JANI-KING Franchise Complaints: Add your own – or defend the company – below.
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) Entrepreneur magazine lavishes high praise on the Jani-King franchise opportunity via its 2010 franchise rankings. Entrepreneur ranked the 10,000+ unit Jani-King #8 overall in the 2010 Franchise 500, the #2 low-cost franchise, the #1 home-based franchise and #7 in the “America’s Best Global Franchise” category.
In a time when many individuals are struggling to make ends meet, the Jani-King franchise opportunity – with its low start-up cost and guaranteed cleaning contracts – seems especially enticing. But do a bit of digging and you’ll find some troubling – and remarkably consistent – complaints from Jani-King franchise owners.
Lawsuits allege a cleaning-contract shell game.
In an August, 2009 Franchise Times article on lawsuits leveled against commercial cleaning franchise companies, Julie Bennett writes:
…the lawsuits, filed recently in Massachusetts against all three companies and in Pennsylvania, Minnesota and California against Jani-King, contend that the cleaning companies misrepresent their offerings, because they do not have sufficient customers to guarantee each franchisee the amount of monthly cleaning business they purchase. Instead, the lawsuits allege, they breach their contracts by underbidding the amount of time and staffing required for each job, refusing to allow franchisees to inspect cleaning jobs or bid sheets before accepting or rejecting a job, offering geographically inconvenient jobs and unjustly taking jobs from one franchisee to re-sell them to others.
Consumer complaint sites are abundant with specific complaints about the Jani-King franchise, the franchisor and the regional master franchisees who recruit unit-level owners.
On the Complaints Board, 2009-08-22 letshelp wrote
franchise is a scam
I purchased a Jani-King Commercial Cleaning Franchise after reading they were a great franchise opportunity in several franchise magazines. During my initial meeting with the regional director I expressed concern over the 40% they take off the top of what clients are billed. He told me not to worry as they take all their fees into consideration when giving a cleaning quote to a client.
When they started offerring me contracts I would do the math and tell them there was very little profit in some contracts and absolutely none in others. I was told this was a low profit margin industry and I had to learn to work some “break even” contracts for I would get additional business from those same clients ( floor waxing ).
I accepted some of these contracts since they are only required to offer you the amount of cleaning business you purchased (with the franchise cost ). If you don’t accept the accounts they are not required to offer you anymore.
Once I started working accounts, the operations director would go by the account every month to evaluate the franchisee’s performance. He would always find something negative to write about to justify taking the account away from the franchisee and reselling it to a new franchisee. So the franchisee ends up losing the original franchise fee and whatever fee he paid for the accounts he was working at hardly no profit.
I later learned this type of scam preys on people who have never been in business for themselves – so trust the Franchisor. If anyone is looking into purchasing this type of franchise, do yourself a favor and run a Google or Yahoo search on Jani-King. They have had numerous lawsuits and government complaints. I lost all my savings, but hopefully others can learn from my mistake.
85 days ago, Rickety Rabbit responded:
Almost the same thing happend to me in Boston. I bought a Jani King franchise in 2006. I paid $15, 000 for $4000 per month in business. Minus the 22% Jani- King takes off the top. With what is left I pay for labor, chemicals, and equipment.
Jani King has it so they do not have to provide you with the $4000 per month in business, they only need OFFER it to you. If you refuse it, that’s it. They don’t owe it to you any longer. You had your chance. But here is what they do. They underbid the account by hundreds of dollars. They make false promises to the business owner, and do not tell the franchise owner about it. When the business owner cancels because the promises are not met, the franchise owner is left to make a decision. Take care of the promises never mentioned to you ( such as delivering the newspaper ever morning, or a free strip and wax every month) both are actual cases, and both would have put me in the negative for profit.
So I was forced to give it up. No fault of mine. Also the account is not supposed to cancel before one year. If they do Jani King promises to file suit with a killer legal team. Which they must have because they are still in business. However they only use it to defend itself from angry franchise owners.
They purposely offer you accounts that are way underbid, or too far away. When you deny them, they no longer owe you the account. If I could do it all over again I would invest in real estate on Venus before having to deal with this again.
