Media Release – 12 May 2006Since Australian Current Affair ran a biased, defamatory, scandalously inaccurate and one-sided account on Friday 28 April 2006, I have been overwhelmed by the support from people all over Australia, both Graduates and others, and because of this, I have now decided to share with you TNTI’s correct version, and by the end of this document, you will be able to appreciate that all this is, is scurrilous, defamatory, immoral and driven by the hidden agenda of a few people who seek to profit from the publicity.
One thing I would like to express upfront is that my wife, children, parents, siblings and extended family, friends and supporters, do not deserve this. To the likes of Neil Jenman (who spruiks his real estate franchise system which is based on his ‘ethics’ by assassinating the character of others to lazy journalists), I extend an invitation to him confirming that I will debate him any time, any place, and will also extend the invitation to those of you who have offered to debate him in the past to no avail.
For the record allow me to take you back to July 20, 2004. As I was departing from Sydney Airport heading to Parramatta for our first round of complimentary Intros for NSW region with three of my colleagues, I received a phone call on my private mobile number (obviously not that private) and in summary the conversation went something like this.
“Hi George Mihos, it’s Kerry Rowley calling on behalf of Neil Jenman. The purpose of my call is that Neil would like to meet with you due to the fact that according to Neil you are one of the few ethical people left in your industry and Neil would like to publish a more balanced view.” I confirmed that I was more than willing to meet and chat with Neil any time, any place. However, our schedules did not permit us meeting up over the next couple of months and life went on. That is, until it was brought to my attention by numerous extremely satisfied Graduates who could not believe that I was being defamed on the Investment hall of Shame site. (well known associated site of Neil J) After making some unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the author of the Investment Hall of Shame site, to have myself deleted from this scurrilous website with no success… on 11 November 2004 I personally faxed a letter to Kerry Rowley titled “Confused Fax” simply confirming the above conversation of July 20, 2004 asking Kerry to confirm which side of the fence was Neil on, considering that two of his very close colleagues were expressing differing views on his behalf i.e. Kerry Rowley – George Mihos is ethical, and Denise Brailey – Scurrilously defaming me on her website.
We have never hidden from the fact that the wealth creation industry is highly scrutinized, and that TNTI has been cleared following such scrutiny. On every occasion required we have more than complied with both State and Federal Regulators to the extent that both Consumer Affairs Victoria (refer to media release Nov 25, 2005) and ASIC have confirmed that their investigations have been completed and no further action to be taken. Naturally, those organizations have a watching brief and they are at liberty to look into any company at any time.
On the 15th April, 2005 I was forced to publish a Media Release “Truth vs. Fiction” due to the fact that a number of grossly incorrect publications had appeared in certain sections of electronic and print media and other fora in relation to myself and TNTI. To receive copy of such full media release please send email to service@tnti.com.au .
On every occasion we have invited the media to attend our workshops as they have a duty of care to the public to ensure the factual data is reported, wouldn’t you agree? Here are the actual facts that the other night’s ACA got wrong. TNTI and George does not and never has promoted get rich quick.As we have over emphasized over the last four years — that is correct, we have beenaround for more than four years now, when a lot of others have come and gone – financial independence and succeeding in one’s endeavours does not come easily. All good things take time. They require self discipline, hard work and a belief in oneself to prevail. At TNTI what we teach is based on ethical, practical, results oriented strategies that have been proven to succeed over time. Our vision is…Empower every human being to take control of their unique destiny and lead lives of unlimited possibilities by providing them with world class financial and life transforming education and mentorship.Martin King asked
Marl, “Did you get rich?”
Marl’s response was, “No I didn’t. It was the opposite.”Martin also asked
Marl, “What’s his big promise?”
Marl’s response was “improve my income and get rich in seven years.”Due to the fact that ACA questions its viewer’s intelligence, here are some facts for your consideration.Historical Timeline with
Marl and TNTI
Marl attended his first information session on 28 September 2004.7 October 2004 he spoke with one of our wealth coaches over the phone who answered all of his questions about the benefits of attending and further educating himself. He then voluntarily provided his credit card details so he could secure his place at our up coming three day event.27 October 2004
Marl was sent confirmation and welcome pack confirming paymentOptions 12 November
Marl rated Day 1 – eight out of ten satisfaction level, where ten is absolutely satisfied and one is not satisfied.13 November
Marl rated Day2 – eight out of ten satisfaction level, where ten is absolutely satisfied and one is not satisfied14 November
Marl rated Day 3 – nine out of ten satisfaction level, where ten is absolutely satisfied and one is not satisfied.
