• anonymous said on Jun 25, 2009....

  You know you have to pay just $50,000 just to be an actioncoach without even owning a franchise. Anytime you have to pay up front to get a job, it is a scam.

• anonymous said on Jun 25, 2009....

  That's right. They do claim to have one franchise startup each day, but only have a thousand total. That number alone is deceptive. The truth is that every working day a franchise goes under. And rather than logging it as a failed franchise, they quickly resell to keep the numbers up. I was speaking with an ex-firm owner who told me about this and how when his firm went under, it didn't get counted as a failure, and was instead sold back quickly so it would seem that it didn't fail. I myself was interested in buying a firm until I waited 3 months to get a response from their help email and finally gave up and decided against it. Then my friend's firm went under. Now he has hundreds of thousands of debt and lost his entire life savings. Stay away if you are wise.

• anonymous said on Jun 28, 2009....

  I also heard that these guys were ripping off some farmers in Australia. If you do a google search for "actioncoach" there are quite a few sites that mention it being a scam. 

• anonymous said on Jun 29, 2009....

  Hi all, as an ex-employee i would like to emphasize the unfortunate truth that this company utilizes a policy of discrimination against both women and African-Americans. Every woman working within this company has to put up with sexual harassment as well as passive-aggressive racial remarks from all around. These facts aside, women and African-Americans make substantially less money and are treated as less than important compared to their white-male counterparts. It is truly great that we have a place like this where we can share our experiences. 

• anonymous said on Jul 08, 2009....

  Does anyone have anything good to say about these guys? I've heard they've gotten all kinds of awards, and Brad Sugars got a stevie? Surely they can't be all bad?!!??

• anonymous said on Jul 12, 2009....

  A lot of the awards they received were from organizations that they created. The stevie, I'm sure, is a result of them hiding their failed franchise numbers. Seriously people, just read one of Brad Sugars' books, or watch one of his youtube videos. This man will do anything for money. Actioncoach a direct representation of Brad Sugars' greed. Also in regards to the womanising racial statements, I'm not surprised at all. You should issue a lawsuit; no one needs to go through that kind of abuse. This just furthers the statements about racism and harrassment made on the previous soulcast page that corporate spammed. 

• anonymous said on Jul 12, 2009....

  I bought a franchise and attended training in Oct of ‘07 with 16 others. 12 of the 17 have left the system. I spent $115,000 on the franchise, marketing, telemarketing, etc and made $30 k in 8 months, which I put back into the business. Break-even for me was about $5,000 per month and I never made more than $5,500. I was more successful than most of the 12 that dropped out. I worked a tremendous number of hours and spent a lot on marketing, doing “the right things”. My problem was that I was not a master at selling and wasn’t willing to lie. I despised the Action 12 step sales process, which amounts to a lot of manipulation. When you buy an Action franchise, you’re buying a sales job. Unfortunately I was lied to before I bought the franchise, as so many Action franchisees are: I was told that coaching sells itself; I was told that whatever amount I thought I could make, I should add a zero to that amount; I provided a projected P&L to my ML and was told that I wasn’t thinking big enough; I was told the attrition rate is 6%; and was coached to ask vague questions in my due dilligence (I called 12 franchisees). There are over 100 franchisees that are making good money, however, it appears that the vast majority don’t.

• anonymous said on Jul 14, 2009....

  It looks like there are a few more soulcast posts about this scam popping up. I posted here the other day: http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/212629/Actioncoach-franchise-and-Brad-Sugars
  Basically, I too purchased a franchise and lost my life savings. If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from these con artists.
  
  
  
  scam, fraud, rip off, con, actioncoach, brad sugars, action international
  

• anonymous said on Jul 14, 2009....

  As an ex-employee, I just want to apologise to all of you who lost everything on behalf of everyone who works for this place. All in all, they are all good people; but the few who are at the top are as crooked as can be. I couldn't imagine losing my entire life savings, and I feel dirty that I helped these people steal from you. I stuck with them because I hoped to work my way up the ladder. You're surrounded by all this talk of making money, it's easy to get wrapped up in it even as an employee. They go through employees almost as fast as they go through franchisees. They know what they're doing, and they get excited about reselling the franchises. They lie, cheat and steal. When I left there were a shitload of illegal activities taking part inside their office.

• TappedouT said on Jul 15, 2009....

  When were you with the company? What illegal activities were going on? If you were a part of it, are you not a criminal, too?

• anonymous said on Jul 15, 2009....

  I normally don't post online as I'm not real computer savvy, but I just can't believe what I am reading. I am an ML for ActionCOACH, and I have nothing but good things to say about this company. I've gotten great support from global, I see great performance from the coaches and the ActionCOACH systems work great. Plus the businesses our coaches are helping are performing better than ever. I think it's disgusting that all these people who just couldn't cut it are on here giving Action a bad name. Despite all the negativity here on soulcast, I have continued to see growth. If all these rumors were true, this company wouldn't be around. The few coaches that can't make it fail only because they can't perform. In the beginning stages, it requires a lot of work and effort to be a coach. I know because I started off as a coach. From my experiences, it's easy to make it as a coach if you just follow the systems. On top of all that, I think Brad Sugars is a great man. He might seem a little full of himself, but you have to remember that he's using his own success as a selling point and for motivation for franchisees to generate their own success. You have to consider the fact that Mr. Sugars just won a Stevie award for ActionCOACH being best international business. Please explain how these rumors could be true... And in response to the illegal activities, I know that at one point there was a scandal (as some people have already mentioned in another post on this site) which has long been addressed, and the people involved were sued and fired. Every large company has to worry about people stealing from them. But Action went on and put it behind them. I think that the growth says enough about the company. While every other company is losing money and filing bankruptcy, ActionCOACH continues to grow. And as ActionCOACH grows (with their help), other businesses grow as well.

• anonymous said on Jul 16, 2009....

