Complaint Review: ALL TUNE And LUBE ATL International

We have a group formally filing a complaint in regards to the company known as ATL International, Inc. We feel that the company has defrauded us through deceptive sales of franchises and have conspired to deceive the public with inaccurate projections of actual success rates of franchises.

ATL International, Inc. continues to make claims of total turnkey operation as advertised in their sales site alltuneandlube.com. This claim is fraudulent as many of us can vouch for that ATL International, Inc. and their real estate department has never set foot on any of the franchise site. The franchisees are required to locate and secure their own franchise locations.

As we are fully aware that there are very little fiduciary duties required of a franchisor, we believe ATL International, Inc. have not only failed in their fiduciary duties but also have fraudulently represented themselves when providing honest disclosures of the company's standing. All franchisers are required to present a UFOC prior to any monetary transactions; however, ATL International, Inc. has managed to get around the rule by backdating the offering circular to prior the sales of the franchises.

To this date, ATL International, Inc. has failed to provide us with a full disclosure to how our advertising funds are spent. We are required to pay into an advertising pool on a weekly basis and we feel that they have failed to meet their obligations in providing adequate and appropriate advertising.

ATL International, Inc. has defrauded many individuals into investing into a franchise by claiming name branding. In truth, once the individuals sign the contracts, and open the doors, they discover that the company is really an unknown in their area. In addition, discovers the failure rate for their franchise is extremely high.

One of ATL International, Inc. point of sales is their finance department. ATL International, Inc. has informed many of us that they have an ongoing relationship with the SBA. We were led to believe that loans are approved at a 100% acceptance rate. All we were required to do was to sign over authorizations to ATL International, Inc. and they would process the applications. Unfortunately, by the time we discover what the loans are, it's too late for us. These loans turn out to be 2nd mortgages to our homes to a high interests finance company.

When these individuals discover these deceptions, and attempts to disassociate from the franchisor, ATL International, Inc. uses threats of lawsuits of libel and slander to silence the individuals. Since many of these franchisees have already lost their lives savings and are fighting daily to keep their doors open, they have no recourse to but to stay silent or just close their doors and walk away.

As a result, ATL International, Inc. continues to sell franchises through deceptive means and prey on the unwary investors. We are asking for your agency to launch a full investigation against ATL International, Inc. and bring their deception to public light so that no one else will fall into their traps.

John
Glen Burnie, Maryland
U.S.A.