Marl had at least on seven different occasions the opportunity to walk away and was made aware quite clearly of the money back satisfaction guarantee. Even though VCAT ruled in his favour TNTI was not provided a fair and just hearing as is clearly required under Section 98 of the VCAT Act due to the fact that the sitting Member was biased from the outset, stating as she entered the room – before one shred of evidence had even been heard – “what kind of dodgy organization is this?”. Clearly, in hindsight, I should not have given her the benefit of the doubt.We deny vehemently that
Marl was ever pressured. He had more than ample opportunities to make an educated decision and back it up with ethical behaviour. He chose not to. TNTI has never stated that you can achieve your financial goals by just turning up to a workshop and nothing else.Nov 2004 for seven years to lapse would take you to November 2011 as long as you are committed and focused and take massive action. That’s right; Martin and ACA forgot to mention that, didn’t they? It is hardly an unqualified promise.In relation to Tracey Shingles we enclose her hand written satisfactory testimonial and feed back and she also rated all three days, 10 out of 10 absolutely satisfied when she attended our three day event October 1 to 3, 2004 at the Legions Hotel on the Gold Coast. The only communication we have on record relating to her scurrilous statement made on air by Martin King on her behalf… the mother of three paid nearly $6000.00 for a three day seminar. Like Michelle she agreed to a payment plan. There was full disclosure. It was for investment purposes…and in actual fact all Tracey paid was $4137.00. Tracey also confirmed during her conversation with Martin King… “at one stage I was paying $995.00 per month in a one wage family, it was very tough.Fact… according to TNTI records Tracey paid $4,137.00 in total from August 2004 to October 2005. TNTI received 12 payments during this period for a total of $4,137.00 or an average of $344.75 per month. Pretty big gap of $995.00 hmmmmm interesting isn’t it? Martin King once again during this programme stated …part with fees from $4000 to$24,000. According to TNTI’s records, no one has ever paid that much for a three day event. Facts about Michelle Lindsay Attended Intro January 23, 2003. Secured her place with a business associate and attended our three day event Feb 21 to 23, 2003. Attended again May 2 to 4, 2003 Additional complimentary support workshops March 3 2003, June 4 2003, April 13 and 14 2004 and May 12 2004,Chose to graduate from our specific unique business opportunity workshop, May 15, 2004. TNTI received $5248.00 from January 2003 to June 2004. If Michelle had paid upfront back in January 2003, she would have qualified for the lump sum cash discount of $4140.00. She has also signed a confidentiality agreement and a Deed of Release when she consulted with TNTI from the period of May 2004 to October 2004.During September 18, 2004, due to Michelle being overwhelmingly satisfied with TNTI, she referred her daughter, Jade Lindsay who graduated from our one day workshop held at
Melbourne
University. TNTI and George Mihos denies ever providing loans to Michelle or any other Graduates and due to demand we provide people with either a lump sum cash discount as an incentive to pay early (like any other commercial business can) or give people time to pay by making full disclosure of the terms upfront when they decide whether to go to the investment course first and pay for it later.From June 2005 to November 2005 approximately 300 personalised signed letters from satisfied graduates were sent to CAV in support of George Mihos and TNTI.TNTI initiated a meeting directly with CAV in February 14th this year, and was only then informed of the CAV Media Release confirming no action to be taken as far back as November 25, 2005.TNTI received a letter on February 16th, 2006 dated February 14, 2006 directly from ASIC confirming that they have completed their investigations and no action to be taken.We have requested on numerous occasions all media and Government agencies update their records accordingly relating to CAV and ASIC updates with specific reference Choice Magazine and the Minister for Consumer Affairs to no avail.During the ACA programme of 28th April, 2006 Neil Jenman chose to once again defame me and to support his scurrilous assertions with a blatant lie. I challenge Neil Jenman… when have we banned him from any of our workshops?Martin King stated … Neil Jenman is a real estate expert in
Sydney; he is so anti Mihos, he has been banned from the seminars.Not only does Neil not have the courage or common decency to talk with me directly, but he sends his cohort Danny Tennyson who hijacked one of our Intro Nights (on at least 2 occasions) by parroting Neil’s scurrilous, defamatory and unfounded statements. Conveniently, what ACA did not show you is that during the hijacking incident (from May 2005) I openly and honestly asked this fellow, Danny Tennyson, to at least have the decency to introduce himself and for the benefit of everyone in attendance at least confirm if we had ever conducted any business of any kind or exchanged any money…I was forced to ask this on no less than three occasions when finally Danny had no option but to answer, and his answer was a categorically NO! The audience was not impressed with his behaviour particularly after admitting that we had no past relationship.
