Franchisees ask court to liquidate Tammy Taylor Nails
Two women who wanted to buy a Tammy Taylor Nails franchise are asking a court to provisionally liquidate the company. The National Consumer Commission is looking into nine other complaints.
Tammy Taylor Nails SA has asked the court to dismiss the application. Cynthia Buthelezi and Rumbidzai Hove say in their founding affidavit they paid R172 500, half the R345 000 purchase price, and signed a franchise agreement, but did not receive a copy, even after numerous requests.
They then read news articles and watched a TV programme which made “rather unsavoury comments and disclosures” about Tammy Taylor Nails and its alleged “unethical business practices”.
They decided to use their right to cancel within the cooling-off period. According to Section 7(2) of the Consumer Protection Act, a franchisee can cancel an agreement without cost or penalty within 10 business days after signing the agreement.
Two days after they signed, their lawyer, franchise expert Charl Groenewald of MacRobert Attorneys, contacted the Tammy Taylor Nails head office to cancel the agreement. He requested a signed copy of the contract and notwithstanding an employee’s undertaking to do so, Tammy Taylor inexplicably refused his request.
Although the franchise denies this conversation took place, the applicants attached a transcript of the phone call to the court papers. MacRobert then sent a letter to Tammy Taylor Nails to formally cancel and request a copy of the agreement.
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The women served a liquidation notice on Tammy Taylor Nails for its failure to repay the money, but received no reply.
In her answering affidavit, Tammy Taylor Nails SA chief executive Melany Viljoen said the company is opposing this application on two grounds, that the agreement was not cancelled in time and the women brought the application against the wrong company.
The answering affidavit gives a date of signature different to that alleged by Buthelezi and Hove. However, the women claim they were instructed to not put in the date, as that would be done once they paid the outstanding balance.
They allege Tammy Taylor Nails “in an unlawful manner backdated” the franchise agreement. Viljoen also denies the allegations in the media and believes that the company is not liable to pay any amount. A date for the hearing has not been set.
– inao@citizen.co.za
