Complaint Review: Ask-Carol! Bill Shockley

We purchased an Ask-Carol franchise which basically places senior citizens in assisted living facilities.  The service does not charge the senior citizen because the compensation comes from the facility.  Bill Shockley had a clause in the franchise agreement that all transactions had to go through the home office.  I thought that was odd, but I would soon find out why it was set up this way.

We had a few placements, all of which were paid promptly.  Then, we had a placement where we were not  being paid.  I was getting nonsense from Bill, so I asked the other franchisees if they were also having difficulty.  I found that at least 6 others were owed money from several months previous, and they were all getting the same story from Bill.  I concluded at this point that Bill was running a Ponzi scheme where he was using the income from new participants to pay for the previous placements because he had not sold any franchises in a while.

One of the franchisees saw what was happening and arranged to be paid directly, without passing the money through the home office.  Bill publicly criticized this person.  He had the nerve to call out someone PUBLICLY for not following his rules when he owed, and knew he owed, other people money.  What did he expect this person to do, let him steal those funds, too?

I have been told that Bill is now seeking $75k as the purchase price for this franchise (it was $50k when we joined).  My advice is to run as far and as fast from this "opportunity" as possible.