(The timing of Rick Vrenios' and Connie Vrenios' communications and claims makes all date stamped documentation pertinent.)
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Cardmember Service
Post Office Box 15298
Wilmington, DE 19850-5298
1-800-475-3366 ext 67596
Re: Response to Connie and RickVrenios’ response to this dispute
Attn: Tavia Laster, Financial Service Advisor
A specifically detailed response to Connie and Rick Vrenios’ documentation is as follows:
1) The AMTA Find A Therapist result is outdated.
2) Connie’s handwritten note does not indicate licensure and as a continuing education provider she has to be aware of that. To the best of my knowledge, Connie had no difficulty verifying my licensure status before I began taking classes. Connie’s note is an attempt to deceive those investigating this dispute by implying I am licensed when it’s easily confirmed I am not. If Connie is implying I am practicing without a license, then that is a separate issue to be addressed by licensing authorities and I will follow up accordingly.
3) Class times provided by Connie are inaccurate and include optional/non-class workshops that I was told were free and included with the Inspired Living Community membership which I paid for separately. I still have a receipt for that membership. None of the class attendance can be confirmed because there was no sign-in record. It could easily be said I was there when I was not or the opposite, just as tutoring is being claimed when it did not occur. There was no tutoring of any kind, not even for body mechanics which we all knew I needed desperately. Body mechanics for Class 6 was taught before I joined the class. Connie said I would “get it in the next class” though The Sanctuary School appears to have closed on October 26 2007 according to their website. Sent with this letter is a screenshot of that page. (Attachment 1) Note: It may be pertinent for those reading this response to know body mechanics teaches how to prevent self-injury and injury to clients. Though I’ve been told what it is, I did not have the body mechanics class at either massage therapy school (including the one that gave me the 600-hour certificate). Every massage therapist I’ve spoken with believes proper body mechanics is vital to health and longevity in the profession and correct treatment of clients.
4) There is no enrollment agreement.
5) Rick and Connie should not have accepted my $2000 down payment nor allowed me to take their program because they knew their curriculum was not ISBE approved and they knew they were closing their school before I would be able to take the “next class” Connie often referred to.
Rick and Connie received a letter from the ISBE to Cease and Desist in May 2007 because they had not renewed with the ISBE. Current ISBE approved schools are listed here http://www.isbe.state.il.us/pbvs/pdf/closed_schools.pdf . The curriculums at both schools were not approved when I began classes and both remain absent from the ISBE approved school curriculum list. It appears Connie and Rick believe my $2000 down payment and I could be abused simply because I had a 600-hour certification from another school. Though that should not have been a consideration for obvious reasons, I had also explained to them in our first discussions about the ethical concerns I had with the first school simply giving me my certification, more specifically I had not finished that first school’s massage program.
6) Prior documentation includes the unused loan application prepared by Rick which would have paid Connie and Rick in full while allowing me to complete the full 660-hour massage therapy program and additional advanced classes I believed I was paying for via the loan. Connie and Rick both represented to me that they were a legitimate school offering me a complete 660-hour massage program plus advanced classes and that all of it would be paid for by the loan that Rick or Connie chose not to submit. Rick and Connie’s actions and choices made the service they promised to provide through their instruction incomplete. At no time did they inform me my $2000 down payment would not be applied to the $7500 loan. If they had, I would have told them immediately that I would be unable to continue classes because the cash I had offered initially was no longer available.
7) It may also be a consideration that in May I offered to pay Rick and Connie for the $7500 program in full with cash before I began. Connie said that wasn’t a good idea but didn’t say why. In June, Connie and Rick said I could apply for a loan. Rick prepared the loan application, then in August 2007 refused to submit it after I asked to put things on hold because I still didn’t have the loan information.
8) Among other discrepancies in Connie and Rick’s documentation, there is an errant charge for a student clinic massage for $40. During a discussion Connie asked if I had had a full body massage and I said no. Connie then said all students were supposed to have a free student massage in the student clinic so we knew how a good massage should feel and have a good idea of how skilled we might also be once prepared to work in the student clinic. I also gave Connie a tip for that student that was not returned. Incidentally, this is the student who hurt my right hip but, according to Connie, was compelled to continue working on it after I said it hurt because she was psychic. I wrote it off because Connie had previously said this student was a close friend. A similar discussion about patients experiencing pain with TMJ during a facial massage had already occurred and was handled confrontationally by Connie. I didn’t think it would do any good to remind Connie of contrary statements she’d made in class about not repeating something that hurt someone.
