How to get a 'School' Closed down by means of Government

DeathStar1 · 09-03-2006, 10:34 AM

OK everyone, here's something I've been wondernig. If I have a purpose in life, this would be a good one...

As I beleive I posted before, I had a shitty time in 'Katherine Gibbs' College, due to inept teachers, money spent that was not well returned with course information, teachers that didn't even show up, inept 'deans' that didn't give a shit, and even more crap.

After doing tons of research, they have been pulling this crap on students, costing them thousands of dollars a year in regular payments and loans. If I where to petition the government to shut this company down, and get at least SOME of the students money back in the course of a year, how would it best be done?

Step one, is to register a website with the Company's name in it so it comes up in all searches for future students who do the research. Most of the complaints I See are spread out on various websites and don't even come up unless keywords are typed with quotes.

Step two, is to wait a year for people to find the site and file their story..

Step three is to find someone at a high level of government who can take action on this school, maybe even someone who has a relative who got scammed. Someone is needed who will take this personally, not just to get voting points for an election year..

Step Four is to have the school and company run out of business. There are thousands of students who are scammed every day and it's just not right.
At this rate, I'd be happy with the site costing them millions of dollars a year because students are wising up to their fraud practices..

Step 5 - sub step. Write to the cable companies running their commercials and have them pulled off the air.

Any ideas and advice?

Henry Gale · 09-03-2006, 11:03 AM

Quote:

If I have a purpose in life, this would be a good one...

No, it would not.

Neil,
You need to move on to your future. If 'Katherine Gibbs' is all you say it will show up in any number of reputable college rankings...at the bottom.
In the mean time, they have more money than you so they can present themselves well in advertising, and protect themselves with attorneys.

Quote:

Any ideas and advice?

The crappy school you attended before 'Katherine Gibbs' also ripped you off,
learn the difference between "there" and "their".

CameronJ · 09-03-2006, 11:15 AM

Neil,

Just my personal opinion, but "government" should in no way be involved in the fact that you feel a private enterprise isn't providing the services that you or others have paid for. As far as I know, there aren't any laws against companies providing sub-standard products to consumers (unless of course they are actually dangerous). I'm assuming that they are not state or federally funded, that would be a different story. A couple of thoughts.

If they are truly engaged in deceptive trade practices (i.e. advertising degrees that don't really exist - diploma mills) than the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may get involved. The fact that you feel like you didn't get the education you paid for doesn't seem to fit this situation.

I looked at their website, and couldn't tell who, if anyone, they are accredited with. If they are accredited, I would first contact the accreditation body to find out what kinds of complaint procedures they have.

Lastly, if you feel like they didn't fulfill the terms of their contract with you - your only real remedy is to sue. Of course, they can just as easily claim that you were an awful student and that you didn't live up to your responsibilities to further your education.

All that being said, you can of course set up web pages, write to media, etc. telling your story. While that may be successful in dissuading some people to pass them by, the chance of you running them out of business is pretty slim. It's still possible, and if you are willing to spend a significant amount of time and effort to accomplish this you may be successful, however I would think that you are more than likely to be disappointed with the results.

Back to your original thought however, persuading someone in a public position, whether its someone in government, a celebrity, etc. that your cause is a just one can only help - as the media is more likely to pay attention to someone already famous than some poor schmuck like you or me.

DeathStar1 · 09-03-2006, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henry Gale

No, it would not.

Neil,
You need to move on to your future. If 'Katherine Gibbs' is all you say it will show up in any number of reputable college rankings...at the bottom.
In the mean time, they have more money than you so they can present themselves well in advertising, and protect themselves with attorneys.

Yeah, I realise that. The whole point of this is to get the government involved in a fraud investigation so we the former students don't have to spend a bit of money to get them closed. It's a very long shot, but what the hell..

I know it's the past. But I just hate the thought that I got scammed, and that future students are still getting scammed, if only because they might not be able to afford the computer to do a net research. These Schools mostly go after the low income folks and fraud them into beleiving there's a better future if they sign up for this scohol.

Again, at the very least, I'd be happy if people found the site, word spread, and they lost thousands of future students..

Holadem · 09-03-2006, 11:22 AM

The goverment? That's awfully vague, Neil. Governments don't just up and close down private institutions because well, customers are unhappy.

Sure, if they are that blatantly fraudulous, you could bring them to the attention of the BBB or similar entity, or (much) better yet, your state's attorney general. But I doubt any of the above would work.

So,

1- Find as many students with similar grievances as you can.

2- Consult an attorney.

3- File a class action lawsuit.

Quote:

OK everyone, here's something I've been wondernig. If I have a purpose in life, this would be a good one...

Whatever happened to getting laid?

--
H

**HTF Ads**

DeathStar1 · 09-03-2006, 11:47 AM

The BBB is an option. But since we don't have the funds for a long legal battle, the whole point was to see if we can either cost them money in future students, or have their commercials pulled from cable companies.

As to where there funds come from, for some reason I seem to remember that they get some government funds for something, but I can't refind the blasted link. I'll have to do another search for it.

Edit -
This wasn't what I spotted, but from what I can gather, seems the .gov site mentions funds for building a Gibbs School about halfway through the article..
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...ient=firefox-a

Brian W. Ralston · 09-03-2006, 01:12 PM

1. Holding a grudge like this (which seems deeply rooted) will negatively affect your personal health (mentally and Physically) and really, I would encourage you to not let it consume your life.

2. If the school was not meeting your needs and you felt it was not a worth while investment in your educational future, there was really nothing stopping you from leaving and changing schools. Sure, it would be an inconvienence, and would have greatly affected your life at the time, but you would have been out of there and on to bigger and better things.

Adversity and bad experiences only make us stronger. You have learned a lot from this experience I am sure and it will greatly affect your future outlook on a lot of things. That is the positive thing out of all of this is that now...you know what you know about that school. But again...I would encourage you to not let that frustration and hatred for it consume your life as it appears to be...judging by your inquiry here.

Peace

DeathStar1 · 09-03-2006, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian W. Ralston

1. Holding a grudge like this (which seems deeply rooted) will negatively affect your personal health (mentally and Physically) and really, I would encourage you to not let it consume your life.

too be honest, I havn't really thought about it much over the last ten years. Maybe 4 or 5 times everytime I Saw one of those adds on TV. It was only recently brought up with force when someone at the bank mentioned going to the school a month ago, then I did the research.

At this point, I'd be happy setting up a website that would get decent search engine placement and help future students avoid making the same mistake. Anything else that would happen is a bonus.

Jeff Ulmer · 09-03-2006, 01:34 PM

Quote:

I'd be happy if people found the site, word spread, and they lost thousands of future students..

For which they could in turn sue YOU for...