Complaint Review: M.A.R.S. International:a.k.a. Http//:carslooklikenew.com: [email protected] - Dallas Fort Worth, Texas Texas

While Mars has repeatedly had their alleged franchise owners come to their defense on several different websites, I truly doubt it is more than just one person that is defending them. If you take the time to do a little research you will find that all of the posts defending them spew the same defense. "People fail at Mars because they are LAZY" and "Mars is what you make of it, if you are hard working you WILL be successful!" I know one of the people who has defended them on another site, (and I suspect it is him here as well) is not even a franchise owner. He is in the DAD program. He is Mars International's poster child DAD. He was set up by Mars to be their "success story." He had a majority of his accounts handed to him from another Mars employee who was joining corporate. No other employee had this benefit yet they are all constantly compared to him and his "success" ad nauseam. JO=success. Everyone else=lazy. His arrogance helps with making their case but in the end his success is due to clientele already being established. Believe me when I say his ongoing praise of his own accomplishments is undeserved. He has no experience in developing an area nor does he need to be critiquing other Mars employees since he has no knowledge of the process involved. At any rate, the following comments are about the DAD program only as I have no experience with being a franchise owner. Mars will take your money and they will provide training for you. That much is true. I'm not going to argue whether the training is adequate because I think that is subject to each individuals abilities. The team I worked with all did good work. We never had complaints from clients at all so we will give Mars that one. What I am here to state is that Mars will lie to you to get your money. They make many empty promises that they do not follow through on. They will tell you that you will earn 10% interest a year on your investment. Doesn't happen. They say that they will provide employees for your team through their recruiting process but then make it your responsibility to try and find employees. Good luck trying to find someone who is going to get paid $500 or less a week as a tech to put a $1500 deposit down to have a job! Oh wait, did Mars forget to tell you that if the techs can't afford it then it is up to the team leaders to pay this for them? Deduct that from your salary. You need to advertise to get employees to keep your accounts? That is your expense as well. You have to have a substantial amount of employees for your area DAD to meet his quota which is impossible without help from corporate. The DAD can't get or keep accounts because Mars doesn't send employees to cover the work. (I guess this is where the lazy part comes in. Most Mars employees don't make their quotas because they are lazy!) Meanwhile Mars is spending the money they are supposed to be using to find you employees to recruit people to set up their own franchises in your town. They will tell you that your money will be returned when your contract is up unless you decide to continue with the company. This is anywhere from $1500-$60,000. Doesn't happen. They will just not provide you with supplies and not answer phone calls until you can't do business anyway and then try and convince you to leave the company. Just so you know, leaving the DAD program usually involves a proposal of team members giving MORE money to Mars. It is quite laughable if you aren't watching thousands of dollars slip away. When Mars is finally convinced they will not be getting more money from you they will throw you away like yesterday's trash. Good luck finding a new job or starting a new business since you gave all your money to them. Oh, and if you plan to use the skills you used from Mars, forget it...you signed a no-compete clause so your training is useless. Not to mention you will need to send back all the supplies and equipment that you paid for. Those belong to Mars. So with the right number of employees, a good economy and good work ethic it is possible to make a decent living via Mars. If you don't have all three you are left to bankruptcy, no life savings, no job and starting over with nothing. Good luck trying to sue them, where are you going to get money for an attorney? Thanks Mars.

I have nothing to gain by posting this but I feel I should as I am a MARS franchise owner. Current economy aside (things are tough all over), this is NOT the type of company someone can apply to from the comfort of their home and simply sign up and make $70,000 a year. Too many people think it's as easy as that and as soon as a company requests a financial commitment from YOU, it's a SCAM. MARS International sells MARS franchises. For your investment, you are trained in their Texas training facility for 2 weeks, or longer if you feel you need it and then are sent enough supplies directly to your home to start working as soon as you'd like I will refrain from specifics on what MARS does, if you're reading this, you already know that. :o) But it's safe to say that you'll need lots of tools, spray equipment, paint, clearcoat, primers, a computer and more. You are provided with all of this. I know many people simply see their former ads, "Become a MARS man, make $XX,xxx in your first year! Call us!!!" But there is more to it than that but that's up to you. You are interviewing for the opportunity to own and operate a franchise. You will own your own business and will be trained on how to do it right. For their part, MARS does expect 12% of your income to be paid in royalties. Is that unfair? If you think so, I'd love to see the look on your face when you look into opening your own McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts. Before you can even CONSIDER such an experience, you had better be prepared to be $250,000-500,00 LIQUID. I'm talking money in the bank. No money? *click* They won't want to hear from you either, and why should they? Do you think they hand you the keys to a store and say "Good luck!" Oh, and be prepared to send them 20-35% or more of your income back to them in royalties too. It's simply a franchise, not a scheme. I posted iwith my real name (unlike the people who love to cry and whine online while hiding behind a screen name) so you can look me up and call. I am affiliated with the company in that I own a franchise and not the company itself. Our President, Jayson Jones is also available to talk to. As far as as former workers and lawsuits.... it's all sillyness. There are has beens for a reason. They couldn't cut it. It wasn't MARS' fault they failed, it's their own. But I guess you need to blame someone other than yourself when you fail. Whatever helps you sleep at night I guess. My business is slow right now (obviously, I'm here typing instead of WORKING) but that's not MARS' fault. I just need to work on other avenues to pursue more income using the skills MARS trained me with. The lawsuits? Well, once you become successful and make lots of money, you tend to feel you deserve it ALL to yourself. Why should MARS get any of it? You worked for it, it's yours right? So sue MARS and try (unsuccessfully) to get out of your contract so you don't have to pay the people who trained you and gave you the ability to make that kind of money in the first place. Conclusion: If your idea of job hunting is to surf want ads from home and expect to make $70,000+ owning your own business with no financial commitment, good luck. In the meantime, get your paper hat and learn to say, "Would you like fries with that?" They even throw in a uniform.. for FREE.

