There is a new fitness and personal training scam coming to the Jacksonville Beach community called SMARTXRCISE. It is Gracor Fitness of Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach reborn after its so called financial collapse earlier this year. I say so called because, they (owners Brett Chepenik and Chris Evans) have been planning the demise of the former for months all the while taking money, perhaps yours, from the supportive citizens of this city. The owners of now defunct Gracor took a lot of money from a lot of people in the Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach communities and ceased operations without notice to customers and employees.
These baffoons (Brett Chepenik and Chris Evans) will soon be asking you to once again support them financially and welcome them back to the community as the "New and Improved" SMARTXRCISE. Realize this…they will never be honest with you nor do they believe in health, fitness and exercise. Just ask them how they stay so lean...these aren’t over the counter supplements they’re taking. Their so called convictions are a farse and are simply nothing more than lip service.
They have put a black eye on a legitimate profession as well as turned on a community that once endeared the service of the trainers. Brett Chepenik and Chris Evans deserve never to reenter the field again. There is nothing smart about SMARTXRCISE. There is nothing ground breaking or innovative. The workouts aren’t even original. They don’t even care enough to provide you with a qualified personal trainer oversee your training. No offense to anyone already woking for these 2 con artists...you’ll be offended soon enough when your checks begin to bounce. Notice I said checks - PLEURAL; MORE THAN ONE.
If you a thinking of investing money with these goons or buying a program from SMARTXRCISE, spend a few more dollars and perform a REAL background check and contact some of their previous investors. Neither of these clowns is a Certified Personal Trainer...one is a business school grad that is an emotional basket case while the other is plumber. You want proof: Listen to the line of shit he spews when speaking. For you financially prudent persons looking to invest wisely, BEWARE! While you may be an Angel financially, if you crawl into bed with this duo, you will be dancing with the devil.
It is a scam neatly wrapped in an LLC structure presented with tremendous projections (most of which are over inflated and not realistic), a wonderfully outlined business plan, and an enthusiasm to make you feel like you just signed the deal to put you on easy street. Get ready for the excuses to follow when the returns just aren’t there. The question you should ask is: What will their day to day involvement be and how will they ensure viability. The answer will be aloof and slightly arrogant, not to mention an outright lie...although quite "Effective and efficient." Consider yourself warned! Brett Chepenik and Chris Evans are looking out only for themselves.
Visit this link if you want to read more.
http://nycpersonaltrainer.com/gym_location.aspx?name=Gracor-Fitness&sFL&z32207&id=1968
If you've defended these clowns at this or any other link, step up and state your name and business, and proof to the contrary. Hey, I once believed in them as well as you did/do. We all like to think we are a good judge of character and don't like to face facts...we view as a poor reflection on ourselves. Point is...the truth hurts - some of us have yet to a face it.
3 comments:
I met Brett a month before he opened the first fitness facility when he approached me about teaching nutrition at Gracor. I worked as a Nutrition Coach for about 7 months. The counseling was very well received, and I began getting very busy. By this time, also, Brett had benefited greatly from my counseling; he lost 40 pounds, got rid of his allergies. Here is an excerpt from a local newspaper;
“Brett Chepenik owner of the prestigious Gracor Fitness Center in San Marco carries Barnes’ food and has all of his personal trainers refer their clients to her.
“I opened I August of 1999 and met with a number of nutritional counselors,” Chepenik says. “I was impressed with what she had to say. I immediately started following her way of eating, and it’s been two years this august. I’ve lost about 30 lbs and 5 ½ inches in my waist. What I found was that it is easier for someone who uses Millie’s service to follow and apply it every day of their life. Overall I have more energy and just feel better, and my sinus problems have gone away. I never feel bloated or weighted down. I thought it would be difficult, but if you learn the snacks and things you can eat when you are hungry, it really isn’t. After you do it for a while you learn to listen to your body. If I crave protein I eat fish.”
Brett Chepenik
Brett then told me that he was changing the business arrangement we had. He explained that he wanted me to give him more than 50% of the fees I was bringing in to Gracor. As I worked with each client for a 6 week period, did all of the counseling, analyzed their food diaries for a month…a lot of work, I refused and stopped working for him.
I next went to work for him in 2006 as a Nutrition Coach. We reached an agreement that we would split the fees for my coaching 50/50. For the first week or so everything was fine. I got busy very quickly, the clients were happy, the trainers (most of them) were thrilled. Their clients lost weight faster, felt better. There are many testimonials on my webpage from happy clients- Optimum Nutrition by Millie Barnes.
