What efforts are Carvel franchisees and designated personnel required to make to resolve issues before requesting Comprehensive Support Services?

According to Carvel's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, before a franchisee can request Comprehensive Support Services, both the franchisee and their designated personnel must first try to resolve the issue themselves using internal resources and the Knowledge Base. Additionally, the designated personnel who are calling for support should be trained in the general operation of the POS (Point of Sale) System.

This requirement means that Carvel franchisees cannot immediately call for support without first attempting to troubleshoot the problem on their own. This encourages self-sufficiency and can potentially save time and money by resolving simple issues internally. The Knowledge Base likely contains information on common problems and solutions, which can be a valuable resource for franchisees.

The emphasis on training for designated personnel highlights the importance of having knowledgeable staff who can handle basic POS system issues. By ensuring that staff are properly trained, Carvel aims to reduce the number of support requests for easily resolvable problems, allowing the Support Services Team to focus on more complex issues. This also ensures that the franchisee is not charged for issues that could have been resolved internally.

This requirement is fairly standard in the franchise industry, as franchisors often want to ensure that franchisees are making an effort to resolve issues themselves before escalating them to the support team. This helps to keep support costs down and ensures that the support team can focus on more critical issues.