| Tradebank International |
| Tradebank International How many Cities and Clients? Really! Internet |
| 17th of May, 2011 by User561878 |
| I have been gathering very detailed evidence about what appear to be serious misrepresentations by Tradebank (and possibly many other of its franchisees), both before and after entering into a franchise agreement. Tradebanks franchise disclosure documents and related marketing materials are filled with unusually strong and detailed statements about earnings potential, growth potential, and so on. And Tradebank made very specific and detailed representations to me, via e-mails which I has saved, about the number of clients Tradebank Denver had, the value of those clients, volume of business, growth prospects, and so on. Ill give you a few examples: At the time I signed the agreement, Tradebanks marketing materials and disclosures touted the 70 markets that Tradebank was in. I have done a lot of research, and Tradebank`s records show that of those 70 markets they were touting, 44(most of the 44 them had 3 members or less, some have 15 or less. Nobody in the trade industry would consider 3 participants to be an active or viable trade exchange of any kind. Given your clients position as a franchisor, Im confident this will be considered a material misrepresentation. I was clearly told that the value of the existing members of Tradebank Denver was $67,000, and it was even explained how that figure was arrived at. It appears, however, that your clients own records show that the real value, based on your clients own multiplier as well, was closer to $4,100. I have documentary evidence consisting of 12-month histories of each of the alleged 61 members of the exchange he was buying, for the 12-month period preceding his franchise agreement. Tradebank`s own records show they were knowingly making false representations on this point, because of those 61 alleged members I was buying into, the majority of them hadnt done any trade transaction of any kind, buying or selling, for years. Tradebank`s franchise materials touted prospective franchisees access to its international markets as well, particularly Canada. However, that until mid-2010 Tradebank prohibited U.S. franchisees from doing any trade business with Canadian franchisees. The franchise materials make very aggressive growth forecasts, and my client was told that in part growth was assured because all Tradebank franchisees are required to enroll four new members or clients per month (or 48 per year). However, Tradebanks own records show that fully 70% of its franchises do not meet this growth requirement, and in fact most fall woefully short. A review of Tradebanks own records appears to show that a whole bunch of franchises havent signed up 48 new members, total, ever, even going back to 1994. Tradebanks franchise materials also stated that my client would have access to more than 11,000 clients. A review of Tradebanks own records appears to show that this claim is probably inaccurate by a large amount, the real figure is probably between 6,000 and 7,000 and thats not even addressing the fact that even at the lower number, a good deal of them would have been inactive or defunct clients. |
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