rate but the number of responses, which were very low, really doesn’t give it any credibility. If you are an owner you should by all means check out the yahoo group site if you haven’t done so already.
Now sw let me explain that I may sound unhappy and I go by the moniker of unhappy but in my day to day life I’m not so unhappy and have a smile on my face 99 percent of the time. Yes I get very upset when some idiot tries to stand up for Howie with no evidence on their side to document why they think he is such a good Christian. He is not a Christian by any means and has used that to sell his bag of lies to further his greed. I don’t have the time to show you proof of that but if you will take time to go through all the posts on this and related site you couldn’t help but agree. As far as the Curves workout you will never hear me bad mouth it as it does work and any owner who says differently is a liar. It is such a shame that the name curves is associated with the Heavins!!!!
To Another Curver,
It sounds like your nightmare is going to get a lot worse. You may need to have some legal advice in which case the lawyers in Tx that are handling most of the individual case against curves will be able to help you. If you decide you need to speak to one of them please send an email to Sean at unhappyfranchisee@gmail.com and he will forward it to me . Be sure to file a complaint with the BBB and the federal trade copmmission.
Curves franchisees should check out the comments on the Children’s Orchard posts:
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/childrens-orchard-unhappy-franchisees-launch-site/
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/childrens-orchard-taylor-bond-a-franchise-mystery/
I found it interesting that the commenters there – just like here (at least unhappy) – focus all their energy on blaming one scapegoated CEO but can’t manage to come up with a list of specific things that they want changed.
Check it out and see the similarities.
Taylor Bond is their Gary Heavin. Everything is Bond’s fault – just as unhappy thinks its all Heavin’s fault. Bond is their antichrist. The root of all evil. But ask them what they want him to do – how Bond can make them happy – and they can’t tell you.
Just like here. You guys can bash Heavin, his religion, blah blah blah but can you come up with a tangible list of specific demands that you would help you survive?
What do you people want?
Want them to suspend or reduce royalties for a while?
Want them to give you control of the ad fund? Or let you spend your ad contribution locally on what you want?
Franchisees love to complain and bash their franchisor but when they are asked to propose solutions they change the subject – just like your group.
If franchisees don’t want to be treated like sheep, they should stop acting like sheep… unless you guys make your demands clear, and state what you want, all you’re doing is baaa-ing a little louder than the others.
unhappy will not be able to control himself – just watch. He will have to put the focus on Heavin and will somehow discount the need for a list of specific demands or improvements that will help stores survive.
How can Heavin give you what you want if you can’t say what it is you want? All you do is complain. That’s why franchisors stop listening.
Dear unhappy-
You said- “Well at least my posts are getting some feed back”
In my original post, I made no specific reference to you. If I had been giving you feedback, I would have addressed you by name.
But now I am addressing you by name and you can be so proud about all this “feedback” you’re getting.
Maybe you think that bad press is better than no press? I don’t.
You said- “I don’t apologize to anyone who will try to stick up for Howie”
I didn’t ask you for an apology, but I think I would have respected you for it- not that you care- and I think the other people here would have too. I did not stick up for “Howie” or anyone else. I said that I believe people should take responsibility for their own success and not blame other people.
You said- “Go head stick you head in the sand and swallow all the shit the Howie spews all day long.”
So you didn’t exactly say I do eat “Howie’s” s*** You just think I should and your are suggesting that I do?
You said- “So sw why don’t you just go back and crawl in the hole you came out of which of course is Howie’s ass.”
So, you did say that [I] should CRAWL BACK INTO Howie’s ASS, the HOLE [I] CAME OUT OF.
In your most recent post, you said- “Oh and just to set the record straight sw I actually didn’t tell say you came out of their ass. My reference is that you have your head so far up his ass that you can see his true colors.
So you’re using semantics to clarify your statement about saying that I came out of Howie’s a**, by explaining that you really said that I have my head up “Howie’s” a**?
That’s much nicer, thank you.
