Diversified Health & Fitness, Diversified HF Fraud, Intent to Fraud, stole money, lied about clubs Ft. Lauderdale Florida

What a hilarious rebuttal by Andrew Barnett (alias Diversified Team). Here are the FACTS.

Before closing on the sale of the fitness centers, Diversified said they had to do their "due diligence" before offering a price. They did their "due diligence" by calling all the existing club owners and talking to them. They were told that Ireland was not paying royalties "upfront". The Ireland clubs were not even included in the sale price with respect to receiving ANY funds for them. Diversified said if we can collect in Ireland then we will pay you for them...NOT until. We never expected payment for them.

DHF entered into the sale with their eyes WIDE OPEN...knowing the status of each club clearly. Mr. Barnett's ignorance of the history of the operations is only out weighed by his hot-tempered, fly-off-the-handle, reactionary personality.

The FACT is we offered plenty of support to all the franchisees. We hired a professional ad agency to create ad slicks, radio spots, marketing DVDs, etc., to which all the clubs had FREE access to on our website. Whether the clubs chose to use the ads and accept the support was entirely up to them. We developed our own line of supplements for owners to sell in their clubs to add revenue.

Oh, by the way, after talking to each owner, they tell me that Diversifieds idea of "support" is to call them up and try to get them to BUY something from them. What a joke. You can see Mr. Barnett's claims are not grounded in facts.

WHY DID MR. BARNETT REFUSE TO DOING THE 3-WAY CALLS WITH THE CLUB OWNERS? I'll tell you why, because he'd have witnesses on the other end of the phone disproving his lies.

As to making "millions" from the sale of the clubs...ok, Barnett, you tell me how we can make millions when most of the clubs were sold for under $20,000 and out of that $20,000 we had to cover equipment, storage, insurance, training, building lease, commissions to sales reps, utilities and payroll for office staff. A quick look at our tax returns will show us behind breaking even. Not a penny was saved into any account. NICE TRY MR. BARNETT. Perhaps you need a lesson in Gross sales verses NET sales. By the way over the course of 7 years we only sold 110 clubs (not the 200 YOU claim)...over 7 YEARS!

Oh, by the way, did you talk to any owners that told you we WAIVED all royalties for the first YEAR (our accountant said we were nuts) to help them get their feet on the ground? Our idea of support was to put our money where our mouth was...NOT to call them up and try to market some new program so that Diversified can make money. I wonder why club owners still call me and order products from me if they are so pissed off?

BOTTOM LINE fact is DHF owes us money, a whole whopping $7,000, and all they can do for that little bit is make up lies to avoid paying it. What a disgrace to the fitness industry and to us honest and ethical business people.

If you're a franchisor contemplating doing business with Diversified HF and Andrew Barnett, my advice is to RUN, RUN, RUN !!!

What a hilarious rebuttal by Andrew Barnett (alias Diversified Team). Here are the FACTS.

Before closing on the sale of the fitness centers, Diversified said they had to do their "due diligence" before offering a price. They did their "due diligence" by calling all the existing club owners and talking to them. They were told that Ireland was not paying royalties "upfront". The Ireland clubs were not even included in the sale price with respect to receiving ANY funds for them. Diversified said if we can collect in Ireland then we will pay you for them...NOT until. We never expected payment for them.

DHF entered into the sale with their eyes WIDE OPEN...knowing the status of each club clearly. Mr. Barnett's ignorance of the history of the operations is only out weighed by his hot-tempered, fly-off-the-handle, reactionary personality.

The FACT is we offered plenty of support to all the franchisees. We hired a professional ad agency to create ad slicks, radio spots, marketing DVDs, etc., to which all the clubs had FREE access to on our website. Whether the clubs chose to use the ads and accept the support was entirely up to them. We developed our own line of supplements for owners to sell in their clubs to add revenue.

Oh, by the way, after talking to each owner, they tell me that Diversifieds idea of "support" is to call them up and try to get them to BUY something from them. What a joke. You can see Mr. Barnett's claims are not grounded in facts.

WHY DID MR. BARNETT REFUSE TO DOING THE 3-WAY CALLS WITH THE CLUB OWNERS? I'll tell you why, because he'd have witnesses on the other end of the phone disproving his lies.

As to making "millions" from the sale of the clubs...ok, Barnett, you tell me how we can make millions when most of the clubs were sold for under $20,000 and out of that $20,000 we had to cover equipment, storage, insurance, training, building lease, commissions to sales reps, utilities and payroll for office staff. A quick look at our tax returns will show us behind breaking even. Not a penny was saved into any account. NICE TRY MR. BARNETT. Perhaps you need a lesson in Gross sales verses NET sales. By the way over the course of 7 years we only sold 110 clubs (not the 200 YOU claim)...over 7 YEARS!

