FRANZ MADLENER WRITES TO WHINGE ABOUT BEING TAINTED ALONG WITH OTHER ABQ MANAGEMENT______*PREDATOR WARNING UPDATED*

Franz Madlener, CEO of Allied Brands-owned Villa & Hut, has written a complaint about getting the same "bucketing" as the others at Allied Brands. The three V&H shops near here have franchisees that seem genuinely happy with Mr. Madlener, and he apparently didn't take the warnings we gave him seriously when he sold out to Allied Brands. Something he clearly now regrets, as in some ways he's been victimised by this corrupt company of flim-flam artists as well.

As part of the ABQ management team however he cannot but help to have noticed differences in his operation with how Baskin Robbins franchisees have been treated however.

Mr. Madlener, did you ever object when Baskin Robbins management:

• Sold dud locations to Koreans, Chinese, and Indians along with Australian residency visas?

• Raised key product pricing despite assuring your franchisees you had currency hedging in place?

• Spent months fucking a key employee and keeping them on in employment when they were clearly incompetent?

• ABQ management were giving themselves no-interest loans and other perks while franchisees suffered?

TODAY, PUBLIC COMPANY DAVID JONES SACKED THE CEO FOR "IMPROPER ACTIONS" WITH A FEMALE MARKETING EMPLOYEE. THERE IS NO INDICATION OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY - BUT THIS IS HOW ETHICAL COMPANIES DEAL WITH SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE. WHAT HAS ALLIED BRANDS DONE ABOUT THEIR IN-HOUSE PREDATOR???.

Mr. Madlener, did you:

• Ever ask why ABQ was forced to take back Baskin Robbins shops that had failed, and continued to try and sell them to new suckers?

• Ever wonder why Baskin Robbins franchisees were continually short of ice cream, dry goods, and other essential supplies?

• Wonder why ABQ feels the need to secretly access video cameras in Baskin Robbins shops to spy on their franchisees?

• Arrange kickbacks from suppliers directly to your company without your franchisees knowledge?

You've been around Allied Brands for some time, Mr. Madlener. Do you expect anyone to believe you had no idea these things have been going on, and somehow your reputation wouldn't be affected?

Madlener squeals: "I have stayed focussed on continuing to build a brand that has strong ethics and values around ‘fair trade’ ‘eco-retailing’ and ‘sustainability’.." Did you not notice that the management philosophy at Baskin Robbins, by far the biggest piece of Allied Brands, is focussed on "no ethics, unfair trade, screw the franchisee, cheat the foreigner, and put as much in our pockets as possible"?? Sadly you now risk ending up being just one of those crims running Allied Brands because no one will remember the good you think you've done.

We applaud you Mr. Madlener for trying to stay true to your principles when acting as senior management in such a corrupt company. But when you lay down with pigs, you can't expect to not be labeled a pig yourself. Your continued association with this obviously corrupt enterprise provides you with no ethical place to hide. If you don't insist the corruption be removed from all aspects of company operation, you'll have undone any good works you THINK you've done. And you'll have no problem when the rest of us judge you accordingly.