Some Franchisors & VetFran Exploit Veterans Even After They’ve Failed

PIRTEK Continues to Promote Jim Lager as a Veteran Success Story – Even After They Stripped Him of His Franchise & Livelihood

Google “Jim Lager PIRTEK” and you’ll find more than a dozen press releases & stories of the Army veteran’s financial & personal contributions to the previously obscure Australian-based hydraulic hose franchise.

Already a reknowned Snap-On franchisee when he joined, Jim Lager was PIRTEK’s franchise sales poster boy for a decade, appearing in ads, press releases and even on the cover of their recruitment brochure.

Yet when Australian Glenn Duncan took over PIRTEK USA, he refused to renew Lager’s franchise agreement.

Stripped of the successful PIRTEK franchise territory he had developed, Jim Lager founded the independent Texas Hose Pro – a direct competitor of PIRTEK in the Dallas market.

Why Duncan would turn one of his top franchisees and success stories into a direct competitor is not clear.

Lager can’t comment due to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) & neither Duncan nor CEO Kim Gubera respond to questions.

But rumors circulated in the years that followed that Duncan was enraged when Lager (who is white) brought his long-time African-American girlfriend to a PIRTEK convention.

She was the only woman of color among the white white white franchisees, wives and girlfriends. 

Lager’s prior divorce and then-current interracial relationship was scandalous  to Duncan, according to the scuttlebutt.  PIRTEK USA upper management determined that Jim Lager no longer projected the desired Wonder Bread-like PIRTEK image. 

Some insiders say Duncan replaced Lager with a franchisee from Australia whose 100% Caucasian family “better fit” the PIRTEK image.

So while Lager’s unfortunate lack of racism may have made him a target, PIRTEK USA continues to use his story to promote franchises to vets.

Pay-for-praise 1851 magazine still features the headline “Army veteran Jim Lager finds success with Pirtek.”

In the SPONSORED (paid for and controlled by PIRTEK) story, propagandist Nick Powells calls Lager “an extremely successful entrepreneur as well as a top performing franchisee for Pirtek” and even posts what is arguably an illegal earnings claim of Lager’s sales (“In his first year of opening, Lager’s sales were over $1 million, and over $2 million in the second.”)

Jim Lager is prohibited, evidently, by PIRTEK from setting the record straight, from retracting his endorsement and from sharing his truth with other veterans.

It appears that franchisors like PIRTEK (through NDAs) continue to own the once-free speech of military veterans.

Australian Glenn Duncan continues to demonstrate his devotion to American veterans considering the PIRTEK franchise by forbidding them from hearing the true experiences and opinions of Army veteran Jim Lager and others in similar circumstances..

This Active FRESHII Franchise Success Story Doesn’t Mention the National Guardsman’s Termination, Bankruptcy or Foreclosure

Anyone watching the happy franchisee testimonial video posted on Facebook would think that the Canada-based Freshii healthy restaurant was a dream come true for the 13-year National Guard Sergeant First Class and his family.

In the video, the enthusiastic franchisee, who survived a tour in Iraq, announces that his first trendy Freshii restaurant franchise has been open for 4 months and he just started making money.

He’s a basketball coach who’s proud to provide his players and the local community with a fresh, healthy alternative to fast food.

He and his wife, a local art teacher, say that they are in the process of opening two more locations by the end of that year (2019).

However, the recent Freshii Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) filed with a state agency reveals that Freshii Inc. “terminated” the franchise agreement and the couple never opened the additional locations.

Our research revealed:

• The veteran’s first Freshii closed 13 months after the video was posted (right before COVID).
• His 2nd and 3rd locations never opened.
• The couple were crushed beneath $620,000 in debt, including $400,000 in bank loans.
• The young family declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy 3 months after closing
• Their family home was sold and the proceeds went to the bank.
• Freshii received nearly half a million dollars and the bank will be repaid by the taxpayers (SBA guarantee)

VetFran Features Many Smiling JDog Franchisees Like This Air Force Veteran Who’s Out of Business

The JDog Junk Removal franchise only sells to veterans.

JDog is a highly celebrated three-star member of the IFA’s non-profit VetFran.

JDog is regularly celebrated as a Top Franchise for Veterans, and a Vet-Friendly company.

Yet JDog also has one of the highest turnover rates of any franchise in the nation:  120%

But in Franchiseville, the opening of a Veteran-owned franchise is declared a permanent success story no matter the outcome.

No one bothers to update or delete the story, or warn veterans that many of the celebrated success stories, like that of Service Disabled Navy Veteran Toby Catlett’s JDog franchise, ended in premature closure and a lost investment.

VetFran Features This Marine Corp. Captain & Many Others.

They Don’t Tell You They Likely Lost $200K Each on VetFran-Endorsed Pinot’s Palette

VetFran-endorsed paint & sip franchise Pinot’s Palette appears to have ceased franchising after suffering many franchise failures.

VetFran featured Marine Corp Captain Waylon White and his wife Victoria’s Pinot’s Palette in Lawrence, Kansas as a success story.

VetFran never posted an update that the White’s closed their Pinot’s Palette in Lawrence and moved out of state in 2019.

Pinot’s Palette may have ceased franchising.  Its 2020 FDD reflects a 50%+ franchise turnover rate, pre-pandemic.

VetFran Currently Touts This USMC Vet’s Success on Facebook.

They Don’t Tell You Both His Locations Have Closed.

VetFran aggressively promotes any franchise seller willing to offer a discount & pay their fee.

While they pretend that they serve the interests of veterans, they promote both stable, proven franchises and those with outrageously high failure rates.

They promote profiles of happy veterans like Willie R. Smith Jr. who opened 2 Juice It Up! franchises in Temecula, CA.

VetFran either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that both of the 27-year Marine Corps veteran’s franchises closed and his $400K investment is gone.

VetFran is not interested in warning veterans about the high failure rates and financial risks;  they simply want to sell more franchises for their members.

This Smiling Air Force Veteran is Currently Featured on the VetFran Facebook Page.

Not Only is Her Franchise Closed & Investment Lost, The Franchisor Has Ceased Franchising.

The franchising industry professionals of the IFA and VetFran won’t share the industry’s dirty little secret with veterans:

Most of the trendy or hot new franchises they promote won’t survive as long as the term of the franchise agreement.

Excited new franchisors exhibit at their Expos for 2-3 years and are then replaced by another crop of excited new franchisors.

Past “hot new concepts” include of the past included meal preparation kitchens, eBay drop-off stores and now are paint-and-sip art concepts like Pinot’s Palette & Bottle & Bottega.

No one warned USAF veteran that the neither the unproven concept nor the VetFran franchisor would be around long enough for her to recoup her time and $200K+ investment.

We are the only ones willing to expose the industry secret that franchising works when duplicating a proven, established concept & system, not an unproven, flash-in-the-pan concept that won’t survive the next economic downturn.