Doctors Associates - Subway Restaurants CEO Fred DeLuca Subway Preforming Predatory Royalty Theft Audits, Boosting Compliance Violations, Suspected of Spying, Seizing Stores Without Just Cause, Preying On Owners! Milford Connecticut

DTT made a deal with the devil to monitor and intercept streaming video (with cash register data) from every franchisee and report discrepencies to BendOverIt'sFred. Currently all video feeds and cash register data must stream through DAI corporate HQ. Since Fred re-wrote the Franchise agreement and illegally made it retroactive, all video and cash register data becomes his property when it hits his servers. He is using this data to send field reps to make unannounced spot inspections when it hurts you the most. Think their appearance every time your POP poster is out of date or your proofer latch won't stay closed is a cooincidence? Think again. Stop streaming your propriatary data through the VPN and see how spot inspections become random again.

My 7 yrs experience in subway restaurant as a multiple store owner is absolutely horrible and nightmare. I have 3 store in town and I am counting every single day to sell my store as soon as possible. The whole subway system is created so that they definitely make money (12.5 % royalty + advertisement fee) but not the owners. They will send you the most nasty unprofessional people they call “field consultants” to harass you every month, no matter how hard you try to keep the store in compliance they will wait until you make some mistake and write yo up and harass you . It's impossible to be in compliance with the subway rules. They even make money in putting you in probation and boosing the compliance violation. The francisor is always in win - win situation. The head quarter will send you termination letter time to time threatening to take your store. DO NOT do subway franchise. If you are the victim of this nasty company and if you want peace, the best way to fight with subway is by not extending the lease when it comes to expire. 

 Subway is nasty to its franchisees. Deluca is beyond greedy keeps opening more stores killing sales of existing stores. The oldest justice in the world Deluca has cancer.

It's so ironic that Jared was arrested and Suway is reported to know about what was happening.  When we opened our store. Jared was scheduled to attend our grand opening.  The day of the opening he called and says he won't attend.  Scumbag!  Let me say when Jared gets out of jail.  He will write a book and air all Subway's dirtly laundry.  Fred and Doc. A**. will go down.  This has to make all the franchiese owners feel some vindication.  After years of rule and tyrany.  Pay back is a Motha....I feel horrible for the victims of Jared and he should do time.  I hope he loses his money nd his wife takes every penny.  He is sick and needs help.  So...I said don't worry subway will get what they deserve. Ruining the ;lives of so many people.  God bless all the owners and the victims.  Keep your beliefs and praise god.

I remember when I targeted and overcame internal shrinkage in my Subway stores in the early 80's. Fred asked me to share my accomplishments with other owners because he knew with fatter profits would come additional marketing funds and as a result higher sales, aka Fred's paycheck. He even ran some S-T-S articles sharing my success at stomping out internal theft, waste, pilferage and consumption. However, somewhere in the late 90's the term "shrinkage" disappeared from the Subway corporate dialect. Seems Fred had other plans for the widespread loss that franchisees still suffered from. Not long after it was replaced with Fred's new profit angle "royalty theft", no doubt another predatory scheme concocted by "Lenny the AX". Co-incidentally about that time Fred was overheard mentioning at a national trade show that he would stop at nothing to reach his goal of one of the 10th richest men in America. His multi year run on the cover of Fortune 500 was evidence he had begun his quest to the top. Apparently Liz, his family, his belief in a higher power than himself and his morals were all liabilities in the way of that goal. He was dragged in front of the Feds more than once for his abuses and has faced countless individual and class action suits by franchisees, landlords and others. His actions directly spurred the writing of national franchise reform acts that are in place in many states today. If you're being bashed with royalty theft and compliance fines, seek out a knowledgeable attorney like the one who filed the above thread. Fred has been up to no good for so long, he has left a tangible trail of weaknesses that experienced litigators can use to put him off. Make him spend a dollar to win a dime and he will simply sniff you and walk on by.