  So ml-who-used-to-be-a-coach, as an ml,

  • How many in your batch remained? Mine, I am the only one, 11 of us, two years later. Many other batches the same.
  • So am I to understand that I am a 'winner' and everyone else in my batch are 'losers' who didn't make the cut and didn't follow the system, based on your logic above? Is that what you are calling your batch mates?
  • Do you tell the absolute truth to all your franchise prospects or do you stretch it or leave out certain info and hope they don't find out till they are in? Let's face it, you've been around long enough to be able to tell who will not make the cut at the point of selling and can always err on the side of caution. Do you? Doubt it, money speaks, especially frontloaded the way it is.
  • 'Great performances' equals to a coach making barely USD1.2K ranked between 450 to 500 out of supposedly 1000+ coaches? This is the prior to the global ranking info being pulled. This figure is factual which can't be spinned.
  • 'Growing' means 700+ coaches left in the system as opposed to 1000+ being promoted in the marketing materials? Again, this is factual as of April/May this year, the time they pulled the global ranking info. But then, you already know that, don't you?
  • People sued and fired? How about the many lawsuits against Action for misrepresentation where Action loses every single case or settle every single case out of court? People you are referring to are NOT coaches. People those posting here are referring to are coaches being oversold.

  Quote facts and figures, don't spin like a politician.

• anonymous said on Jul 16, 2009....

  So ml-who-used-to-be-a-coach, as an ml,

  • How many in your batch remained? Mine, I am the only one, 11 of us, two years later. Many other batches the same.
  • So am I to understand that I am a 'winner' and everyone else in my batch are 'losers' who didn't make the cut and didn't follow the system, based on your logic above? Is that what you are calling your batch mates?
  • Do you tell the absolute truth to all your franchise prospects or do you stretch it or leave out certain info and hope they don't find out till they are in? Let's face it, you've been around long enough to be able to tell who will not make the cut at the point of selling and can always err on the side of caution. Do you? Doubt it, money speaks, especially frontloaded the way it is.
  • 'Great performances' equals to a coach making barely USD1.2K ranked between 450 to 500 out of supposedly 1000+ coaches? This is the prior to the global ranking info being pulled. This figure is factual which can't be spinned.
  • 'Growing' means 700+ coaches left in the system as opposed to 1000+ being promoted in the marketing materials? Again, this is factual as of April/May this year, the time they pulled the global ranking info. But then, you already know that, don't you?
  • People sued and fired? How about the many lawsuits against Action for misrepresentation where Action loses every single case or settle every single case out of court? People you are referring to are NOT coaches. People those posting here are referring to are coaches being oversold.

  Quote facts and figures, don't spin like a politician.

• anonymous said on Jul 19, 2009....

  Their current numbers appear to be that about 2 people leave their system every working day, and one of those franchises are resold every couple of days. That's quite a bit of failures considering there are currently only about 300 total in their system. With two failing every working day, and less than that being re-sold, I think Action's days are numbered. I believe the last numbers I received from "insiders" stated that there were somewhere between 280-380 coaches and only about 16 MLs. They seem to count every employee that these firms have on staff to arrive at the "1000+" number... I don't know how they will spin that number this year, but I'm sure they'll figure out a way.
  ... and I'm sure Mr. Sugars will receive another Stevie for blatantly spinning his numbers out of proportion. 

• anonymous said on Jul 19, 2009....

  You asked me how many were in my batch. I was in training initially with 15 other people. Of those 16 only 2 remained. The two that remained were the only two that followed the systems – myself and one other person.
  
  Do I tell the truth to prospects? Of course I do. Are you implying that YOU don't? Most of the people who fail come into the business excited, then when it comes time generate leads, market yourself and sell, they don't follow the systems. You of all people should know that it's not easy being a coach. Just like any business, if you sit back and do nothing, your business will fail.
  
  You said "money speaks" as if you have never tried to make a sale. Its business, and making money is the name of the game.
  
  The lawsuits you're referring to were from nuts who either stalked Mr. Sugars or made ridiculous claims against the kind folks at global office.
  
  Lastly, I think that if you are really an ML as you claim to be, you wouldn't be on here posting negative comments about Action that would effect your franchise! Surely you're not that stupid because that would hurt your own sales! So come on and get a life, and stop pretending to be an ML. The fact is that I have been with Action for a long time, and I think it's a great company, and it was the best investment I've ever made. Everyone who says bad things about Action are either lazy and can't run their own business, or they are jealous of those who can. If you don't want to purchase a franchise, then don't. It's simple, and stop spreading lies and trying to hurt our business.
  

• anonymous said on Jul 19, 2009....

  So ml-who-used-to-be-a-coach, as an ml,

  Firstly, I never said in the post I was an ML :-) I was  a coach.

  You said "money speaks" as if you have never tried to make a sale. Its business, and making money is the name of the game.
  

  Yup, that is exactly the attitude I was refering to, Brad would be proud of you, sell and make money, if people don't make it too bad, screw them. You are doing a fine job of confirming what others said here without any help, keep it up.

  Brad Sugars, the Marketing Team(Lead by Jodie Shaw) and the ML Team are fond of blaming coaches for not playing above the line and not doing what it takes to be successful.

  In actual fact, anyone of them, with a bit of experience and especially those who became MLs after being a coach would be able to tell at the point of selection whether a prospect is going to make it as a coach. They will be LYING if they said they don't. So the question is: why do they still take them in?

  They should stop living in denial about their own greed and stop using jargons and rhetorics to justify greed.

  If they are reading this, they will know what I am talking about. Stop taking people in, take their money and justify them dropping out after you've taken all their money. Action's team selection process works, I know because when I was a coach, I taught  that to my clients. It was the same system that we use for our own recruitment. The only explanation for it not to work for Action is greed.
  

  Furthermore, we always teach clients the 'stink starts from the top', fix the business owner and the business fix itself... when it comes to practise however, whithin Action, the fault always lies with coaches no matter how high the turnover is. That is what we call inconsistent and not practising what is preached.

   

  Do I tell the truth to prospects? Of course I do.... Most of the people who fail come into the business excited, then when it comes time generate leads, market yourself and sell, they don't follow the systems. You of all people should know that it's not easy being a coach.

