Been with ATI for years and we have received 10 times the value we have put into their company. Their staff is on the cutting edge of all the changes and what it takes to run and grow a successful automotive repair business. If you can put your ego aside and listen you'll get results. If you are willing to ask questions, soak up the training and join the 20 group your business will grow. 8 years ago this was the scariest decision we ever made. I'd make it again without question. read more

If you own a repair facility and could use some help moving the needle in Marketing, Management, Margins, and pretty much ANYTHING related to making your shop amazing, THIS IS YOUR ANSWER!! Lee and I have benefited for well over 15 yrs. They have well educated instructors and many classes to educate. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR ADVENTURE read more

I went to an ATI boot camp in December of 2011. I watched the presentation and knew I needed ATI's help. I joined in January of 2012 and it has honestly been the best decision I have made in my business. ATI is not a magic pill that will solve all of your problems. You will need to put in the work but, your coach is there every week to support you. The classes are fantastic and, they are constantly updated with new material. If you are reading this and are on the fence because of price, or it sounds too good to be true. It's worth it! read more

ATI does a great job of teaching shop owners how to make their dreams a reality. I joined in 2015, and have been able to implement so many things that I never thought were possible. I'm glad to be an ATI client, and plan to stay with ATI as long as I own my business. Thank you ATI for delivering value to shop owners for many years. read more

I have been working with ATI through our shop for years. I have found their training and insights so helpful! The value is not only in the coaches but also through the connections I have made with other auto repair shops. I have attended multiple online classes and was part of their SEO group for 3 years. The coaches I've worked with have taken the time to understand what we need and assist us on a regular basis. So thankful for all of their support, knowledge and care. Thank you Automotive Training Institute!! read more

We have been members of ATI for many years and are thankful for their guidance and support throughout the past decade. We have been able to create relationships, prosper, and grow both as a business and as individuals. We are thankful for ATI! read more

Dishonesty, do t sign a contract won't answer back after 12 month review to stop contract... no answer in a month trying to make us renew again.. very shady group, maybe a reply after this review!!! Bad business read more

I hired these crooks a few years ago. you can just stop paying cause it's not legal. they don't run your credit and it wasn't even on my credit before or after. they give you a guaranted and they never live up to their end because of the wording in their bullshit contract. there is no guarantee. I am amazed this place is still in business. go to ATI sucks and read the hundreds of bad reviews and all the businesses they bankrupted and all the people whose dreams they have ruined. These are evil people who have no intention on helping. They won't answer the phone and won't respond if you have issue. they want to rip you off and that's it. read more

We have been using ATI"s business consulting and training services for about 10 years. When we began we using ATI for our automotive business we had a partner that was not as committed to the business as we were. Someone referred us to ATI and I will admit the first 3 years are what they call the "re-engineering years" Boy, were they right about that. Not just re-engineering financially but also in how you think business, do business and make money. We ended up buying out our business partner, on the advice of ATI, and our business has more than tripled from from where we started. We are literally growing more every year. It is a difficult process to re learn and maybe re think how you do things but these guys know what they are doing and talking about! I love the accountability you get with your own personal coach. The classes that are designed for owners, classes for Service Writers, classes for your 2nd in command! The yearly super conference (so much fun) and 20 groups that you will one day be a part of, will hook you up with other automotive shops around the US and Canada. You meet with these other, successful, business owners, at least, 2x a year to discuss numbers, marketing, changes in the industry, what's next, successes and failures that other shops have tried. If you are ready to put your ego on hold and willing to listen and apply what is suggested, you will be successful. Mark & Donna Mead Ken's Automotive Frederick, MD 21701 read more

Automotive Training Institute - Specialty Schools Near Me - Linthicum, Maryland

Update: We have $250 left to pay and now they want to forgive us of the contract, BUT we have to sign a contract that says we will not talk/post anything negative about them. Here are websites to read others reviews: https://www.bbb.org/us/md/linthicum-heights/profile/training-program/automotive-training-institute-llc-0011-20013261/complaints https://reviews.birdeye.com/automotive-training-institute-144764975144067 https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Automotive-Training-Institute/reviews?start=20 https://www.surecritic.com/reviews/automotive-training-institute https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Automotive-Training-Institute-Reviews-E690943.htm read more