To all the owners who posted here I feel your pain.  I to was put throuhg the ringer by subway.  I have so many issues that my hands will fall off typing.  All I can say is stay positive.  Get a good lawyer who deals in this tye of situation.  Out lawye gave us our life back.  We sold our stores and made some money form the sale.  I will say there were days where we cried and was ready todo something rash.  Let's keep it at that.  All I can say is have a plan to get out.  It might take years but, once it's over your freeeeeeeeee. I look back and thank god it's over.  Let's say we were duped out of our store by the inspector who didn't like us.  That's is only a microcasm of activity that were were subjected to.  Audits BS.  Compliance errors.  Yeah right.

I wish I could help owners but scared to post a number for contact.  Sometimes all you need is someone to talk to.  You feel alone and helpless.  your not alone.  Be strong.  i say again Be Strong.  it's hard i know.  your thinking it';s easy for me to say this being out scott free, but no no no. I still look back and cry and wonder WTF did i do.  Turn to god and prey.  I am not a religious person but, it did help.  I so want to put a burner phone number here.  Not to bash the company but to have a shoulder to cry on.  Sometimes just someone to talk to is all we need.  So put any money you can away and try and move on.  I used to do the WISR by hand and loved the days before computers and the dreaded Tuesday night inventory.  It inventory for the company not you.  Employees stealing robbeies that is just the beginning.  

so good luck and god bless.  

Hello, I'm a french journalist working for french television. I'm currently investigating on Subway. If anyone accept to talk to me about the way Subway treat their franchisees, please contact me: antoine.hirchy@gmail.com It would be very helpful, thank you.

I am subway franchisee since 2007.there practice is highly illegal.they open 3 new store in 10miles area with total population less than 10 thousand.our sale is less than $2000.00 a week you cant pay any bills or rent.it is the same suituation for othe owner who opened the store.

subway store sales are down by 15% in year 2014 and by 25% in jan 2015 so please don't make mistake of buying this headache you would be better off doing minimum wage job.

 I agree with everything this person said. My husband and I bought 2 stores now and have no idea how we can pay our bills. I am at a loss for words. I can't believe we own a Subway and the minimum wage employee is better off than we are. I just had an employee ask me yesterday if we offer maternity leave coverage or vacation pay. HAHA I have two kids and my family doesnt have health insurance or go on vacations. I did not have maternity coverage. I did payroll the day after I gave birth.

I had no idea Subway could constantly fine you for minor things and threaten to take your store away. Our stores our now for sale and the sad thing is I feel bad to not warn people about Subway but I just want out anyone that will buy our stores I just have to take the money and run.

As an owner you might make 8% if lucky. You have employess that do not care about you or your store. That complain and dont show up for work. They are a constant problem that you cannot take one day off from. Customers are Customers and is self explanitory. But between Customers and Employees complaining its overwhelming at times. Which I would happily deal with If I was making more money or did not have to be raked over by corporate constantly threatening to take your store away.

So if your baseboards are dirty one month then your fan has dust on it the next month you are considered out of compliance and get a fine. If something happens to be dirty the second month. Well you are in arbitration which means more fines and letters to take the store away. I am praying they really cannot do that because are stores are not that bad to have them taken away. The way the monthly evaluation is, is totally personal opinion. I mean we have had the store for years and all the sudden the field consutant will say you need a handwashing sign. Which is fine but why didnt we need this for the last 3 years? And worst of all the field consultant talks bad about us behind our backs to our employees. Like why cant we afford a storage unit for things that need to be stored. He has told an employee to take our register out in the rain so we will have toget a new one. He has even told them we do not do enough for them!! He constantly wants to talk to us. About what? What is talking to him going to help. He will just tell us what we should be buying that month. Doesnt he think I would get this stuff if I could afford it? I think he thinks we should be kissing his butt like other owners do. I actually wonder if we kissed his butt if our evaluations for each month would get better.

I know that people will say well a lot of this is just part of owning a business. But to make 8% of profits and have to be told by corporate constantly you have to buy new equipment, you have to fix lot of different things in just one month, constantly spending money or they will mark you out and you will loose your store. And then customers and employees complaining constantly about each other. Stealing from you and scared to fire someone because they will cost you more money because no matter what they get unemployment. Anyone that says this is just the cost of doing business and owning a business. You deal with all this. See thousands and thousands of dollars go through your hands and if lucky you get8-10% of it.

There is so many stories and things Subway corporate has done to us that seems illegal like build another Subway on top of ours which caused our business to go down 30%. Which really started our demise financially. So many things they have done that deserve some type of lawsuit. But I know their agreement you sign is impossible to do anything to them. I just wish someway people hear this and know what is going on.