On Anzac Day like most families I was enjoying the precious little time I have with my daughters and extended family at the local park, when a ‘Lisa’ from Channel Nine called me on my private mobile number. I asked her if I could have her name and number and I would call her back later in the afternoon. She said, ‘That’s O.K, I’ll call you tomorrow.”Lisa called me and duly confirmed that she was associated with ACA and due to the fact that she had inside knowledge that a programme from another network was about to issue a negative story on myself and TNTI. The reason for her calling me was to provide me and TNTI with a platform of at least turning a negative into a positive and sharing with the audience our facts. In actual fact, I continued the conversation by asking her to call me on my private office number. I also asked her if she was aware of the CAV November 2005 media release which she confirmed yes. I then asked her if she was aware that we had received a no further action confirmation letter from ASIC as well in February 2006. She confirmed she was not aware of this. She was very insistent that we meet up the following day. (Thursday 27th April). I confirmed with Lisa that as she was duly aware of my commitments leading up to our three day event (April 28 to 30), and it would not be possible, however I was more than willing to converse with them the following Monday. Isuggested that if she could at least e-mail me her Agenda and questions for ourconsideration we would get back to her by the following day. I did not confirm in any way that I would be available for interview the following day as Martin King incorrectly stated during the ACA programme of 28th April.
Once I received her email I then forwarded to my legal team for response considering that the media never seem to use facts when relaying a good story and selectively edit on camera vision. We provided them with a reasonable and concise response and told Lisa in the clearest possible way that there would be no on-camera interview… however we received no other form of communication from her or anybody associated with ACA until Martin King and his infamous crew attempted to rail road our office in
Carlton the following day. As it turned out, they already had plenty of footage: they aired TNTI’s copyright course DVD -– selectively edited for maximum effect — on national television without asking. Before the show was aired we sent a further communication directly to Lisa and ACA who once again ignored the facts that I invited them to interview me live in their studios or uncutversion and in the same letter confirmed that Danny Tennyson has never been or paid to be a graduate of TNTI.
Look, TNTI acknowledges that from time to time there are a small number of genuine disagreements that are extremely difficult to resolve, whether under our own dispute resolution procedure or otherwise and these can cause anxiety and distress to both complainants and us. Although they represent a relatively small number, they generate a disproportionate amount of additional work addressing not only the complaint but its fallout. TNTI does its utmost to respond positively to any complainants and will, whenever possible, try to find a way to resolve matters.TNTI provides educational courses that seek to improve the financial intelligence of those graduates who successfully complete them. With respect to the ACA piece, none of the complainants had previously contacted TNTI with their complaint. Further, each complaint appears to have arisen directly as a consequence of that person’s anxiety arising from their financial situation if they have made a poor financial decision having regard to their personal circumstances. The complainant may blame others for their decision, may feel anger and resentment and may inappropriately direct their anger at the organisation and me.While we have no way of knowing whether this is the case here, it is also important to give special consideration to complainants who might be suffering from depression or learning difficulties, as their illness can affect their behaviour, including their ability to act on the information taught by TNTI.Because these complaints were made either by ambush, on TV, anonymously or viapublicity seeking third parties, we had no way of being able to anticipate:1. whether a thorough complaint investigation has been carried out pursuant to our dispute resolution policy or refund policy;2. whether a complaint has actually been made to TNTI by them;3. whether the complainant is entitled to a refund or other special consideration4. whether the complaint has any merit or is a just strategy to avoid payment for services rendered.
In life, some people do not complain to those who can help them, they just bear agrievance. What is particularly concerning about Neil Jenman’s behaviour, though, is that his concerns have been thoroughly investigated by the authorities and he has received a comprehensive, full response answering all of his complaints, but he remains dissatisfied despite the availability of transparent information about the work of TNTI, explanations and seems to have turned into a vendetta against TNTI and me, often involving media, MP’s and other shameless public self-promotion. I have never even met the bloke yet he displays the following behaviour:• without provocation, is personally abusive or aggressive towards people he does not know personally (i.e.: me) and TNTI;• is unwilling to accept documented evidence of what happened and what we do asbeing factual;• insists he has not had an adequate response to his incorrect assertions;• spruiks a culture of fear and hate to promote his business;• focuses on a trivial matter out of all proportion to its significance and will notaccept an open explanation on this point;• constantly raises new concerns which did not appear in the original complaint,which keeps the publicity for his ‘ethics’ based estate agency franchise system going;• attention seeking behaviour, involving Media, MP’s, Consumer Affairs Victoria, etc;• is not even the supposed complainant, but purports to act on their behalf.