   

  Really? So you told everyone "it's not easy being a coach" as you mentioned above? You tell them about the lead generation process and the amount of activity required to get there? If you do, congratulations, you sure are a rare ML in Action and deserve your success. In the territory where I was a coach, I was told the 'market is ready', the 'coaches before you laid great foundation and the market is about to explode', 'getting appointments is a piece of cake'... you get the drift.

   

  Interesting that some if not most of the 'nuts who stalked Brad Sugars' mostly win their cases of misrepresentation or settle out of court. 

  So earlier you said coaches who fail are losers who don't follow the system, now they are nuts. At the same time, you admit 14 out of 16 in your batch fail but you cannot see any misrepresentation or overselling, you see them all as losers which in other words, the stink of the organization didn't start from the top unlike what you coach clients to take ownership. And after admitting that 14 out of 16 are gone, your previous post spin Action as 'growing'.

  Gee....

• anonymous said on Jul 20, 2009....

  I read through the posts above and find no indication that anom poster directly above this post claimed to be an ML with ActionCoach. The hysterical reaction of the ML and the frantic manner in which he/she reacted to questions posted is both amusing AND revealing.

• anonymous said on Jul 20, 2009....

  As another successful ML of ActionCoach, I am disgusted by the negative bitching I see here and on unhappyfranchisees.com, let me address some of the issues raised:

   

  MLs are allowed to coach clients and to sign on coaching clients. That is in the agreement. Those that bitch about their MLs stealing clients from them should ask themselves why their own friends choose others over them instead of complaining. We are also allowed and encouraged to work on our own unique positioning, so there's absolutely nothing wrong with an ML telling a prospect "I only coach 5 clients per year and I can only reserve a slot for you if you are serious." Coaches should get a life or leave Action if they do not agree with this. They signed an agreement!

   

  As the above ML noted, we are supposed to sell Coach Licenses for a profit; I don't know what the coaches here are bitching about. Are we supposed to run charities while coaches make profit? Get real, business is about profit! If you choose not to do what it takes, don't blame the ML for misleading you. It is your choice. I sell according to the system and the marketing materials provided to me. The statistics are provided by HQ and I have no reason to doubt their authenticity as I have met Brad, Jodie and the rest; the team is awesome. It is sad a few losers are making so much fuss out of it.

   

  As for MLs having businesses with certain coaches within their territory, there's no clause in ML or Coach Agreement which says they are not allowed to do that. Those who bitch that an ML will be less partial just because they have business arrangements are simply jealous that they are not given the opportunity to be part of the alliance. Instead of making allegations, they should instead reflect on themselves why they are not included... could it be that they are not good enough to be included?

   

  Coaches are given 12 weeks academy and all kind of support by HQ and they have their Coaches' Coach yet everyone here point their fingers at their MLs as though MLs are the source of their misery.

   

  It is sad that, as the ML above noted, a few sore losers are trying their best to destroy the good name of Brad Sugars and ActionCoach simply because they were not good enough; and they run MLs who are doing well down as though we are not entitled to do well and make money just because they didn’t make the grade!

• TappedouT said on Jul 20, 2009....

  Can anyone explain why most of the the company's sales, day-to-day administration and finance staffs, including the CFO, have left the company in the last 16 months?

• anonymous said on Jul 20, 2009....

  Nothing else even needs to be said. I think the above "ML" posts say it all about Action. As the coach above said, "money talks." And I think in Action's case, a lot of money talks a lot louder than a little, though it does seem strange that Actioncoach would be willing to risk their long-term reputation for short-term profit, but what do I know?
  As far as destroying the "good name" of Brad Sugars, I'm pretty sure he's already done that for us. He had his goons spam these forums, only to create a wildfire of new posts. He lies about his franchise numbers which appear to be about half what they claim. The have settled various lawsuits related to fraud which are also in the public records. And we have probably over twenty dusgruntled coaches, mls, and ex-employees speaking out against Action. Explain to me again how his name is a "good name?" I think the only relevant conclusion is that he doesn't have a good reputation to ruin.
  Now I do have to play devils advocate and ask you this (coach from 4 posts up). I kind of agree with the "ML" above, in that: why would you post negative things online that could hurt your business? Unless you're a ex-coach. Doesn't really matter, just seemed like a strange thing to do. But I do agree with you.
  

• anonymous said on Jul 21, 2009....

  I am an ex-coach, not an ex-ML. I struggled massively to make it and by the time I reached a comfortable level, I got tired of the inconsistencies between what my ML preached and what is practised. Fortunately I was a coach at a time when termination meant just returning everything and walking out, unlike recent agreements from what I've heard.

• anonymous said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Dear All,

  I posted earlier as another successful ML.

  Iwould like to apologize for my earlier emotional rantings, I have since seen the errors of my views and would like to retract my statements:

  1. As MLs, we help and support our coaches in getting clients. It is highly unethical for us to attempt to approach our coaches' prospect list, especially new coaches who depend on us to learn the ropes. I have personally not done so before but I know my fellow MLs are frustrated by all the accusations against them for what we see as a fair business practise.

  
  2. MLs are supposed to sell licenses for a profit, that part is true as in any business. However, our roles are to tell the truth at all times and ensure potential franchisees make an informed decision. Subsequently upon them signing an agreement, they become our 'babies' to nurture and support until they become successful. I apologize if I gave the wrong perception. MLs are not mercenaries.

  
  3. While our agreements do not bar us from having business alliances with our coaches, I now realize it is very unethical for us to have alliance with coaches in the coaching business as we not only need to act fair but need to be seen to be fair. I will now stop practising joint promotions with coaches unless I can include all coaches in my territory. I also realize it is against our franchise agreement to set up a 3rd party company with coaches to act as a collection firm.

  
  4. While HQ provide the 12 weeks academy and a lot of support material, coaches' primary point of contact and support is their ML. I am sorry if I sound like I was trying to avoid my responsibility as an ML to my coaches.

  
  I hope coaches who are here and on other forums to consider giving us your feedback directly instead of posting on external forums.

  We promise we will listen and act on your feedback from now on.