Zachary Booth and ATI are unethical and misleading. After I told them I was not interested in any coaching. Zachary convinced me to sign up for a webinar for which I had to pay but would be reimbursed. All lies! What a waste of time and money. Nothing learned in the webinar and no money returned. Shame of a company! Stay away! read more

Automotive training institute is a common sense consulting company, with a twist. They encourage all shop owners to overburden all employees with K.P.I., PnL, and other accounting and data analyzation processes. They provide multiple resources to owners to teach them how to create an environment so overbearing, customers and employees are subjected to more stress that is ever needed to provide quality repair and develop a good reputation in the community. They charge an amount for services that meet, and often exceed, the weekly pay of excellent technicians worthy of admiration for talent and experience. From there owners are required to track aspects of the shop that exceed the normal scope of data, such as requiring technicians to clock in and out during all aspects of repair, from inspection to completion. Owners are required to confront all employees for the simplest of infractions to the data collection process. This creates a very tense environment that spills over onto the customers. In my experience as a master technician under an ATI consulting contract, I have been ran out of the shop as a result of the practices they encourage, this has happened twice. I learned. I will no longer serve a company that implores tactics encouraged by ATI. read more

BIGGEST SCAM ARTISTS! They promise to make you thousands of dollars every month by assigning you a coach who talks to you via zoom for 30 minutes a week who just goes over our numbers and tells us we're doing great and asks if we're proud of ourselves. Their program is 4 YEARS which we were weary on but Carl sold us by saying we could opt out in 6 months if we were not satisfied which was the only reason we ended up signing up. We cancelled in 6 months because of course we were not satisfied- did not make a dollar more, and only wasted our time. Our coach's solution to making more money was to charge the customers the additional money that insurance doesn't pay. Yeah brilliant, that's one way to lose every customer you've ever had. Now we are being harassed and threatened by their financial company saying we cannot break the contract and they continuously attempt to take money out of our account. Do not fall for their empty promises. read more

Great group of leaders and instructors. If you're looking to expand your mind and gain some great knowledge, sign up.

In 2019, a salesman named Clint called me over 10 times trying to get me to get me to sign up for this automotive business owner's class. After finally wearing me down, I agreed. $150 to possibly learn something new did not sound like a choice that could hurt me. I could not have been more wrong. This was the worst business decision I ever made. The class was not bad. I felt like I learned a few things, but the main reason I signed up for the class was it included a visit from the teacher to my shop to go over my personal goals. While the teacher (John Bonnie) was here, he immediately went into a sales speech that I honestly did not see coming. John spoke really fast and basically promised me the world if I signed up for this ATI program. He was here for less than an hour, and before he left I signed his contract on his Ipad. Little did I realize that I was signing up for a 4 year contract for $71913.12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Purchasing something that expensive should have taken more paperwork and more time. John should've told me what I was signing up for before he simply said sign this and then he left. Given more information and more time to think about this decision, there was no way I would've ever signed up for this ridiculously expensive program. I paid $1498.19 each month from August 2019 until March 2020 for a total of $11985.52. For this monthly fee, I was assigned a coach who called me for one hour once a week. I was assigned "homework" which consisted of listening to a webinar of people from ATI talking about different topics. My coach, Charlene, was very nice. I have nothing negative to say abut her personally, but I did not learn much from her. She did give me a few helpful suggestions, but in no way $11985.52 worth of advice. In March 2020, I informed Charlene that I was pregnant and that it was a high-risk pregnancy and that I was going to have to step back from most of my duties at the shop. I also told her that I did not have the time or the money to invest into this program any longer and I needed to end my relationship with ATI. Then the COVID 19 pandemic hit the world and everything became one million times worse. Although my business was considered essential and I could remain open, my sales for the next 2 months were less than 20% of normal. My payment for $1498.19 usually comes out of my account on the 15th of the month. On April 15, ATI tried to take the payment, but I did not have enough money in my account. This is when we started getting calls from Jordan from American Financial, the bank ATI sold the loan to. I had my manager tell Jordan that due to the pandemic, our most important expenses were paying my loyal employees and the building rent and utilities. There was no money left for ATI and I also told him that we told Charlene in March that I needed to end the contract. He did not care. Jordan calls back several times a week harassing my manager. He threatens him saying that they will shut down this business and take everything from me personally. No matter how many times my manager tells Jordan that we do not have the money to pay ATI, he still calls back over and over and over again. He is nothing but a bully. In summary, for the $11985.52 that I paid, I did not receive anything in return. I was promised my sales would double. They did not. I just want to be done with ATI and American Financial. Hopefully this statement will help anyone who is thinking about joining ATI in the future. They are good at one thing... and that is being salesmen. BEWARE! read more

