NOVUS GLASS Franchise Complaints

72 thoughts on “NOVUS GLASS Franchise Complaints”

• That wasn’t my comment. There are quite a few commenters who use the name “Guest.”

  However, I know what he/she is referring to. Many people believe the lie that a franchisor needs to have successful franchisees to make money, but many make money even off their failures. I gave the example of Curves. Something like 3000 of them failed in just 3 years or so. Yet the franchisor posted record profits of $16 million. When a Curves fails, the lawyers go after the franchisee for future royalties, etc. while they simultaneously resell the market to a new franchisee. New franchise fee, etc. and they could be making royalties from both the failed and soon-to-fail franchisee.

  Lets say a franchisor has a territory and a franchise fee of $35,000. If three franchisees fail within the ten year term at the same location, the franchisor makes $100K+ not even counting the royalties, equipment purchases, markups, etc.

  I’m not saying Novus does or even that most due, but there are plenty that make big money churning franchise locations over and over. Despite what Billy would have you believe, no one stops them or punishes them. The only warnings about this are on the Internet, on sites like this one.

• Mr. A. Allan Skidmore, CEO of TCGI, the company that owns Trans America Glass which in turn owns NOVUS Franchising Inc., is featured on the Entrepreneurial Leaders Organization, a joint initiative with World Evangelical Alliance:

  http://www.eleaders.org/downloads/sb_eleaders/AllanSkidmore.pdf

  He is a man of character, has impeccable reputation and is a true leader. His only goal is to help new entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and sometimes, out of compassion, ends up taking in franchisees that no other franchisor would take .

  When some of these very franchisees start CHEATING their franchisor by not paying royalties and monthly installments, by competing illegally or by breaching other clauses in the agreement, the franchisor has no recourse but to take the unscrupulous franchisees to court.

  Any person with good intention of helping you can only show you where the water is, they can not make you drink the water.

• Novus Happy doesn’t seem to be happy with Novus but with what’s being smoked!

  Anywho, remember how Novus reps have been suggesting again and again how anyone interested can call any current and former franchisee to do your research?

  Here is one of those posts from Novus FDD:

  “True or False: Anyone interested in the NOVUS Glass Franchise Opportunity has the ability to call any and all franchisees in the system to get their opinions? TRUE”

  Well, I know that they make most former franchisors sign a GAG ORDER but I didn’t know Gag Orders were called “Confidentiality Clauses” by most franchisors until I just did a search on Gag Orders and found that the FTC requires franchisors to mention in the FDD if they made any franchisees sign a Gag Order/Confidentiality Clause in the past 3 years and sure enough it’s right there on Page 51 of the Novus FDD:

  “Franchisees and/or former franchisees have signed confidentiality clauses with us in the last three years.
  In some instances, cunent and former franchisees sign provisions restricting their ability to speak openly
  about their experience with Novus. You may wish to speak with current and former franchisees, but be
  aware that not all of those franchisees will be able to communicate with you.
  -51-”

  So, if they tell you right on the FDD that you can contact the franchisees but they will not be able to talk to you then why tell you to go ahead and call them and ask them anything?

  Does anyone know if these Gag Orders/Confidentiality Clauses are really valid or is it just a scare tactic to keep the former franchisees quiet?

• To Existing and Former Novus Glass Franchisees: does the following sound familiar?

  “The government statistics of franchising success has led you to believe that franchising is a less risky business than going into business on your own. Your franchise should be working, right?

  When things don’t go well, you’ll call other franchisees to compare results. The other franchisees are working full time, like you, but getting similar dismal results.

  You call your franchise Area Developer, and they blame your lack of success on you. It’s never their fault. It will always be your fault. The Franchisor will say you are a lousy sales person, you haven’t made enough calls, and you didn’t pay attention in training class. You are not buying enough of their expensive franchise marketing literature, at your expense. You did not execute properly the most recent expensive franchise marketing program, at your expense. Then they will build up your self esteem by telling you a few success stories. You buy in to the Hope of their franchise scheme stories, because you have invested years of time, and your life savings with their franchise scam system.

  You never know they have as a part of their franchise scam system a “gag order” or “Confidentiality Agreement”, which would reveal the truth about the franchise scheme.

  The truth is a large number of other franchisees have failed, and they failed before you signed up as a franchisee. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC, http://www.ftc.gov ) allows a certain number of franchise churning, as long as it’s less than 20%.

  Those franchisees are under a “gag order” or “Confidentiality agreement” where they will be sued by the franchisor for hundreds of thousands of dollars if the franchisee tells you that you are in a part of a franchise churning system, or franchise scheme.

