Half of all franchisors have had a dust-up with their franchisees in the past three years, a study reveals.
And 17 per cent of formal disputes have ended in legal action.
The franchisors and franchisees are brawling about a range of issues, mostly related to capital expenditure that the franchisee is forced to make.
The franchisees complained that they were not given notice that they would have to spend significant amounts of money on fitouts.
The revelations are part of a survey by market research house 10 Thousand Feet.
It polled 81 franchisors, which it regards as a representative sample of the nearly 1000 franchise systems operating in the franchising industry, estimated to be worth $130 billion a year. Read more.