Complaints were filed with the Federal Trade Commission, Kentucky Office of the Attorney General and North Dakota Securities Department over the sales practices used in the sale of a Kentucky franchise territory and a North Dakota franchise territory. HHO Carbon Clean Systems is managed by Dean Owen, CPA of Paducah, KY and Jared English of Metropolis, IL.
Somerset, Kentucky — After efforts to resolve concerns regarding the differences between actual financial and business performance of multiple franchises compared to information provided during the sales process with no response or action from HHO Carbon Clean Systems leadership, Dean Owen CPA and Jared English, the owner of the franchises was forced to take action with the regulatory agencies that oversee franchise sales nationally and within the states of Kentucky and North Dakota.
During the sales process, HHO Carbon Clean Systems provided Mr. Travis Burgett with a business plan, staffing model and financial model outside of the normal Franchise Disclosure Document filed with regulatory agencies. During his time as the operator of the two franchises, Mr. Burgett determined there was no factual basis in the information that was provided to him by the company prior to signing his franchise agreement. The levels of franchise performance provided had not been previously attained by either the corporate owned franchise or any of the other 17 franchises that had been sold at that point.
Key points such as franchise capacity, time to perform a service, customer retention and renewal, preventive maintenance intervals, staffing requirements, revenue numbers, etc just did not prove to be accurate over 2.5 years of operations.
Almost all of the franchises that the company had sold have now been closed due to the lack of positive business performance and the fact that in multiple markets the business did not perform as advertised.
The hydrogen based carbon cleaning systems franchisees acquired were sold to be an alternative to harsh chemical based cleaning systems however now HHO Carbon Clean Systems, LLC has pivoted to the distribution of Errecom cleaning chemicals.
From the HHO Carbon Clean Systems web site (www.hhoccs.com), the startup costs for each franchise range between $108,000 to $185,000 plus the ongoing operating losses that each franchisee had to cover during their time in business.
“It is unfortunate that myself and dozens of other franchisees did not experience the business performance that was presented to us by Dean and Jared. The possibilities of the hydrogen based technology just weren’t proven in real business prior to going to market as a franchisor.” – Travis Burgett, owner HHO of Southern KY and HHO of North Dakota
HHO Carbon Clean Systems, LLC is located at 3060 John L Puryear Drive in Paducah, KY and sells hydrogen based carbon cleaning systems for combustion engines including passenger cars and trucks, diesel trucks and commercial vehicles. www.hhoccs.com
HHO of Southern KY operates a franchise territory in south central Kentucky and has been in operation since August of 2023.
HHO of North Dakota operated as a franchise covering the entire state of North Dakota from February of 2024 until March of 2025.
Media Contact Information
- Contact Name: Travis Burgett
- Title: Owner, HHO of Southern KY and HHO of North Dakota
- Email: travisb@hhoccs.com
- Phone: 859-533-2205
- Website: www.hhoccs.com
