Complaint Review: Friendly Computers - Internet

This report contains suspected Shill/Lackey activity.  Please read with scrutiny.

In response to Mr. Wards credibility and honesty. Let us rummage through the spoken truths and uncover what has been concealed over the past year.

1. In your response, you make reference to an earlier statement that was made by a fellow franchisee. You stated that I copied and pasted their complaint. I feel this is a petty statement and deserves little response. This speaks to the to the true image your company portrays behind closed doors. However, I will make one statement to appease your statement; if I supposedly copied and pasted anothers statement, then other wronged franchisees must exist outside this posting.
   
   
2. You stated I was embezzling money from your franchise. I functioned through a well-known and respected third party accountant in our territory for the majority of my franchisee year. Once your office decided to audit my franchise, my accountant and I cooperated with the thorough auditing procedures. The auditing process was welcomed, it was your right to perform the audit and we had nothing to hide. However, your office began accusing me of purposely hiding money to avoid franchise fees. This statement is accusatory and very untrue. Once this statement was made, my accountant attempted to contact your office and ask for the paper documentation behind this claim. However, not to long after these attempts to retrieve the documentation you called and stated that your office had completed the audit without any explanation as to your findings or reasoning for the abrupt halt in the audit process. If I was purposely hiding money, I would not of hired a Board Certified Public Accountant to keep and audit my books. I would venture to say that if it was found that I truly committed an injustice against your company my franchise agreement would have been terminated and you would have pursed me immediately to regain your lost revenue, this was not the case. I continued to operate for many months without any hint of difficulty regarding this situation.
   
   
3. In your statement, you make more defamations by accusing me of boasting about the above my stealing money to other franchisee owners. Again I feel this comment is petty and does not deserve my attention nor the attention of others. My only response to this comment:
   
   Whom are these other franchise owners and would they be willing to make their statements under oath?
   
   
4. You contend that I continue to operate. How was I suppose to operate when your proven business plan what leaving my franchise without revenue? I looked to your office for help many times throughout the year and received nothing that worked for my demographic. I guess your business model does not work in all areas, and my failed business is a testament to that. I had very happy customers that often referred their friends and co-workers to my store. Unfortunately, they will now have to find computer services other places. This does not help your office nor does it help my business. Therefore, attempting to play my franchise off as non-compliant and unruly does nothing for either of us. I am only hoping to prevent others from falling into a failed business opportunity as I did.
   
   
5. In the air of communication and understanding, I would like to set the record straight in regards to my refusing to speak with your office. After repeatedly being slandered and accused of not cooperating, I simply asked for you to contact me through email for clarification purposes. I never asked to completely shutdown communication between us all. Communicating through email provided a way fro both parties to be held accountable for agreements and statements. I am a decorated combat veteran and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps, I have a perfect service record and take pride in what I did for all American citizens, I never would attempt to take advantage of your corporation nor any of the people I fought to protect.
   
   
6. There were two vendors, they were completely in the wrong. One of them even called and offered a completely apology for their mistakes. The other was clearly trying to pin fault on us for not moving forward when emails clearly proved I had given him all the required information. Given my prior back ground, mistakes like this were not tolerated and often dealt with harsh verbal communication to express the utter dissatisfaction of what was happening. After being brought to my attention I did do my best to refrain from future dealings in this manner. What can I say I am not perfect but I try my best and I am at least honest.
   
   
7. You claimed that I did not design the store correctly? I designed the store to have the color scheme indicated by you, Bryan Ward. We installed the carpet, choose the paint, and bought the fixtures that you approved. We went a step further and formatted the store to have the same open layout as your top franchise. This begs the question,
   
   
8. How did we not design the store correctly?
   
   
9. Mr. Ward when were our store hours significantly decreased? This comment barely warrants a response. The employees, the security cameras, the businesses around me can all refute this claim.
   