  When you get to the end of your financial resources in keeping your franchise scam business afloat, you tell the franchisor you want out of the system.

  This is when you learn that you are part of a franchise scam”

  Above is an excerpt from this site I found out about “Confidentiality agreement”:

  http://buy-best-veterans-franchises-business-opportunities-law.com/franchise-scam/

• Guest:

  Thank you for your explanation of Franchise Churning. Of course Novus Glass Franchisors do that!

  But from that post from the other “Guest” it sounded like that some of Quiznos’ long time franchisees were getting a piece of the pie from churning kind of like the Amway upline.

• To “Scammed Franchisee”:

  Since all former NOVUS franchisees sign a standard Confidentiality Clause with NOVUS and since NOVUS complies with the law in every respect including stating this fact in the NOVUS FDD as required by the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, you are obviously BREAKING THE LAW / not telling the truth about your being a former NOVUS franchisee.

  Since you are the only person complaining about NOVUS and refuse to provide your name and contact information, it is obvious tthat YOU are the Schill hired by a competitor of NOVUS.

• I am petitioning the IFA (International Franchise Association) to hold their franchisor members responsible for acts of fraud, threatening, stealing,lying and creating false documents to terminate their franchisees from their agreements.

  Although our franchises may be different most are members of the IFA and the IFA is stealing our rights to due process by helping these franchisors word their contracts in a way that when we sign up to start also forfeits our rights to due process should THEY commit CRIMINAL acts against our franchise.

  Please go to the link below and sign my petition. Then download it and post it to your web site so others will know and can sign as well.

  http://www.change.org/petitions/veterans-deserve-success-not-matco-tools-franchise-failure?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=friends_wall

  Thank You!

  Todd A. Peterson

• I did not sign anything with Novus Glass after left their system as I have made abundantly clear that I do NOT deal in any way with con artists once I know them to be as such. As a matter of fact, I have trouble signing any document now and I read everything twice and mention that I am not waiving any rights by signing a document where I sign.

  I am not sure how my comments could have helped any franchisor competitor of Novus Glass Franchise but let us review:

  1. You can only make PART TIME INCOME at best as a windshield repair and replacement MOBILE business if you decide to go as your own person without buying a franchise in this day and age.

  2. You will most probably NOT MAKE ANY MONEY if you buy ANY FRANCHISE of a windshield repair and replacement mobile business in this day and age as the part time money you make will be given away to franchisor in the form of royalties, franchise fees and their overpriced supplies.

  3. If you buy a Novus Glass Franchise, you run a HUGE additional risk of FRANCHISE CHURNING, GAG ORDERS and getting slapped with a LAWSUIT for no fault of yours.

  The 3rd point may pertain to other franchisors in the industry but I can only comment on Novus Glass Franchise as that is the only one I have had personal experience with.

  Franchise is not a business- it’s a job where you pay someone to dictate you and you eventually go broke by giving them all your family savings and then borrowings. ANY job that pays YOU is better. Even voluntary work doesn’t make you give them all your savings.

• Broke Novus Guy:

  This is what I was talking about when I said that they might even admit to doing something wrong to you and act like it’s all your fault!

  They first tell you that you can call any of their former franchisees to get any kind of information about Novus but then admit to the fact that those franchisees are not even allowed to talk about Novus and then acting like it’s no big deal and like it’s standard procedure to get a gag order signed and that you are at fault for stating facts about them!

  So, who will stop NOCLASS Frauds and FRAUDULENT Franchisors in general from scamming and ripping off hard working people whose only fault was to possess an entrepreneurial spirit?

• I am not going to get my money back by writing on a blog. I doubt it if it would even get these crooks to slow down much less put them out of business.

  My children really suffered when I was paying these crooks with money that should have been spent on my children when I kept putting off necessary things like taking them to a doctor when they were sick.

  I just can’t bear the thought of any child going through that again and I decided to do my part.

  It would be nice to learn that I was able to make a difference so please leave a small (or big) comment letting me know how my posts were helpful to you.

  Thanks!

  Remember:- Hold on to that job until you can start a real business- however small. NEVER buy a franchise to pay someone to be their slaves. Even slaves in medieval cultures got paid in form of some food and didn’t actually have to pay their masters.

  If you must start a windshield repair business, there is free help on you tube and internet. There is free help for other businesses on the internet, your local library and chamber of commerce. Don’t let franchisors brain wash you into believing that the failed franchisee was not business savvy- they picked them just the same as you.

  ALWAYS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE SIGNING.