  Thank you.

• anonymous said on Jul 21, 2009....

  It does seem that you are a very different ML than a lot of them are. I think it's great that you can see both points of view. I personally believe that Action is a great idea. But I also believe that there are a lot of MLs who are doing some of the things you describe which hurt their mates. Maybe you could speak out to other MLs or perhaps contact corporate to bring up your concerns regarding these practises. And good luck with your business. 

• anonymous said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Well 'another-successful-ML',

  I am not as positive as poster above.

  Firstly, you seem to backtrack completely on what you wrote barely 48 hours after writing it, seem more like you were under some sort of pressure to retract.

  Secondly, you claimed you do not do any of the things mentioned and were only ranting out emotionally because of what you read. Sure doesn't sound like that in the first post, perhaps others can comment. Interestingly for example, in your first point you mentioned "we see as fair business practise".

   

   

• anonymous said on Jul 22, 2009....

  Wow... are we supposed to believe ML repented within 2 days as pointed out by commenter above?

• anonymous said on Jul 25, 2009....

  This discussion, however, is mainly about the franchise system and the franchisees. That should remain the focus. However, it is simply worth noting that the company selling the business coaching opportunity is in dire need of business coaching, itself. TappedouT asked "Can anyone explain why most of the the company's sales, day-to-day administration and finance staffs, including the CFO, have left the company in the last 16 months?" Many employees have quit working for Action since 2007, because of poor and abusive management. Action has had recent financial problems due to a combination of falling franchise sales (in part because of the original soulcast blog), high turnover of franchisees as well as franchisees not paying their fees because they have no money. As a result, the CEO stated the company had to lay off 1/3 of the staff. Further, to save money, Action usually only replaces voids in the IT and administration departments. Thus, 2/3 of new hires this month were in those departments. Action also forced an employee to take a 10-day leave of absence, then terminated that employee, and told the team it was the result of the employee abandoning their role by being absent. Strange, but true. Equally strange is the fact that Action usually threatens their remaining staff by stating that employees who quit were actually fired, even if that is not the case. Of the employees who remain, many are actively seeking new work. Others are holding on until third quarter, in hopes of pay raises. Some are just waiting for the former Director of Finance to get his own efforts off the ground so that they can go join him. Some are just sitting in the company, waiting for something better to come along, and hating it all the while because they are forced to make misrepresentations to coaches to cover up internal system failures. Why all this? The culture points are ideals that are preached, but not practiced, within the core of Actioncoach.

• TappedouT said on Jul 25, 2009....

  Very insightful post. Great stuff! Where did you see that the CEO noted a layoff? I have not seen that press release yet.

• anonymous said on Jul 25, 2009....

  Of course there would be no press release about that, TappedouT. Press releases aren't the only ways to know things. By the way, by the above post, there was no intent to imply that all the employees are unhappy. Just quite a few for a company with such a small staff.

• anonymous said on Jul 26, 2009....

  How would you know that the employees are unhappy? I'm also curious, how do you know about new hires and people who left? You do realize that when you were hired on at global office you signed a confidentiality agreement, which you are now breaching, right? It seems to me like you must be pretty stupid to talk bad about the place you or your friend works, because it will only hurt you or them if the company is negatively effected. Also, if the company is that small, don't you think that it won't be too hard for them to figure out who is leaking the confidential information?

• anonymous said on Jul 26, 2009....

  Good one, Allison.

• anonymous said on Jul 26, 2009....

  It would take a a true inside person to know most stuff that makes up some of these posts. Wow, I thought global HQ learned their lesson and quit posting here. I guess Jodie Hitler does still rule as do the incompetents who did or do work for her!

• anonymous said on Jul 26, 2009....

  I am told Global HQ used to have about 40 people on staff; how many are left?

• anonymous said on Jul 26, 2009....

  Was the "10-day absence"person the one that sued for sexual harassment? Anyone know what was the resolve of that lawsuit?
  

• anonymous said on Jul 26, 2009....

  That was a long time ago, and I believe that woman lost her lawsuit.

• anonymous said on Jul 27, 2009....

  The 10-day absence person did not sue for sexual harassment.

• anonymous said on Jul 27, 2009....

  Who cares about confidentiality agreements and discussing unhappy employees? Actioncoach does not care - it doesn't impact the franchising efforts. When it comes to soulcast, actioncoach cares more about the angry coaches and MLs than anything else. They know their employees are unhappy - so do the employees' friends, spouses, and the new companies in which the employees are applying.

• anonymous said on Jul 27, 2009....

  I know for a fact that Action's employees are not all unhappy. I'd like to know what makes the person here saying that they are think that. A friend of mine works there, and I hear that Action pays most of their employees very well. Not only that, but they get a nice bonus and tons of paid days. While I do think that there are a lot of unhappy coaches, and there are some things that need changed just like any company, I don't think that most of the employees are unhappy. I think it's just the few who have gotten fired for various reasons, getting on here trying to spread the fire. And one last thing, about these people who are on here who have been fired and are telling us they were unhappy there... I'm sure that attitude played some part in them getting fired. Just a thought. 

• anonymous said on Jul 27, 2009....

  I sincerely doubt that "a friend" of an employee was randomly patrolling soulcast posts about actioncoach and decided to come to company defense, so that post is a joke. Isn't "your friend" breaking "confidentiality" as previously warned, by telling you what people get paid? As stated before, the focus of the conversation should remain about coaching and the question about employees deserved an answer. The above wrote "I'm sure that attitude played some part in them getting fired. Just a thought. " Did you miss the part that stated many have quit? Did you miss the part about current employees applying for new jobs? Sure, on the one hand, last week there was a day when employees tried to rally together to build a fort in their department in the spirit of fun. On the other hand, many have quit as a result of poor and abusive management- I mean screaming, cursing, blaming and lying management. No wonder there are leaks about $50,000 of company money being spent on Brad Sugars' birthday, executive visa problems, a franchisee in the Asia-Pacific region coaching a business into failure, UK money being spent to cover US-region expenses because of high turnover, etc. True? False? I know what to believe. "Action pays most of their employees very well" - well, "most" in a company of less than 30 would be referring to your executive team. Many employees definitely do not get bonuses, even when they are promised to them. Months go by and ... nothing. Hey, there is nothing wrong with working just to get paid - many jobs don't offer bonuses at all - but no need to paint the picture prettier than it is. Pay is not the major reason why - as I said - "quite a few" employees are unhappy. Again, it has to do with poor and abusive management.

