MAACO Franchise Complaints

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• I have had a maaco franchise since August 2012. I wouldn't say it will make me rich, but with hard work and constant hustle, I make an ok living. This franchise is not fur people who want to get rich, but fir prior who want enough. Your can't be a softie when you run this shop. I haven't taken home money yet, but I also haven't lost money, and numbers are in the rise. I made enough money though to buy a license for another shop. Maaco I'd trying real hard with new vision, new advertising campaigns, branding and national drp program that will roll out soon. It is a very hard business to be in. But the key is you have to be in it, and not be an an owner on absentia.

• Is there any negotiating on the royalty amount or advertising contribution? What are the average COGS %
  Hiw much are people paying their staff?

• Eric, from your questions it sounds as if you are considering a franchise. Maaco will not negotiate on fees unless you are buying multiple units so forget that. COGS varies depending on supplier base. Do yourself a favor, talk to recently closed franchisees and you will find out the real story. Oh, you have to pay your staff minimal wage to be able to keep payroll costs down....remember you are supposed to be 30% cheaper than BONIFIED shops. Trust me, stay away. Buy lottery tickets instead.

• For any people visiting this site and are considering buying a MAACO franchise read what Bill B, Sal Rocco (both above) and what I have said about the prospect of surviving with this horrible franchisor. All of this happened to me and ALL 6 of the franchisees who went through the lame training we recieved. Oh there is one benifit tho, if you want to get out of a marrige your chances are greatly improved with one of these lame replica body shops.

• i am in the midst of suing driven brands, as the maaco shop closed up shop after a couple of years. the guy who ran the place was a really nice guy and a pleasure to do business with, but the quality of the work was poor, as they welded in patch metal and didn't treat the backside, with the resulting rust showing a few months later.

  by then, the shop was closed. i called driven, and they put me thru the most excruciatingly slow process over months, sending me to another maaco guy 50 miles away who said is was terrible work and offered to fix it...for $500. then, more time went by before they offered me $50 and a $200 coupon. all this, after 5 months of email hell. i had to keep contacting them, as they would be very busy and apologetic. it was at the very end, that the head of 'customer' service told me i had to sue the independent owner, as driven brands had no legal responsibility.

  i took them to small claims. they ignored the summons (of which i had to pay for out-of-state service) completely. i won by default, THEN they wanted to talk to me. they again offered $250. wow. now, they have hired a high-priced chicago attorney, who filed a paper to have the verdict vacated, citing some case.

  it amazes me. if this company would've fixed the bad work when i first notified them, it would've cost them maybe $100 in material. much less than fighting me all the way as if i was a criminal, trying to put one over them. meanwhile the small rust spots have become a HUGE.

  i did not buy this service from 'tony's auto body', i bought it from MAACO, a decades old company. no where did i see tony's name on the building, inside or out. no where on the work order, either...just MAACO. i made the check out to MAACO too.

  anyone got any tips before i step up to the plate against a REAL attorney next week?

  i will let you know if i really get justice.

• well, here's the update.

  maaco's chicago lawyer asked for the order to be vacated, and it was. i was then given the opportunity to end the case, name another defendant or name the same defendant. i decided to rename maaco as the defendant. maaco told me at the end of our many months of wasting my time, that they couldn't (or wouldn't) tell me where the owner of the closed shop was.

  now, they are flying out their corporate lawyer to fight this small claims case in a couple of weeks, as i pursue this without an attorney.

  simply unbelievable. i'm sure there has to be some law out there that completely keeps the franchisor from having any responsibility, or why would they fly out their lawyer form charlotte to fight a $2k judgement?

  so, despite the company name on the buliding, all over the inside of the shop, on all forms, and the check made out to maaco, the words "owner/operator" might be what saves this crappy company from having to fix subpar work.

  anyone have any ideas to help me before i go to court again 4/17? after reading all the terrible stories from you owners, i can see how a bad franchisor can cause so much pain to so many, no matter how hard they work.

• If you have not already done so please get an Attorney. Maaco will spend thousands and without an attorney you do not have a chance. Cost should be minimal for an hour or two of their time. Maaco spends hundreds of thousands to "defeat" former franchisees who have little resources after buying their scam of a franchise. If they do not win against you it will show what a bad company they are. They can not afford that. Continue to tell your story. Bad Franchise, Bad Warranty. Maaco is designed to seperate franchisees from their money and customers from theirs. Period. I wish you the best.

• For those searching for a GOOD BUSINESS, this is not it. These people that run MAACO are shiesters, thieves, crooks and mobsters. If you really want to own a bodyshop or collision repair shop, go to work for one first. See how a professional shop works when done the correct way. Then invest in your OWN shop. Six months to one year later, combined with what you have learned from working at a professional shop, you can be successful. Listening to these scammers at MAACO, three years later you will have wasted all of your life savings and have been set back to before you earned your first dime, because you will be bankrupt. Eventually MAACO will go away if enough investors learn of this scam. For those of us that have been scammed, best of luck, you will need it. I have friends at other shops that laugh at me and my pricing. It is a no win game when you are playing AGAINST MAACO.

• call me I was President of auto painters association this is a falling franchise [redacted]

• MAACO, 3216 Chelton Circle, Colorado Springs, Co 80909 Do Not take your vehicle here for repairs. they will rip you off and not provide parts that they supposedly ordered. ran down my batteri and I had to buy a new one.
  I took my car to maaco in Colorado springs due to a car accident for repairs. all nice and friendly and anxcious to make repairs on my car because was getting insurance check. got check so called repaired my car. I was called to pick up my car 1/2 hour before they closed, which made me wonder what they did wrong right off the bat. they got the last and handed me my keys. I looked in he ladies eyes and I knew something was wrong. So, I went to my car by myself with no one walking me through what they fixed on my car. 2nd issue. I popped the trunk to make sure it was fixed on the inside. I started my car and it started funny. my battery was fine when they got it now it was run down. next day I went to drive my car and it was dead. called maaco and asked what they did to my battery. lied and said it was time for it to go. I had no problems with my battery when I gave it to them. then the light was cracked. after taking it to them 2 times and cracking another light, they finally realized the trunk was off. The guy who took the shell off the top to replace the light tore it while I was standing right there and when I told him he tore it, he lied right in front of me and the manager who both saw him tear it. took my car back 2 more times and each time the shell they got to replace the torn one was not the right one. so that tells me they just stuck my old shell back on, lying saying they replaced it. They were to replace it the 3rd time and I have not gotten a call in 3 weeks. so, touch shit to me. I hate liers and thieves. Don't give these as holes your money until you make sure everything is repaired properly. Never will I take my car to MAACO for anything and I have told everyone at my job and my family to not patronize them. As Holes.