Resources

I thought I'd done my homework until I pursued help by filing a dispute with my credit card company. Then I realized I'd barely scratched the surface of information available. Still, I also have to say that the only thing I've found out so far that would have kept me from continuing with the Reiki Council and The Sanctuary School is that I should not have begun classes until I had payment information from TFC. Connie Vrenios had me using used books donated by a previous student for over a month, which was over half the time I was there. I had no business using their materials until they were "mine" and being paid for through the loan I thought was being submitted. Hopefully other would be students, from whom Rick Vrenios or Connie Vrenios request(s) a down payment from in order to submit a loan that doesn't end up submitted, may benefit from information provided in the resources below.

Illinois Legal Aid

Nolo

Illinois Pro Bono

Carol Stream Office of Praire State Legal Services provides free legal services in civil legal matters for persons who have incomes below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines and senior citizens age 60 and older regardless of income.

ISBE - Illinois State Board of Education In Illinois, a school's curriculum usually must be approved by the ISBE. As it happened for me, that may not apply to classes taken as a member even if you are a student or licensed.

Illinois Department of Finanical and Professional Regulation

Chicago Better Business Bureau

National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork

American Massage Therapy Association

American Massage Therapy Association Illinois Chapter

Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals

My Experience with Rick Vrenios, Connie Vrenios, Reiki Council and The Sanctuary School

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This blog details an attempt to complete a Reiki-based massage therapy program at The Sanctuary School which was cut short by Rick Vrenios and Connie Vrenios who chose not to submit the loan we agreed to in writing. A scan of that loan application dated June 13 2007 is chronologically entered near the bottom of this page.
To clarify a point made by Connie Vrenios and Rick Vrenios' in their BBB response about me creating a "flurry of communications", 1) this began in pursuit of my $2000 downpayment; 2) it's unlikely attorneys are inclined to immerge themselves in dense, convoluted communications for issues like this. Surely most would glance at this mess and rightfully refuse involvement. Maybe Connie Vrenios and Rick Vrenios relied on offensively dense and convoluted communications to prevent legal pursuit. I can't speak for them, but I have a consistent history of being verbose, so again their accusation is baseless and unprovable.

This blog is intended to serve as a constructive outlet for this experience. Though I'll never know why this happened, I do want others to know Connie Vrenios and Rick Vrenios disappointed me to the core. I also want to believe someone else will be helped by not being similarly victimized. My biggest mistake with The Sanctuary School and the Reiki Council though was wanting to continue to trust after common sense said enough is enough. There could have been much more to say here, but I didn't journal as I should have. Much is already not posted here because it's mostly rambling while trying to organize where I went wrong.

Outside legal means, any representative for The Sanctuary School and Reiki Council who decides to contact me should email transparent and clear discussion and know it will all be posted here and backed up elsewhere. This blog will be edited for clarification, typos and updated to add evolving details, so it will remain a work in progress through the last communication.

Friday, December 14, 2007

July 30, 2007 no response to second written request for TFC loan info

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(It should be clarified here that my copy of the loan application was found inside a school book cover. Don't recall Connie returning it to me, so I'm supposing she may have put inside the cover one day during lunch or a break.)

From: cs colvin
To: Connie Vrenios
Cc: mingram@tfcloaninfo.com
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 7:26:07 PM
Subject: Re: your note & etc.

Hi Connie,

In preparation for moving, change of addresses, etc., I called TFC again today to make sure loan payment information would be sent to the new address. TFC still doesn’t show me in their system though. I called back to find out if I could apply for the loan myself and needed to know what the down payment would be. I was directed to an online form. However, that form was for online classes only.

I called TFC back and was told they finance loans for Gatlin Education Services mostly for online courses, then was transferred to someone who handles in-class loan applications. I called back and was told I could not apply for an in-class loan myself, that only a school could approve and submit a loan for me.

After calling TFC a second time, I was told someone would call me back and they did, saying you told them I am no longer attending classes, when in fact I have been and would be this next weekend. I attended the class referenced in your email below while you were present. This past week you and I only discussed putting the Anatomy class on hold, nothing else. In fact, you
also outlined classes for me last Monday on a current schedule so I could focus on Reiki. The classes I’ve taken so far are included in the program that the loan should have been submitted for. Did something change? If so, I am completely unaware.

I also offered to pay the extra cost or fee you mentioned in order to expedite submission of the loan, because I thought that might have been an impediment. TFC said there isn’t one to the best of their knowledge, though I would have to contact the school directly to find out because arrangements may be different than usual.

Because of these discrepancies, I was compelled to ask about the timing of loan submission and was told there was not a better or worse time to submit a loan. I don’t understand why you would tell me that if it weren’t true, but why would TFC say timing doesn’t affect loan submission? If credit history was a consideration at all, which you said it was not, I have very good
credit and would have been more than willing to sign a request for a credit check or provide one myself.

I am very concerned that we’ve paid a $2000 down payment which was not processed until June 13th per credit card transaction # 24418007165165142744302 and there is still no loan information available because I’m still not in TFC’s system though I have been taking classes regularly during June 2007 until just this past week. Essentially I have been taking classes without paying for them, because the loan has not yet been submitted.

After considering the implications, when TFC called back I requested that they not accept any loan submitted in my name until this is resolved because I gave my copy of the loan application to you and no longer have it as a record to refer to. I left a voicemail for Paula, a TFC Manager, and am forwarding a copy of this email to mingram@tfcloaininfo.com for their records. Attached is the note left 07 19 07, which your email below references.

Catherine S. Colvin
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