GOIN’ POSTAL Franchise Complaints
Goin’ Postal franchise opportunity: What could go wrong with a brand name inspired by mental illness and workplace violence?
Obviously, something IS goin’ wrong with Goin’ Postal.
Data released by the Small Business Administration (SBA) indicates that Goin’ Postal franchise owners who qualified for SBA-backed franchise loans have a high loan failure rate of 33%.
That qualifies Goin’ Postal for inclusion in UnhappyFranchisee.com’s list of WORST FRANCHISES IN AMERICA (by SBA loan defaults)
Are you familiar with the Goin’ Postal franchise opportunity? If so, please share your experience, opinions or insights with a comment below.
If you are a Goin’ Postal franchise representative or employee, please leave a comment or email us at UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.
Postal center franchises that appear on the WORST FRANCHISES list include AIM Mail Centers (44%), Postal Connections (35%), PostNet (30%), Postal Annex+ (30%) and Pak Mail (28%).
(The UPS Store franchise is not on the SBA worst list, but it is one of the most controversial franchises among franchisees – See THE UPS STORE Franchise Complaints)
Goin’ Postal franchise owners have an alarming 33% SBA default rate.
The apparent drop in Goin’ Postal franchises in recent years is also a cause for concern.
| Goin’ Postal Franchise | |
| Goin’ Postal U.S. franchises in 2008: | 297 |
| Goin’ Postal U.S. franchises in 2011: | 275 |
| Growth in franchise units 2008 – 2011 (#) | -22 |
| Growth in franchise units 2008 – 2011 (%): | -7 |
| SBA loans granted since 2001: | 28 |
| SBA loan failure rate: | 33% |
| Sources: Entrepreneur (growth), Coleman report (SBA) |
The inability to repay an SBA-backed loan (or any franchise loan, for that matter) indicates a serious situation for the franchisee.
It’s likely that Goin’ Postal franchise owners who received SBA loans may have collateralized their franchise loan with their homes or other personal assets, and many were unable to repay those franchise loans… despite the serious incentive to do so.
GOIN’ POSTAL Franchise Complaints
One anonymous Goin’ Postal franchisee warned against investing ion the Goin’ Postal franchise opportunity, writing:
Please, I beg you not to even think about trying Goin Postal, dumped my life savings into this with a lot of promises.
If you read there info they say that you WILL ship UPS, DHL, FedEx and US Mail. What they don’t tell you is that if a UPS store complains on you, that you loose your account, because you are using a personal account in a retail environment. GP resposnse was “oh well, that happens” When it is 30% of your business and there response was “sorry” !!!
Now DHL is gone. Etc Etc.
I closed my store after heavy losses and now they want to sue me for liquidated damages.
They are more interested in taking your money and investing it in there Teenager Loitering Electronic Device, Used Clothing Store, Printing Store etc. When you go to training it is more about the after hours partying then training. Please KEEP your money !!!! I could go on and on.
Are you familiar with the Goin’ Postal franchise opportunity?
What do you think accounts for the SBA loan failure rate of Goin’ Postal franchise owners?
What steps should Goin’ Postal be taking to stop further franchise failures?
Has Goin’ Postal taken serious action to address the problems that led to these loan failures?
Please share a comment (anonymous is fine) or Contact UnhappyFranchisee.com.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE GOIN’ POSTAL FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? ARE YOU A CURRENT OR FORMER GOIN’ POSTAL FRANCHISE OWNER? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Goin’ Postal, Goin’ Postal franchise, Goin’ Postal franchise complaints, Goin’ Postal complaints, postal franchise, postal centers franchise, shipping franchise, franchise failure rates, SBA franchise loans, worst franchises, unhappy franchisee, Marcus Price, M.J. Price
I opened a Goin Postal Franchise Sept 07. One year later, 2008, businesses all around me were closing in my shopping center, 15 store fronts in all. Times were really tough then. Two years without a pay check, 60 to 70 hours a week and one part-timer 25 hours a week.
Today I work 40 hours a week and two part-timers I pay $2 more an hour than minimum wage. It will be 6 years this September since I opened and still growing.
The Goin Postal Franchise allowed me to offer other services during the recession, Prepay Cell Phones, internet services to name a couple that helped me stay open through the down turn. One of the main reasons I purchased the franchise is a flat franchise fee and not a percentage of the business , less than $60’000 start up cost, and one of the reason s I’m still open.
As a franchisee we have acess to a blog that all franchises use to share ideas, complaints, and problems. From 2008 – 2010 Goin Postal ‘ s would post their reason for closing to the blog. There were many reasons for closings. Most were new businesses like mine and not established yet. Several that closed reason was, one of the owners would loose their day job that supported the business during the start up years , or small town with one or two major employers and one would shut their doors and the other would cut back. The other would be bad location s .
The biggest thing I would read about a failed store were things the franchise taught new franchisees to do and how to do it and the franchisee would say, I’m not doing that, or I’m not making enough on this or that limiting their store servic e s .