• anonymous said on Jul 27, 2009....

  Nothing to gain and nothing to lose, here, to the person who said "You do realize that when you were hired on at global office you signed a confidentiality agreement, which you are now breaching, right? It seems to me like you must be pretty stupid to talk bad about the place you or your friend works, because it will only hurt you or them if the company is negatively effected." BY THE WAY, in order for me to "break confidentiality" my statements must be true! Lies can't be confidential!

• anonymous said on Jul 27, 2009....

  Correction about the executive team: my mistake, I did hear some of them agreed to temporarily go without bonuses because of the company's financial position for part of the year. But I do believe that, overall, they are paid well.

• anonymous said on Jul 28, 2009....

  Many of these blogs have been posted by an exempoyee Rich Bernstein and his certifiable crazy wife Valerie Bernstein. Actioncoach recently filed a lawsuit against Bernstein and won so these two maniacs are completely out of control. Bernstein started another company selling franchises for Mars Venus Coaching but nobodies buying from this scam artist so he sits around thinking of ways to destroy legitimate businesses. Just search the public records on Bernstein and you'll see he is a tax evader, with a number of government agencies after him for money they claim he owes. They already shut the Aussie division down see the rip off report and its just a matter of time before the US office closes. Please contact the Action main office or the Action coaches themselves and don't listen to these two low lifes that are posting under mutiple names. 

• anonymous said on Jul 28, 2009....

  Bitter, bitter little (not in size or stature) people at global HQ, huh? If MVC were so bad there would be no need for derogatory statements. It makes one wonder, no?

• anonymous said on Jul 28, 2009....

  hmm... if ActionCOACH were so bad, there would be no need for derogatory statements.... It does make one wonder, doesn't it?

• anonymous said on Jul 28, 2009....

  hmm... ML posted to blast others as 'losers' out to destroy Actioncoach, then another ML came in and then a retraction... but now everything is to be blamed on a guy by the name of Rich Bernstein...? This guy and his 'certifiable crazy wife' must be real geniuses in adopting so many identities... plus, if ActionCoach, as claimed on Brad Sugar's blog, has narrowed down the posters down to one physical address with the help of 'internet forensics experts', isn't that sufficient proof to take legal action? Why continue to counter post?

• anonymous said on Jul 29, 2009....

  hmm... I find it strange for ex-employees to rant online... ex-coaches I can understand as they invested a lot of dough and continue to invest every month. Ex-employees... if you can't stand your employer, just get a new job.

• anonymous said on Jul 30, 2009....

  ex-employees are ranting online because they are soo frustrated with the poor, abusive management that they want to vent. I think also, they know what's going on with ripping off franchisees and taking coaches for their life savings... Let's face it, their underpayed, abused, and treated like they're replaceable. One can only imagine how the coaches are treated. On top of that, knowing about this scam and acting as a part of it as an employee plays a great deal of stress on the conscience. I think it's a testament to the validity of these posts that ex-employees (and even current employees) are posting on here. PS And yes, I think we should keep this on topic; but I also think that discussing the employees who are posting here helps the point of this topic.

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Brad_Sugars

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  Brad Sugars has definately got his point across that he will not tolerate being slammed on the internet by a small group of individuals posting under several different alias' out of vengence. He has sued Rich Bernstein a former Action employee who was fired after his back ground and felony arrest were uncovered. Actioncoach has won a judgment against Mr. Bernstein for his actions and will not stop there. Lets back up some of the garbage published here with some facts which frankly  I don't see here. I do however see a judgment against a former employee in Action's favor. Its time to take into consideration these are ex employees fired or let go because of their conduct. Many have been recruited by Rich Bernstein himself to come work for Mars Venus Coaching a competitor. I think it's easy to see what is going on here. 

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  Rich Bernstein resigned and worked at Actioncoach for over a month after submitting his resignation and has been in the Actioncoach building more than once without retribution.

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  To back things up with facts, simply go to the action head office, open up the HR folders and look at the 10-day absence request, then look at the reason why she was fired. To back things up with facts, look at the posts warning "anonymous" about breaching confidential information - obviously, lies can't be confidential. To back things up with facts, go to action and meet the three new hires this month To back things up with facts, use the way back machine to look at the action's employees on the "meet our team" page then look at the staff roster for MVC. You won't see overlaps, which means the claim about action employees working there is crap.

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  Why who was fired? The female now at MVC who was with Action?

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  No, this was more recent. Anyhow, it is not all bad news at action. Good pizza and beer round the office. Makes up for the sucky times.

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  Only three people at MVC were at Action at the same time and they all left at the first of 2008.
  
  I love free pepperoni pizza, too.
  

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  Oh, and to back that up with fact, just stop by today:)

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  Which fact?
  
  Also, I have already left for the day.
  

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  The person (Nothing to do with MVC) about got forced into vacation for 10 days in May 2009, then fired for absenteeism. Hypocrites!

• TappedouT said on Jul 31, 2009....

  But, personnel files are confidential.
  
  Obviously the person did not file a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.
  
  Was it Laura?
  

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  TappedouT, Nevada is a right-to-work state which means you can be fired for any reason. That doesn't stop an employee from suing however. Nevertheless, most employment lawyers in NV will only represent companies, because there's such little point in representing employees. Yes, I know personnel files are confidential but that's the only way to back up the above scenario with fact. Otherwise, you just have to take my word for it.

• TappedouT said on Jul 31, 2009....

  I do not doubt you as the OZ crew are a bunch of jerks and the UK gang is not much better.
  
  mmmm...free beer! Good thing Brad is not in town.
  

