WINGS TO GO Franchise Complaints
Wings to Go, the Maryland-based chicken wing franchise, has a shockingly high SBA loan default rate of 57%.
Are you familiar with the Wings to Go franchise opportunity? Please share a comment below.
That means that Wings to Go franchise owners, some of whom may have collateralized their franchise loan with their house or other personal assets, were unable to repay their loans 57% of the time despite having a very serious incentive to do so.
The Wings to Go Franchise has a failure rate of 57% for SBA-backed franchise loans
Are you familiar with the Wings to Go franchise opportunity?
What do you think accounts for the SBA loan failure rate of Wings to Go franchise owners?
What steps should Wings to Go be taking to stop further franchise failures?
Please share a comment, opinion or insight below.
ARE YOU A WINGS TO GO FRANCHISE OWNER OR FORMER FRANCHISEE? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE WINGS TO GO FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Tags: Wings to Go, Wings to Go franchise, Wings to Go complaints, Chicken wing franchise, food franchise, restaurant franchise, wings franchise, franchise failure rate, worst franchise, sba failure rates, SBA franchise loans, franchise information, unhappy franchisee
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April 4, 2014
OCU Law School
Dean Valerie K. Couch
Prop Bono and Public Interest Law
Greetings Dean Couch,
My name is Karen Cross; my husband and I owned a Wings To Go franchise in Midwest City, OK which is now closed. I found your name along with the following information while researching information about Wings To Go to identify possible avenues of recourse against the franchise. The Unhappy Franchisee posted the following information about Wings To Go in an article written on July 11, 2012:
Wings to Go, the Maryland- based chicken wing franchise, has a shockingly high SBA loan default rate of 57%. That means that Wings to Go franchise owners, some of whom may have collateralized their franchise loan with their house or other personal assets, were unable to repay their loans 57% of the time despite having a very serious incentive to do so.
Our restaurant begin to experience financial difficulty when the main gate that leads into Tinker Air Force based was closed; the three month closure turned into an 11 month gate closure. When that happened we turned to our Wings to Go franchise asking for help. We requested help with advertising costs along with a reduction in our monthly royalty fee for a period of time. Neither request was granted. During the same period of time our restaurant was losing money due to the gate closure Mark Goodnow, the Wings to Go President (at that time) was convicted of embezzlement; spending more than $885,000+ on phone sex and prostitutes under the guise of “advertising fees.” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated, “Corporate Officers are fiduciaries for investors and the stakeholders. Darrell and I were stakeholders. Without help from the Corporate Office we fell behind in our sales tax payments and on October 13, 2011 our Wings to Go franchise was closed by the Oklahoma State tax commission; next, the Wings To Go organization terminated our franchise agreement in February 2012.
I believe Wings To Go corporate failed us along with other franchisees … the failure rate of Wings To Go stores along with the SBA default loan rate are both directly tied to the lack of support and involvement from Corporate. Additionally, the Wings To Go website lures owners into a false sense of security listing the following information on their Wings To Go.com:
Wings To Go provides…
1. Comprehensive training and support.
2. Ongoing assistance from field representatives
3. Advertising and promotions (national and regional branding campaigns.
The company is masterful at implying intent but has done very little to stand behind the claims on their website.
I believe the following:
1. The Board of Directors should be sued for not adequately overseeing the funds and not operating in the best interest of the franchisees.
2. The financial officers of Wings to Go should be sued for not requiring proper documentation for expenditures
3. Wings to Go corporate should be sued and held accountable for information posted on their company website which seems to me to be an implied covenant of intent.
My husband and I are over $100,000.00 in debt from Wings To Go; do you believe we have grounds for a lawsuit?
Owner of single store in New Albany, IN experienced many of the issues cited in your post. Little corporate support and refusal to help negotiate lease agreement once we started having financial problems. No advertising help by corporate. Basically took royalties but provided zero support. Lost everything when couldn’t make lease payment, came to store to find door locks changed, lost 5k In chicken inventory and once reached agreement with lessor regarding monthly lease, was unable to purchase additional inventory. All equipment seized by lessor for the remaining lease term and 17k paid out of pocket. Corporate was nowhere to help despite their knowledge of our situation. I have zero to show for my 300k investment.
I used to manage a wings to go so I know how long it takes to make the orders today’s should have been.no more than 10 min it took almost 25….not to mention the workers where in pretty much pajamas and slippers… They had no cares to make people’s food
If your looking for a business to get into and be excited about, stay as far away from Wings To Go as you possibly can. I have been with them for a very long time. The people that run it now border on the line of criminal. Everything that i have done over the years to grow my business, is done by owner only. I haven’t seen corporate people in years. theres 3 people in a office that take your money. When i first came to this company there was 92 stores, now theres 30 something now. How embarrassing is that. Invest in something other than this company.
Wings to Go is a Sham as a Franchise. Their is no leadership, simply 2 guys collecting checks paying a secretary to collect their money. During the ‘COVID19’ event, leadership crawled into a hole, no guidance, not emails, no concern for the safety of their Company, Franchisees, Customers.
They get ridiculous kickbacks on every vendor contract they sign, the sauce company they switched to is inconsistent. Most owners don’t even use the sauces. It is a franchise in name only. Owners are locked into franchise heavy contracts, that provide ZERO back to the Franchisee. There is no support ( not that the 2 guys have a clue as to what they are doing). All owners are just left hanging and getting a monthly royalty bill.. STAY AWAY From Buying into this Fraud
I just want yall to know yall are false advertising the caribean jerk sauce. It is a Carmel colored based sauce. Yall are literally making it with hot sauce and jerk seasoning and it’s not right. I’ve been in culinary for a long time even serv safe management certified because I was a general manager. I’ve changed my profession for a better pay but I know my stuff. Yalls jerk sauce is not right and people are paying for a false sauce!! Also your cooks got an attitude with me because I brought that up to his attention. He literally pulled the ingredients out to show me. He showed me a gallon of regular hot sauce or buffalo because it was orange. Then showed me the seasoning and said that’s the sauce. He got upset and told me I was wrong and I even Googled it to make sure I was right! I advise yall to start using the right sauce. If I want to spend my money on caribean jerk sauce then I want the actual caribean jerk not a knock version of it!!! This is bogus
I am with you, Willie. It’s hard to find an authentic chicken wing caribbean jerk sauce outside of Kingston.
And their buffalo sauce is bogus too… not a trace of buffalo in the ingredients!
But it’s not the cook’s fault. Wings to Go is a franchise and they’ve got to serve the sauce they are told to.
Next time order them plain and toss them with your own sauce… with the special herbs and spices… with Bob Marley blasting in your ear buds.
(No one ever provides enough Old Bay either… keep some in the glove compartment.)