DENNIS MASON Franchise Complaints
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.
Dennis Mason: New York Bagel Café Franchise Allegations
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: Java’s Brewin Franchise Allegations
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.
Dennis Mason: Franchises Unlimited, Inc. Allegations
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.
Hi can someone give me a contact number for FBI who worked on the NY Bagel Cafe and Deli? I was taken by Dennis Mason and Joe Smith for $19,500 and I want my money back…i need my money, they don’t care who they steal from email me at [redacted] if you can help me.
Another NY Bagel Victim: I am going to publish a post of links to federal and state agencies where you can file a complaint online. The more of these forms you fill out, the better the chance of getting resolution. – ADMIN
Oh wow I wished I had seen this before, they got me…I paid them 15,000.00 and as of right now I’m trying to get my loan approved to open the store. It looks like I will not get enough approved to open since half of the people on their approved lender don’t even work with them anymore. This is sad I guess I may be on that list of people that will never get their franchise fees back.
Dennis Mason has ruined countless lives with deceptive sales practices – nothing is in his name, so you will not recover anything. Civil actions are for naught. The RICO statutes should apply. Beware!
ADMIN Note: We have received many complaints about the alleged sales practices of Dennis Mason (who also uses aliases such as Ken Mason and Keith Samuels). For his recent activities and our efforts to get law enforcement to intervene, read our stories on the NJ Bagel Cafe franchise.
If you have had any dealings with Dennis Mason, please contact me confidentially at UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.
I agree that civil judgements may be difficult to collect on, but must correct Peter Avengie on one point: Mr. Mason does have at least one significant asset in his name. Contact me for more information.
Franchise salesperson Dennis Mason’s latest and perhaps most lucrative franchise sales scheme is the NY Bagel Cafe franchise. Read more here:
NY Bagel Café Franchise Scam Overview
We need past and current victims to contact us… no matter which franchise you were involved with. You can stay confidential, but we need to hear of your experience. Enough of this is enough.
Wow! Thanks for keeping this post alive! I almost bought into the scheme. Now they are trying to get people to purchase “Kwench Juice Bars”. The main contact is Anthony Stewart (likely a fake name). He said once we paid the $30k we’d then talk with Chris, his partner, and we could get the ball rolling. He promised 100% financing and full support. Thank goodness we did a quick Google search and found out the truth! We called him and confronted him on all the accusations, he was baffled. They are telling people that the Kwench Juice Bars are very lucrative and promising inflated numbers. Be careful!!! Glad we didn’t lose any money and sad for those that have fallen prey to this type of scam.
Fresh Claims of Chris taking peoples in California even though they’re no allowed to franchise and running for the hills. Beware of these unscrupulous people as their trails have a long line of destruction. I know first hand as they’ve wrecked my life but I took steps to warn others and exposed their true identities. I am happy when I read these forums and find people who were able to escape their clutches. I’ve been threatened to be sued and had constables show up to my house drop off court papers, I refused to be silenced as I firmly believe these guys are crooks and must be stopped at all cost.
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I see Dennis was still up to his old tricks in 2012. What a shame that him as well as others with him were allowed to get away with ripping so many people off. It’s really unfortunate that people like that exist out there. How do they sleep at night.