  Good Luck!

• Your comments have been helpful. Whats sad is they get your savings and then if it doesn’t work for you (which it is not going to work for all) they still expect more money as long as the agreement is in effect. How can someone get out by minimizing their losses?

• Concerned:

  You are right. The agreement may be in effect and the franchisor tries to portray that they are on the right side of the law.

  But, you and I both know that they have never really upheld their part of the bargain and never given us the support needed to effectively market their product in order to grow the business. Their regional manager (as “nice” as he is on the surface- and they all behave nicely except for their VP operations, it’s just that actions always speak louder than words) only spent half the time in marketing training during which he comes up with all these untested, failed and sometimes illegal marketing ideas. For instance, when he says that we should recruit kids from high school to pass out fliers or business cards with special identifying codes on them to link them with that “kid” and then we should pay that kid $10 or $20 commission on each customer that converts. Well, I knew on some level that it was an immoral suggestion and never had any intentions to go that route, I found out that it was also illegal to hire kids to work for you on commission basis.

  All of Novus’ marketing tools that you can buy at a premium from their so called marketing manager are only meant to promote their brand name instead of landing retail or fleet customers.

  What I mean to say is that current franchisees need to document all this stuff. Get the RM or others at Novus Glass to respond to you in writing or type a type a quick minutes after each phone conversation with them and email to them and copy their superiors including their CEO in Canada.

  Call the Federal Trade Commission and see what they say. Ask them if they keep your identity and personal information confidential before you even provide them with your name to make you feel comfortable. The FTC told me that they have many complaints about Novus Glass but the cases who get the priority is the one with the most complaints.

  Novus Glass will threaten you with lawsuits and they know you will call them to reach a compromise and settle for a lesser amount to save what you are left with. It’s disgusting that you give them your life savings and borrowings and did not do anything wrong and you have to be the one to pay them much more to get out of this mess!

  If you are confused about sticking with this business or giving up on it, I think the right way would be to approach a CPA first and see what he says based on the trend in your sales for the amount of time and efforts you have spent. Then it’s time to consult a lawyer and see if there is an effective way to get out of this and still save what you are left with. If the lawyer suggests a lawsuit or settlement during the free consultation, go to another lawyer as you don’t want to slug this out in court at your expense which is extremely risky and expensive and I have heard horror stories from franchisees where they hate their lawyers more than the franchisors after a while.

  You don’t want to pay huge amounts to these NOCLASS Frauds either just to get out. You need a lawyer who can tell you how to protect yourself and your remaining assets and I am sure you will find one after meeting a few.

  Don’t let that RM talk you into signing another contract with them for being speedy glass certified so that you can get referrals through speedyglass.com. Think about it- one contract got you into this much trouble already- sign another one with same people?

  Call your bank and cancel the Automatic EFT to them so that you have more control of your account. Get a prepaid debit card from Walmart and just pay by that.

  If you do find something that they did which was an obvious fraud and criminal (don’t be surprised) then the best thing to do is go to your local POLICE STATION and file a formal COMPLAINT.

  Once you do decide to quit this franchise, make sure you get all your pending payments from customers and then do NOT be in this business at all. If the covenant not to compete in invalid in your state, you can be in the business but can’t service any customers you obtained through Novus including ones you obtained as being Novus franchisee. Novus Glass and windshields.com will magically start sending you more leads by email. Just ignore them as I think it’s a bait as if you research their lawsuits, most of them involve covenant not to compete

  Don’t let these crooks intimidate you about a lawsuit in MN as Novus Franchising Inc. is a Washington corporation with a CEO who is in Canada and mails the signed agreement from WA. Please refer to my post above on this subject.

  I think we need to start complaining against these crooks on other complaint sites and also leave comments on sites they advertise their franchise.

• @ Todd A. Peterson:

  I completely agree with you on IFA guiding these fraudulent franchisors which explains why they all behave the same and have identical FDDs. I want to thank you for your informative posts and commend you for raising a voice.

  I think the Ponzis and Madoffs finally get caught but the Skidmores of the world are free to move about the world and perpetually scam honest and hardworking people and still be on the “right side of the law” because the franchisees are AFRAID.

  1. The current franchisees are afraid as they are hoping to receive help from the franchisor to be able to “make it”.

  2. The franchisees who have realized the fact they are failing are afraid as they are hoping that the franchisor will help them sell this franchise to someone else! And that the franchisor will waive the future royalties for however many years remain in their agreement.

  (The franchisees who want to sell their failing franchise and dump the deal they wish they had never bought on to someone else are no better than the crooks they bought it from!)

