HUMAN HEALTHY VENDING Defends VP Bill Wotochek

HUMAN Healthy Vending CEO and “Chief Humanist” Sean Kelly took us up on our offer to provide a rebuttal to our post questioning the accuracy and honesty of the HUMAN Healthy Vending Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).

(See HUMAN Healthy Vending: Letter to Sean Kelly, CEO, Chief Humanist)

HUMAN’s Chief Humanist responded here:  HUMAN HEALTHY VENDING: CEO Kelly Responds to UnhappyFranchisee.Com

Normally, we would simply post Mr. Kelly’s rebuttal without a response.

However, there are some factual errors in Mr. Kelly’s response letter to UnhappyFranchisee.Com that bear correction.

More importantly, in defending HUMAN VP Bill Wotochek, Chief Humanist Kelly fails to address our main point, which is that franchise companies don’t get to pick and choose which of the required information to provide in their disclosure documents, and which to leave out.

So, Kelly defends Bill Wotochek, but fails to defend HUMAN Healthy Vending’s apparent efforts to hide Wotochek’s past from prospective franchisees.

Bill Wotochek “has our full confidence and we fully support him.” – CEO Kelly

HUMAN CEO Kelly wrote:  “We have recently become aware of a posting on “UnhappyFranchisee.Com” which refers to our company, HUMAN Healthy Vending (“HUMAN”), but is primarily about Revive Franchising, LLC (“Revive”), Sito Marketing, LLC (“Sito”) and Dalbey Educational Institute, LLLP (“Dalbey”).

Any claim or insinuation that HUMAN has any relationship whatsoever to any of these companies is ABSOLUTELY FALSE.”

UnhappyFranchisee.Com writes:  We did not make any claim or insinuation that HUMAN has any relationship with those companies.

The claim that we are making is that it appears that HUMAN Healthy Vending has (either inadvertently or vertantly) left out key, required information regarding HUMAN Senior Vice President Bill Wotochek’s professional history.

Item 2 of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA”) guidelines for Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) requires a franchisor to “disclose by name and position directors . . . and any other individual who will have management responsibility relating to the sale or operation of franchises offered by [the FDD].” For each of these individuals, Item 2 of the NASAA guidelines also requires the franchisor to disclose “his or her principal positions and employers during the past five years, including each position’s starting date, ending date, and location.”

As we pointed out in our earlier post (HUMAN Healthy Vending: the Next Revive Energy Mints Scam?), the HUMAN Franchise Disclosure Document fails to list that “From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Wotochek worked at the Dalbey Educational Institute, LLLP, as Senior Director of Business Development… In January, 2009, Mr. Wotochek was promoted to Vice President of Expansion for Sito Marketing, LLC. In October 2010, Mr. Wotochek was promoted to President of Revive Franchising, LLC.”  (Source:  Revive Franchising, LLC FDD, 2011)

HUMAN CEO Kelly wrote: “It is true that Bill Wotochek currently works for HUMAN. It is also true that Bill has worked for a number of companies in the past with great success.”

UnhappyFranchisee.Com writes: Mr. Kelly, feel free to tout Bill Wotochek’s past successes in the HUMAN marketing brochure.  However, the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is not a marketing piece.  It’s a required legal disclosure document, and you are required to honestly disclose the good, the bad and the ugly.  You aren’t allowed to leave out things that might make closing a sale more difficult.

HUMAN CEO Kelly wrote: “One of the companies he worked for was Sito which became Revive.”

UnhappyFranchisee.Com writes: Wrong.  Sito did not “become” Revive.  There are three separate corporate entities:  Rylo Products, LLC (which supposedly “manufactured” the mints), Sito Marketing, LLC (which was the entity that sold Revive as a “business opportunity”) and Revive Franchising, LLC ( formed March 26, 2009 to sell Revive Energy Mints franchises).

Sito Marketing, LLC still exists, as evidenced by their agreement to a recent permanent injunction (REVIVE ENERGY MINTS Vending Franchise Hit With Permanent Injunction)

HUMAN CEO Kelly wrote: “Prior to this he briefly worked at Dalbey. His work at those companies was limited to sales.”

