In June of 2010 after considerable amount of contact and information being sent to me from ColorGlo I purchased a franchise from ColorGlo International. All contact had been with their president Gary Smith whom assured me thatof what we were looking for in a franchise would be metsince they curtailed their training to what field of expertise that we were pursuing. I own a successful refinishing company that we cater to the hospitality industry and residential market. Mr. Smithwas informed from the very begining that we seeked training and products that would allow us to expand our services in these markets.We already repaired all bathtubs, marble, granite, cultured marble, wood furniture and spot stain removal. The addition of repairing leather and vinyl furniture would set at a higher standard than any other company in the United States. I personally visited their offices in Minneapolis were I was again assured that our training would be on repair and redyeing of leather and vinyl furniture especially high end. I signed the license agreement on June 30th which had been back dated to June 7th. When I enquired about the date they claimed that their fiscal year sarted on the 7th and that it would be easier showing this date. Since I believed that I was dealing with a honest company I did't feel that this any real issue. ( I did also discover that on June 29th they had withdrawn the funds not once but twice from my account and then deposited the second amount back into my account approximately 9:45 pm. Their office closes at 5 pm. The dollar amount was a ittle of 38,000.00 each time). The amount should have been withdrawn on the 30th like their documents stated that is when any money is transfered ( This early transfer was never disclosed to me and was only found by accident on my part while checking some other information on this account).ColorGlo's mater trainer ( Dennis who according to ColorGlo's own Franchise Disclosure Document specifically states that all master trainers have aminumum of owning their own franchise for 10 years. Dennis did not meet this requirement nor did he have the ability to properly train my employee's on the areas that we were suppose to be trained in. After we stared doing repairs we were beginning to receive call backs on several of these repairs ( the repairs were either peeling off or discoloring from the repaired color). After several phone calls with Mr. Smith about these issues of which his responce was always the same and that was that my employee's were not doing the repairs correctly per their training.
I took the liberty of calling several other franchisee's who would actually tell the truth about ColorGlo that this was Gary's standard answer to every problem. They also informed that ColorGlo did not have the expertise in furniture repair and redyeing as they claim and advertise or products to do the type of repairs that we were suppose to have received. I had to purchase products from a company that truly has products for high end furniture and also training from another franchisee that had spent several years learning how to do these repairs ( keep in mind that ColorGlo is not able to train on these type of repairs). After several strong conversations with Gary Smith about these issues he sent in another trainer from Florida that had 30 some years with ColoGlo. We had him do 2 high end recliners that we had picked up from a customer that needed a color change due to bleaching from sittinf by the windows ( by the way ColorGlo's products are not capable of doing quality repairs like this). During the training by this instructor my employee's informed him that the recliners looked terrible. His responce was that the customer would love the chairs. Against my better judgement we returned the furniture that Bob had done that not only was the customer upset about that the color was not correct as we told Bob but also that instead of feeling like high end analine leather it felt like plastic furniture. Need less to say ColorGlo ended up having to replace the furniture since they were unable to repair or redye the recliners correctly ( it cost them somewhere in the area of $5 -$6,000.00 dollars). Another issue amongst many the franchisee pays a monthly fee of 208.00 per month to cover a yearly license fee of $2500.00. From June of 2011 to June of 2012 they charged my credit card over $3600.00. When I contacted them through this time period about the additional charges they denied that they charged any additional money even after I sent copies of my credit card statements showing they had. To This day they deny doing this. So my ultimate question is this the type of company you would really want to do buisness with? I think not. Avoid ColorGlo in every aspect. I have had to file a lawsuit against them( they also have been sued 4 other times for fraud and misrepresentation. One addtional item that I should mention that in the lawsuit they are claiming that I was informed that my company would have to do aoutomoptive repairs for a year prior to being trained on furniture. There is no where any mention in any of their documents that we would have to do automotive repairs prior to being trained on furniture. If yhis had been the case I would never have purchased their franchise. They also claim that they employ a team of chemists and that they manufacture their own products, this to is also false. One final comment ,if they have nothing to hide why would they not supply the information proving their claims and why have they removed over half of their web sites information. You Be the judge.