We will not be making a practice of responding to complaints that are frivolous, vexatious or motivated by malice or made for an ulterior purpose but because some people still take Neil Jenman seriously (I don’t), I am prepared to debate him, any place, any time. As for ACA, I have no intention of becoming a line item in the Channel 9 business plan’s litigation budget. What were you doing watching that drivel on a Friday night anyway?TNTI has a comprehensive refund policy and dispute resolution policy but acknowledges that there are occasions when certain complaint investigations should be - and are - drawn to a close, when there is no reasonable way of resolving the situation to everyone’s satisfaction. Not that any of the people shown in ACA were in that category. The recent feedback is that the vast majority of our graduates are extremely satisfied.
Stay Tuned for further updates coming up soon…Remember…Live with Passion & Take Massive Action… or go and build an ant farm… either way, I dare youWith Ethics and Passion - George Mihos
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Below is a small sample of actual real life Aussies feedback who share with us their honest and balanced view of the facts from previously satisfied clients of George Mihos… please read on…
To Lisa Gilbert, Producer, “A Current Affair”
Please have someone respond to this email. If necessary, enact your complaints-handling procedure which requires that you respond specifically and within a set period of time.
Good morning Lisa,
I’m writing to give you a more balanced perspective on the “Today Not Tomorrow Institute” (TNTI) and George Mihos, following the airing of your extremely unbalanced segment on Friday night (28 April 2006). Your program stated that all of 14 people had expressed unhappiness with the outcome of their contact with George; did you take a headcount of the tens of thousands of extremely satisfied TNTI clients?
I am also writing to lodge a formal complaint of your handling of this case and many others with the same level of bias.
I attended one of the TNTI weekend workshops on the Gold Coast last April. I signed up in full cognisance of the purpose of the workshop, the cost of the workshop and the likely value of the workshop. TNTI is a commercial organisation – if they did not charge money for their services they would be unable to continue to provide their valuable education to consumers. Doesn’t channel 9 make a profit on its operations? How could you continue to operate without doing so? And why do you denigrate George’s name just because he also makes a profit?? In fact, would you want to take financial advice from someone who was living on the poverty line? I, personally, want my education to come from someone who is clearly successful.
As George accurately states, TNTI offers financial education. When I signed up I was fully aware that I was buying an education, and I decided it was worth the cost. If I had had to try to educate myself to the same standard it would have taken me years of individual research, reading hundreds of books one at a time, and probably attending other people’s seminars (after all, there are many broadly similar offerings available in the market). I didn’t want to wait that long – I wanted to be equipped to get on with taking care of my financial future immediately. And that’s exactly what happened. After the workshop I knew exactly what I needed to do, based on my own knowledge and understanding of the options, the considerations, the strategies and risks, my own risk profile, and the ‘team’ of professionals I needed to gather around me (accountant, solicitor, financial planner, etc). And I went ahead and did something about it.
In the three months after attending the workshop I interviewed and gathered a ‘team’ of professional advisors, bought an investment property in Brisbane, bought some units in a commercial property trust, and bought some units in a managed hedge fund. I now also have a share portfolio and am about to purchase a second investment property. I estimate that the value of my assets is already a nett $200,000 more than it would have been without TNTI. So that’s a return of 4,000%pa on my $5,000 investment. By what standards is that a rip-off? More importantly, I know how to do it, and I have complete confidence in my own ability to make informed, knowledgeable and astute decisions. Feed a woman a fish and she’ll eat for a day, but teach her to fish and she’ll eat for the rest of her life.
George does NOT promise to give people $1million in return for their $5,000; he promises to teach them how to do it for themselves. And he delivers on his promise more than 100%. George is also very clear in his workshops that we will not become millionaires in a day, a week, or a year. What he says is that if we make ourselves millionaires in 3 years then that’s a damn good outcome. Wouldn’t you agree? But the man is only human – how can he MAKE people be millionaires? What he does is equip them to make millionaires of themselves, but they still have to take the action. I fully intend to have my first million within a few years, and that would not have happened without the education I bought from TNTI and George.
George can only educate. He cannot take the actions necessary to make people financially responsible and independent if they are unwilling to take the action for themselves! Even universities, which charge anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000 for their educations, cannot guarantee their clients will take action to implement their new knowledge. If people who do law degrees don’t become lawyers, should they be able to sue the university and get their money back? Come on, get real!
