SPRAY FOAM GENIE Franchise Complaints
Spray Foam Genie franchise opportunity promoted & sold by the controversial Phoenix Franchise Brands, headed by Greg Longe and Maria Shanabarger Longe. Like the other franchises promoted by the Longes and their cabal of commission-hungry brokers (Rhino7, Franchoice, IFPG, etc.), Spray Foam Genie is producing a firestorm of franchisee complaints & horror stories. by Sean Kelly
(UnhappyFranchisee.com) Also Read:
If I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect that Greg & Maria Longe are trying to bury me and crash my humble watchdog website with an avalanche of franchisee horror stories and distressing complaints.
Franchisees from nearly all of their stable of unstable brands (Fetch! Pet Care, FurryLand Mobile Pet Grooming, Spray Foam Genie, Door Renew, MedSpa810, Steel Coated Floors) have filed anonymous complaints with me and to the FTC in response to their call for public comments.
“This is Phoenix Franchise Brands Playbook!” – Anon
Being the largest, Fetch! Pet Care franchise has generated the most complaints. However, as Anon points out below, higher investment concepts like Spray Foam Genie generate for higher financial losses.
Spray Foam Genie Franchise Complaints & Allegations (see below) include: False & deceptive earnings claims, understated capital needed, inflated equipment costs, misrepresentation of hours/labor necessary, nepotism, unqualified corporate personnel, and scamming foreign nationals seeking E-2 Visas.
As Anon points out: “This is Phoenix Franchise Brand’s playbook across all of their brands!”
Are you familiar with Spray Foam Genie or other Phoenix Franchise Brands? Have you worked with Greg Longe or Maria Shanabarger Longe in the past? Please share a confidential comment below or email the author, in confidence, at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail.Com.
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Spray Foam Genie Franchise Complaints (submitted anonymously)
On 10/29/24, anon wrote:
The owners of Sprayfoam Genie, Furryland Mobile Grooming, and Door Renew are also experiencing similar issues.
They have been financially affected to a greater extent than the Fetch! Pet Care owners, largely due to the nature of their business models.
Owners of Fetch! who signed up under Maria and Greg Longe have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, while owners of the other brands have seen losses ranging from $500,000 to over a million on average.
This is Phoenix Franchise Brand’s playbook across all of their brands!
Spray Foam Genie “Lies and Deceit”
In 11/5/24, Anon wrote:
We purchased a Spray Foam Genie (SFG) franchise in 2023 under the direction of Phoenix Franchise Brands and in the care of unqualified Kevin Longe (Greg and Maria Longes son). Kevin is the denounced cult leader (CEO) of SFG.
We purchased the franchise with the promise of “managed services” that was truly too good to be true. Upon purchased they promised we would be up and running within 90 days and all we had to do was create the entity and the rest was to be taken care. But don’t fret it was took 2 hours per month of the owners time and they would handle the rest. Unfortunately we and many other savvy business owners fell victims to their scam. Within one month we knew we had been duped.
We were pressured to press along as we were already knee deep over $500k. We had no option but to “hope” things would get better. (Once again our bad)
The FDD and the line 19 is nothing but lies and deceit. Written proof of financial lies and insurance fraud have been proven.
The nepotism runs deep with many family roles managing funds of franchisees that have no qualifications to be in their positions.
Hundreds of thousands of wasted on marketing, call centers (one which is in a current lawsuit for hundreds of thousands), erroneous charges, travel funds and the list goes on.
We’re personally out over $800k from these fraudsters.
Greg Longe had a history of crooked behavior and the Longes and Ryan’s need to be held accountable for their actions (I’m afraid they are also victims of the Longes)…
These families need to be held accountable for destroying lives. Absolutely heartbreaking for what they are “achieving”
Alleged: 50% of Spray Foam Genie Area Developers Have Closed or Transferred
On 11/4/24, Spray Foam fraud wrote:
As a Spray Foam Genie owner since 2023, I can echo the experiences of every franchisee here, easily corroborating Tamara Bean’s experience & accusations.
With the noted exception that our losses are double to quadruple what most Fetch owners have lost.
