Dennis Mason aka Dennis K. Mason, Denis Mason, Dennis Maason, Keith Samuels, Anthony Stewart, Franchise Ventures Inc. Franchises Unlimited Inc., franchise complaints, warnings OR praise and recommendations for Dennis K. Mason are welcome below.
In researching franchise disputes on complaint websites, franchise discussion boards and franchise lawsuit and court records, certain names seem to crop up again and again.
One of those names is that of a long-time, New Jersey – based franchise salesman and broker named Dennis K. Mason. Allegations seem to center around deceptive franchise sales techniques, including the use of illegal earnings claims, to sell high-risk, low-quality franchise opportunities doomed to fail.
We don’t know if these allegations are true or not. We invite your confirmation, rebuttal or opinions below on Dennis Mason or other franchise sales brokers.
Most recently, franchise salesman Dennis Mason was named in a lawsuit from franchisees of New York Bagel Café & Deli. The franchisees claim that Dennis Mason understated the necessary investment costs and provided unrealistic and illegal earnings representations in order to induce them to buy New York Bagel Café & Deli franchise.
According to a story on NorthJersey.com:
The suit says that Dennis Mason told [the franchisees] that “franchised locations were earning $10,000 to $15,000 a week,” but their store earned only $4,200 to $4,900 a week.
New York Bagel provided a franchise disclosure document that said the cost of building a store would be $27,500 to $60,000, and the equipment would cost $22,000 to $38,000, the suit says. But it says the couple has so far spent $230,000 on the business, including $108,000 to build the store, and $55,000 on equipment.
The lawsuit also alleges that the franchise disclosure document used by Mason did not meet the required standards, was intentionally misleading, and did not disclose critical, required information, including Dennis Mason’s prior franchise lawsuit in connection with his sale of Java’s Brewin franchises.
Dennis Mason was named in a lawsuit against Java’s Brewin Development. According to the complaint:
This lawsuit arises from the illicit scheme carried out by Java’s Brewin, Christopher Gregoris, and Dennis Mason, through which they extracted significant sums of money from Plaintiffs by employing fraud and deception to induce Plaintiffs into purchasing Java’s Brewin franchises in the state of New York… during a time that Java’s Brewin was not properly registered to offer or sell franchises within the state of New York…
The lawsuit alleged that Mason used deceptive tactics in the franchise sales process, including selling in New York without the required disclosures, which would have included company financials showing the franchisor’s “bleak” financial condition.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that Dennis Mason grossly understated the initial investment cost of building out a franchise location by more than $50,000 in order to close a franchise sale. The suit alleged that services promised by Dennis Mason, such as “expert” site selection assistance was never provided, resulting in numerous stores never getting open.
MerchantCircle.com reviews of Mason’s Franchises Unlimited Inc. (18 Log Rd, Tabernacle, NJ 08088, 609-859-8686) were all negative, alleging that the New York Bagel Café franchise opportunity sold by Mason was a scam.
November 11, 2011 Janet in Millbury, MA wrote:
NEW YORK BAGEL CAFE & DELI
JOE SMITH AND DENNIS MASON CON PEOPLE…THEIR START UP FEES FOR BAGEL FRANCHISE ARE TOO LOW..MANY NEW YORK BAGEL CAFE & DELI RESTAURANTS CLOSED OR ARE CLOSING OR ARE STRUGGLING..BUYER BEWARE
August 12, 2011 David wrote:
DENNIS MASON STIFFED 200 PEOPLE OUT OF MILLIONS DOLLARS
Do not sign any franchise agreement with Dennis Mason or Joe Smith, NY BAGEL CAFE
June 17, 2011 by Sam wrote:
Dennis K. Mason, the owner is a scam artist who leads people to believe they are buying a franchise and he takes a down payment from them and disappears. He works along with a couple of other guys, one named Chris. He claims to sell NY Bagel Cafes, YoFresh Yogurt Cafes, Amazon Cafes and Hoagie stores. DO NOT give this man any money. SCAM ARTIST. He should be convicted and prosecuted.
