Letter to JDog Franchises LLC President Kevin Kopa

JDog President Kevin Kopa is allegedly telling franchisees that Unhappy Franchisee publisher Sean Kelly is unwilling to speak with him and is not interested in representing the franchisor’s point-of-view.  He’s also alleged to be dismissing the claims in our series on the JDog franchise opportunity as “baseless.”  The latter statement is curious, as our main “claims” regarding franchise turnover (churn) are the disclosures published by JDog Franchises LLC, and certified as true and correct, under penalty of law, by CEO Jerry Flanagan.    by Sean Kelly

(UnhappyFranchisee.Com)   Read as a blog post or as a PDF here

Sean Kelly’s Letter to JDog President Kevin Kopa (PDF) 8/21/23

Mr. Kevin Kopa

President & Chief Operating Officer

JDog Franchises, LLC

1021 Old Cassatt Road, Suite 100

Berwyn, PA 19312

August 21 2023

Dear Mr. Kopa:

I’m writing to clear up two possible misunderstandings and to again invite you to engage in a constructive dialogue regarding the issues raised in my recent posts..

First, I apologize if I gave you the impression I am not interested in speaking with you.

On April 17, via LinkedIn messaging, you offered to set up a time to discuss my concerns about JDog’s franchise turnover rate.

I sent you a link to my article “Is JDog Exploiting Military Veterans?” and my phone number.

When I sent a follow-up message I learned that I was un-Linked and blocked, as I had been previously by Jerry Flanagan, Tracy Flanagan and several JDog staff members.

I sent numerous follow-up emails requesting corrections, clarifications, rebuttals or other reactions. I include this invitation at the bottom of every post. I have not received any correspondence or corrections from any representative of JDog Franchises, LLC.

In fact, Christopher Debbas unsubscribed from my email list.

I am eager to speak or otherwise correspond with you at your earliest convenience. If you’d like, I can send you available times and an invitation for a ZOOM call for this week.

Again, I’m sorry if I miscommunicated my willingness to have a constructive dialogue.

It’s also come to my attention that you are stating that the claims I’ve made are “baseless.”

If so, I am eager to hear which specific claims you believe are “baseless.”

I am confused by this alleged contention because, with the exception of Jerry Flanagan’s alleged sexual harassment investigation, the information I’ve posted is publicly available in JDog Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs).

All the statements in the JDog FDDs and state registration applications are certified to be true and correct, under penalty of law, by Mr. Flanagan.

As you know, I recently published a post entitled “Franchise Warning: JDog Junk Hauling for Veterans.”

However, JDog Franchises LLC has been required to include a warning in its FDD regarding its high turnover since 2019.

The JDog Junk Removal FDD issued August 29, 2019 states:

DURING THE LAST 2 YEARS, A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF FRANCHISED OUTLETS WERE TERMINATED, TRANSFERRED OR CEASED OPERATIONS FOR OTHER REASONS. THIS FRANCHISE COULD BE A HIGHER RISK INVESTMENT THAN A FRANCHISE IN A SYSTEM WITH A LOWER TURNOVER RATE.

The JDog Junk Removal FDD dated September 30, 2022 states:

Special Risks to Consider About This Franchise
Certain states require that the following risk(s) be highlighted:
1. Out-of-State Dispute Resolution….
2. Mandatory Minimum Payments. You must make minimum royalty or advertising fund payments, regardless of your sales levels. Your inability to make the payments may result in termination of your franchise and loss of your investment.
3. Turnover Rate. During the last 3 years, a high percentage of franchised outlets were terminated or transferred. This franchise could be a higher risk investment than a franchise in a system with a lower turnover rate.

JDog Franchise Turnover Data is disclosed by JDog Franchises LLC in its FDDs and certified under penalty of law by Jerry Flanagan

JDog Franchises LLC Has Acknowledged High Franchise Turnover (Churn) Since 2019

To its credit, JDog Franchises LLC has disclosed its high franchise turnover (churn) and its potentially onerous flat-fee royalty in its FDD since 2019 (and acknowledged its been a problem since 2017-2018.)

At the risk of minimizing my own journalistic contributions, I am simply calling attention to warnings that you and JDog Franchising LLC have been sharing for years.

I am especially interested to learn what insights JDog Franchises LLC has discovered in researching this critical and (hopefully) urgent issue in recent years, and what measures you’re currently undertaking to protect the investments and overall well-being of current & future military veteran franchisees.

Operation Franchise Truth: A No-Nonsense, Hype Free, No-B.S. Guide to Franchise Ownership for Military Veterans

Kevin, I am looking to launch the Operation Franchise Truth initiative which will provide no-nonsense, hype-free, no B.S. guidance for military veterans and families exploring franchise investments. The basis of the training curriculum will be the real-life experiences of military veterans who survived, thrived or failed in pursuing their dreams of business ownership via franchising.

As the largest and most prominent franchise opportunities created for and by veterans, JDog Junk Removal & Hauling and JDog Carpet Cleaning & Floor Care will, naturally, play prominent roles both as opportunities and as case studies.

While I care deeply, as I’m sure you do, about the welfare of both your current and former JDog franchise owners, my priority is to gather, interprete and share the information prospective future franchisees need to make an informed franchise investment decision.

As you know, that single decision will impact their family’s lives for many years to come.

They deserve to have accurate information and a true indication of the risks they’d be taking with a JDog (or any other) franchise decision.

Don’t you agree?

I appreciate your and JDog Franchises LLC’s willingness to engage openly and transparently regarding these issues, in keeping with JDog’s stated mission of veteran health and well-being.

All the best,

Sean P. Kelly

Founder, Operation Franchise Truth

Publisher, UnhappyFranchisee.com

President, Relentless, Inc.

[Phone number]

UnhappyFranchisee [at] Gmail.com

All JDog Franchise Posts (Most Recent First)

This Franchise Scheme Sells, Sues & Silences American Veterans May 1, 2023

The Veteran-Targeted Franchise Trap That FOX News Built. April 28, 2023

Letter Suggests Jerry Flanagan Was Removed From JDog Franchise for Sexual Harrassment April 19, 2023

JDog Franchise for Veterans: Open Letter to Tracy & Jerry Flanagan April 18, 2023

OPEN INVITATION: Unhappy Franchisee extends an open invitation to all those discussed to provide corrections, explanations, clarifications and/or rebuttals.  We will correct factual errors & alternative views fairly.  Anonymous or signed comments are welcome below or can be emailed in confidence to UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail[dot]com. 

Sean Kelly is an independent investigative journalist with 35 years of franchise industry experience.  Since founding UnhappyFranchisee.Com in 2006, his reporting has exposed & shut down several predatory franchise & investment schemes.  Sean Kelly is a franchise watchdog who prompted and aided the FBI investigation that shut down the 165-victim multi-million-dollar NY Bagel franchise scam and landed perpetrators Dennis Mason & Joseph Smith in federal prison.  Sean was featured in the ABC Four Corners expose of 7-Eleven wage theft in Australia and has served as an advisor to Dateline NBC.  He has withstood bullying, intimidation & frivolous lawsuits as high as $35M and never lost.  His crack editorial staff and fact checkers include Chick, Gem, Red, Pru & Joanie the Rescue Chicken.

Contact the author at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail[dot]com

TAGS:  JDog, JDog Junk Removal franchise, JDog Carpet Cleaning franchise, JDog failure rate, veterans franchise, franchise for veterans, Kevin Kopa, Jerry Flanagan, Julip Run Capital, Chris Debbas, Tom Spadea, franchise failures, franchise scam, vetfran, Spadea Lignana law firm, Terry Corkery, JDog Foundation