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  • Report: #256122

Report: Mars Venus Coaching

Category: Business Consultants

Mars Venus Coaching Franchise Scam and Rip Off Melbourne AUSTRALIA

*UPDATE EX-employee responds...Mars Venus Franchise sued on American soil for Fraud

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Mars Venus Coaching

Phone:  
Fax:  
5A Chris Drive
Lilydale, Victoria, Other
Australia

Submitted: Friday, June 22, 2007

Last posting: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Reported By

Melbourne, Other

I bought a franchise from Mars Venus Coaching.

Mars Venus Coaching were all hype at the start and promised me I would earn 100,000+ in my first year.

Mars Venus Coaching gave me disclosure documents that were 6 months old and failed to mention in them that 4 of the franchisees they had listed had since left the system.

Mars Venus Coaching also failed to mention that 2 of the Master Franchises had also left them system although they were still listed.

Celebrities were also put on the Mars Venus Coaching website www.marsvenuscoaching.com to try and make them seem better then they were.

I also found out later that a former Master Franchisor had taken legal action against Mars Venus Coaching and settled out of court. This was also left out of the disclosure document.

The biggest problem was that they were only interested in collecting their monthly fees. They had no interest in improving the system, only wanted to make a quick sale.

Also during meetings they told us a number of times that we were not allowed to speak to prospective franchisees who called us to ask questions. Basically they only hand pick a few franchisees who are new to the system and still excited. They use these to sell other franchises.

Darren Stephens is the CEO and he was filmed by a current affair who accused him of being a rip off artist. However, he is a master of deception and protects himself legally in all cases. The problem is that he is not committed to the franchise at all and have a number of other interests on they go.

In total there are over 10 franchisees who have lost in excess of $3 million dollars due to franchise fees. Most businesses didn't even last 12 months.

I personally lost over $100,000 in franchise fees and lost income potential as a result of buying the franchise.

If you are thinking of buying the franchise call previous franchisees. If they don't give you at least 5 names then don't go near them, as we are all out here.

Feel free to ask any questions via this forum.

Anonymous
Melbourne
Australia



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Update

Submitted: Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Posted: Tuesday, November 17, 2009

anonymous

nationwide
United States of America

Mars Venus Franchise sued on American soil for Fraud

After they left the Mars Venus Coaching franchise in a shambles in Australia they moved the corporate office to Vegas.


Not even 2 years old and MVC has racked up a couple fraud lawsuits already. They claim in their Franchise Documents they are Agressively defending one of the lawsuits but it appears they are doing it on their own with no attorney.


One after another the Attorneys representing Mars Venus Coaching have asked the court to remove them from the case. The last one left with a court ordered judgment for attorney fees on his final exit.


The financial documents for MVC claim they lost almost a half million dollars in 2008 and looking at the pending lawsuits things don't look so rosey for 2009.


Next stop Mumbai. 


Does any one know what happens to the people that bought franchises before MVC just closes up shop and moves to another country? 


Update

Submitted: Monday, December 08, 2008

Posted: Monday, December 08, 2008

Ex mars venus coach

Melbourne
Australia

New Disclosure Laws - Mars Venus Coaching New Leadership in USA

The franchising disclosure laws have been updated so that franchisors need to provide all franchisees with a list of ex franchisees and their contact details.

This is good news. If you are buying a franchise here in Australia make sure that you ask for the list of all previous franchisees.

Mars Venus Coaching have also now moved completely to the USA, closing down their online presence in Australia.

The new US office inlcludes Rich Bernstein as CEO.

Lets hope that with the new leadership team they can do credit to the good work of John Gray rather then leave a trail of pain and debt like they have done so in Australia.
Update

Submitted: Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Posted: Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Ex mars venus coach

Melbourne
Australia

Mars Venus move to the USA

Recently Mars Venus Coaching have begun recruiting new franchisees in the USA. I am not sure if they have changed their system, although they seem to have reduced their initial investment by 50%.

In response to the previous claim that Franchisors are not required to list all previous franchisees i have listed them here, so that future franchisees are able to due their due dilligence.

Company History
The company was formed into a franchise operation and since its inception has had a number of Franchisees with also a high number of drop outs.

It launched to the market with great success and Master Franchises in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and New Zealand.

In their attempt to grow the organisation they sponsored the St Kilda Footbal club and during the process had Robert Harvey as a coach. StKilda and Robert Harvey withdrew their support and involvement from Mars Venus early in 2006.

One of the first Master Franchisors for Victoria was Ross Clennet (now with Ingenius at www.ingenius.com.au) who operated the franchise for 12 months before taking Mars Venus to mediation for missrepresentation during the sales process. The action was settled out of court. During Ross Clennet operation of the franchise Susan Dean purchased a unit franchise.

Susan Dean and Michael Dean then purchased the Master Franchise from Mars Venus Coaching and during their time were very successful in bringing on franchisees growing the organisation from consisting of a few master franchisees up to 12 franchisees at one point.

The franchise list below includes both current franchisees and franchisees that have left the system. There are also a number of master franchisors who have left the system from both Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales.

Victorian Franchisees
Rowan Eagles –
Daniel Eagleton
Bernhard Pethabridge
Bev Bradley and Liz Corbett
Ben Schuster
Ian Pollard
Toni Culph
Rob Hilliar and Anni Hilliar
Val Tragea
Ziggy Frankefeld
John Gearon
Craig McCarthy

QLD Franchisees
David Traylen

NSW Franchisees
Reich Webber-Montenegro

Western Australia Franchisees
Jill & John Raynor
Ed Wykman

Slovenia
Alex Gregoric

India:
Dr. G. P. Kumar MD and Dr Niru Kumar

Singabpore:

James Yip - Master Licence for Singapore.

Before purchasing this franchise I would highly recomend you contact at least 10 former coaches on the list.

You may be able to find some contact details on the mars venus coaching website archive below, or simply try googling some of the names.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.marsvenuscoaching.com

I hope you find this website before you have invested your hard earned dollars.
Update

Submitted: Friday, July 27, 2007

Posted: Friday, July 27, 2007

Richard

Morley
Australia

Disclosure Document requirements

The franchisor is not required to update the disclosure document on a regular basis throughout the year. I work in the franchise industry and am responsible for updating the Franchisor's disclosure document. The franchising code of conduct requires that the disclosure document is updated once per year within 3 months of the end of the financial year. The franchisor has not breached the code of conduct by providing the current document.
Perhaps you didn't carry out enough due diligence prior to entering into the franchise agreement. Or maybe you didn't make enough sales to make your business profitable. Remember, when you are pointing the finger at somebody else, there are three fingers on the same hand pointing right back at you.
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