WHY NOT TO BUY A LEW GEFFEN SOTHEBY’s FRANCHISE

Lew Geffen has a notorious reputation of  deceit and deception. Over the past 7 years, more than 40 franchises have closed their doors for various reasons, including but not limited to the following:

• Lack of training including NOT meeting the smaller franchisees and introducing them to the Sotheby's model.
• A seriously lacking internal infrastructure that allows all franchisees in South Africa to share buyers and sellers, effectively meaning that  each operator is forced to stand on their own.
• Their marketing and Web presence, although flashy, is not aimed at servicing the franchisee, resulting in smaller operators not benefiting at all from the super brand
• When a franchisee needs head-office support, the Lew Geffen management becomes hostile sending lawyers letters and ultimatums.
• Formerly a Sotheby's Franchise used to cost between R250,000 – R500,000 depending on the area, recently after the Blouberg Franchise was forcibly closed, Lew Geffen started offering franchisees for free, under mining the value of all franchisees that paid for their license.
• It is not uncommon either for Geffen to seize a successful franchise for his own, or simply resell the brand to the next bidder. There are countless tales to tell, and every single franchisee that has been taken over or forced out, has the same story to tell,  from as early as 2005 with the Hemphill's, to Jackie Cameron in KZN, Conrad Steinhobel, Johan Ricket, Arthur Sharpe, Hugo Yankowitz, the former Pretoria franchisees, -  the list goes on and on.
• Bad press and negative comments resulting from Geffen's tactics, has had perhaps the most damaging impact and effect on the Sotheby's international name. The most damaging articles relate to the Maurice Levin debacle, followed by the Savile Row/Auction Alliance underhanded scheme, then in 2011 the EAAB Trust Account scandal, and most recently Geffen's failed take over of the Atlantic SeaBoard franchise.