What has become clear is Rick and Connie knew they were closing The Sanctuary School in October and there would be no “next class” though Connie kept referring to one. Closing their school may explain why Connie was putting me in every class possible and trying to use up my $2000 down payment without providing the full massage therapy program as originally agreed. I didn’t even have time to read through the enormous amount of materials they recommended before moving on to the next class. I still have books they suggested I buy and did with my own money separate from everything else.
Without an enrollment agreement perhaps Rick and Connie did not feel it is necessary to keep their obligation to me as a student; however, without an enrollment agreement their refund and other policies do not apply. The only agreement ever made between us was for the complete 660-hour massage program plus additional advanced classes. There was no agreement or any discussion about me taking only the classes that remained from ongoing class 6 (which had been 2.5 months in progress) or a partial program, now or ever.
Since Rick and Connie are unwilling, or possibly unable, to keep their agreement, it follows I should be equally relieved of responsibility to them. If we walk away from the matter at this point, I have only lost time, some money invested in a profession I’ve become completely jaded on after two substandard schools in a row and learned hard lessons about trusting people. I have nothing that belongs to Rick and Connie, so they lose nothing but the same time they provided to other students and a few single classes Connie said I had to take in order to “catch up” though that didn’t happen as she said it would.
I wanted so much to be part of their Inspired Living Community that I made myself available every time Connie asked for help with anything. I was careful not to take up their time unnecessarily or to be a burden or nuisance in any way possible. I helped them move things, clean the classroom and kitchen and for that brief time supported everything they did wholeheartedly.
Though I did think they were putting me at risk because of the loan not being submitted, I really believed that was going to work out and that Rick and Connie just needed a nudge to get organized and do things that would help keep their students. I say this because Connie complained about how expensive it was having such a small number of students. I thought they were just badly disorganized. I believed in them 100% until Rick’s email on August 3 2007. It was like petting a sweet, innocent bunny and finding out it was really a snake that had already bit you. Nothing left to do but deal pragmatically with the poison.
No school should be allowed to steal money or time from students as they did me. Rick and Connie's tossed salad of a curriculum not approved by the ISBE is about as functional as a hodge podge of vehicle parts in place of a new and complete vehicle. Rick and Connie seem to believe there’s no harm done just because I already had a 600-hour certificate, which only allows someone to obtain a license. But it shouldn’t matter how many certificates a student holds. When there’s only been one agreement, which was to submit a loan so an entire program of classes can be taken, that should be the governing factor because it was the only premise for any action by me as a student or the school to the best my knowledge. If I were in their place, I would surely not put someone in class after class without knowing I would be paid or how. They had assurance of being paid in full first in cash, then with the loan. Rick and Connie turned down the cash and did not submit the loan and did not tell me what they were really doing with my $2000 down payment.
At no time did Rick or Connie have my permission to use my $2000 down payment for any other purpose than to submit that loan for the $7500 program and additional advanced classes. When this 660-hour massage program was presented to me as a new student, I asked about choosing classes separate from the programs. Connie said each class in a program is a necessary component. Rick and Connie’s dispute might be reasonable if I practiced as is with incomplete training and forwarded bills for injuries and liability issues to Connie and Rick who imply I received adequate instruction from them, but it’s easy to guess how massage clients I could injure might feel about their pain while Connie and Rick continue pretending they’ve caused no harm to anyone nor contributed to unnecessary inconveniences.
Speaking of inconveniences and laying aside the personal affronts, instead of being licensed and practicing as a massage therapist in October as Connie assured me I would, I am without even the small amount of income that might have provided despite paying rent to do so. I am left seeking another profession because I need distance between this ordeal and time to consider whether or not wanting to be a massage therapist is worth taking the time to attend yet another school. I have over $1600 invested in massage equipment, supplies and exam study materials that must now be sold at a loss or given away if I don’t stay with massage, but I have significant doubts about my ability to survive among people like Rick and Connie. There is not even comfort in knowing the odds are with me if I try again and I am unable to discuss this incident with others for fear of negative repercussions though I am not at fault, unless I should be blamed for trusting practiced scam artists.
