Are the fees described in Item 6 of the Deer Solution FDD refundable?
Deer_Solution Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Note 1: Type of Fee – The above table describes fees and payments that you must pay to us, our affiliates, or that our affiliates may impose or collect on behalf of a third party. All fees are uniformly imposed for all franchises offered under this Disclosure Document, are recurring, are not refundable, and are payable to us, unless otherwise specified. Payment is subject to our specification and instruction, including our election to have all fees automatically drafted from your business bank account or automatically debited or charged to your business bank account. You will be required to sign an ACH Authorization Form (Franchise Agreement, Exhibit 4) permitting us to electronically debit your designated bank account for payment of all fees payable to us and/or our affiliates. You must deposit the Gross Sales of your Deer Solution Business into the designated bank accounts that are subject to our ACH authorization. You must install and use, at your expense, the pre-authorized payment, business management system, credit card processing, automatic payment, automated banking, electronic debit and/or electronic funds transfer systems that we designate and require in the operation of your Deer Solution Business. You must pay all service charges and fees charged to you by your bank so that we may electronically debit your bank account. We may, at our election,
directly collect the Gross Sales of your Dee Solution Business and we will pre-deduct all of the fees and payments due to us, our affiliates, or our designated supplies, and we will remit the balance to you.
Source: Item 6 — OTHER FEES (FDD pages 14–19)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Deer Solution Franchise Disclosure Document, the fees outlined in Item 6 are generally not refundable. Specifically, Note 1 to Item 6 states that all fees are uniformly imposed, recurring, and not refundable unless otherwise specified. This means that a prospective Deer Solution franchisee should expect that most, if not all, of the fees they pay to Deer Solution are non-refundable.
This policy has significant implications for franchisees. Because the fees are non-refundable, franchisees will not be able to recover these costs should they decide to terminate their franchise agreement early or if the franchise does not perform as expected. This lack of refundability applies to various fees, including the royalty fee, brand development fund fee, technology fee, and sales and support center fee, among others.
However, it is important to note that Note 1 includes the clause "unless otherwise specified." This suggests that there might be exceptions where certain fees could be refundable under specific circumstances. A prospective franchisee should carefully review the entire Item 6 and the franchise agreement to identify any such exceptions. It would also be prudent to seek clarification from Deer Solution regarding the specific conditions under which any fees might be refundable.
In the franchise industry, it is common for certain initial fees, such as the franchise fee, to be non-refundable, as these cover the franchisor's initial costs of setting up the franchisee. However, the non-refundability of ongoing fees, like royalty or marketing fees, is less standard. Therefore, prospective Deer Solution franchisees should carefully consider this policy and its potential financial impact before investing in the franchise.