If you want to throw your money away, then by all means, give the folks at "THE MARVIN GROUP" a call. They are located in Alpharetta, Georgia.
These scam artists pretend to be "business brokers". They market their services through very slick mailings claiming to have ".. Buyers in our database looking to buy your business now!" If you go to their website at www.marvingroupllc.com, you'll see a very nice website. It even lists businesses for sale, along with "buyers" too...
I fell for these guys, hook, line and sinker. I was looking to sell my pizzeria business about 4 years ago when I was going through a divorce, and found these guys via a business mailing. The mailing looked ligit... It was well worded, well printed, and said just about everything I was looking for! These guys were "professionals" who specialized in top dollar, quick sales! What was the catch? What went wrong? Well. Here goes...
The first step after talking with the corporate office in Alpharetta, Georgia, was for the local sales rep ("Art" (630)-443-6390) come to my business for a face to face meeting. We set up a meeting and out came Art in his beautifully polished Lexus RX30 SUV. He explained how the company worked. They first needed to "valuate the business" in order to properly list it on their website. This "valuation" would cost me $3500, but was COMPLETELY REFUNDED upon sale of the business. The terms of the agreement was they would only make money on a percentage of the sale (just like a real estate agent!). No problem, I thought. So. I gave them my financials. And a check for $3500, and about a month later was presented with a 3 page valuation. My restaurant was going to be listed for $900,000. WOW! (I thought). I am going to make a killing. YEAH RIGHT.
These guys are frauds, scam artists, hucksters. They make their money only on the valuation. THEY DO NOT SELL BUSINESSES! In the 24 months subsequent to my business having been "listed", I had EXACTLY ZERO calls from persons interested in buying my business.
What happened to all of the buyers that were "chomping at the bit", fighting to buy my business? It was all b.S.
Then "Art" met me at a Krispy Kreme donut shop in town, and told me that I would have an easier time selling my business if I "amended my tax returns" to show an increase in sales... And thus show that the business was making more money than it was. Um. That's fraud. Straight up... It was at this time that I demanded a full refund of my $3500. Art said that he thought I was a "straight up guy" and would "put in a good word for me at the corporate office in Alpharetta, Georgia" to get my refund... Yeah. Sure..
Phone call after phone call was NOT returned... I finally received a very rude letter from one of the "owners" of the company saying that they had fulfilled their contractual obligation and were not going to refund my money and subsequently DELISTED MY BUSINESS (not that it made any difference, it wasn't like my phone was ringing off the hook with buyers!). HA HA.
Well. After all of this, I contacted my friendly Chicago rep, Art, in his Lexus. He said that he would personally cut me a check for HALF of the $3500... As soon as he ".. Got my IRS refund check, business is slow and he didn't have any extra money.."
I figured, ok. Half is better than nothing, right? That was over 2 years ago... I guess the mail is slower than I thought.
You know the old saying "A fool and his money are soon parted"... I can humbly say that I was scammed by these smooth talking people. The only consolation that I have is that hopefully by writing this, it will prevent a few people from falling victim to these criminals. DO NOT USE THE MARVIN GROUP (unless of course, you enjoy giving people your hard-earned money in receipt for no services at all).
I have sent a letter to the Georgia BBB and filed an official complaint. It will not result in a refund. I know that... But at least other people will be informed prior to doing business with these scam artists.
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