Oh, by the way, did you talk to any owners that told you we WAIVED all royalties for the first YEAR (our accountant said we were nuts) to help them get their feet on the ground? Our idea of support was to put our money where our mouth was...NOT to call them up and try to market some new program so that Diversified can make money. I wonder why club owners still call me and order products from me if they are so pissed off?

BOTTOM LINE fact is DHF owes us money, a whole whopping $7,000, and all they can do for that little bit is make up lies to avoid paying it. What a disgrace to the fitness industry and to us honest and ethical business people.

If you're a franchisor contemplating doing business with Diversified HF and Andrew Barnett, my advice is to RUN, RUN, RUN !!!

What a hilarious rebuttal by Andrew Barnett (alias Diversified Team). Here are the FACTS.

Before closing on the sale of the fitness centers, Diversified said they had to do their "due diligence" before offering a price. They did their "due diligence" by calling all the existing club owners and talking to them. They were told that Ireland was not paying royalties "upfront". The Ireland clubs were not even included in the sale price with respect to receiving ANY funds for them. Diversified said if we can collect in Ireland then we will pay you for them...NOT until. We never expected payment for them.

DHF entered into the sale with their eyes WIDE OPEN...knowing the status of each club clearly. Mr. Barnett's ignorance of the history of the operations is only out weighed by his hot-tempered, fly-off-the-handle, reactionary personality.

The FACT is we offered plenty of support to all the franchisees. We hired a professional ad agency to create ad slicks, radio spots, marketing DVDs, etc., to which all the clubs had FREE access to on our website. Whether the clubs chose to use the ads and accept the support was entirely up to them. We developed our own line of supplements for owners to sell in their clubs to add revenue.

Oh, by the way, after talking to each owner, they tell me that Diversifieds idea of "support" is to call them up and try to get them to BUY something from them. What a joke. You can see Mr. Barnett's claims are not grounded in facts.

WHY DID MR. BARNETT REFUSE TO DOING THE 3-WAY CALLS WITH THE CLUB OWNERS? I'll tell you why, because he'd have witnesses on the other end of the phone disproving his lies.

As to making "millions" from the sale of the clubs...ok, Barnett, you tell me how we can make millions when most of the clubs were sold for under $20,000 and out of that $20,000 we had to cover equipment, storage, insurance, training, building lease, commissions to sales reps, utilities and payroll for office staff. A quick look at our tax returns will show us behind breaking even. Not a penny was saved into any account. NICE TRY MR. BARNETT. Perhaps you need a lesson in Gross sales verses NET sales. By the way over the course of 7 years we only sold 110 clubs (not the 200 YOU claim)...over 7 YEARS!

Oh, by the way, did you talk to any owners that told you we WAIVED all royalties for the first YEAR (our accountant said we were nuts) to help them get their feet on the ground? Our idea of support was to put our money where our mouth was...NOT to call them up and try to market some new program so that Diversified can make money. I wonder why club owners still call me and order products from me if they are so pissed off?

BOTTOM LINE fact is DHF owes us money, a whole whopping $7,000, and all they can do for that little bit is make up lies to avoid paying it. What a disgrace to the fitness industry and to us honest and ethical business people.

If you're a franchisor contemplating doing business with Diversified HF and Andrew Barnett, my advice is to RUN, RUN, RUN !!!

What a hilarious rebuttal by Andrew Barnett (alias Diversified Team). Here are the FACTS.

Before closing on the sale of the fitness centers, Diversified said they had to do their "due diligence" before offering a price. They did their "due diligence" by calling all the existing club owners and talking to them. They were told that Ireland was not paying royalties "upfront". The Ireland clubs were not even included in the sale price with respect to receiving ANY funds for them. Diversified said if we can collect in Ireland then we will pay you for them...NOT until. We never expected payment for them.

DHF entered into the sale with their eyes WIDE OPEN...knowing the status of each club clearly. Mr. Barnett's ignorance of the history of the operations is only out weighed by his hot-tempered, fly-off-the-handle, reactionary personality.

The FACT is we offered plenty of support to all the franchisees. We hired a professional ad agency to create ad slicks, radio spots, marketing DVDs, etc., to which all the clubs had FREE access to on our website. Whether the clubs chose to use the ads and accept the support was entirely up to them. We developed our own line of supplements for owners to sell in their clubs to add revenue.

Oh, by the way, after talking to each owner, they tell me that Diversifieds idea of "support" is to call them up and try to get them to BUY something from them. What a joke. You can see Mr. Barnett's claims are not grounded in facts.