I have been an ATI customer for about 10 years. This is a coaching and training company for auto repair shops. The weekly coaching is essential to helping my business weather the economy and stay cutting edge. The round table discussions / 20 group meetings allow me to network with other auto repair shop owners around the country. read more

I have been a long term client for ATI and have had great success. The program has helped me grow my business and improve the bottom line. Their training classes have helped me train new service advisers in half the time. The owners classes have taught myself and many of my classmates how to properly manage our auto repair shops in both sales, customer service, marketing, and accounting. But, the best is the weekly phone calls from my coach to help me stay on top of my game. Would recommend this program to any shop owner. read more

ATI is hands down the best business decision we have made. Has it been easy? No. Has it been beneficial? Absolutely!

ATI claim they can turn your shop around with their proven tactics and secrets. They verbally promise amazing results, but if you read the fine details of the contract, their verbal promises are baseless: The terms and conditions contained herein, together with any exhibits attached hereto, if any, represent the entire agreement between Participant and ATI with respect to the Program to the exclusion of all other representations or arrangements, written or verbal. Since the written agreement did not include the vast amount of verbal promises, ATI did not have to deliver. I attended a "boot camp," I was impressed by them. Afterwards, they visited my shop The ONLY visit I ever got from ATI). ATI offered me a "2 month no obligation test drive." I was assigned a coach, and told to trust their "cookie cutter" system. They push for 8% shop supplies with a cap at $39.95. We also raised our labor rates and increased our parts matrix. At our car count was 45-55 cars a week (2016). We were told to raise prices. I was told I was required to attend an "owners class" While attending this class, I was pulled aside into an office to push the sale. At that point it seemed great, but for $1384 a month for 4 years, I had reservations, but they convinced me to agree. The 1st year, we generated more revenue. The 2nd year, we had difficulty finding technicians. When I signed up with ATI, I was told, "We have the secrets to finding good employees." Unless you consider Indeed & Zip Recruiter a secret. I was also told "ALL our coaches know all shop management systems inside out." Every time they asked me about a report, I'd ask how to pull it up, to which they would tell me to figure it out. The first 6 months, there were many accomplishments and changes. Then they began to slack off. The weekly calls began to be missed due to personal reasons or events. The calls came 15 to 30 minutes late. Or sometimes they just didn't call. The 3rd year, business stalled. Our car count dropped to 35 cars a week, and declined to 25 or even 20. I told my coach that this is not normal. Not only were A LOT of calls missed during this critical time, I was told just to hang in and start promoting $19.95 oil changes. Finally, they agreed to switch me to another coach, and he agreed ATI can be a financial burden during times like this. But then another 2 weeks went by with NO CALLS. I wasn't informed about who my new coach was. The new coach finally called, I explained the situation and told him we need instant action. He agreed and scheduled a call with his supervisor to come up with a plan. The call with the supervisor was useless. He had no interest in our well-being and was not even on the line for 5 minutes. The new coach told me "19.95" oil changes will create loyalty. Yes we even tried that, and no, it didn't create loyalty. He told me "I'll have your shop turned around in 6 months." I expressed to him "We need to get out of ATI," his response was, "You think you can do this by yourself?" After 3 more months, nothing changed. I again told the coach that we don't need the financial burden of ATI. He promised me he would talk with their CFO. FINALLY, my coach told me I had to contact the COO. I emailed the COO and specifically asked him to CALL me. All he did was respond to me in an email that ATI has nothing to do with payments since they sold the contract to a bank.. I keep pressing for assistance, and the only message I receive is: NOPE, YOU HAVE A LOAN WITH THE BANK, CALL THE BANK. I have no records of a bank loan, and I have asked them to send it to me to no avail. Shady, shady practice. They are heartless people that smile to you and say they want to help you, but when you REALLY need the help they are absolutely worthless. As I stated NOBODY has showed up in person during this critical time. I haven't been picking up the "weekly coaching call" for 8 weeks. No calls to the shop, or email or text message, "Hey are you alive?" Before you even consider ATI: 4 year contract with full payment through a loan, shows that they are not confident in their abilities, and what keeps them working hard for you when they have your money already? Plenty of resources on FB groups like "Auto shop owners group (asog)" 100% FREE with nothing but shop owners that share resources. Their 200% guarantee is absolutely bogus. Yes there might been success story, but how many of the "failure stories" have they told you? They will tell you 98% success rate, but what is success? If you end up struggling, sick or failing, you're on the hook for the loan. The last call I had with the coach I asked him, "What revolutionary thing will you tell me today?" He said nothing really... ATI maybe good for 1 year, but after that it's just a joke read more