   
10. I have numerous former, as we are closed down now, customers who would gladly refute the claim we did not handle customers well. Would you like me to obtain those for you and post them?
    
    
11. No I agree I did not follow the dishonest and deceptive practices that you hold as your core values. I quote what one of the top franchise owners said We do not sell Malware Bytes because we know it works well and we are afraid we will not see as much repeat business if we sell it.. I stuck to my Marine Corps values, of Honor, Courage and Commitment.

No Mr. Ward it is unfortunate there are people like you who take advantage of hard working honest people. My books including all reports filed to the IRS and State tax authority clearly show there was no money, the system did not work, it is not worth stealing. As for trying to justify not paying royalties, I would have to refute this claim as we continued to pay them up until a point it was not finically possible. Mr. Ward your franchise system is the only one in this deal made any money, the truth is in the numbers, and is there for all to see. Over time the more this is pushed into the public eye the more it will come to light that you Mr. Ward are not an honorable person and that I have done everything in my power to stick to my highly regarded US Marine Corps core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment, which are far superior to your values of dishonesty and corrupt corporate culture. I leave you and the rest of the public to decide form there own opinions. 

In response to the above complaint, Friendly Computers would like to offer the following rebuttal:

Anthony Gruetzmacher was awarded a FREE Friendly Computers franchise as part of a program that honored the dedicated individuals who served as members of the Armed Forces of the United States of America.  In recognition of his brave service, Mr. Gruetzmachers $25,000.00 franchise fee was waived.

Mr. Gruetzmachers false claims cite several areas of contention, many of which he seemed to copy and paste from another complaint authored by a former franchisee (please see our corresponding rebuttal).   Most notably is his accusation that he was audited for voicing his opinion and questioning the franchisor.   Mr. Gruetzmacher was audited after it came to our attention that he had willfully and intentionally altered his financial statements and royalty reports in order to conceal a large transaction.  Mr. Gruetzmacher boasted of his deceit to another franchisee, who then reported the fraud to the corporate office.  When Mr. Gruetzmacher submitted his documentation for auditing, evidence revealed an attempt by Mr. Gruetzmacher to replace the omitted transaction in time for the audit.
 
The audit was apparently a turning point for Mr. Gruetzmacher.
 
While Mr. Gruetzmacher contends our system and marketing does not work, he continues to operate a business using systems, policies, procedures, documents, and tools created and developed by Friendly Computers.

Although he asserts that open communication does not exist, Mr. Gruetzmacher refuses to discuss his current situation with corporate staff, despite repeated attempts.  Mr. Gruetzmacher questions the capabilities of the corporate staff, yet refuses to participate in any new programs developed by the company that incorporates diversification into expanding technology markets and introduces new revenue streams.

As with all new franchisees, Mr. Gruetzmacher successfully completed a week-long training course at the corporate offices in Las Vegas.    Mr. Gruetzmacher was provided with proven marketing strategies, operational procedures, and the tools necessary for the successful launch and continued operation of a Friendly Computers Franchise.
 
Mr. Gruetzmacher was afforded every resource and opportunity available to every franchisee, both new and practiced.  In addition to the support provided by the corporate office, Anthony was fortunate enough to fall under the tutelage of one of our top performing franchisees, whose location was only several miles away from his own. Working hand-in-hand with Mr. Gruetzmacher, this franchisee reinforced the core structure of the Friendly Computers franchise system.  However, very early on, Mr. Gruetzmacher displayed an unwillingness to follow the system as it was designed.

Mr. Gruetzmacher was introduced to several vendors with established relationships to Friendly Computers.   Anthonys short temper and unrealistic expectations led to verbal assaults at the expense of these vendors.  Everything from store design to marketing programs and staffing requirements was questioned, disregarded, and replaced with alternatives outside of our Standard Operating Procedures.

When Mr. Grueztmachers store finally opened, the situation continued to deteriorate.   Despite the best efforts of the corporate staff and fellow franchisees, Mr. Gruetzmacher continued to deviate from our business model.
 