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  We know it's you, Jay. You're breaching confidentiality... and now you're talking about the free pizza and beer today?! You can't post confidential information for too long before you're caught. You have tappedout stickers on your car... That was really stupid...

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  Confidential = true.

• anonymous said on Jul 31, 2009....

  Who ever wrote the accusatory post is just trying to drop hints. Anyway, focus on the coaches and the system.

• anonymous said on Aug 01, 2009....

  If the company will threaten its present employees in an an open forum like this, how do you think they would treat them in private? Does anyone think the company would not also try to dominate and suppress its coaches and/or MLs, too? mmm....Foster's. Wish they had cooked a few meat pies and snags on the barbie to go with that pizza.

• anonymous said on Aug 01, 2009....

  I don't think that is what happened. I think someone pretending to be in action is trying to make it look like someone was threatened online to make the company look worse.

• anonymous said on Aug 01, 2009....

  Hello, I am presently being recruited by ActionCoach to be a Coach. Can anyone here give me the details of what questions to ask and what the truth is about the company? Also what do coaches make per year? is there a salary involved? how much? Thank you

• anonymous said on Aug 01, 2009....

  Coaches earn to salary directly from ActionCoach itself. A coach earning POTENTIAL is limited only by how successful that person can be recruiting and retaining clients. NOTE: your clients may also be recruited by your ML or other coaches in your area as you WILL NOT have a protected territory.
  
  Where are you located and who would be your ML? Some MLs are good and some are not.
  
  Keep in mind you will need lots of capital (training and franchise fees) up-front and monies to have an office and advertise. And, until you have a good client base, your revenue stream will be nil or next to it.
  
  Good luck!
  

• anonymous said on Aug 01, 2009....

  oops NO salary

• anonymous said on Aug 01, 2009....

  Coaches don't get salaried, they are franchisees. Thus, they develop their own business and pay royalties to the ActionCOACH franchise. In some cases, coaches are not franchisees, such as when they are Nominated Business Coaches (essentially coach employees). This can happen when a coach no longer wants to use his/her license and employs someone else, or also when a firm owner recruits a coach. Overall, like any other business, it has ups and downs so choose carefully. Many coaches who entered over the last 12 months have left the system, highly upset. Do your due diligence and talk to current and former franchisees. For the things I learned with action coach, I'm thankful, but I wouldn't wish the hard times I had there on anyone.

• anonymous said on Aug 03, 2009....

  If Action was so bad why do all the employees come crawling back on their hands and knees after a short stint working at Mars Venus Coaching. Oh yeah they all think the grass is greener Celeste Graham, Jim Taylor, Rich Bernstein, Laura, Michael, even Vic Ciuffetelli all went to work for MVC but slowly they are all crawling back to Action begging for their job back. Brad gave into Ciuffetelli but reduced his position from CEO which he held for 6 years at Action to salesman now that he's back. Several others are begging as well. A word for Rich Bernstein make sure you bring your check book to settle the judgment Action just obtained against you or you won't even be allowed in the front door. 

   

• anonymous said on Aug 03, 2009....

  You tell 'em, OZ kid!

• anonymous said on Aug 04, 2009....

  As someone who was ripped off by Brad Sugars there is a satisfaction knowing that all the hardship he caused so many people and their families is finally coming back to him. I hope people looking at this franchise will not be drawn in by Action's lies. Look at the lawsuits filed against Action, look at all the franchisees that have left the system, look at the turn over in the Executive management team and most of all listen to all these people that are pouring  their heart out on the internet for the damage caused by Brad Sugars. Brad Sugars is a selfish person who is not out to help anyone but himself. Believe me I know first hand

• anotherEXcoach said on Aug 11, 2009....

  G' Day. The failure rate for this company is really high. I was in a class of 14 and only 3 remain as of now.. I'm not one of them either. I also got ZERO support from my ML and it was really tough to get help from even global. I'll contact my batch mates and see if they want to chime in too, I'm sure a few will share their experiences as their are 11 that didn't make it.

• anotherEXcoach said on Aug 11, 2009....

  Undoubtedly, the sale of any franchise usually means that the prospective purchaser has many questions about the businesses viability. This usually includes performing Due Diligence by the buyer and seeking documentation and assurances about the franchise opportunity they are considering. The danger is that the franchise seller will try to seal the deal by making assertions related to the business and its potential earnings. This often results in franchise seller overstating earnings potential. This is not allowed by franchise regulatory law and is often the basis for franchise litigation claims.

  The danger is great since the UFOC Guidelines do not clearly define what an earnings statement may be. Even the most innocuous statements may be considered an earning claim for which a franchisor may be subjected to liability. Even the following:

  • “Our stores generally produce a 7% return on your investment within two years."
  • “Gross profits may be expected exceed 25% of your sales."
  • ’We have never had a store produce less than a $50,000 a year profit."
  • “You should be able to break within the first two years.”
  • "
  The numbers you are considering sound realistic to me."

  Because of this potential liability, it is important that in selling a franchise, the franchisor and its agents should avoid advertisements, promotional literature or statements that are communicated to potential buyers regarding the earning potential of the new franchise.

  If earnings statements are made, they must be based on a supported earnings claim. In other words, the representations must have a reasonable basis in fact. That may mean providing documentation in the form of average gross sales for the existing locations in the system and/or profit and loss statements. Any financial statements provided to a prospective franchise buyer should be include with supporting documentation in the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC).

  Any earnings statement must be based on other similarly situated franchise units. They must be reasonably similar with regard to the size and nature of the store being sold. The earnings statement must also reflect the current financial production. In other words the documentation should be based on production in a proximate time period and not based on production that predate the proposed purchase by a number of years.

• anotherEXcoach said on Aug 11, 2009....

   Also overstating franchise numbers during the sales process is illegal.. such as stating over 1000 coaches when in fact there are roughly 820.  They need to watch out as someone will def step up and sue for fraudulent franchise numbers. ActionCOACH is allowed to report avg. coach earnings too...contradictory to what Brad says. I highly suggest all you ex-coaches file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.  At least file about their franchise number misrepresentation. Also look into how you was sold the franchise, esp if actioncoach gave told you how much you could be making.
  
  https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/   
  
  That's the link to file a complaint. It only takes around 5 minutes.
  

