Getting Help and Resolving Disputes

This page is the map for when something is wrong: where to go for what, in what order, and what happens when the normal channels do not resolve it. The dispute path described here is set by the Franchise Dispute Resolution Policy, which governs.

The support order: use it in sequence

1. The portal first. Most operational questions answer themselves in the screens: a report that looks wrong is usually a filter; a payout question is usually the Stripe connections page; a permission problem is usually the users screen. Check before you ask: not because asking is discouraged, but because the answer is faster.
2. Franchise support. Your day-to-day channel for things the portal cannot answer: onboarding issues, standards questions, fee questions, system problems. Use the support ticket system rather than direct messages and side channels. Tickets create a record, and the record is what turns "I told someone about this weeks ago" into something verifiable.
3. Formal notice. When it matters legally: fee disputes, cure notices, renewal, transfer, right of first refusal: it goes in writing through the formal channel the agreement specifies. A support ticket is operational; a formal notice is legal. Do not confuse them. The 30-day fee dispute window under the Franchise Fees & Royalties Policy runs from the statement whether your ticket got answered or not.

Keep your own log of significant issues: date, what happened, who you spoke to, what was promised. Nobody maintains this log until the first time they need it, and by then it is too late to reconstruct.

The dispute resolution path

The Franchise Dispute Resolution Policy sets the escalation: negotiation → mediation → arbitration. Each stage has a purpose

• Negotiation is the direct conversation: you and the franchisor working it out. Most disputes end here, and that is the system working. Come with records, not grievances.
• Mediation brings in a neutral third party to facilitate. The mediator does not decide; they help you both find the resolution. It is cheaper and faster than arbitration, and it preserves the working relationship, which matters because you are still in business together afterward.
• Arbitration is binding. The arbitrator decides, and that decision stands. The administrator and seat for arbitration are as stated in the Franchise Dispute Resolution Policy and your agreement.

Marketplace disputes under the Dispute Resolution Policy are a different track for a different relationship. Your franchise disputes run through the Franchise Dispute Resolution Policy, not the marketplace process.

What not to do in a dispute

• Do not litigate in public. Social media, review sites, franchisee group chats: nothing said there helps your case, and plenty hurts it. Disputes are resolved in the process, not in the comments.
• Do not sign under pressure. If a resolution is proposed, read it the way you read the original agreement (see Your Franchise Agreement). A settlement signed in frustration binds just as firmly as the agreement did.

The relationship is the asset

It sounds soft for the last article of a help portal, but it is the truest thing in it: the franchise relationship works when both sides act like long-term partners, because the economics require it. The franchisor needs successful operators; you need a franchisor worth paying. Disputes handled professionally: documented, escalated properly, resolved and moved past: are part of a healthy long-term relationship. The ones that fester are not.