For the Field Consultants that have been with the company for some time, you will agree that the relationship between Franchisee and Franchisor has been severed, most notably within the past 5 years or so. Not to mention the work/life balance of Field Consultants (now called Area Leaders) has also gone down the drain. We went from 8 store subgroups, to 10 then up to 12 and now it seems that we are moving towards a 15-16 store subgroup at the same rate of pay. SEI states that the workload will be less but no matter how much they CLAIM to take off our plates, they give us more plates with surveys, store walks, manual opt-in survey's etc. But let's say they do what they say they'll do and unload some of the priorities, it does not take away from the fact that more stores means more problems to deal with. Let's face it, accounting is a joke, equipment breaks all the time, Pin Pads never work, new promotions for sales plan never ring up the correct price and the list goes on and on... Who gets the deal with the problems? The Area Leaders. Now multiply that by 16 stores, for the same rate of pay.
The mishandling of the company falls on CEO Joe DiPinto. He has worked long enough with 7Eleven and has destroyed the morale and trust of the field operations and franchisees.
It is time for him to step down.