UFG’s Plan Ahead Events Franchise: What Happened?
What happened to the Plan Ahead Events franchise? Did Kristie Saucerman & Ghassan Barazi tank the concept, or was it too far gone when they took over? United Franchise Group (UFG) has a history of franchise brands disappearing without explanation. What happened to the 56 still on board when the ship went down? by Sean Kelly as part of the “Behind the Curtain: United Franchise Group” web series.
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) Do you know what happened to the United Franchise Group (UFG) franchisees who invested $45,855 to $65,245 for an aggressively promoted franchise opportunity called Plan Ahead Events?
We are seeking information and viewpoints to better understand what happens when United Franchise Group (UFG) jettisons franchise concepts and franchisees of brands like Plan Ahead Events, Billboard Connection, IZON Global Media, and Supergreen Solutions.
We fear the failed and failing Experimac / Experimax computer store franchise will be the next to vanish.
Please share what you know with a comment below or via confidential email to the author at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail.Com.
What Killed UFG’s Plan Ahead Events Franchise? RIP 2008 – 2014
Here’s what we know:
January 2007 UFG’s Plan Ahead Events Inc. was incorporated as a Florida Corporation.
Ray Titus was listed as CEO, David E. Cary as Registered Agent
From 2008 – 2014, according to Plan Ahead Events franchise Disclosure Documents:
- Plan Ahead Event Franchises Opened: 139
- Franchises Exited (Failures): 96
- Franchise Turnover (Failure) Rate: 69%
Plan Ahead Events Had a High Failure Rate. Ownership Was Transferred. It Then Disappeared.
…since the franchise company seems to have ceased operating and supporting franchisees altogether, a failure rate of 100% is likely more accurate.
January 2015 PAE Franchises, Inc. incorporated in the State of Florida
February 15, 2015, PAE Franchises, Inc. acquired from Plan Ahead Events, Inc., a Florida corporation ( the “Predecessor Company”), that corporation’s Plan Ahead Events franchise agreements for agencies
then operating in the United States, master license agreements for certain foreign countries, the trademark “Plan Ahead Events” and related websites, domain names and email addresses.
March 20, 2015 PAE Franchises, Inc. changed its name to Plan Ahead Events, Inc. 2121 Vista Parkway, West Palm Beach, Florida 33411.
As of May 2015 the new franchisor began offering this franchises and had 59 franchises “operating world-wide…” according to its 2015 FDD
In place of Ray Titus, CEO and Tipton Shonkwiler, President, the 2015 FDD lists as management:
- Ghassan Barazi – President and Treasurer
President and Treasurer of the Company since January 2015
President and Chief Executive Officer, National Franchise Group, Inc. located in Mississauga, Ontario from August 2011 to the present
President and CEO of CARE Imaging and CI Pharma located in Mississauga, Ontario from August 2008 to July 2011.
- Kristie Saucerman – Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer of the Company since March 2015
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Auction Frog located in Boise, Idaho from August, 2007 to February 2015
Auction Frog’s Kristie Saucerman’s Leadership Failed to Save The Failing Concept
In March, 2015 Kristie Saucerman took the helm of the leaking ship.
At some point, that year the corporate address changed from UFG’s West Palm Beach address to Saucerman’s home state: 3050 N. Lake Harbor Lane #216 Boise, Idaho 83703 Ph: (800) 379-1092
One nasty comment left on an article about her
April 29, 2016 Bobby says: “Worst CEO ever. Has no clue what she is doing and its no wonder franchisee’s are doing all they can to jump ship. What a joke.”
However, a former Plan Ahead Event franchisee we interviewed said that by the time Kristie Saucerman took the wheel, the ship was already sinking:
Tipton was either promoted or moved somewhere else and a woman named Kristi Saucerman took over his position.
I guess she was trying to salvage what was left of the franchise…
By the time she came on, many other PAE franchisees were looking to get out before we were bankrupt and our homes foreclosed on.
The PACER database confirms multiple Plan Ahead Event related bankruptcies, including:
- Plan Ahead Events of Greenville Jack Delbert Howle, III South Carolina Bankruptcy Court 08/06/2012
- Plan Ahead Events-La Jolla R. Tobin Enterprises, LLC California Southern Bankruptcy Court 12/31/2013
- Plan Ahead Events Orlando South Maxine Marie Lang Florida Middle Bankruptcy Court 04/29/2016
UFG Plan Ahead Events Franchise Turnover 2008-2014 69% – 100%
Here are the numbers reported in Plan Ahead Events Franchise Disclosure Documents at the time, reflecting a 69% failure rate.
However, since the franchise company seems to have ceased operating and supporting franchisees altogether, a failure rate of 100% is likely more accurate.
Former Franchisee Calls Plan Ahead Events Franchise “The Most Costly Mistake of My Life”
A former United Franchise Group (UFG) Plan Ahead Events franchisee shared his/her experience with Unhappy Franchisee.