You also said- “If you were really an owner and not slime ball from the CI office of hell…”
So, you also called me a slime ball. (And I don’t work at the CI office, which doesn’t matter anyway.)
You said- “Howie is nothing but a crook and a dishonest human”
You said- “…owners have had enough of Howie’s lies…”
“Howie” may be a liar. and based upon your denial of the statements you made directly to me and then denied, what are you?
You said- “just because you are against the practice of speaking up why hold it against owners that do.
I’m not against the practice of speaking up. I “practice” speaking up all the time, which is why I posted in the first place. People speak up from every direction, unhappy, not just from the direction you’re coming from.
So unhappy, all I really have left to say is that I understand that you feel you’ve been wronged. It’s a bad deal for everyone-all of us.
“Howie” may be a really bad man. Then again, maybe he’s not. I agree with the things that Not A Victim wrote. And I think a lot of these financial problems have more to do with the economy than any one person in particular, including “Howie.”
None of this matters. What does matter is that we all stay level headed and take positive action. How can we move up if we stay so busy trying to take someone down.
It really might be a good thing for you to apologize to all the other owners (not me) for your potty mouth.
`sw
Ok I have two questions…
First, SW if you aren’t so “unhappy” with your Curves then why the hell are you even looking at this website???? Yeah that’s what I thought..
Second, instead of sitting here arguing your point with unhappy why the hell aren’t you running your Curves???? Ok that’s what I thought again.. if you don’t want to hear everyone’s complaints then stay off the website.. some of us are in deep debt and just needed to know we weren’t the only ones with problems.. have you ever heard of group therapy?? Oh that’s right your a PERFECT Curves follower! You must have a million in the bank by now from owning one right? Curves Int’l has no feelings for anyone but lining Gary’s pocket.. so if you don’t want to hear any of us then stay off the damn website.. we appreciate someone elses understanding of our problems.. thanks!
Oooops guess I have a potty mouth too.. Gee, are we still in America??? Freedom of speech right? Or is this Curves world? Where we have to be perfect like SW?? I think I will take America!! :)
There is nothing more frightening than ignorance in action.
~ Goethe
I would love Curves to be everything it claimed to be and that the CI was a cool, informed and honest people.. I know I am. I am new owner that cries, wondering what the hell to tell all my cool gals whom love Curves. But busting the nut and growing the club is beyond my comprehension. I am smart gal…I am an experienced woman and nothing in the biz model is right… The true facts, I got later, that the average club is at 250 members is unbelievable.
I have spent 30k in the purchase, advertising, waco non sense camp and upgrades. I have 7 months in and have only grown from 190 to 220. This is sad… I can’t do it alone. I did a club assessment with my helper, and when I put in the mortgage she baulked say Corp doesn’t want real numbers just the ones they think matter…
In my area, one more just closed, that is 4 this year and the remaining gals who have been Curving for over 5 years, aren’t making it… The stress is outrageous. And yes, they all have paid way too much, big bucks…they won’t make it at this point…
The club camp was so frightening and fake and unsound biz practice. The human rights violated while I was there, left me depressed and ashamed to be partners with these scary yooo-hooos. They are insane, and honestly, as people I wouldn’t have a lunch with Diane, Gary, Cassie, fancy lawyer threatening us, or silly Nadia, with her blueberry bs or the robust AD running around like women prison guards. (yikes)
I have a prayer, Please God, take this great product from these hypocrites and let it rebuild under new management with good biz sense and a new model that works for the grater good. Truth is I hate that Curves such a viable product is suffering so much pain…from the owners, to the members, to the community…It hurts everyone when another one bites the dust.
What is the future of Curves, is Gary’s ego going to kill it??? How many more have closed to date????
Thanks for sharing your Curves….so I can make a decision about my future.
Well well well Sw they also say ignorance is bliss and you must be one blessful person cus your ingnorence is overwhelming you dumb ass. Give me your club address and I’ll send you some tissue so you can wipe the shit form your eyes so you will be albe to see again or is it that your blind to go along with being deaf and dumb.