Description:Was scammed into contract/loan and promise of taking my business to the next level. I signed up with ATI with the promise and impression that they would be taking my business to the next level due to the class I took which turned out to be a sales pitch. The class was very convincing and many promises were made during the class about what ATI had to offer including careful 1 on 1 coaching for an hour a week at your desired time and analyzing of my numbers to get my business growing exponentially with their experience and business strategies. The agreement was a contract for 4 years at 1498.19 a month. They promised that if I was not happy with the program that I could simply just pay the cancellation fee and get out whenever I wanted but that I would love the program so much that I would never need to do that. Well little did I know that the contract did not have any form of cancellation fee or cancellation at all and that I was actually taking out a loan for 71913.12!! Had I known I was applying for a loan and I would be unable to leave the contract with a cancellation fee I would of never signed up for this. So after signing up turned out they weren't flexible with the coaching hours. Instead of a hour phone call turned out to be a 30 minutes or less phone call where the coach just for the majority of the time just asked how the shop did that week and WHAT 'I' WAS GOING TO DO TO GET MORE CUSTOMER IN AND INCREASE MY SALES. WASN'T THE WHOLE POINT OF ME SIGNING UP FOR THIS PROGRAM TO USE ATI'S SO CALLED STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS TO DO JUST THAT!!! So basically it quickly became very apparent that I was scammed into a loan and I was not getting anything out of this program that I didn't already know. A year and a half later and I have not made any changes to the way my shop operates based on anything ATI had given me.. read more

BUYER BEWARE! ATI is unethical and predatory in their business practice. They promise you success and a bright business future if you will but singe on to their 4-year (mandatory) contract and pay their massive fee. You pay all fees up front $55000, or you can finance the contract with their bank and they will collect the $55000 from the bank and then you will be on the hook personally (not your business, YOU!) for over $70000. Yes, you will still owe them $70000 + even if your business fails in a few months like mine did. They walk away with ALL THE MONEY PERIOD! And they won't give it back. It doesn't matter what happens to you. And they don't care. To bad so sad NEXT! My Body Shop had struggled to make a significant profit for the 6 years that I had operated it. It never lost more than a few thousand and some years made a small profit. ATI promised that thy could help me turn it around so on the recommendation of a trusted friend I paid the $55,000 fee out of my personal savings (not my business funds) and singed their contract. BIG MISTAKE! I started with over $100,000 in liquid cash and no credit card debt. Within 10 months I was $15,000 in the red. I had to let all my employee's go and shut down the business. There are many reasons why my business failed and ATI dose not bear all the blame for it. However, they did drive up my cost and did not deliver on the promise to improve profitability. If I had shut my business instead of contracting with ATI, I would have been at least $150,000 ahead of where I ended up. That dose not reflect well on ATI's abilities to say the least. I pursed a conversation with them for 6 months to try and get them to respond to a request for a partial refund. I was stone walled. No returned calls or emails. When I made a stink they finally responded that I had sold my business which was not true and therefore they owed me nothing. When I proved to them that I had not sold my business but that in fact it failed and was shut down. They changed their denial of a refund to be based on our failure to implement their recommendations. Here is the problem they took payment for 4 years of coaching but only provided 10 months of service. This is intentional, unethical and predatory. They are very sneaky about this. So they got $55,000 . I lost my business and $150,000 how is that ok on any level? IT IS NOT. DO NOT TRUST THIES PEOPLE! If I can get some other ATI victims to join in, I am considering starting a class action law suit. They claim a 99% approval rating which means that they have found a way to suppress negative feedback like this. I know that I am not the only one that they have done this to. This post will likely be targeted for removal by their legal team. read more