Color Glo International Reviews
In June of 2010 after considerable amount of contact and information being sent to me from ColorGlo I purchased a franchise from ColorGlo International. All contact had been with their president Gary Smith whom assured me thatof what we were looking for in a franchise would be metsince they curtailed their training to what field of expertise that we were pursuing. I own a successful refinishing company that we cater to the hospitality industry and residential market. Mr. Smithwas informed from the very begining that we seeked training and products that would allow us to expand our services in these markets.We already repaired all bathtubs, marble, granite, cultured marble, wood furniture and spot stain removal. The addition of repairing leather and vinyl furniture would set at a higher standard than any other company in the United States. I personally visited their offices in Minneapolis were I was again assured that our training would be on repair and redyeing of leather and vinyl furniture especially high end. I signed the license agreement on June 30th which had been back dated to June 7th. When I enquired about the date they claimed that their fiscal year sarted on the 7th and that it would be easier showing this date. Since I believed that I was dealing with a honest company I did't feel that this any real issue. ( I did also discover that on June 29th they had withdrawn the funds not once but twice from my account and then deposited the second amount back into my account approximately 9:45 pm. Their office closes at 5 pm. The dollar amount was a ittle of 38,000.00 each time). The amount should have been withdrawn on the 30th like their documents stated that is when any money is transfered ( This early transfer was never disclosed to me and was only found by accident on my part while checking some other information on this account).ColorGlo's mater trainer ( Dennis who according to ColorGlo's own Franchise Disclosure Document specifically states that all master trainers have aminumum of owning their own franchise for 10 years. Dennis did not meet this requirement nor did he have the ability to properly train my employee's on the areas that we were suppose to be trained in. After we stared doing repairs we were beginning to receive call backs on several of these repairs ( the repairs were either peeling off or discoloring from the repaired color). After several phone calls with Mr. Smith about these issues of which his responce was always the same and that was that my employee's were not doing the repairs correctly per their training.
I took the liberty of calling several other franchisee's who would actually tell the truth about ColorGlo that this was Gary's standard answer to every problem. They also informed that ColorGlo did not have the expertise in furniture repair and redyeing as they claim and advertise or products to do the type of repairs that we were suppose to have received. I had to purchase products from a company that truly has products for high end furniture and also training from another franchisee that had spent several years learning how to do these repairs ( keep in mind that ColorGlo is not able to train on these type of repairs). After several strong conversations with Gary Smith about these issues he sent in another trainer from Florida that had 30 some years with ColoGlo. We had him do 2 high end recliners that we had picked up from a customer that needed a color change due to bleaching from sittinf by the windows ( by the way ColorGlo's products are not capable of doing quality repairs like this). During the training by this instructor my employee's informed him that the recliners looked terrible. His responce was that the customer would love the chairs. Against my better judgement we returned the furniture that Bob had done that not only was the customer upset about that the color was not correct as we told Bob but also that instead of feeling like high end analine leather it felt like plastic furniture. Need less to say ColorGlo ended up having to replace the furniture since they were unable to repair or redye the recliners correctly ( it cost them somewhere in the area of $5 -$6,000.00 dollars). Another issue amongst many the franchisee pays a monthly fee of 208.00 per month to cover a yearly license fee of $2500.00. From June of 2011 to June of 2012 they charged my credit card over $3600.00. When I contacted them through this time period about the additional charges they denied that they charged any additional money even after I sent copies of my credit card statements showing they had. To This day they deny doing this. So my ultimate question is this the type of company you would really want to do buisness with? I think not. Avoid ColorGlo in every aspect. I have had to file a lawsuit against them( they also have been sued 4 other times for fraud and misrepresentation. One addtional item that I should mention that in the lawsuit they are claiming that I was informed that my company would have to do aoutomoptive repairs for a year prior to being trained on furniture. There is no where any mention in any of their documents that we would have to do automotive repairs prior to being trained on furniture. If yhis had been the case I would never have purchased their franchise. They also claim that they employ a team of chemists and that they manufacture their own products, this to is also false. One final comment ,if they have nothing to hide why would they not supply the information proving their claims and why have they removed over half of their web sites information. You Be the judge.