Who Is Line-X
If you’re in the industry, or know about trucks, or are a guy you most likely know what Line-X is. It is a Top Notch Franchisor in terms of exposure, product branding and national brand marketing. They have longevity, great vendor relationships and leverage in terms of cash.
What They Do
Franchise Products
Here is a general summary of Line-X as a franchise:
Cost of Line-X Franchise
Total Investment: $142,750 – $265,500
Franchise Fee: $30,000
Term of Franchise Agreement: 10 years, renewable
Complaints from a few Customers of Line-X
Line-X has hundreds of franchisees and here you will read from a few Line-X franchisees who have had interesting experiences with their spray lining business. Some have complaints about material costs, or unseen fees that were not understood upfront. Read on to see what other people have experiences.
A Complaint about spray lining franchises like Line-X and Rhino Lining
There is a Spray Lining Complaint about the restriction from duplicating Line-X formulas at lower prices and being able to use the existing Line-X hardware to spray material. Unfortunately, because of Line-X’s iron clad contract, you cannot spray any other material through their system. Of course, spraying a different material using the Line-X name would be improper. The actual purpose would be to spray a different material as a generic non-Line-X solution for other applications. At the end of the day, a person is in business in order to profit. The wonderful thing about owning a business is the freedom that goes along with it. Line-X stifles business freedom in that regard.
Brand Name Recognition. That goes further than product specs or what spray-equipment a product goes through.
Spray Coating Material Issues
Another complaint from a vendor is about the ability to achieve multiple finishes and textures with one product. Line-X does not have a system that allows an applicator to use the same basic components with variable ratios to achieve an array of textures. This is frustrating because many customers now describe performance in terms of Line-X, Scorpion Coatings and Rhino Lining. This is because each type of bedliner has a specific behavior. When people are complaining about wanting a softer lining, Line-X dealers sometimes have to turn away the customer over this discussion. Frustrating….
DIY versus Pro Lining Materials
Another complaint that dealers hear about are when customers compare DIY brands to Professional sprayed brands like Rhino Lining, Line-X, Spray-Lining, Ultimate Liners, etc. Potential customers have a hard time differentiating between different bed liner types. DIY takes longer to cure, costs less and is typically thinner than Line-X. A lot of confusion and complaints could be stopped in advance if Line-X marketing focused on differentiating between DIY and Professional materials, etc. Line-X can’t market this because it’s NOT always true. In some cases, based on how it’s applied, DIY bed liner is thicker and has more tensile strength. So, Line-X just stays out of the discussion because their marketing dollars are better spent elsewhere.
Line-X Complaints Summarized – Spray Bed Lining
So, from this information received we really get a fairly common franchise complaint:
– The startup cost is more than expected
– The franchise contract is over bearing and causes complaints in the business model
– There is not enough energy put into education from the franchisor where it is needed
Many franchises are much more strict and overbearing. Some demand higher royalties than Line-X and are more rigorous about product volume.
So, in this case, the spray lining mogul Line-X is in pretty good standings.
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spray coating companies like Line-X and Rhino Linings have spent years or decades establishing relationships with large materials manufacturers and marketing companies for print, web, and local marketing. This tedious role has allowed customers who want to use our materials for spray lining get it at reasonable prices. Now of course the franchisor owner has to make a buck, there are a lot of unseen costs and there is RISK. Its understood that sometimes a franchisee doesn’t get the perfect deal and then has complaints or thinks they got scammed. But, to be fair you must look at the size of the thing you’re participating in and accept the risk before playing ball.
Comparing Rhino Linings, Line-X, and Spray-Lining Coatings they all seem similar. I tried using a PPG store & DuPont but they require you to buy giant qtys. Graco distributors have been uneducated of plural component spray equipment. Tried a few other brands claiming to be national players, Scorpion Coatings, Reflex & Vortex. Only Spray-Lining Coatings made sense. SLC just sells polyurea types, hybrids, etc. There’s dealership services and small DIY pkgs. Can anyone here share any experience with SLC?