Randy is the best. Makes the claases interesting and fun. Everytime I go, I pick up more knowledge on how to better myself. Thanks Randy

No return on investment as promised. Not willing to terminate contract. Joining ATI Was the single worst business decision I have made in nearly 30 years of operating my body shop. I was promised a 2 to 1 return on my investment by month 2. I gave the program an honest effort but never got anywhere. 2 years in with no return on investment as promised, I asked to end our relationship. I was told that I could not get out of the contract. ATI gets funded from a bank/Finance company but refuses to return the money not used for the duration of the contract. Now I'm stuck w a $1400 bill every month for nothing, BEWARE!!!! Read the fine print. Join at your own risk!!! read more

Very good and informational classes. Two day course and learned a lot more than I thought I would. Ready to get back to work and put it into effect. read more

I cannot promote/thank/love ATI enough. Their training saved my life, family, made a better quality of life let alone have a very profitable and successful business. Yes the course is the price of a new car but it WILL pay for itself. There is to much positive to write in this review, but really if you do and follow their knowledge your business will succeed. Feel free to message me on Yelp if you have any questions/doubts/fears about going to ATI. Thanks to Chubby, Brian and staff at ATI. read more

Don't be fooled by this "free" one day course...its just in place to try and sign you up for a 30 month course that costs over $42,000.00

ATI Showed us baby steps as we continue to grow, Coaching is the key! Thx Kevin Pete A&R Auto Repair read more

Almost destroyed my business. The implimentation of higher labor rates and parts mark up with no consideration of what my market will bear.No consideration of what my competition charges had me priced out of my market causing customers to leave. Sales tacticts like trying to sell absolutely everything the car might need all at once no matter how large the estimate is instead of trying to spread things out for the customer. Many clients cant afford to do it all at once and left us because thats not how we had operated before ATI. They have you so distracted with KPI's that you cant see what is happening to your customer base as its shrinking!!! They sell/feed you a dream of having others do all of your work so you can run your business. Thats not how small town business operates. Our customers come to our shops because of us, the mechanic turned business owner because of the trust created by us serving them, not service advisors and managers. The disconnect creates dissatisfaction and customers leave because they now feel like a number. How would you feel if your dentist or doctor no longer took care of you and gave you to someone you dont know or trust? Same thing applies here. They teach you to work on less cars, higher tickets, mining your current customer base without warning you to keep an eye on lost customers or how important new customer aquisition is because of the loss of good customers. If you're anything like me, i was so distracted with all the smoke and mirrors that I couldnt see what was happening. I now have to rebuild my business and reputation to some degree and warn any small town shop to steer clear of this company. It could destroy everything you've worked for. read more

ATI is amazing. We have been their clients for almost 3 years. They have helped us learn how to work on our company rather than "IN" it. Our sales and customer retention are way up. Their coaching staff and classes are invaluable. I belong to the first Women's 20 group at ATI, and quite honestly it is the best thing I have ever been involved with. Not only did it improve my working knowledge of our shop, it has improved my self confidence and my business relationship with my husband. He know says that he feels like he really has a business partner. We could not be happier. Thank-you ATI for everything you have taught us. Worth every single cent we spent!!! read more

ATI has become part of our automotive family and I want to say THANK YOU! When we started with ATI our business was in trouble and I have to admit that it took us while to drink the "Kool Aid" and make those hard changes. Dana's Dad passed away several months after we signed up and we were not exactly focused. Once we got to our first owner's class and started to implement some of those tough changes we saw success. I am very proud to be a part of the first all woman's 20 group that addresses some of the concerns and issues that come up when you are working in a man's world. We are headed to ATI's SuperConference in Puerto Rico next week and we will be meeting with many friends, learning even more about our business and how to keep working "On It" vs "In It." I have to say thank you to Chubby, George, Richard and Bryan for hanging in there with us until we were successful. I must pack my bags and get ready to see Michelle, Megan, Shelle and the rest of my Leading Ladies. We have spent a considerable amount of money to attend classes, 20 group meetings, SuperConferences and have not regretted one penny. read more