Speaking of scam artists, a few other people have been affected similarly. Two have said so to me in writing. Because I wanted to work through this, I kept silent about it to most people. However, if such corroboration might help prevent someone else from being treated as I have by Rick and Connie, please call or email me at 630 808 9317 or cs_colvin@yahoo.com. Those communications can be forwarded immediately upon request.
At this point in time I have returned to the IT field in a minimal capacity until my career counselor helps me find a new profession. Additional points of contention with Connie and Rick’s response to this dispute are as follows:
1) Claiming to be continuing education providers to licensed massage therapists, Connie and Rick Vrenios must know that presence on the AMTA “Find A Massage Therapist” utility does not represent licensure or active practice. Even so, my name has since been removed. The AMTA office can be called at 847 864 0123 for confirmation. Sent with this letter is a screenshot showing my name does not appear on the utility in question. (Attachment 2).
2) Sent with this letter is a copy of an email from an AMTA representative that relates a discussion about the status of my membership, that being inactive. (Attachment 3)
3) Sent with this letter is a screenshot from the Illinois State Board of Education website showing the name “Colvin” is not licensed for any profession in Illinois. (Attachment 4) This is confirmed here https://www.idfpr.com/DPR/licenselookup/default.asp .
4) Connie’s handwritten note is disingenuous with its wording and dishonest by omitting her repeated and strong encouragement for me to add myself to the AMTA “Find A Massage Therapist” utility and practice as a student for donations. Connie knows that just days after I added myself to that utility I was contacted by a corporate massage business to attend an event and that I referred that business to the Reiki Council and Sanctuary Massage School. I asked Connie if they had been called because I was interested in knowing if that business had called The Reiki Council for massage therapists for their event.
5) Beginning with our first discussions, Connie and Rick Vrenios were aware of my apprehension about working as a massage therapist without complete training. Also, based on Rick and Connie’s initially strong encouragement and Connie’s strong emphasis that I would be ready to take the exam in October 2007, soon after joining that class I signed a year lease to pay rent to share a room with another massage therapist. Other students may recall discussion between us and Connie about sharing the room to practice in because I wouldn’t be using it until I was licensed. Sent with this letter is an email from another student who was interested in renting or sharing the space until I began using it as a licensed practitioner. (Attachment 5)
6) Connie is aware I believe I am not sufficiently skilled to practice massage. In fact, I lent my massage table to another student for over a month because though I was renting space I wasn’t using the table. When Connie asked why, I explained yet again that I was not comfortable giving massages without completing the course. Sent with this letter is a copy of a prior email that mentions my effort to pick up my massage table at the school where the student who borrowed it returned it to, instead of my home where she picked it up from after a class. (Attachment 6)
7) Referencing prior documentation, Rick’s email mentions a massage to be done for Connie by me. That was initiated by me because Connie insisted I didn’t need the other classes as much as I thought I did. After our last discussion about this I asked Connie to let me know when she was available so I could give her a massage which would allow her to assess my skill level. Interestingly, I was originally told during our first face-to-face discussion that was necessary for placement before joining the ongoing class. Neither happened though because the first assessment prior to beginning classes was never scheduled and at the second opportunity Connie didn’t call me to set a time.
8) Sent with this letter is an emailed time card approval reflecting a recent return to the IT field. (Attachment 7) Several applications have been sent out for IT jobs and I’ve volunteered IT services at the Hines Veteran’s Hospital.
9) Finally, Maria Vana is my career counselor at the DuPage County Workforce Development office in Lisle, Illinois. She can be reached at 630 955 2051 to confirm I have been working with their office since August 2007 in an effort to change careers.