Marketing strategies, tried, tested, and proven effective, were eschewed for lesser-known marketing trends at the recommendation of Anthonys mother, Angela, a former elementary school teacher, whom Anthony seated as his marketing director.  Store hours were significantly decreased as Mr. Gruetzmacher and his staff continuously failed to open the franchise on a consistent basis, creating a sense of instability with potential customers.   And most importantly, Anthony failed to follow the core values that are the foundation of our success.  His blatant disregard for the concerns of his customers has not only put his integrity in question, but the integrity of the entire Friendly Computers Franchise Family.
 
Friendly Computers was built on the principle that the customer is always right.  We pride ourselves on offering the highest quality service at competitive pricing.  Although our country is experiencing tough economic times, Friendly Computers and its franchisees continue to experience growth and persevere.
 
It is unfortunate that a few disgruntled franchisees feel it necessary to attack our integrity and our commitment to our customers and franchisees.  They cannot justify in their own minds our right to collect royalties for a system we developed and that they have stolen.  Instead, they focus their attention on finding flaws in a system that they refused to follow.  By misplacing blame, they are able to rationalize their disassociation with the Friendly Computers Franchise System.  They can reason away the obligations of an agreement they signed, yet continue to utilize and profit from the tools they learned from us.  And somehow, they are able to justify fraud and slander, all in an effort to escape payment of royalties.

 As yet another former franchisee that was lied to and given fradulent information, I can tell you that everything mentioned in this report is true. The threats and abuse go on for a long time because you are dealing with thug mentality. They even try to boast of being "connected" when they make their threats. The threats and harassment come in many forms as well. Phone calls, emails, posted mail, homemade legal letters and even in person visits from representatives of this organization.

The good news is that they have had MANY run ins with the law and do not wish to go back behind bars, well the ones that are currently out of prison at least. They are down to one person that can go on the peperwork as it is.

Do yourself a favor and steer well clear of this franchse and that family. You could do everything that they charge you for on your own and do a better job.

I can attest first hand to all of the testimonies about the Friendly Computer Franchise.  I could write a book about the verbal and financial abuse from these guys. 

1. I was threatened as well as my daughter who was working for me.  I have tape recordings of direct threats made to me as well as other franchise owners.



2. The tech support person was also one of the owners that was convicted as a pedophile.  Just look up the YouTube video "Michael G. Ward, charged with three counts of statutory sexual
   
   
   seduction, one count of using a minor in production and manufacture of
   
   
   pornography..."  he is even wearing his purple Friendly Computers shirt.  He was also the one pushing the "Purple Dude" Software protection for kids.  Ironic is it not??  His tech support was very poor, always resorting to "did you reload the operating system?"



3. Charges for Television advertising to the tune of $400 per month, but never an ad in my area.  The FCC and FTC were contacted on numerous occasions by many franchisees but no action was ever taken.



4. The UFOC (franchise agreement) was falsified in many ways.  Only 2 failed franchises were listed and contact information was so cryptic I never could get them.  I latter found out that over 20 franchises had left or failed.  I would have never purchased the franchise if I would have known this.



5. My emails were censored and read to prevent communication among the other franchisees.  We finally created outside email so we could talk and share info without being threatened by Steve or Bryan Ward.



6. I just hope that someone who is considering this franchise to please spend more time investigating and calling as many franchisees as possible.  This is another tactic that they employed.  They had a call list of those that would only speak about them in a positive light, the rest of the franchisees were black listed.  Sometimes they would spoof their phone number and call you pretending to be a prospective buyer.  The was entrapment at its finest.



7. I also know that Steve Ward had a "Restraining Order" placed against him after personally threatening a former franchisee.  The exact words were "you better watch your back Mo**F**ker and you better watch your wife's back, we are going to follow you....etc."  The judge put a 1 yr restraining order against Steve. Google Steve Ward Las Vegas..Interesting.