Tin Fish Restaurants, Joseph Melluso owner took my money and run okeechobee florida

Don't pay Joseph Melluso any money till all paperwork is done, franchise documents are signed, and you have a lease. Do not believe what he says as he will get your money before anything is signed, which is illegal.

My wife and I were looking for a low cost restaurant franchise to open, since I have  over 30 years of restaurant experiense and we were going to use her savings for it. We investigated quite a few opportunities, and decided to find out more info about Tin Fish. On March 31st we initiated the conversation with their reps, and after talking to Joseph Melluso the owner over the phone, we decided to fly to Florida to check it out. We then decided to start the procedure to open the franchise in Bullings. 

We found a site and started negotiating the lease in April. At this time Joseph demanded a refundable $2000 deposit on the $25000 franchise fee which we paid after signing an "option agreement".

As the lease negotiations were dragging on, on June 16th Joseph demanded the remaining $23000 to be wired to him, without us actually having a lease or having signed a franchise agreement. We were skeptical to send him the money without any agreement, but he assured us that there is nothing to worry about and he will refund us if we decide not to move forward. 

We hit a snag with the building owners, the lease was not signed by August 23rd, so we decided to end the project for now, and maybe try again next year. We contacted Joseph for our refund, which he refused to pay. 

Our mistake was to trust the guy, and not abtain an attorney. So be careful anyone out there thinking of dealing with these people, put everything on paper, and do not give them any money.