Many cheated franchisees will basically encounter many scams and traps carefully arranged by franchisees. Based on years of rich experience in handling franchise disputes, this lawyer summed up ten tips to help franchisees see through the franchise scam as soon as possible, as follows:

1, see through phishing links

Many franchisees will carry out brand marketing promotion through channel companies. In order to attract franchisees, channel companies often promote and arrange various phishing links on various websites, Tik Tok, today's headlines and other online channels. Once the phishing link obtains the contact information of the franchisee, the channel company will accurately promote the franchisee's brand in words. Therefore, franchisees must keep their eyes open, and it is best to inspect franchisees through certified official website and official customer service telephone.

2, see through the fake investment

Franchisees must be vigilant if they encounter telephone contact or merchants who claim to be well-known brands by adding WeChat. Because these businessmen are probably fake Gui Li. Merchants use the name of well-known brands to attract investment, which is not only convenient for defrauding franchisees' trust, but also can harvest potential franchisees of well-known brands on the pretext of high joining cost, high threshold and full places in the intended joining area. In this case, the franchisee can ask the investment personnel to provide proof of work and contact the brand to verify the authenticity.

3, see through the cost trap

In order to fool franchisees into making up their minds to start a business, franchisees may adopt the tactics of not charging franchise fees or ultra-low franchise fees. In business, it is impossible for a franchise company to do a loss-making business. After being tricked into investing by franchisees, franchisees will be required to pay for decoration, purchase equipment, materials, consumables and other high-premium projects in accordance with the contract. Non-payment is a breach of contract. At this time, franchisees tend to bite the bullet and continue to invest money until they finally suffer heavy losses.

4, see through the real situation of the trademark

No matter what type of joining, trademark intellectual property rights must be the core business resources. The common trademark traps of franchisees include forging trademark certificates, registering Gui Li trademarks as "well-known trademarks", replacing trademark rights with copyright, and falsely exaggerating trademark stories. Franchisees can verify the authenticity of trademarks on the websites of government departments.

5. See through the illusion that direct stores are hot.

Inviting franchisees to inspect the direct stores of franchisees will generally see the hot scenes of "celebrity endorsements" and "long queues" created by franchisees at a high price. In addition, franchisees often falsely exaggerate the return period and single-store profitability of franchise projects, so that franchisees think that the prospects of franchise projects can be expected. But in fact, as long as the franchisees stop attracting investment, the business of direct stores will soon plummet or even close down. Therefore, when franchisees inspect the project, they must inspect the operation of many direct stores and franchisees on the spot to understand the behind-the-scenes situation of the franchise project. If the franchise company doesn't even have a direct store or franchise store that operates normally, it can basically be determined as a brand of cutting leeks.

6. See through the gold content of the certificate of honor

Many franchisees will hang various "honorary certificates" in their business premises, such as "the most influential XX brand in the industry", "Top Ten Chain Brands", "XX3. 15 Credit Brand", "China Industry XX Credit Chain Enterprise" and "Guangdong XX Association XX Unit". , which seems to have a strong strength. But anything can be faked. Franchisees can verify the authenticity of the certificate by observing whether the certificate of honor is stamped, whether the issuing institution and the honor issued are true, and whether the date of issuance is reasonable.

7. See through the trap of regional agency mode.

In order to speed up the harvesting of leeks, franchisees generally introduce regional agents and single-store franchise types. Franchisees can enjoy the benefit sharing of new customers in the region after choosing to become regional agents of franchised brands. However, the reason why the regional agency model makes money actually depends on the continuous investment of franchisees in marketing, attracting the investment of new franchisees, and franchisees take the initiative to cash in the interests of regional agents. In reality, the speed and integrity of franchisees often exceed the imagination of franchisees, and franchisees have no possibility of returning to their original capital. Therefore, when franchisees choose the regional agency mode, they must think about the probability of falling pie in the sky.

8. Be careful with the website selection process

Good site selection can be said to be half the battle. However, most franchisees are inexperienced in site selection, so it is necessary to determine the business location through what franchisees call professional site selection services. There are many problems in the location service of franchisees. For example, the site selection is free, but the travel expenses of the site selection personnel should be reimbursed, or the real estate agent actually found can help the franchisee find the venue. The lack of professional site selection evaluation leads to the failure to pass the license and fire protection, and even the phenomenon of deliberately uniting the lessor to raise the house price or charge a high transfer fee. It is best for franchisees to make their own site selection evaluation, and don't trust franchisees' site selection easily.

9, see through the contract routine

In order to avoid legal risks and limit franchisees' rights protection to the maximum extent, franchisees have racked their brains to set up multiple routines and traps in their franchise contracts, including refusing to refund, short-term contract clauses, high liability for breach of contract clauses, and prohibition of termination clauses. Once the franchisee has signed the franchise contract without reading it, it will be very difficult to defend rights in the future. Many franchisees entrust inexperienced lawyers to defend their rights, resulting in unsatisfactory results and even losing cases everywhere.

10, see through the plan of delaying tactics.

After many franchisees realize that they have been cheated, the first idea is basically to contact franchisees directly to communicate for a refund. In order to avoid affecting investment, franchisees will use various ways to stabilize franchisees, such as giving franchisees a little sweetness under the pretext of "the absence of leaders", deceiving franchisees to apply for transfer, sending franchisees a lawyer's letter, and even pretending to sign a settlement agreement with franchisees but not fulfilling their promises. Lawyers suggest that franchisees should not take any chances to join the business newspaper after being cheated, and take legal measures to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests as soon as possible. The longer we delay, the lower the probability of successful rights protection.

If you encounter the above-mentioned joining scam, you can seek the help of a lawyer as soon as possible to safeguard your legitimate rights and interests.