However when payroll was delivered at the end of my first two weeks work, my paycheck was not included. It took them til the next day to get me my check. I figured it was a fluke. Same thing next pay check, and the next, and the next! One time I had drive all the way to the beach to get my check, there was no one at the office as promised. It took a second drive to the beach (11 miles from my house) the next day to get my pay. This went on for 3 MONTHS!! Every paycheck was late or mine just ‘didn’t get delivered”.
When I finally got my check the next to the last week I was there, I had been told by one of the trainers that I should take it to Gracors’ bank as opposed to just depositing it. I did, there were no funds available! The bank made good on the check, but let me know there were problems. Other employees were toild the same thing by clients we had that worked at the bank.
The last week it happened my paycheck again did not come in with everybody else’s. The next day I was promised it, but they didn’t have it. My electricity HAD to be paid that day. I had a client that morning and when she paid me in cash I accepted it, did not put it in the system, informed the two employees I was working with exactly what I was doing, then called Brett the let him know that I had his 50% and would give it to him when he came in. Brett came in the next morning, accused me of stealing from him and fired me!
I was next served papers from the District Attorneys’ office letting me know that Brett was pressing charges against me for stealing “his” money. I kept my appointment with the DA’s office, I explained what had happened and never heard anything else about it.
Not too long after this happened I begun to hear stories of Gracor going under. The really crazy part about all of it was that Brett had started out with a wonderful business, opened several more, had a wonderful reputation in the community and seemed to have it all going for him. However he opened three new facilities at the same time, spread himself too thin and began getting his priorities mixed up. Just months before he went bankrupt be bought a very expensive home, paid a fortune to have it remodeled, drove a huge SUV, spent like crazy. He did not seem to really care that much any more, it all went to his head. I saw him grow from a really nice young (26) man to a egotistical, greedy, selfish man who seemed to only think of himself.
I am amazed and disappointed with the lies posted in this site. First by a person who chooses to remain anonymous and second by Millie Barnes, a woman who I helped and supported when she needed my assistance (please notice she had posted her comments on April 19, 2009 14 months after Gracor closed and 2 years after the incident which she discusses. I chose not to press charges against Millie because of the situation with her family. I will not resort to speaking negatively of her or anyone else. I will state the diet she put me on 10 years ago positively changed my life and until reading this post today had continued to refer her to others).
I find it ridiculous to have to defend myself by responding to posts on this blog in this manner, but Google policy states: "Google does not remove allegedly defamatory content from www.google.com or any other U.S. dot com domains..."
So to set the record straight on a few issues:
- Gracor operated in 7 facilities, 3 of which were World's Gym. Terms could not be reached for a new contract with World's and operations ceased immediately at those locations. When this occurred, I refused to let anyone go from the downsizing. This combined with the decrease in revenues and coporate overhead led to Gracor closing seven months later in February of 2008.
- Millie stated I bought a house before closing Gracor. This is not true. The last house I purchased was in June of 2003.
- Millie stated I drove a big SUV. This is true, I have four children (I really should not have to say anymore). The last car I had purchased before Gracor closed was 17 months earlier in October 2006.
- The posts state I do not care about people and am selfish. I challenge anyone who worked for me to give one example of when they needed help and I was not there. I take pride in the thousands of things I did to help people I worked with and were clients of Gracor. This concern for others is reflected in Chapter 2 of Donna Deegan's book "The Good Fight" detailing her fight with cancer and the support and positive impact I had in her life. In addition, among other things I consistently volunteered and trained children to help fight obesity, paid employees to train and assist the Boys and Girls Club of Jacksonville, volunteered to help fight breast cancer and did many other charitable acts to help positively impact others.
- One post states I have not been certified in training. I have been certified with the American Council on Exercise and Crossfit. I have been recognized locally, nationally and appeared on national television for my training and have been recognized locally and nationally for my operation of training facilities.
I did everything I possibly could to keep Gracor opened after downsizing in July of 2007. When Gracor first closed, there were a few posts from someone hiding their identity speaking negatively of me. I had thought with time these posts would go away and the truth would be revealed. For the most part, over the last year I have found this to be the case with numerous individuals personally apologizing for speaking negatively of me without basis and then thanking me for everything I had done for them. However, a family member asked me about this site today and if it were not for this I would not be responding to this blog.
So for whoever posted this blog, I am asking you to either take this down or at least reveal who you are rather than hiding behind a username that provides no information about your true identity. If you truly believe everything you have posted then you should have no issue in revealing who you are, nor should anyone else. It is easy to speak of someone negatively when you hide behind a username.
I regret Gracor is no longer open, and wish I would have done some things differently. However, at the time I did the best I could do. That said, if anyone has an issue with anything pertaining to Gracor or myself and would like to discuss it personally, I can be reached directly at 904-962-2662 or via e-mail at brettchepenik@gmail.com.
I would like to remove this comment from this post.
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