One last thing. I placed over 40 calls per month to the district manager for four months straight. Not one call answered not one call returned. I had to buy an existing franchise that was already working with history in order to pay the bills while waiting for my $4000 in business. Now I am about to lose those accounts to under bidders. Can you believe that? In this economy there are those worse then Jani King that UNDERBID them. Sorry. Very sorry.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE JANI-KING FRANCHISE? WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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It always amuses me to read what failed Jani-King franchisees have to say about why their business failed. Have we really come to a place in society where a business owner no longer takes responsibility for their own actions? I suppose it is much easier to blame Jani-King for your failure rather then look at yourself as a truly horrible business owner.
Just look at the complaints on this thread. These failed business owners are crying about the accounts that were offered to them by Jani-King. Must be nice to open a business and have the franchisee promise you actual business. If you don't like the way the accounts are bid, or the profit margin then for crying out loud go sell your own accounts!! I assure you Jani-King would like nothing more from a franchisee then to get off their lazy butt and actually try selling an account on their own. Only then will you actually find out how tough the industry is right now. Jani-King provides you all of the marketing material and training that you will need to go out and sell your own accounts, but you know what % of franchisees go out and sell accounts? Less then 1%!!
Secondly, you are a business owner, and this is not some get rich quick scheme like you were hoping for! This actually takes hard work and very long hours. In fact the average failure rate for all small businesses nationwide is 80%, so if through the help of Jani-King that failure rate is cute to even 20% you still have a 1 in 5 shot of failing in your first 2 years of business. However, that is not what you wanted to hear. You wanted to hear that you could invest $20,000 and in two years retired with a million dollars in the bank and not lift a finger for it.
Here is reality check, 75% of small businesses do not make a single penny of profit in their first two years of operation. You might have known that had you put a business plan together. Oh thats right, you didn't expect to have to work that hard.
Jani-King can only help a business owner so much. Jani-King can not help ignorance, incomptency, or flat out laziness. So instead of blaming Jani-King take a good long and hard look in the mirror and ask yourself who you really should be blaming. If you weren't putting 60 hours a week into your franchise to help sell new accounts, and grow your existing ones that the answer should be very easy!
Reality check on Business Owner above. He is from JaniKing corporate. I have seen his same non sensical rant on other sites. JaniKing is a scam. Get your money and they dont care about you. If a reputable company sees that you are not a good fit for thier corporation they will give the money back for the good of all. Jani king just wants the money. Ask for it back and get the lawyer threat. Just another JaniKing liar.
@business owner
stop scamming and get a real job before that class lawsuit closes jani king down
(jani -king) what kind of b.s. name is that for a company
This is something I read on Trla
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sarah Donaldson, Attorney
Office: 210-212-3704
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – February 22, 2010 – A San Antonio worker has sued Dallas-based Jani-King International, Inc. and local Jani-King employers Ramiro and Elizabeth Bernal for violating minimum wage and overtime laws and for unlawful retaliation.
Represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) and the Equal Justice Center (EJC), Gabriela Monsivaiz alleges that she was not paid minimum wage and overtime for the janitorial work she performed for Jani-King between 2007 and 2009. The lawsuit also alleges that Ms. Monsivaiz was terminated when she asked to be paid properly.
“The complaint alleges that our client was fired because she stood up for her rights to minimum and overtime wages,”said Sarah Donaldson, a TRLA attorney representing Monsivaiz.
The lawsuit alleges that Jani-King and its local operators violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Texas Minimum Wage Act. According to these laws, employees must be paid at least $7.25 per hour of work. Under the FLSA, an employer must also pay overtime of 1.5 times an employee’s hourly rate for each hour worked beyond 40 in a given week. The FLSA prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee for asserting her rights under the FLSA. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Antonio.
Monsivaiz’s case comes as part of a new San Antonio-based wage recovery project aimed at helping low-income workers recover when they are unpaid or underpaid for their work. TRLA and the EJC, two non-profit law firms with experience advocating for low-income workers, are collaborating on this project to address the growing problem of workers’ rights violations in San Antonio. Workers who are interested in learning more about their rights can contact the project at 210-308-6222.