From

Carey in KY 

To all Subway's victims,

I'm a French journalist working for the French daily Liberation looking for victims of Subway malpractices with their franchisees. Would you contact me for interviews over the phone? This is an urgent request.
Many thanks,
Lorraine Millot
U.S. Correspondent for the French daily Liberation
Tel: 301 652 23 71
Email: lorrmillot@gmail.com

I am a current franchisee and also an attorney, and after 20 years with Subway, have to say that I agree with many of the comments of this report.  I have represented two people who are part of the "Subway family" and who were beaten down and afraid to continue the fight against Subway's oppressive behavior.  Now, the store that my wife and I own was just "audited" and Subway is attempting to extort over $6000 from us due to an audit that they refuse to reveal the methods of.  We refuse to pay anything, because we are honest hard-working business people, and flatly deny Subway's assertion that we have stolen from them.  Not only do we deny it, but our records prove it, but that has not been enough for the store owners who don't also happen to be attorneys or cannot afford an attorney.  There are currently 10 other store owners in NH undergoing the same pressures, but who will have to pay for an attorney to fight it, or just give in and pay it.  I am now an elected representative in NH and will be looking at other ways to control Subway's oppressive behavior.  This is all coming from a privately-owned company that makes tens of millions of dollars every week.  As the owner's wealth has grown, every piece of evidence (including that of my previous clients) shows that he (Fred Deluca) has become more greedy and more oppressive to the point where I sometimes wonder if he is delusionally paranoid about the store owners stealing from him.  You would think that Subway headquarters would attempt to assist store owners if they thought there was a problem - instead they come down with a sledge hammer and beat owners into submission, with the threat of terminating the franchise.  More to come, as this owner is not bowing to their illegal practices.

Yes, Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck of DAI (Doctors Associates Inc.) AKA Subway headquarters have crossed over to the dark side. They are canibalizing their own franchisees in their zest to reach the top 10 richest men in America status. Everything written here is true.

So how in the heck does Bendoveritsfred keep getting awarded Entreprener of the year? It's easy when your net worth is $billions and you invest seed money to further your cause. I stumbled on this article that explains perfectly DeLuca Vader's master plan using the cash registers and security cameras in every store. Big brother is doing more than watching, he's feeding!!

http://www.bizop.ca/blog2/due-diligence/new-technology-for-franchisors.html

Share your horror story with me and I'll help you spread the word and stop the slaughter. juanna.blomee@yahoo.com

Cookie, you're not the first or the last one to be assulted by "bend over-its Fred". He has left thousands of crushed careers in his path as he compulsively lusts for his ultimate dream - to be on Fortune 500's top 10 riches men in America list. How many thousands of franchisees does he have to pile up to reach his goal? My suggestion: cut your losses and get out while you're still in one piece.

Thank you for filing your report. I was beginning to think that we were alone here in Atlanta. I am a franchisee (along with four more franchisees) in the Atlanta area, who have been severly damaged.

My store was threated and Subway literally tried to take it from me. They attempted to evict me even thought my rent was current. It is a very long story, but I wanted to sell my store back in May 2007, after this legal action started. Subway refused to allow me to sell and attempted to have my sublease terminated due to arrearages that were owed. I had to hire an attorney and was able to hold them off for a while, but it was not until an advocacy group intervened, that Subway slowed down and "allowed" me to sell. I dealt with the full range of the Subway legal team, from Len Axelrod, to Tricia Lee, to Gerald Benda (local council) and not one of them were remotely truthful or ethical.

I sold my store for $80K less than a store that (my partner and) I purchased 18 months prior (a store that had identical sales but needed at least $60K for remodeling). Because I was forced to sell before I was evicted (I ran out of money to defend my store), I could not really negotiate a reasonable price. After paying at least $30K in attorney fees, you can see how severly I was financially damaged.

I cannot even begin to explain the emotional, physical and fincancial damage that Subway has caused me. I am thankful and grateful to be out of my Subway store. These wounds are still fresh because I just sold the store in May (2008), less than one month ago. I just wanted to share my horrible/terrifying experience as a Subway Franchisee.