WHY DID MR. BARNETT REFUSE TO DOING THE 3-WAY CALLS WITH THE CLUB OWNERS? I'll tell you why, because he'd have witnesses on the other end of the phone disproving his lies.

As to making "millions" from the sale of the clubs...ok, Barnett, you tell me how we can make millions when most of the clubs were sold for under $20,000 and out of that $20,000 we had to cover equipment, storage, insurance, training, building lease, commissions to sales reps, utilities and payroll for office staff. A quick look at our tax returns will show us behind breaking even. Not a penny was saved into any account. NICE TRY MR. BARNETT. Perhaps you need a lesson in Gross sales verses NET sales. By the way over the course of 7 years we only sold 110 clubs (not the 200 YOU claim)...over 7 YEARS!

Oh, by the way, did you talk to any owners that told you we WAIVED all royalties for the first YEAR (our accountant said we were nuts) to help them get their feet on the ground? Our idea of support was to put our money where our mouth was...NOT to call them up and try to market some new program so that Diversified can make money. I wonder why club owners still call me and order products from me if they are so pissed off?

BOTTOM LINE fact is DHF owes us money, a whole whopping $7,000, and all they can do for that little bit is make up lies to avoid paying it. What a disgrace to the fitness industry and to us honest and ethical business people.

If you're a franchisor contemplating doing business with Diversified HF and Andrew Barnett, my advice is to RUN, RUN, RUN !!!

Dear Mr. Smith,

With all due respect to Mr. Scott Smith of Tampa, Florida and his companies, World Wide Fitness LLC, The Franchise Edge, The Blitz and Ultimate Woman, his post here is factually incorrect and woefully misleading as to his own incompetence and downright negligence. What we purchased from Mr. Smith were the franchise contracts to 21 health club centers operated by mom-and-pop business owners in the United States and Ireland. Mr. Smith, coming from a consulting background, with no experience or knowledge of the franchise fitness industry, took it upon himself to franchise and sell a men-only fitness concept. Well over 200 unsuspecting buyers of his system were fleeced out of hefty franchise fees, many spending their life savings on club build-outs and marketing, while Mr. Smith failed to provide them with support; watching callously while over three-fourths of his franchisees floundered helplessly until being forced to shutter their clubs. It's a sad story; one Mr. Smith should not be proud of. And as for us withholding his retirement money, we would ask Mr. Smith what he did with the millions he made selling his snake oil.

Now that we are the proud owners of his former franchises, we have discovered, to our surprise, that not one of the 12 locations in Ireland are paying royalties, and most of the other franchises Mr. Smith sold us are closed, closing, or so painfully starved for attention from their franchisor that the work involved in supporting them will quickly outstrip the money we paid to him. Due to Mr. Smith's deceit and dishonesty, he managed to sell us, not only non-performing franchises, but a non-performing system.

Thankfully, we at Diversified have an incredible staff that is knowledgeable and patient and working steadily with Mr. Smith's franchisees to get them back on the path to success, despite his failures. According to his franchisees, Mr. Smith never provided fliers or advertising, he never provided any graphic material for marketing, and never provided support of any kind. One franchisee noted of our support team, what a difference! We got no support from our old owner.

So, Mr. Smith, it is our belief that you should be the one being reported to Rip-Off Report. You fleeced people of millions of dollars and you have gall to say that we defrauded you? Why don't you give us back our money, return the money you took from your hundreds of failed franchisees, give them back the years they spent waiting for you to offer them corporate support, and restore them their reputations and livelihoods, then you can start throwing stones from your glass house.

Sincerely,
The Diversified Team

Mr. Barnett from DHF called and threatened to sue and harass us for the rest of our life if we don't remove the above report. He emailed stating:

"If this report is not removed by Monday, May 18, 2009, we will instruct our attorneys to file legal proceedings against you compelling the removal of this report and seeking monetary claims against you -- "

Mr. B. said the report had false statements in it but couldn't and wouldn't tell us what those false statements were. We offered to kindly 3-way DHF into calls with the remaining clubs to prove that they are "performing clubs" and to resolve this situation, but as of this date, they won't do it.

Isn't it a shame...DHF doesn't pay us what they owe and THEY are mad at US for letting people know about it. Sounds like guilt to me. IF we had it to do over again we would not do business with this company.

It looks like taking our only income from us and not paying us what is rightfully owed us is not enough for DHF and/or Mr. B., now they're threatening to sue us for what little we have left. Hmm, great company, huh?

There were enough "performing clubs" to receive a second payment from DHF and we have documentation to prove it. All we're asking is to get paid what is rightfully ours. But, instead of doing the right thing, it appears that DHF and/or Mr. B. will not honor the purchase agreement.