To the best of my knowledge and ability, I have represented myself ethically in every possible way. Until now I avoided mentioning odd questioning or unprofessional actions by Connie and Rick such as:
* being told I was empathic and clairvoyant because I have nightmares
* questioning and being judged by Connie about confidential and highly sensitive subjects including childhood abuses and being an assault victim
* why I was fired from my last job
* health concerns that have since been distorted to misrepresent me
* Connie telling me she knew something about me she couldn’t disclose, then when asked about that later said she didn’t remember what it was
* Connie asking me if rocks in different boxes wanted be together or not because each rock had been carefully matched with other rocks because they were Reikied together
* Rick and Connie betraying the trust and confidence of their close friend when Rick came into class one morning and said that person was having a suicidal episode; Connie said I shouldn’t worry because this person did that all the time
* Connie and Rick putting me in an advanced Reiki class before the initial Reiki attunement while Connie brushed off comments from other Reiki practitioners who questioned my presence among them as an uninitiated/unattuned Reiki student
* a massage student hurt my hip in the student clinic and I let it go when Connie said that student was psychic which is why she was compelled to continue working on my right hip after I said it hurt
* Connie stating I could practice Reiki-ssage without a license but when I said I felt out of place in the advanced Reiki-ssage class, Connie said she meant Reiki-reflexology and not to worry I’d catch on after attending other Reiki classes later
* In opposition to being a respectable Reiki practitioner, Connie suggested I charge for Reiki sessions immediately and perform massage for donations until I received my massage license. During discussions with other Reiki practitioners and massage therapists, practicing like that was most commonly discouraged as “something that shouldn’t be done just because it was possible”. So in addition to everything else, Connie repeatedly encouraged me to practice in a manner that was not respected among potential peers.
I forgave so many red flags out of pathetic desperation to be correct in my assessment of Rick and Connie, and the fervent hope I had found a place to belong. I didn’t want to consider giving up massage therapy because two schools in a row were substandard. Though at a loss for why, Rick and Connie passed up numerous opportunities to be honest and ethical about their association with me as a student and a platinum member of their new Inspired Living Community. The more I tried to be fair and forgiving, the more they took advantage of my willingness to do and be what they wanted, which in the end appears to have been just another dupe falling for their scams. While it is true a few students have graduated, Connie and Rick are closing their school so it is must also be true that Rick and Connie had significant difficulty keeping their school open, or possibly practicing unethically may be why the school is closing since it is relatively common knowledge Connie and Rick treated others as they did me.
The disorganization was obvious but we let it go because we figured no one is an expert at everything. However the unprofessionalism and scamming of me and trusting people like myself, the betrayal of trust of one of their friends to me, was so entirely unexpected that I am still at odds with myself over my poor judgment in continuing to trust and support Connie and Rick as I did. I’ve trusted so few people. Maybe I was just tired of not being able to trust anyone. I really don’t know.
An effort was made to inform students in Class 6 when I also needed to get my massage table back. I wrote a note and left copies on tables when we picked up my massage table and bolsters. Sent with this letter is a copy of that note. (Attachment 8) I don’t know if those students got my note or not and I’ve been asked if I discussed this matter with other people. I have to say “very little” because I am utterly embarrassed to have been scammed by Connie and Rick or part of their scamming other people. I recall others in class who seemed to question Connie and Rick on certain points in a way that Connie or Rick were obviously not pleased with. Now I realize those students and members were correct in their assessments and that it was I who persisted in seeing and believing what I wanted to in an effort to be right about my choice to support Rick and Connie. Every day I wonder if my support of them helped dupe someone else.
I feel a tremendous amount of guilt and shame for not being more open about what Connie and Rick did to me, but I have also been advised by legal counsel that the responsibility to follow up with incidents like this belongs to government authorities.
I apologize for the length of this response, but in truth there are 22+ additional pages that clarify the many distortions of Rick’s August 3 2007 email. Should this dispute continue and those pages are needed I’ll aim more for brevity, though comprehension of what transpired is found in much of what would be trivial details had Rick and Connie not misused me or my $2000 down payment and simply provided the entire service of instructing me in a full 660-hour massage program and additional advanced classes as they initially led me to believe they would.
Respectfully,
Catherine S. Colvin
630 808 9317
cs_colvin@yahoo.com
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