• anonymous said on Aug 14, 2009....

  As an ex-coach who lost my entire life savings, I have just filed a report. It was super quick, and I thank you very much for supplying that hyperlink. I will be looking into whether I can file a law suit for misrepresentation.

• asbutterfly190 said on Aug 15, 2009....

  I just found out that Jodie "hitler" Shaw has just been made the new CEO. Good luck to all the employees, and good luck to all the poor people who recently bought franchises.

• anonymous said on Aug 16, 2009....

  That's great news. Maybe now they'll fast track themselves into getting caught. With her in charge I wouldn't be surprised to see them in court within the next 6 months and leaving the states within a year, the same way they left Australia. Everybody on here should file a complaint with https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and while you're at it we should all call the department of homeland security and report Jodie Shaw for financial terrorism lol.

• anonymous said on Aug 20, 2009....

  Brad's load of marketing genius brings you this: http://www.facebook.com/BradleySugars He pays Nathan and Jodie how much to come up with this?

• anonymous said on Aug 20, 2009....

  Their solution to all this negative publicity is "coaching for a cause" ...So now you're trying to hide the negative blogs behind supposedly "helping charities" Nice idea Brad. Why don't you start by helping your franchisees who are struggling to survive?
  Obviously just because of this, everyone can tell that they are cooked as hell... otherwise they wouldn't need to "combat the blogs".
  Good deeds are done in the light, while evil is always concealed.
  Now they're trying to conceal their trickery and the negative blogs by starting this new "charity" campaign.
  I think their wisest move at this point would be to clean up their act, stop lying about their franchise numbers, and stop selling these "franchises" to people who are unfit to own them. And finally, loosen up the financial responsibility on current coaches who are struggling.

• anonymous said on Aug 20, 2009....

  I was thinking that asking others how to generate traffic to a social networking site was sad. I thought the ACUI people were marketing gurus and geniuses. The "coaching for a cause" is also hilarious. $1.8 million worth of coaching from those who need coaches themselves. The company even put out a press release about their "generosity." Such self egrandizing is disgusting!

• anonymous said on Aug 23, 2009....

  They need to try something else to squash these threads, since spamming them certainly didn't work! Do you expect them to get rid of these forums by changing their ways? So why just not try to cover up the truth about their schemes with another scam claiming to "donate" $XXX worth of coaching to help a charity. They must have spent quite a large amount of the coaches' marketing fund to fund this thing, and who knows where they came up with their dollar amount for the "donation." I would love to see the agreement for the coaches participating in this... I wouldn't be surprised if they try to write it into the new coaches' contracts that it is mandatory. This just goes to show that these forums can make a difference, and it also goes to show that there is certainly a lot of truth in what we've been discussing.
  

• anonymous said on Aug 23, 2009....

  Spamming them did work. The original soul cast page that was front page on Google no longer exists. Search and see for yourself.

• anonymous said on Aug 23, 2009....

  Actually, spamming didn't work. All the spamming achieved was pushing it up in the google rankings. I found out through resources inside their finance department that they paid soulcast to remove the page. I've looked into this, and on first glance it seems that they did get rid of it; however when I looked into it further I found that when soulcast "removed" it, they only changed the link to temporarily kill the google ranking. It did say "Brad-Sugars-Action-Coach" but now only says "Brad-Action-Coach." The good news is that when they changed it, they also removed the spam that Jodie Shaw posted. Here is the new link:
  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/248750/Brad-Action-Coach
  
  Now since the spam is gone, we can all post there again.

• anonymous said on Aug 23, 2009....

  Actually they did remove it. They removed the old one, and copy/pasted the new content into a new thread. They also removed the spam.
  
  The old link no longer works.
  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/71156/Brad-Sugars-Action-Coach
  
  The new link is as follows.
  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/248750/Brad-Action-Coach
  
  Sly dogs.
  

• anonymous said on Aug 24, 2009....

  Money can buy love, happiness and acquiescence...until it all runs out. Good trick Action played and I bet they had a party to celebrate and maybe bonuses for Jason, the Natman and Jodie.

• anonymous said on Sep 01, 2009....

  28 August 2009 - Marketing and IT Director Nathan Smith leaves ActionCOACH Global HQ to become a business coach in Las Vegas. Is it a good sign when even the Aussie rats leave the ship and strike out on their own?

• anonymous said on Sep 01, 2009....

  Is Gerard still there anymore?

• anonymous said on Sep 02, 2009....

  For the time being he is.

• anonymous said on Sep 06, 2009....

  Actioncoach had tried to bribe unhappyfranchisee, and it looks like they finally accepted their bribe. Search Actioncoach on unhappyfranchisee. It's gone.
  
  So for those of you who don't think they bribed them, isn't it a coincidence that first the big soulcast post was removed and put back up with less views so it would rank lower in google, then unhappyfranchisee removed ALL of their Actioncoach stuff? ...interesting indeed. 

• anonymous said on Sep 07, 2009....

  If you click any links on unhappyfranchisee right now, it gets to a 404 message, earlier, it was a different layout, a very basic layout with all info intact, still earlier it was inaccessible... and all this just before the Admin posted a message appealing for donations and stating they've been under 'black hat' attacks, ie, denial of service, spam, etc... by parties which want to take them down. Admin also said he's working with google to sort out the ranking issue... So rather than assuming everyone sold their soul to the devil, wait and see how it plays out. As for the other soulcast like, a lot has requested the admin here to remove the junk codes, that could be what they have done. If you notice, it was not a very 'clean' removal, some junks remain which is enough to prove ActionCoach's attempts to kill the link earlier... so again, let's not just assume the worst... if you want rankings to go up, just resume activities on the other link instead of this one.

• anonymous said on Sep 08, 2009....

