Hopeful franchisees left in the lurch as deal turns sour
Nail bar dreams shattered
The dream of opening an upscale nail bar turned to ashes for two Johannesburg women, Santhuri Poovalingam and Lea Abvajee, who wanted a piece of the Tammy Taylor Nail SA pie.
Abvajee met with Peet Viljoen, CEO of Tammy Taylor SA, in 2018 to open a store in Fairlands. She paid R345,000 for a licence to trade.
“When they sent me through the franchise agreement from head office it was a blank franchise agreement, meaning it had no name, it wasn’t made out to me, it was just a blanket franchise agreement and the lady at the time said to me once they find a location in the area that I had purchased for, that is when you come into the head office and they make out the franchise agreement specifically in your name, with your store or the mall. To me that made sense and I believed that is what would happen.”
Abvajee never signed a franchise agreement with Tammy Taylor SA because the store she requested was never secured for her.
She spent all of 2018 waiting to hear whether her ideal store location had been secured. She received word from Tammy Taylor in 2019 offering her a store at The Marc in Sandton.
She says at the end of 2019 after being in communication with the Viljoens, she asked for a refund.
Abvajee says the store she was offered already had an owner and it was also a bone of contention for another wouldbe business owner, Poovalingam.
In 2018, Poovalingam was quoted R900,000 to open a store. This figure included shopfitting. She says she paid R345,000 required for the licence agreement and there was an R80,000 reservation fee included in that.
Poovalingam initially wanted to open a store at The Marc. She was unable to get that site as a Tammy Taylor area specialist said the management of The Marc was not interested in having a nail bar there, so she found another site on 183 Rivonia Road, a kilometre away.
Later that year she says she was informed by an employee at Tammy Talyor that another woman would be opening her nail bar at The Marc, which came as a shock.
Poovalingam says she expressed her dissatisfaction that there would be a Tammy Taylor salon so close to hers.
She too had not signed a franchise agreement and had also received a blank franchise agreement, which she was wary of signing.
One of the annexures of the document she was sent stated that Tammy Taylor SA would not open a store within a 2km radius of another unless it was a major shopping centre, which was the situation with her store.
Poovalingam wanted out.
She says her e-mails and calls were at first answered then later avoided. She says she then spoke directly to the president of the company Mel Viljoen and later to the company’s lawyer, who assured her that her issue would be settled.
Last year, Poovalingam sent Mel communication once again to remind them that she would like a refund.
Poovalingam says Mel told her that should she contact her again, she would proceed to sue her for harassment and chose to block Poovalingam’s number and on social media. Poovalingam says she sent a letter of demand and summonses to the Viljoens but was ignored. She has since terminated her agreement with her lawyers.
Poovalingam and Abvajee lodged complaints with the National Consumer Commission. They also contacted the Franchise Association of SA but Tammy Taylor SA is not registered with it.
Phetho Ntaba, spokesperson at the National Consumer Commission, said: “I can confirm is that the NCC received franchise(ing) complaints against Tammy Taylor and is investigating to see if there are any inconsistencies with the Consumer Protection Act.”
Peet told Sowetan that the women would have signed a general information agreement stating that they would only get a refund if their particular store was resold.
He said Poovalingam’s lawyers had withdrawn their case against his company.
“They must be adult about it, set up a meeting and put all personal stuff aside. Set up a meeting with the director of sales, they don’t have to fear any process, we are a brand. They can then choose a location they feel is superior that has not been sold...
“If they chose a location and the rights for that location have not been sold, we will sell that location and refund them a 100% of their money. I will not deduct one rand, no hidden cost, no marketing fee, nothing.”
However, Peet said he would deduct some monies from Abvajee as she had attended compulsory training.