Franchises Sue McDonald’s

aftenposten:

All 56 franchise holders of McDonald’s restaurants in Norway are suing the national organization McDonald’s Norge. They’re unhappy about high maintenance and insurance costs they’re being forced to pay.

“This isn’t exactly a ‘Happy Meal,’” one of the franchise holders in Kristiansand told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) on Monday.

The conflict centers around the money that franchise owners must pay to McDonald’s Norge for exterior maintenance and insurance.

Alf Flørnes, one of the few franchise holders willing to speak publicly despite the franchises’ fear of reprisal from McDonald’s management, said he only was given 30 minutes to read and sign his 50-page franchise contract, which was written in Danish. Now he and others claim McDonald’s Norge is “squeezing” them while refusing to negotiate.

“It’s not the McDonald’s system there’s anything wrong with, it’s how the management in Norway operates,” claimed Flørnes.