  Notice to Brad Sugars from current active franchisees, from across the continent (Yes, we speak and we share, especially since you started abusing our marketing funds and blatantly lie on askbradsugars.com, we are not blind nor stupid.): We know you are doing this, we are fedup, we are a HUGE network of coaches. We all heard your stupid idea to coaches and MLs in your webinar to survive the recession is for Coaches to approach MLs to 'finance' their business (because according to you there's no 'better time', implying we should take advantage of MLs when they are desperate.) and for Coaches to 'finance' their clients through the recession, ie, coaches reduce fees to sustain their businesses. Great idea Brad, how about you reduce our admin fee as well? You bloody bloodsucker, everyone should make less but you, even if they have to declare bankruptcy. Don't you deny this or we WILL post the recording of the webinar online. In fact, we will post Jodie Shaw's as well on supposedly how to harness the power of the internet for our business. Let the public decide whether such 'support' is worth the fees paid.

• anonymous said on Sep 12, 2009....

  Damn, first unhappyfranchisee gets taken down and reposts to bizzia.com. Now Bizzia.com got taken down. Somebody ought to just copy everything into a e-book and sell it as "The Truth About Action coach"

• anonymous said on Sep 13, 2009....

  You really need to post them online. Show everyone on here the truth.
  The truth will set you free!

• anonymous said on Sep 14, 2009....

  It has been over 2 years since this site went up. I am proud to say that many have been spared the misery so many have endured after getting involved with Actioncoach formerly known as Action International since reading these blogs. Through this site and others, individuals have been informed of the truth about Brad Sugars as an individual and as the CEO of Actioncoach. Brad Sugars has taken advantage of a lot of people first selling a worthless dream then sucking every last cent out of these victims. Many even after they lost everything (their homes, life savings and even their marriages) Brad and his flock continued to demand the $1,500.00 a month franchise fee threatening legal action if they did not pay. Brad is determined to stop these blogs even if it means hacking the sites as he has recently done. He has your dollars to do it. We must stick together and keep the public informed to protect others from all the hardship Brad Sugars has spread across the world with his lies, false promises and pure greed to steal not only our money but our souls. From this point forward the best place, safest and most productive to post your blogs is on the ripoffreport.com. If 5 reports are filed the rip off is featured, you can also post photos or piggyback on reports already filed against Action. Don't let Brad win just because he has the means to cover the truth up. Action may claim that every day they sell a franchise but the truth is these sites have the ability to prevent someone from being ripped off by Action everyday. Everybody do your good deed and keep these threads going by exposing the truth about Brad Sugars. 

• Alanedge said on Sep 22, 2009....

  I have just been approached by Actioncoach here in the UK. I decided to do some investigation and came across this site. What I have found is that even those who are defending Action DO NOT REVEAL THEIR NAMES!!!! Why is this? Are they afraid to be found out OR are they the hierarchy within Action trying to keep it all together? Just my two halfpenny's worth....

• kod0923 said on Oct 28, 2009....

  I have been going through the process of learning about this franchise and what the underlying values and the feeling of the people involved. This along with other blogs, posts etc have scared me as to the lack of synergy and stability of what is called a "franchise". This has postings that I would attribute to a pyramid scheme or bad mlm model. I consider a franchise vs the coaching I do independently because of the system, training and high guarantee of success (ie McDonalds model) where its not, your either a winner or loser, the primary focus is to promote the company through the success of the franchise. You dont see a whole lot of McDonalds closing every year. The admission that 14 out of 16 people in the above mentioned group didn't make it tells me that the "system" is flawed in the franchise realm and is closer to a small business model or bad MLM model which is here it is go for it and if you fail, well it was because you didn't follow the plan or didn't work hard. I have had consulting businesses for many years and been able to grow financially living in the Northeast and hoped to take it to the next level but the more I read, the less I see a value to this "franchise" As with any business venture, investigate it yourself and at some time you need to go with the voice in your head based on facts and feelings and decide if its throwing up red or green flags. Then run it past a couple of people, who are more successful than you are ( yes they exist) and own their own business and run it past them and let them poke holes in your thought process to see if it stays afloat. Thats what I did and for now...Im a waiting on this investment as there is too many red flags in my head Good luck

• anonymous said on Nov 11, 2009....

  WARNING ACTIONCOACH FILES FEDERAL LAWSUIT TO SUBPOENA RECORDS FOR  IP ADDRESS: 70.173.192.111.
  
  This IP address is registered in Las Vegas. Subpoenas have been issued to Cox Communications and ImageShack Corp requesting all information for the owner of this IP address.
  
  Case info: ActionCOACH  v.  User Identified as 70.173.192.111 filed in the United States District Court District of Nevada on 09/24/2009. 

• anonymous said on Nov 11, 2009....

  According to www.WhatIsMyIPAddress.com the THE IP address itself is COX COMMUNICATIONS, so no subpoena would be needed for that item; therefore, something must have been posted from or on ImageShack Corp's server. ImageShack itself is an online media hosting company which offers free web hosting for images with direct linking allowed (hotlinking) so it seems someone posted a nefarious image somewhere.

• anonymous said 10 days ago....

  This is just another scare tactic (speaking of which, I wonder what happened to unhappyfranchisee.com's threads?).

  It is not easy to prove a case, just for discussion:

  1. Someone on cox comm's network could be hosting a vpn service, which means the actual Ip could be anyone from anywhere :-)

  2. Poster could be using a proxy on cox comm's network.

  3. Poster could be on dynamic IP.

  plus a whole lot of other possibilities... 

• anonymous said 7 days ago....

  It has been a relief to see what has happened to these crooks.
  
  Action is going down the drain. Nobody wants to hire their coaches and nobody wants to buy their franchises. They are  losing money by the second.
  
  The ones that broke off from Action and tried to start their own franchise are doing worse.
  
  Mars Venus Coaching CEO Rich Bernstein's house is in foreclosure. He's trying to sell his beat up old Bentley on Craigs List and the IRS is trying to seize anything they can get their hands on to collect all the taxes he evaded.
  HA HA there is a god.

• anonymous said 2 days ago....

  More posts on the old thread; approaching 40000 hits
  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/248750/Brad-Action-Coach

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