According to Donaldson, the problem is wide-spread. “We have heard many complaints from janitorial workers who, like our client, say they were not paid correctly for their work cleaning the businesses, schools and restaurants we all use.”
Established in 1970, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc. (TRLA) is a nonprofit organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income and disadvantaged clients in a 68-county service area. TRLA’s mission is to promote the dignity, self-sufficiency, safety and stability of low-income Texas residents by providing high-quality civil legal assistance and related educational services. The Equal Justice Center (EJC) is an employment justice and civil rights organization which empowers low-income families, individuals and communities to achieve systemic reforms that improve their lives. For more information on these organizations visit http://www.equaljusticecenter.org or http://www.trla.org.
I owned a Jani King franchise and was on both ends of the practice of reselling accounts. Three accounts were turned over to me due to "complaints from the clients" regarding the other franchisee. I brought in addtional business myself, including a $5,000 a month account. Within 3 months I was hearing complaints from the area representative and he wanted to give the account to a new franchisee.
I have heard the same story from several sources, including one of my customers who had used JanI King in another state. The franchisee there had expressed the same frustration.
One of my friends owns a very successful Jani King franchise. I think he's had it 4 or 5 years now. I know he works his tail off but he does very well. I have my own lawn service company (since 1999) and it is indeed a lot of work. Sometimes I wish I had a franchise company to back me up. Sounds like some of you complaining don't know what real work it is to run a successful business these days. But I see that a lot on these complaint sites. No one wants to work hard anymore, they want everything handed to them.
Stop complaining and go generate some business for yourself.
My 2 pennies.
How do you sell your J-K franchise? We want out and they choose not to buy it out; so how do you value it and go about selling it?
To bill edwards
Your attack is a tipical one from janiking. Its funny how you say that you have a lawn business but you come in here and attack these people when you dont know them or the facts. You sound like another crony sent by janiking. Explain the hundreds of complaints on janiking in England? Explain all the lawsuits filled against janiking in this country.
Jani King, is Jani King all over the world. Here are the facts. gross sales, less payroll, less operating expenses, less quarterly taxes, less Jani King's 30%, less everything they nickel and dime you for. What's left over? 0. Yes that's right ZERO. Don't waste your money, you will lose your socks, your financial well being and everything you own.
Jani-King owns the contracts, so they do what they want to do with them, including selling them, over, and over, and over, and over and over and over, and over and over, and over, and over, and over.... again. As soon as your seller fees are paid off, they yank the account and sell to another franchise owner.
You would do better burning your money before you give it to Jani King.
Entrepreneur Magazine should be careful about what they publish. Forget about selling your franchise, no one wants to buy it.
Looking at the right side of the screen I see the same types of complaints for practically every franchise. So are they ALL bad? Are you saying no one is making any money with a franchise? Seems odd.
"Looking at the right side of the screen I see the same types of complaints for practically every franchise. So are they ALL bad? Are you saying no one is making any money with a franchise? Seems odd."
99% of all franchise websites and newstand magazines portray franchising as surefire ticket to success and happiness with little to no failure or disagreements. The UnhappyFranchisee.com site is one of the very few sites focused on the problems and conflicts that often arise in franchise relationships. While I think we are more realistic and accurate than most sites, we are by design skewed to the negative. Also keep in mind that people with complaints are much more vocal than people who are content.
There are many franchise owners making money and even getting wealthy from their franchise investments. There are many reputable franchisors who are dedicated to providing their franchise owners with the tools and guidance to succeed. See sites like http://www.FranBest.com or http://www.TopNewFranchises.com to learn about some of them. But the truth is that there are many, many unhappy franchisees and many many franchisors who do not provide value for the royalties, ad fees and regulations they demand.
The lesson here is not "don't buy a franchise" but rather do your homework, talk to as many franchisees as possible, and, if you proceed, buy the right franchise with the right expectations.
That being said... when it comes, specifically, to the "buy-a-job" janitorial franchises, it is remarkable how all the top franchise companies get the exact same complaints: underbidding jobs, not providing promised jobs, taking away jobs from one franchisee to give to another, etc. If there's one area of franchising that deserves extra scrutiny, this is it.