Other business decisions were hours open. Only open for two hours on Saturdays or just not opening on Saturdays. Not opening when they said they would be open or just not open a day in a week because they needed a break. Taking a weeks vacation when ever they choose closing the store for that week and in one post I read taking a month off, the store closed while they were on vacation.
Goin Postal franchise fee is less than $400 a month flat fee and would not be the cause for a franchise to fail. Personal circumstance, bad business decisions, bad location, poor service or rude owners are reasons any business failure. The failure percentage or 33% doesn’t show the real reason for a franchise failure.
A local or national bad economy is something you can’t help and depending on the business owner , not a reason to fail.
The Goin Postal Franchise is there when I need them, the rest is up to me.
The only way you get your investment from this is if you can sell your store for more than you put in. 60 to 70 hour weeks for 2 years is at least $50,000 worth of labor at minimum wage.
We have owned our store for 11 years. We love it. There have been rough times, but we have always been able to get ahold of the head office. Gotten great advise and loads of support.
I agree with Mark. A lot of people close their doors when they want a day off, don’t offer customer service, of limit their services. Then they wonder why they fail. At our location, we are constantly thinking of promotions, ideas, and working. You have to work hard to make the money. I think people who fail are not working or taking advise from the head office.
We wish everyone the most success!
WHERE DO I BEGIN? ALL LIES ON WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THIS FRANCHISE. MARCUS IS ONLY” INTERESTED IN BECOMING A BILLIONAIRE”
YOU ARE PROMISSED EVERYTHING AND ONCE YOU SIGN THE FDD “QUICKLY” WITHOUIT EXPLANTION YOU ARE FUC*ED!!!! YOU HAVE A PERSONAL GUARANTEE THAT WILL WIPE AWAY EVERYTHING.
HOW DOES A BUSINESS MAKE MONEY SELLING STAMPS AT COST? YOU DONT. PEOPLE REALISE THAT ALL USPS PRICES ARE MARKED UP. LISTEN IF YOU WANT TO WORK 70 HOURS A WEEK WITHOUIT PAY AND STILL UNABLE TO MEET THE MININIUM REQUIREMENTS THIS IS YOUR FRANCHISE.
TECH SUPPORT SUCKS AND ARE SMART ASSES. SO USELESS. GO TO ANY GP POSTAL WALMART LOCATION ASK AN OWNER. GO TO GOIN POSTAL LOCATION ASK AN OWNER. ASK A LAWYER TO READ THE FDD BEFORE YOU SIGN. BEST $200 YOU WILL EVER SPEND. YOU WILL BE SHOCKED TO HEAR THERE LEGAL OPINION.
REGARDS, LOST EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF THIS USELESS FRANCHISE.
I’d like to respond to this ‘franchisee’ but we’ve never had a franchisee named “Mark Spencer”.
Our staff provide fantastic tech support. They are available toll free throughout the business day, and will provide unlimited after hours support on their cell phones and will log into a franchisees system and fix it from no matter where they are. We have regularly had employees come into the office at 2am or on weekends when something couldn’t be fixed on the phone.
Our staff are never rude to a franchisee. They might tell you something you don’t like if that’s just the situation but its only if it can’t be helped. For instance, if an insurance claim is denied by FedEx they may tell you its in your own interest to pay it if its a small one and I personally do that occasionally to keep a customer happy. Customer service is ALL that matters to our Goin’ Postal customers AND out franchisees.
Customers usually know that prices are slightly higher than at the Post Office on some products but they rarely care as its about convenience. It’s like paying $3 for a hamburger rather than cooking it yourself or buying a gallon of milk at a convenience store. We also have deep discounts on almost all of the products we sell, but yes, stamps are at face value purely as that is a low margin leader just like most staple items are in any high volume business.
I always tell franchisees to have an attorney look over a franchise agreement if there is anything they don’t understand and we’ve never had one say anything other than ours is the fairest one they’ve ever seen. MJ and I designed the franchise agreement to be something we would be happy signing if we were on the other end of it. The only franchisee we can think this complaint might be from, wanted to add lots of unrelated products and services to their store such as pet ID tags and lottery. Unfortunately those products were not allowed for reasons out of our control (such as vendor conflicts) and the franchise agreement does prohibit that just like any franchise agreement does. You can’t have a Dunkin’ Donuts selling tattoos….
If this franchisee would like to contact me directly they have my cell phone number just like all franchisees do.
Marcus Price
CEO
My sister and I are considering a franchisee in Columbus Ohio. I know a couple people with a Goin Postal, one in Madison Alabama and one in CA. Being a business Major, I understand that location and Advertisement plays a big part of any business success. My question to Marcus is are new franchisee receiving the training needed to be successful? and above it says there is a 33% failure rate, do you track or have a matrix outlining these failure and the reason they failed?
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