Of the just under 60 franchisees who signed on for their overpriced & grossly misrepresented area developer opportunities between 2022 & 2023, 50% are already either closed or, transferred ownership of their failed locations under duress to either a preferred member of the Franchise Advisory Council or an unsuspecting new franchisee.
Additionally, while we were told that in addition to our area dev franchise fee (which ranged from $65,000 – $300,000+ depending on the number of rigs they calculated would thrive in your market) an additional $215,000 would be sufficient capital to fund the business to profitability. I have yet to meet or talk to any Spray Foam Genie owner from this signing period who has spent less than double this liquid capital estimate. Many are 2.5x to 3x this amount and still not profitable with a single rig.
Which, by the way, was all personal cash since Rhino7 and Phoenix refused to do deals with people who wanted to leverage SBA loans (while I speculate, my guess is they knew running a pyramid scheme with federally guaranteed money is likely a fast track to federal prison). This total personal expense doesn’t include our financing exposure on a grossly overpriced double rig we were all told was necessary from the start because their “done for you” commercial bidding team (plus 5% more off the top) was going to fill that pipeline fast (despite only the cheaper single rig being disclosed in the FDD), a Hemi diesel pickup & forklift & a $65,000+ equipment package we could all have acquired on our own for probably less than $40,000.
Add in the exposure most of us have on long term commercial leases of property needed to store our equipment & chemicals.
In total, most SFG franchisees are underwater ~$1M and still not profitable after 12 – 18 months of operations with just a single rig deployed.
Then add in that 90% of these buyers (this was confirmed by Kevin Longe in a personal conversation some time ago) signed on for the passive investor program (another 5% off the top, thank you very much; 5% more for SFG, none for thee, so it seems) where everything was supposed to be “done for you”, and you have the perfect recipe for the biggest shit show I’ve ever seen in franchising.
I used to think that this company couldn’t afford to fuck things up given that Greg’s wife, kids, their spouses, extended family, close friends and spouses of close friends worked for the corporate team. Now I am left with the impression this was all to line the pockets of their family & buddies with our hard earned cash.
No one on their corporate team can look in the mirror today and not be aware of the lifetime damage they are causing to hundreds of families across America, and now across the world as even E-2 visa holders are being defrauded to move here. The fact that any of these people continue to show up and help the Longe’s & Ryan’s perpetuate this fraud means they either don’t care, are too afraid to speak up, or are simply in on the grift (possibly all three).
The stories I keep hearing from owners who leveraged it all to try just “a couple more months” to get to profitability are heartbreaking.
It is my sincere hope that the FTC, State’s Attorney Generals and/or private owner lawsuits will finally hold these people accountable.
And I hope that having Phoenix Franchise Brands on a resume is the permanent scarlet letter it deserves to be for any of their senior and mid-level managers.
About Anonymous Franchisee Comments: Anonymous speech is a protected & important right. It’s an unfortunate reality that many franchisees must share their experiences and opinions anonymously for fear of retaliation. Do not let franchisors or franchise sellers dismiss or discredit warnings communicated anonymously… after all, fear and intimidation by franchisors often necessitates anonymity.
That said, do your own research and learn the lessons shared throughout this site!About Spray Foam Genie & Phoenix Franchise Brands:
Livonia, MI-based Phoenix Franchise Brands was founded & is headed by Greg Longe & Maria Longe (aka Maria Shinabarger).
One or both of the Longes were previously associated with British Swim School, Martinizing International, Rooster’s Men’s Grooming Center, Zoup! (rebranded Z!Eats), & Collision on Wheels International (defunct).
Download the current 2024 Spray Foam Genie Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) *
(Sold by Frandata for $270.00)
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I sent you an email, I happen to know that SFG Tuscaloosa touts their lead spray tech is an undocumented worker that they smuggled into and out of Mexico this year (2024).
OSHA is nonexistent in their “corp” operations outside of the masks.
SFG employees, Lee and Kelly Scott, ask for money from franchisees to give them additional help (which they are paid for in the royalty fee).
The whole corp team gets hammered at the “Thanksgiving Dinner” meal during training week then get in their cars and drive either home or to other bars to keep on drinking.
The FSL’s, most don’t even have franchise experience nor do they know how a franchise operates in general much less the “systems” that SFG has in place to be able to assist new owners.