Are the fees paid to Beverly Anns Cookie or its affiliates refundable under any circumstances?
Beverly_Anns_Cookie Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Notes:
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- Fees. All fees paid to us or our affiliates are uniform and not refundable under any circumstances once paid. Fees paid to vendors or other suppliers may be refundable depending on the vendors and suppliers. We currently require you to pay fees and other amounts due to us and our affiliates via electronic funds transfer ("EFT") or other similar means. You are required to complete the EFT authorization (in the form attached to this Franchise Disclosure Document in Exhibit H. We can require an alternative payment method or payment frequency for any fees or amounts owed to us or our affiliates under the Franchise Agreement. All fees are current as of the Issuance Date of this Franchise Disclosure Document. Certain fees that we have indicated may increase over the term of the Franchise Agreement. Also, any fee expressed as a fixed dollar amount is subject to adjustment based on changes to the Consumer Price Index ("CPI") in the United States. We may periodically review and increase these fees based on changes to the CPI (in addition to any other increase). We will notify you of any CPI adjustment at least 60 days before the fee adjustment becomes effective. We will implement no more than one CPI-related fee adjustment during any calendar year. Unless we have indicated otherwise, for any fee that is listed as our then-current fee in table above, we will limit the annual increase to the greater of: (a) a maximum of 8% per year, calculated cumulatively each year; or (b) the amount of any increases in fees from third parties for the underlying products or services.
Source: Item 6 — OTHER FEES (FDD pages 15–24)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Beverly Anns Cookie's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, all fees paid to Beverly Anns Cookie or its affiliates are non-refundable under any circumstances once paid. However, fees paid to vendors or other suppliers may be refundable, depending on the specific policies of those vendors and suppliers.
This policy means that once a franchisee pays any fee directly to Beverly Anns Cookie, such as the Technology Fee (currently $600 per year), Email Address Fee ($216 per email address per year), or Google Voice Fee ($192 per Google Voice number per year), those fees are not refundable, regardless of the circumstances. This lack of refundability is a standard practice in franchising, as these fees typically cover services already rendered or costs already incurred by the franchisor.
Prospective franchisees should carefully consider this non-refundable policy when making payments and ensure they fully understand the services or benefits they are receiving in exchange for these fees. It is also advisable to clarify the refund policies of any third-party vendors or suppliers with whom Beverly Anns Cookie requires them to work, as those fees may be subject to different refund conditions.