[legion]

That model won't last. Seems like they can just throw you into a ****ty location and there's nothing you can do about it. This type of arrangement stinks of corruption. I'd be willing to bet that people with the right connections get to see the numbers before paying a ridiculous fee.

Funny thing, I usually drive clear across town to the UPS-owned facility to do my shipping and avoid the UPS Store along the way. Why? Because our local UPS store refuses to ship the kinds of things I usually ship UPS (that have ORM-D on the side of the box).

I'd walk away with a clear conscience. They will call you if they are desperate. I could see using this kind of tactic to weed out non-serious buyers when the economy was taking off, but they need to update their rules for current economic conditions.

***

A few years ago my MIL used to work out at the local (to her) Curves gym. She was approached by the owner asking her if she wanted to buy it. A ballpark figure was thrown out and my MIL lined up some friends as investors. At their first formal meeting to go over the financials, my MIL was presented with one side of a piece of paper that showed the gym was "profitable". It omitted many expenses, like electricity and water, but did show the franchise fee and payroll. It also listed membership fees as a lump sum, but did not break down how many members there were or what fees they were paying (some presumably got discounts). It did not show any monthly or yearly history, it was just a current statement, as of that day, with omissions.

Now my MIL never went to college, but she's not dumb. She told the owner that she was insulted that she felt this was adequate documentation with which to do a deal. She told her that she wanted to see a statement with ALL expenses, a breakdown of memberships, and a history of all of these things going back at least two years. She never heard from the owner again.