I am extremely unhappy with the lack of integrity and professionalism which is repeatedly demonstrated by A Current Affair stories. Are you trying to disable the general community and paint them all with a ‘victim-mentality’? When someone borrows more money from the bank than they can afford to repay you blame the bank! Whatever happened to people being responsible for their own actions or inactions? If they borrowed more money than they could afford to repay, why is it someone else’s fault? When people sign contracts without reading them, why is it the fault of the ‘fine-print’? Don’t we all know that we shouldn’t sign any legal document without reading them? When people learn how to do something, and are given evidence that it is possible to get fantastic results, why is it someone else’s fault when they don’t do anything about it?
I’m very frustrated about this. Your program is entirely disabling people’s capacity to get up and have fantastic lives. It is impossible for someone who blames others for everything to have a fantastic life … and you are encouraging your viewers to blame others for everything. And you are simultaneously removing your viewers’ options for obtaining help, when they do want to step up and take control of their futures … by systematically blackening the names of the very people who can help them. Your approach turns your viewers into disabled victims who don’t know where to turn for help and are paralysed by the fear of rip-offs everywhere they turn!!
Inform people, by all means, about the things they ought to be aware of. But it’s only gossip when you only inform them about one tiny proportion of the full perspective.
Please tell me why you do this, because I am angry about it and would really like to understand. I await your response with curiosity.
Thank you
Deborah Nelson
To A Current Affair
Enter Name: Karen Jenner
State: Victoria
Are you a TNTI Graduate? Yes
Enter year and month graduated: November 2005
Enter 3 lines why you positively support George Mihos and TNTI:
TNTI have catapulted my knowledge about investment, cashflow strategies and protecting wealth far beyond what I could have taught myself in the same time frame. They have given me the confidence to apply some of these strategies in real life. I am 100% glad that I joined up and am well on my way to achieving my goals.
Enter any other feedback you have for A Current Affair:
I was angry to hear of the stupid people who are blaming TNTI for their personal problems. If they could not afford to pay for the course, then the obvious thing is to NOT PAY. If they thought that spending the last of their savings on a course would make their financial problems melt away spontaneously, they have a few too many screws loose. The only pity I feel for those people is that they don’t have enough common sense to at least get out of their wallowing hole and add value to their own lives as well as others. TNTI is not a charity for morons, however George Mihos and TNTI regularly donate large sums of money to The Make A Wish Foundation.
Disclosure: By sending this email you acknowledge that you definitely are a fully fledged TNTI Graduate. You agree to have this testimonial and feedback used as supporting documentation to assist George Mihos and TNTI in ensuring that the truth and the facts are heard. You also acknowledge that TNTI has solid permission and recommendation to use this testimonial for all general legal and marketing purposes
To A Current Affair
Peter Kirkpatrick
Victoria
I am a TNTI Graduate.
2005 February graduated
I strongly support George Mihos and TNTI. They are a dedicated team that support their graduates with on going mentorship and training. They have opened my eyes to new possibilities about what I can do to take head of my financial life. They have given me the motivation to get out of my old ways and to take action. Big things are beginning to happen.
To A Current Affair
Hi, I noticed last night that you plan to do a story on TNTI .
I am a TNTI Graduate, now having been in the program since October 2004.
Having attended many professional training courses in Finance, Management, Aviation, Quality, and taught at the masters level in University as a lecturer, it is my view that George and his team provide an excellent training service on how to increase your personal wealth.
When people ask me about TNTI, and if it is good value, I tell them that like any training, you have to apply what you learn to get the benefits - simple really, and just like any other product or service you buy. You have to apply effort to obtain results - common sense again.
My family and I owe a lot of thanks to George and his team, there are a lot of Australians who could really benefit by going through this course, and getting the support of the team. They teach you principles you don’t learn at school, university or in my case from my parents who are battlers.
I now have a way that I can achieve my financial goals, and I give these guys my vote of confidence.
This is more than I can say for the Australian media, who I find repugnant in the extreme - scum of the earth would be an understatement. I enjoy watching your show with my sons to educate them about bias, lack of objectivity and sensationalism. On the positive side, I think the female presenter is cute - the best thing about the show really.
Cheers
James Yatras
To A Current Affair
Enter Name: Duncan Cunningham
State: Vic
Are you a TNTI Graduate? Yes
Enter year and month graduated: Sep ‘ 05
Enter 3 lines why you positively support George Mihos and TNTI: Because he has introduced me to numerous ways of generating income that most Advisers / Planners don’t.
Enter any other feedback you have for A Current Affair: The people featured in your article had plenty of opportunity to “walk away”. The information they could have gleaned from just the first 2 days could have repaid them their outlay very quickly had they chosen to apply the information they had picked up.
Once again the overwhelming support has been greatly appreciated… remember follow your dreams and live with passion. George Mihos
www.georgemihos.com