A coffee website that reviewed a now-closed Java’s Brewin franchise location in Philadelphia contained this warning from Anonymous:
The people who committed this franchise fraud have also fraudulently sold Horn and Hardart franchises, Amazon Cafe franchises, Planet Hoagie franchises and Petrucci’s franchises…they set up these dummy businesses and then take the franchise fees and run. The franchisors are left with a poor product and lots of promises. Beware of Dennis Mason!!!
UnhappyFranchisee.com doesn’t know if these allegations are true or not, so we invite your comments, opinions, experiences, affirmations or rebuttals.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH DENNIS MASON & FRANCHISES UNLIMITED, INC.? WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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Joseph Smith of NY Bagel Cafe emailed us this information to post:
"Dennis Mason was an outside broker that worked for us for a few months, and was terminated after his work history came to light The Franchisees claims were deemed unfounded and suite was dismissed... and this information should be posted on your site as well as the negitive items.. Thank You"
UPDATE: NY Bagel Cafe victim Janet Conlon suggested that I update this comment to make clear that Joseph Smith was, of course, not being honest about the infamous Dennis Mason not being the main franchise fee collector for NY Bagel Cafe. We are receiving increasing reports of Dennis Mason collecting franchise fees with the promise of either providing 100% funding or refunding fees. Many report that they did not get funding yet Joseph Smith and Dennis Mason refuse to give them back their money. Do NOT give money to these people. If you have, contact us at UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.
Read all about the NY Bagel Cafe franchise scheme, Joseph Smith and Dennis Mason here:
NY Bagel Café Franchise Scam Overview
There is a clear violation of the RICO statutes dating back to the 1990s. Frozen Desert Systems, Petrucci's Water Ice, Planet Hoagie, Horn and Hardart, Amazon Cafe, NY Bagel, are some of the pattern - I am uncertain as to why the authorities in NJ and PA have failed to act. This is a 20 year scam - various front men, but all the partners connected....
Hi my name is Luigi. I met these people back in 2008. They promised me the world and at the end they got $35k of my money and a store never was opened. I got the run around during the process of this whole scheme and when it was time for me to ask for my money back they were out of business. Any suggestions on how to get my money back? I have a lawyer looking into this but any suggestions would really help. Thank You
I am talking about Java Brewing who took my money and Chris was my connection.
I am in NJ
Actually Dennis contacted me first, then Chris came later.
[NOTE: It appears that Chris Gregoris himself may have posted this comment as "nick." We have asked Chris Gregoris not to post as a third party in future comments. ADMIN]
I have dealt with Chris directly on many occasions. Have never met Dennis. Chris sold me a franchise and did everything he told me he was going to do. I was shocked and disturbed when I found this on this site. I can only say positive things about him and how he runs his company. He rejected a few locations that I had picked out and explained to me why those locations didn't make sense. Chris shoots straight from the hip and heart.
You have a contact for Chris?
Nick, your situation must be RARE and your experience with Chris deluisional at best. This guy is a SCAM ARTIST through and through! Dennis is Chris' best friend, BTW. Now that Dennis' name is connected to so many bad schemes, Chris is trying his hand at it and also using different spellings of his last name to throw people off. His recent adventure is called "Poppin' Kettle". As for it's location..it couldn't be in a worse location! He chose a Mall in NH that doesn't get enough foot traffic and his business is failing since it opened! I am hard pressed to believe he is capable of finding anyone the "right location" since he can't figure it out for himself! He is also using a trademark symbol on his logo and the logo approval has not been finailized. I don't suspect this business will be open much longer. Chris also has a LONG history of scamming right along side of Dennis. I am sure Dennis was his mentor, if not he has been Chris' sheild!! I'm happy to hear your business is doing well Nick, no doubt more of a credit to you than anyone else. their ideas are great, but their business practices are NOT.
Lugi...here is Chris' number: [redacted]. good luck!
I also paid for a Javas Brewin and lost $35K. Chris and Dennis are criminals. After a couple months they both disappeared. I remember reading somewhere that Dennis filed for bankruptcy. Nick, I would really love to know where your Javas Brewin is located because quite frankly I think you're either Chris or Dennis or full of c.r.a.p.