I sm s former franchisee of mars and I would sugest you turn and run. mars has been sued by many franchisee's and lost. I hear through the grapevine that they were sued again and are on the brink of closing . I made money with mars but i also gave to much to them also. if you need work done by a mars franchisee dont hesitate to use them they do good work dont let the mars corperations problems sway you away. its not the franchisees falt . the Quality of work is still there.

I don't get these men from MARS. First they cut me off half way through the interview because I am opposed to coughing up $7,000.00 to $8,000.00 on an internet sells pitch. Then M.A.R.S. International (carslooklikenew) went totally incommunicado, UNTIL, I filed a report on ripoffreport.com. Now the guys will not leave me alone, and keep finding reasons why I am wrong for not handing over large sums of money to sell their product, go figure. Below are the lastest developments consumers should be aware of when they respond to online interviews. Subject: Mars Mentor Cont'd Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:34:09 -0600 From: [email protected] To: (((Redacted))) CC: [email protected] John, Thanks for the e-mail. One of the great things about America is all the choices we have for education, careers, consumer products, etc. If you think that our competitors have better products and services, you should pursue them! We've been in the same business niche for over 15 years, have developed a solid Operator base in almost every state in the US, and are ranked by Entrepreneur magazine as the # 1 franchise in our specialty. The main point I made in my previous e-mail was that you made it only about half way through our process. Had you continued further, you would have been put in touch with a wide variety of references whom you could contact and question about all aspects of the MARS business. Our Operators are busy running their businesses. They typically don't respond to e-mails they receive from candidates, since we provide their phone numbers to candidates instead. Have you spoken with Bill Garbrandt yet? As of this morning, Bill had not heard from you. If you truly want to know more about the MARS business, why not speak with someone from your region of the country? Obviously, MARS is not a good fit for you. We're sorry that a back injury prevents you from continuing your trade as a master mason. I'm sure that you were great at that advanced level of experience, and those hands-on skills would serve you well in a MARS-type business. I'm confident, though, that someone with your drive, intelligence, and outgoing personality can find an opportunity that will provide everything you want and need. We wish you the best as you continue your search for the best career choice for you and your family. Thanks! David RE: Mars Mentor Attacks? From: (((Redacted))) Sent: Mon 1/19/09 2:00 PM To: [email protected] David, Please be advised that it was your program that shut me out once I clicked the box that I would NOT send the $7,000.00 to $8,000.00 "refundable deposit" prior to visiting your facility in Texas. Once the online interview program cut me off I noticed from the computer address bar that I was not even connected to M.A.R.S. International any longer, that I was actually dealing with a company called "carslooklikenew". Now where did this alias come in? It should further be noted that the "mentor" phone number you provided is in the 740 area code. Columbus, Ohio, where I would be operating the business is in the 614 area code. The 740 area code covers the southeastern section of the state, the least populated areas. Columbus, Ohio is the state capital, a sprawling metropolis with a population that exceeds 1.3 million people. Rather unusual you would not have a representative in the largest market in the state. Of course that follows my concerns. There must be a good reason such a well founded company as MARS has no representatives in the highly competitive state capital and relies on information from the sparsely populated rural areas where competition is far less. I do appreciate your seemingly gracious descent, although it has a distinct odor of smugness. Still for all you have said, you have said nothing. Remember, it is not the amount of words that is important, it is what the words amount to. I raised viable concerns regarding a business investment, not only of my funds, but an investment of my time as well. The relevant questions I pose would need to be answered from a person familiar with marketing your products in this area. Once I went to the MARS International web site and found those listed as operating in this area, and those people would not respond, things begin to feel more and more dismal. To add injury to insult, you yourself did not respond until I posted a report on ripoffreport.com, then the response given is little more than rhetoric, a red herring dragged across the path of truth. Maybe you are unfamiliar with the MARS International interview program that would not allow me to complete the process you speak of, I have a downloaded copy for my records should you be interested. At any rate, YOU chose to not allow me to complete the process,YOU also chose to not answer relevant questions regarding the start up of the business. In fact you chose to not respond to me in any way UNTIL I went to ripoffreport.com. GOOD LUCK! jentingh1 CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.