Automotive Training Institute - Thank you Chubby for leading the industry in having an all women 20 group. The Leading Ladies are going strong !!! - Specialty Schools Near Me - Linthicum, Maryland

ATI creates a feeling of confidence and made the owners aware that they are in control. Their recommendations are sound and comprehensive and they cover all aspects of the business. They have training for the owner and the service writers and managers. Results are quick and significant if you stick to what they say. This is not an easy business to run and if you get into discounts and build a huge customer base of bottom feeders, you will be working and spending your savings on the business instead of a lucrative business. That is the key point that ATI tries to get across. read more

I can't say enough good things about ATI! What we do for shop owners is amazing! If you need to fix your business and are willing to make the necessary changes to accomplish your goals you've come to the right place! I have had many jobs in my life, and none of them have left me with the feeling of accomplishment I feel every day! read more

I have been with ATI for about 8 years. My business was doing poorly before I signed up. I had a reasonable car count, but I didn't know how to make a decent living with it. ATI taught me how to make a good living in the auto repair business. The changes made the business enjoyable again, and I began to make decent return on the effort and risk I endure as a small business owner. I cannot recommend them highly enough if you are willing to take their advice and change the way you are doing business. Both me and my employees make a lot more money than before, and my customers are happy too. read more

ATI has guided us through every step of changing our business . The support we receive from the coaches and staff is stellar. The friendships formed with other shops from around the country have truly been a blessing and if you are considering whether to make this commitment .. Don't wait another day do it now ! read more

DON'T SIGN ON FOR THEIR EMPTY PROMISES. They will only show up at your shop once to make sure you are eligible for their program. Which means they just want your signature. No one I have spoken to since the visit has had any knowledge of the shop dimensions employee count or gross sales. I have had 2 coaches, the first couldn't remember from week to week what we had talked about or explain to me what I needed to do with all the email info I received. The second sent the same emails over and over but couldn't explain to me how to implement any of their suggestions. He did offer to have his team leader call me. I did speak to the team leader twice in 22 months. The first time was to request a new coach which he replied sure because they were having too many complaints on that coach and were planning on letting him go anyway. The second time he called he had no idea why he was calling or what I needed help with. My initial reason for buying into ATI's promises was they were very confident they could help me with finding skilled employees. After I joined ATI, I was very disappointed to find their specialized skills in finding employees was using Indeed, Facebook and hiring from out of state. These were options I was already using! So now every conversation with my coach is "everyone is having trouble finding good help, hang in there and remember I am praying for you." Don't be fooled you will be paying over $1400.00 per month for prayers or you could just asked the nearest church to pray for you and donate what you can afford. I am sure the church will be the most beneficial and cost effective choice. Don't forget that when you question them on why you are paying for a service that provides no return for your business that's when they will be quick to turn on you and say it's all your fault for not doing everything you were supposed to do. They will be quick to take your money and will offer nothing but a conversation with a coach who will spend your phone time telling you how ATI has over scheduled him with shops to talk to how he may not be able to call at the scheduled day or time. STAY FAR AWAY FROM ATI!!!!!! read more

We love ATI! They provide great advice about how to help your business grow in the community while also teaching you how to cut cost and increase profit! read more

Great team and culture. Been with them for a long time. Learning how to be a better business man and make smart choices in life. Leadership is developed daily and takes lots of education and practice. read more

We have been a member of ATI on and off since 2005. Currently the last 6 years. It has made an amazing difference in how we run and profit from our automotive repair business. We also are well taken care of when we are on property for classes and training. Chubby has a wonder staff and beautiful facility. We highly recommend it for any independent automotive owner. read more

AVOID THIS COMPANY When their salesman was pitching me, he said i would get access to their web site resources. " Portal for life" he said. After I had paid my $45,000.00 they reneged and shut down my access. Now i cant access 30 months of financial data. That is screwing up my business. They tried to get me to sign up for what they call thei $790 alumni program and they tried to use this as leverage. The consultation is poor and they did not do half the stuff they said they would (no business plan or road map as they call it) . they never visited my shop or even taked to my techs. What a waste of time and $$$$ read more

ATI is a wonderful company that does a wonderful thing! I have learned so much about my position and have learned so many new things to implement at our shop. Love this company! read more