  3. The former franchisees are afraid as they have signed a Gag Order / Confidentiality Clause with the franchisor as part of the exit deal.

  With so many afraid franchisees, what percentage do you think are actually complaining to the FTC or the Attorney General? Heck, if the media decided to do a story on this, it would be the franchisees hiding their faces with jackets instead of the crook franchisors!

  Before I signed a franchise agreement, I had no idea that the law allows people to make deals with each other in which they agree not to follow the law! I had no idea that one could actually have his neighbor sign a document (which he signs in good faith) that one could damage his property whenever and the neighbor can’t do anything because he signed an agreement which his lawyer told him was “one sided but pretty standard”.

  I now have trouble signing a simple release forms for my kid’s school!

• Very good points scammed franchisee!

  It is sad but I think EVERYTHING you said is true! Scammed franchisees that I am reading about in other ventures are trying to sell off their franchises KNOWING that the next person with AMBITION and (this is very important) GOOD CREDIT and SOMETHING TO LOSE is fixing to get SCREWED!!! Where have we come as a country? We go to other countries to fight for other peoples freedom and to give them a voice and be able to vote but we DON’T have a VOICE in our own country and with the candidates running for office I wonder if we really have a say so in who is ELECTED to run this country. Much like politics when you sign up for a franchise your destiny is already fulfilled and it is NOT promising.

• Pingback: NOVUS GLASS Franchise Responds to Criticism : Unhappy Franchisee

• Actually, franchisees are the “batteries” the “power supply” for this fraud and corrupt system of franchising just like the Matrix.

  The government needs to create more jobs, the consumer needs a known product and service he can trust, the successful businessman wants to expand his business. It’s a win-win situation for all of them. These objectives are achieved by using a franchisee’s money, good credit and hard work. The franchisee comes out to be the ONLY LOOSER in all of this.

  The investors in Ponzi and Madoff schemes were people who just wanted to invest money and watch it grow without committing any significant time to it. They usually get so mad about being ripped off that they make a lot of NOISE and then someone eventually listens. They don’t even get their money back in most cases but the culprits are eventually caught. Even when a culprit isn’t caught, there is a general consensus and acknowledgment that something immoral and/or illegal happened and that there are victims.

  Franchisees devote themselves full time to these franchises for free along with investing their life savings and borrowings. After loosing everything, including their dreams and self confidence, they decide to PAY even MORE to their crook franchisor and agree to remain QUIET about it all to avoid being sued by the franchisors. (wait- who wronged whom again?)

  If the scammed franchisees do not complain to the FTC and the Attorney General on a much larger scale, this scam will not only continue but be promoted by the government (oh wait, is that already happening?) because it benefits everyone else while the hurt party does not cry or even let out a shriek.

  If only less than 20% complain, the government writes it off as being normal scenario that does not require action (They actually allow 20% of Franchise Churning). I think the FTC does ask for your information but keeps it confidential but ask them and see what they say before you provide your personal information.

  Peace

• Wanna be franchisees need to do a lot more due diligence but there is a catch. How many can they spend thousands of dollars on for PROPER due diligence? ($500 spent on a regular business lawyer or his paralegal to read the FDD is worthless). If they actually spend all that money and time on investigating a franchise, we all know what they will find- that it’s not for them (or anybody)!

  (There is usually NO small time franchise worth buying. McDonalds or Burger King franchisees are usually millionaires before they even buy those franchises and have deeper pockets, access to better lawyers and managers and above all, command a CONTINUED respect of their franchisor’s employees as they are placed much above those employees already in terms of status and power).

  So the (Proper) due diligence will not let them buy any franchise. And now they have spent a major chunk of their savings on bogus franchise due diligence and probably can’t afford to get in to any business.

  Well, today’s entrepreneur is lucky. Use the internet, search about franchises, type words like “scam” or “fraud” or “rip-off” after their franchise name to see if people have negative comments on them. Type stuff from the FDD you don’t understand on google search box and you will probably get your answer for free. Only THEN spend the money on a lawyer for the 1 that you do like.

  When you buy a Novus Windshield Repair franchise, just signing on the dotted line leaves you on the hook for about $60,000 even if you don’t do any business in it or the franchise is terminated by either party. What did you buy if the thing fails- a GHOST? I know franchisees who had to get a job after realizing the franchise won’t work and now pay the minimum royalties and monthly installments while hoping to sell the so called franchise and unload the worst mistake of their life on someone else!