All UFG cares about is “selling franchises and collecting fees” – Franchisee
Joining UFG as a Plan Ahead Events franchisee was the biggest and the most costly financial mistake of my life!
I feel a little lucky that I was able to get out before it cost me more. Some of the others I spoke to weren’t so lucky.
The way UFG and Ray Titus boasts as being a “trustworthy multi-concept franchisor dedicated to its franchise owner’s success” is truly a joke.
They took my money and led me and the others to believe that there was all this help to grow our businesses.
The one time I met Ray Titus, I could sense there was something shady about him. At the time, I chalked it up to me just being skeptical.
His “you’re not alone and your success is our success” crap was cheap talk.
All UFG is concerned about is selling, selling, selling franchises and collecting fees.
Ray Titus is making huge money selling franchises. He doesn’t care about the franchise owners or UFG employees.
United Franchise Group provided little value for the money – Former Franchisee
After my week of “training” at the West Palm Beach headquarters, I came home hoping that there was more to this and my money had to had paid for more than a couple of classes and workbook, oh and an Ipad ( a very expensive Ipad, no doubt).
As time passed and I contacted more and more of the other PAE franchisees, I came to find out that they were struggling and finding other means to make money, all the while still trying to pay the monthly franchise fees and make the event planning business work.
It seemed like we all had the same theme song and really wondered exactly what our franchise fees were paying for as we were paying our own advertising and such.
All the help that UFG refers to are other franchisees getting together and brainstorming ways to try to save their businesses. Well, any one of us could have done that without paying for a franchise.
Tipton Shonkwiler (at the time, he was President of Plan Ahead Events) would try to convince us to hang on for a little while longer.
Tipton would say “don’t give up yet, you have all these resources in UFG.”
United Franchise Group UFG high turnover
HAHAHA! Tipton was either promoted or moved somewhere else and a woman named is Kristi Saucerman took over his position.
I guess she was trying to salvage what was left of the franchise. She seems to have left UFG.
By the time she came on, many other PAE franchisees were looking to get out before we were bankrupt and our homes foreclosed on.
Patrick Flynn was another one I remember. He was like a used car salesman.
When I finally got out of it, I was broke and desperately seeking employment. I’m still rebuilding my savings from this serious mistake.
United Franchise Group’s Plan Ahead Events franchise was doomed from the start – Former Franchisee
I met some really good franchisees during my nightmare period with Plan Ahead Events. They were hardworking and conscientious – the opposite of the UFG people. I’m sure they would all have been very successful with a legitimate franchise organization.
With United Franchise Group, we didn’t stand a chance.
– Former Franchisee
United Franchise Group – Plan Ahead Events Failed Franchises* – Partial List
* Listed in Plan Ahead Event FDDs as having prematurely exited the system
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United Franchise Group (UFG)Plan Ahead EventsFAILED FRANCHISES (Partial List) |
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Gina Giglio West Palm Beach, FL |
Kimberly Burk Denver CO |
Carl Ong Scottsdale AZ |
Also Read:
EXPERIMAX EXPERIMAC Franchise Expose: Behind the Curtain Web Series
UFG CEO Ray Titus: STOP Promoting the Failed Experimax Franchise!
UFG SUPERGREEN SOLUTIONS Massive Failures, Titus Fraud Allegations
EXPERIMAX EXPERIMAC Franchise Report (The Index)
FRANCHISE DISCUSSIONS by Company
ARE YOU A SUPERGREEN SOLUTIONS FRANCHISE OWNER OR FRANCHISEE? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH SUPERGREEN SOLUTIONS, UNITED FRANCHISE GROUP OR RAY TITUS? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Tags: Plan Ahead Events, Plan Ahead Events franchise, Event planning franchise, Tipton Shonkwiler, Kristie Saucerman, Ghassan Barazi , UFG, United Franchise Group, UFG Expose, Ray Titus expose, franchise expose, Ray Titus, John Hayes, SBA guaranteed loans, franchise loans, Tim Phillips, Titus Center, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Unhappy Franchisee, Sean Kelly
Its a shame that this is still going on and that UFG is still allowed to sell these Franchises.
I was tricked into believing a lot of fabricated information on Experimac. Right from the beginning I had been asking for sales sheets for other franchise locations and was continuously but on hold on receiving any. After telling them that I would not sign without this information, I was given information on the one main store that sells all the other stores the merchandise and made it seem like all the stores were doing the same sales. Many more lies and fabrications to follow even after I was up and running.
It wasn’t until I received a monthly award for being the top selling location for that month and my sales were very low and I didn’t even make a profit that month. I started to ask around and questioned a few other store locations. Like me, none of them had EVER had a profitable month and they were all slowly dying. At this point I was furious and the more digging I did with other stores the more that I found out that no one knew of any stores that had actually made a profit and that eventually just about everyone goes out of business.
This ended up costing me my home, bankruptcy , and hundreds of thousands of dollars. 5 years later, I am still paying this off.