Cork & Olive: Will Rainer Appold Seize Hold of the Reins?

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• He won't open any stores, what are these people thinking? this is the same story that has been going around for months and months. oh, new money is coming in, hedge funds. oh i got another bundle of money, oh new wine. this is the same lie coming along down the pipe. I wouldn't believe a word of this.

  This man is one of the same as michael. He is involved with Vinocean, which is the same license deborah augenti holds along with another fellow at the company. these people are not to be trusted. Period!!!!
  Deborah michael partner who might i add is like his little puppy dog. when she's not around he would say what a dummy she is an shrugg his shoulds. yes, debbie, michael thinks your just as dumb as the rest of us fools who got involved!
  anyone agree?

• Rainer is the president of Vinocean..so how the heck he can now be the one in charge of the franchise corp. is beyond me. I don't see how that could be possible?? On another posting someone said Rainer also owned a company named Sanders Trading & Consulting which gave a $100,000 check to Estate Wine Group in 2003 for "shares". Wtf??

• Illegal! You can't go bankrupt, keep the same name and stores, and then open up again. If Appold was going to "infuse" money then he should have done it before. He and Probst are in bed together. If Rainer is going to buy??? or put money into Cork and Olive than he had better have major amounts to pay all the creditors first. Franchisees you don't need him. Do everything with a vote among yourselves. You can run your stores better than he ever could.
  See when Probst went down so did Rainer. They both own the vinocean, and world wineries. No body wants their wine. So now they both are out.
  Yes Ms. D. Michael always said you were an idiot. To your face and your husbands you were terrific. "Good, Good" Dinners were expensive, wine was poured and he told you how much money you would make on your return. As Birgit would say, "Oh Mike, you are so charming." Then she would roll her eyes. But aren't all con men charming?

• Wanda wrote Illegal! You can’t go bankrupt, keep the same name and stores, and then open up again.

  Oh, they can do all kinds of things people wouldn't believe possible. Read the posts on Cuppy's Coffee here and on http://www.franchisepick.com. One company sells the "assets" but not the liabilities to a friend and the company keeps going and the original people are left to sue an empty, bankrupt shell while the second entity gets to keep the assets purchased with the franchisees funds.

  It's a great system.

  A little over a year ago, dozens of people had given $30K refundable deposits to Java Jo'z, which they'd get back if they couldn't find a location or get funding for their coffee kiosk. When they returned for their refund, they were told: "Sorry. We're not Java Jo'z. We're Cuppy's."

  All the same people sitting in the same desks doing the same thing, but they were a different company... The guy who took their money - Morg Morgan - had bought the assets of the company - but not the liabilities. Neat trick.

  They did the same thing for another year then sold the company again.

  They're in FL too... Ft Walton Beach. Do you guys have some sort of a Scammers Organization down there? So many of these guys tend to end up in Florida... lucky you.

• I know Michael and Rainer have been friends for years, but Rainer wasn't the one who terminated all the employees and screwed the franchisees, michael was. For years Rainer would also give his buddy money to cover bills and payroll. Let's remember who did the actual b/s talk regarding the company. I think Rainer just might be able to pull it off, if he had the proper people in place and michael no where around. and I also think Ms. Augenti is just too compassionate of a woman to walk away from Michael. Yes, I've heard him say the same thing about her that she is ignorant behind her back and then her best friend to her face, money talks unfortunately. sory Deborah, but it is true. Oh hell, Michael has even said Ms. Nelson can't do her job right and then praised her to her face and that was very recently, but then again I'd stick around if I pulled in Ms. Nelson's salary and bennie's as well! It's as though she was the only one getting paid a descent salary while all others lived week to week, but it didn't matter because none of the other employees would work 24/7 we actually had other lives outside of the company and he didn't like that. This monster cannot return to Germany without consequences and Ms. Nelson should not be able to just sit back for the next 5 weeks enjoying a vacation (has anyone been able to verify if this is paid vacation while the employees are still waiting on their last paychecks?????) only to return and begin work making the same money telling the same lies. Only in America, but we CAN CHANGE THIS! or AT LEAST TRY!

• Has anyone thought that when things starts getting a little rougher that Mr. Probst might decide to leave the country? and then he might be home free without any obligations whatsoever??? Does anyone know of a way to make sure that he cannot leave? Do the airlines needs to be alerted or whom ever can be contacted so this cannot happen??? ANY IDEAS??? We cannot allow him to just pick up and leave!

• Did none of these employees see this coming?? Why didn't they get out before the doors closed? I feel bad for the franchisees that will never get what they paid for. Seems like all Probst wanted was the check and then disappeared. If Probst has done something illegal, don't worry, Big Brother will find him, no matter where he is!

• Dear Come On,
  Of course we saw this coming, but not in the way it finally came down. Unless you actually worked for the company you wouldn't understand. I'm not trying to be rude in any manner by saying that, but it is true. You had to work with the organization to understand exactly what happened during our tenure with them. And yes, many of us were seeking employment elsewhere, but as you are aware, it's not easy out there, and now... well, it's even more difficult. And yes, All Probst wanted was the check and then you'd never hear from him again, ask any of the franchisees or employees they'll tell you the same.
  What is a concern, is that if he leaves the country to return to Germany, no.. we wont find him that's why something has to be done ASAP!

• Dear Well Now:

  Okay, so what's he gonna be in trouble with? If he has issues with the IRS, why doesn't a former employee notify them so that they can speed up any investigations they would have before he jumps ship? The franchisees, I am afraid ,are SOL because unless they can work their stores to be profitable on their own, they have nowhere to go and none of the support that I am sure they were promised.

• Dear Come On,
  All I will say at this moment, is that more than a few former employees have It's been said that the Dept of Revenue made a visit to the corp office since they've closed shop to collect info on sales tax etc... but yet.... we still wait. He's done many things against the law, yet nothing has been done yet.. that's why I'm concerned that somehow he will leave and nothing will ever come of all this mess that he, himself, wait... that he and Nelson created. But we're all working on it trust me!