Note: these experiences are only related to lori hornyak, not the mommy perks business. As of the posting of this report, the company is under new management and i continue to be a part of the new owners' system because they have revamped the programs and made them all legal and legitimate*
I would like to submit this letter about my experiences with the former owner of Mommy Perks, Lori Hornyak. Recently, concerns about the truthfulness of information she gave to me as well at the unethical way she ran the Mommy Perks business have come to my attention. These things bothered me so much that I pursued action against her with my credit card company, trying to have the money I paid for my franchises credited back to me. Below is a list of my experiences with Lori.
Lori and I began exchanging emails about the sale of the West Valley franchise area in October. We went back and forth for several days before I made the decision to purchase the areas from her for a total of a 3 year period. During those emails that we exchanged, I asked her several direct questions about the growth and success of the business. I was satisfied with the answers she gave me and agreed to purchase the franchise based on her answers, which I have come to find out were untruthful.
The most notable misinformation I was given occurred when Lori informed me that my purchase of the West Valley Area would entitle me to be a FRANCHISE OWNER. I purchased a franchise from Lori Hornyak on October 12 and at that time I was told that I was purchasing a Mommy Perks Franchise for the West Valley of AZ. I did much research, consulted legal representation and other franchise owners before deciding to purchase this franchise. I agreed to purchase this business ONLY because it was presented to me as a franchise and franchises offer legal recourse, access to important information and rights to me as a franchise owner that I could not get as a representative.
However, on April 16th, it came to my attention that Mommy Perks changed their website program from offering franchises to offering business opportunities. When I inquired as to why the website had changed and current franchise owners had not been notified, I was told that Mommy Perks is NOT licensed to sell franchises and they never were. They have not gone through the legal process or paid the fees required to sell official franchises NOR do they have all of the documentation in place that a franchise requires.in short, I am NOT the owner of a franchise like I was originally told and originally paid for I have no recourse, protection or rights that I was lead to believe I did have when I purchased this franchise. I believe that Lori Hornyak charged me for my franchise under fraudulent conditions and that there was misrepresentation as to what exactly I was purchasing.
In addition, because Mommy Perks can no longer legally market their business opportunity as a franchise, they are currently charging nearly half of what I paid for their new program. What I originally paid $4500 for in October would now cost me only $2,000 to buy into as a representative.
Other information has also come to my attention regarding things that I was specifically told when I was in the process of purchasing my franchise area from Lori.
When I began selling ads in my area, I was asked several times by the advertisers what the website statistics were, a question I had asked Lori during my initial email to her regarding the franchise purchase. When asked by the advertisers, I gave them the statistics given to me by Lori.in an email from October 3, she told me that there were over 6,000 members nationwide and that on average we have approximately 20,000 hits per week.in an email I received from her on October 5th she stated We have approximately 60,000 hits monthly.in April, I wanted to get some updated numbers since mine were from October so I emailed the now co-owner (Shara) to ask her what the current numbers were. I was quite surprised when she told me that there were only about 1,000 members nationwide and that the website is only receiving 1,800 hits per week. I was also told that there are several hundred members whose information has not been entered into the system by Lori despite numerous requests by Shara and other franchise owners.
While looking back through my correspondence with Lori to verify that she did, in fact, state those numbers, I also ran across some other things that she wrote to me that I have found not to be accurate in regards to Mommy Perks and the franchise.
In an email from October 3rd, she told me that Mommy Perks advertises itself on a national level to help promote membership and the Mommy Perks name. When asked about this, it was stated that there is no money to promote Mommy Perks nationally and that the franchise owners have been doing grassroots marketing to get subscribers signed up. Lori also told me that there would be a national program that contacted daycare centers, preschools and mom's groups and they would be sent out a sheet on membership, which is not occurring either.
Lori also told me that a large moneymaker for the franchise owners was the Mommy Perks bag advertising program and she highlighted the cost for the program as well as the profit potential. When I asked the co-owner about this program, she said we are no longer doing this per Lori's request because of some issues with other franchise owners.
Another issue that has come up repeatedly is the fact that I have no contract for my franchise area. I have asked Lori for my contract numerous times and in several emails she told me my contract would be emailed to me, then sent to me via mail. I still have not received it so I asked the co-owner about it and she said that she can't give it to me because she wasn't an owner when I purchased.in the meantime, I have no documentation for my franchise or my profit percentages, etc. My understanding is that contracts are supposed to be sent to the franchisee BEFORE or soon after they make their franchisepayment.
I agreed to purchase this franchise based on the statistics I was given by Lori and the programs that were in place and being put into place when I came on board. Now I find out that, not only are the statistics that I was given completely incorrect and much lower than initially stated, but the income producing programs and national advertising that I was told were part of the program are not taking place. Our advertisers are not being served to the best of the franchise's ability because of this and because there are hundreds of members that should be receiving the newsletters and ad information that are not.
I do not feel as if Lori Hornyak worked in my best interest nor do I believe that what she has done in regard to my situation was honest or in accordance with good ethical business practice.
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