  Paying for such a franchise is like paying a Tarot card reader to predict your future. Just like a Tarot card reader has disclaimers saying “it’s for entertainment purposes only”, a bogus franchisor agreement is not a partnership agreement but an agreement to buy a brand name, equipment, supplies, training, etc. which YOU agree is priced at what they say and agree to keep paying for it even if it fails. The franchisors don’t have any liability towards your success as their lawyers have put in all those disclaimers to protect them. They actually make more money by churning those franchises. Novus Auto Glass Franchise makes even more by suing franchisees after they have failed!

  Trust your instincts and if you still like an idea presented to you by a prospective franchisor, listen to what he has to say, do some research and start your own legally without letting other people control your money or YOU.

  What’s that? They have a brand name recognition you say? Well, if you grew up in America and you never heard their name before, chances are they don’t have that big a recognition to begin with.

  Good luck

• Hey Scammed Franchisee,

  NOVUS Glass windshield repair franchise is bringing in new franchisees like never before and you have stopped barking.

  What happened? Did the competitors of NOVUS cut you loose or did you finally realize that you could get in some major trouble if you keep bad mouthing NOVUS?

  Franchisees are scavengers building their success on franchisor’s success and they know it. Scammed Franchisee, you could not even follow a simple road map to success. Shame on you and and all your likes. Franchisees like you are the scum of the earth.

• This is another update on Novus Glass Windshield Repair Franchise Review:

  What these NOCLASS Frauds are doing now is called ENTRAPMENT and is illegal in all states.

  They are sending windshield repair & replacement leads to former Novus Glass Franchisees by email in hopes that the former franchisees will take the bait and either go and perform the repair work themselves or pass it to someone else so that Novus Franchising can slap the former franchisee with a hefty lawsuit about covenant not to compete.

  This is called Entrapment and is illegal. Therefore, do not perform work yourself or pass it to anyone else even for free! Instead, report it to the FTC.

  As far as Novus Happy and his colleagues are concerned, why are they so mad if they are selling like never before?

  Scavengers are animals who don’t hunt themselves but are on the look out for leftovers. I thought scamsters and frauds are usually referred to as such by society. The franchisees are hardworking people who had built a good credit and savings through a lot of hardwork. The FRAUD Franchisors scam them. Who is the scavenger and scum in the eyes of a generally benevolent society?

• To future NOVUS franchisees:

  We know that most of you researching NOVUS Glass windshield repair and replacement land on this page and unfortunately receive a bad impression about a business that is the best in it’s field.

  If you take a closer look at the posts, you will know them to be obvious plants by competitors of NOVUS.

  Mr. A. Allan Skidmore, CEO of TCGI, the company that owns Trans America Glass which in turn owns NOVUS Franchising Inc., is a true Christian featured on the Entrepreneurial Leaders Organization.

  He deeply cares about his franchisees and works with all his team to ensure their success. He is working with his legal team to take firm action against this website and it’s posters for posting false and misleading information about a company of high repute and good financial and legal standing.

  So, if you are looking to be your own boss but lack the skills or education and looking to join a network that shares the Christian ideology with you, NOVUS is the right franchise for you.

• I have NEVER been more dissatisfied with any service, even at a fast food restaurant. DO NOT HIRE NOVUS to replace your windshield. They came out on 9/3/14 to replace my new 2014 Pathfinder and did $3,100 worth of damage. They are refusing to pay – mostly b/c the asshat didn’t have INSURANCE when he drove a NOVUS vehicle on to my property and attempted to replace my windshield. Corporate has been no help. I am no 9 days out with no vehicle. Mother of 2 and having to borrow a car from friends. This is ridiculous and has to stop. Obviously the franchise is shit and I would never recommend anyone buying in to it.

• Do not believe the lies Novus tells you to buy their franchises. They do not support their franchisees, their marketing is non-existant (unless it is advertising for more franchisees), they tack on additional costs that provide little value, and their training program is only as good as the trainer you go see.

  The product is mediocre at best and is offered by many competitors at less cost with the same results. While they did invent windshield repair, the product is often not requested by customers, as they see little or no value in it. In addition, Novus is not willing to challenge their competitors on copyright infringement, as they see no value in the fight since they continue to pull in minimum monthly franchise fees.

  After becoming disable due to some bad luck on genes, they are suing me for all future franchise fees (we were paid up to date until the last day we were able to conduct business). They offered no help on selling my franchise, and just moved another franchisee into my territory.

  These are greedy people that run this company. They have built a business model of minimum franchise fees and do not provide any tools to help your business succeed. You are better off opening a private shop, as their brand name offers NO additional value.