UnhappyFranchisee.Com writes: The Revive FDD states “From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Wotochek worked at the Dalbey Educational Institute, LLLP, as Senior Director of Business Development…”  According to the Federal Trade Commission and the Colorado Attorney General, Dalbey’s business promoting an infomercial scam called “Winning in the Cash Flow Business” during the time Mr. Wotochek Senior Director of Business Development.

It’s not much comfort if Mr. Wotochek’s “work” was “limited to sales,” as these controversies all involved sales practices.

HUMAN CEO Kelly wrote:  “As a HUMAN team member, Bill has our full confidence and we fully support him.”

UnhappyFranchisee.Com writes: Wonderful.  Please fully support your prospective franchisee’s right to receive full disclosure as mandated by the FTC Franchise Rule as well.

HUMAN CEO Kelly wrote: “Out of an excess of caution, we are reviewing the HUMAN FDD to ensure that we are in full compliance with our registration requirements, which I also have full confidence in.”

UnhappyFranchisee.Com writes: Seriously?  You characterize compliance with state and federally mandated requirements as being “exceedingly cautious”?

“I applaud Bill” – HUMAN CEO on former Revive Franchising President Bill Wotochek

HUMAN CEO Kelly wrote:  “I, and all decent people, feel great sympathy for those harmed by the deplorable judgment and business decisions made exclusively by the owners of Sito/Revive AFTER Bill resigned from the organization.

I applaud Bill for having the foresight to leave Sito/Revive when the company’s new management and ownership began pursuing a path with which he did not agree (Chris Robertson and Mike Kelty became the new owners of Revive in early 2011).”

UnhappyFranchisee.Com writes: When did Mr. Wotochek resign as President of Revive Franchising, LLC?  July, 2011?  If he has convinced you that all the objectionable and questionable practices started after July, 2011 then Bill Wotochek IS a great salesman.

[Pictured, left, Bill Wotochek, Senior Vice President, HUMAN Healthy Vending]

If Bill Wotochek would like to explain his reasons for resigning as President, if he would like to share what business direction he didn’t agree with or, in fact, ANYTHING in regard to what happened, we’d love to post it and Revive Energy Mints distributors and franchisees would love to hear it.

Most of them tell us that they never heard a WORD from Bill Wotochek after the checks they gave to his company cleared.  Even after he took over as President, they never heard a word.

All they know is that the company abandoned them without the courtesy of an email, without the support they paid for, without a way to reorder product.  And now Revive Franchising, LLC and Sito Marketing LLC got hit with a permanent injunction, everything Bill Wotochek sold the Revive franchisees is worthless.

HUMAN CEO Kelly wrote: “I would strongly encourage all of the readers out there to learn more about HUMAN and the noble mission we are so passionately dedicated to, and invite all to reach out to us directly with any questions or concerns regarding any point raised in this posting.”

We would strongly encourage HUMAN CEO Sean Kelly to demonstrate that his noble mission includes honesty and integrity by openly admitting that he made a mistake in not including a full and honest disclosure in the HUMAN FDD.

We would suggest that Chief Humanist Kelly reach out to anyone who signed the faulty Franchise Disclosure Document, and offer them rescission of the franchise agreement and return of any and all fees and expenses they paid… if they elect to accept rescission.

And we suggest that Human Healthy Vending immediately notify each of the states where they have registered their franchise opportunity and file an amended registration with a Franchise Disclosure Document that includes the full and accurate biographical text for Mr. Wotochek included above.

And we humbly suggest that they copy us on their submission to these state agencies so we know that we won’t have to squeal on them.

Whether he was to blame or not, the ultimate outcome of Bill Wotochek’s aggressive sales efforts seems to be dozens, if not hundreds, of lost investments, broken dreams and shattered lives.  Whether Chief Humanist Kelly thinks that prospective franchisees deserve to know that or not, the Federal Trade Commission says they do.

Also read:

REVIVE ENERGY MINTS Vending Scam Information UPDATED

REVIVE ENERGY MINTS Telemarketing Script

HUMAN Healthy Vending: the Next Revive Energy Mints Scam?

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH HUMAN HEALTHY VENDING, BILL WOTOCHEK, OR REVIVE ENERGY MINTS? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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