ComplaintsforInstitute of Business and Technology Careers

• Initial Complaint

  04/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am a service-connected disabled Vet that was attending Future Tech Career Institute of Chicago through the ***** program. After the school lost its access to VA funding, I believe that they continued and continue to violate the rights of veterans that attended the school. Students were offered the ability to remain at the school through applying for a scholarship; allowing us the chance to finish classes and obtain certification. I am one of those students that applied and received a scholarship. This scholarship would pay for any remaining classes that we were enrolled in and pay for the vouchers to take the professional exams. I have completed my classes and requested the vouchers this week. Not only did I not receive a response but my school email was closed and my ********* Teams was closed. Losing access to my classes, exam prep, and grades. I maintained a high 90's% in all classes and exams. I believe that this action could violate federal criminal statutes as well as civil statutes. As a disabled veteran, job opportunities are inherently difficult and I need help to ensure that Future Tech did not steal the past 5 1/2 months of my life.

  Business response

  05/05/2022

  The student was allowed to participate in a scholarship program for Veterans. This scholarship program is funded by our school. We are not obligated to do it.

  The guidelines and management are controlled by our school academic team. The school policy is that students must complete 3 practice exams scoring above 90%

  in order to receive testing vouchers. The student in this complaint has not followed the policy. That is way he did not receive the vouchers.

  The student also willingly and voluntarily withdrew from the school and the scholarship program. After 30 days his account was deactivated.

  This is why he did not have access. We have over 50 veterans, many who are disabled currently participating in our scholarship program with no issues.

  Students simply have to follow the school guidelines. We have contacted this student and reiterated the process. he now has access and if he follows the process he will receive the testing vouchers.

  We want all of our students to succeed and obtain employment. Certifications are key for employers. The 90% Voucher policy ensures that students will pass and not waste their time or funding.

  Customer response

  05/06/2022

   
  Complaint: 17026860
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  
  The response submitted by Future Tech Career Institute is a complete and indisputable lie.  I have maintained a documentation trail of the events.  Here are the events in chronological order:
  
  March 29, 2022:  Completed Scrum course (see attached certificate)
  
  April 4, 2022:  Requested exam voucher for two completed courses (Agile & Scrum).  Stated that I was actively exam prepping for the ****************** course that I completed.
  
  April 5, 2022:  No response to email and student email account was closed on this day.
  
  April 6, 2022:  Message sent to Academic Director through still active Student Teams account.  Informed him that my school email had been closed.  He responded that the IT department must have done a clean-up sweep of the email system and not to worry I was still in active status.
  
  April 7, 2022:  Student Teams account closed
  
  April 8, 2022:  Sent email through personal account to the Academic Director (see attached).  I have had no other responses from Future Tech Career Institute.
  
  April 11, 2022:  I began filing complaints with the following organizations:  ******** Attorney General, ************************* ******** Senator D*** ******, **** Senator *************************, Better Business Bureau, ******** ********** of ************************* ********** of Veterans Affairs, and the Armed Forces Legal Aid Network of ********. These agencies are currently investigating.
  
  May 4, 2022:  Received email from *********************** of Future Tech Career Institute inquiring if I had submitted what was required for exam vouchers. 
  Because I am a full-time student, I had not had time to respond but intended too today.  When I received the response from the BBB, I decided to respond to this first and not to **** Johnsons email.  In the schools response to the complaint, they stated that my access had already been reactivated,I attempted both the school email and Teams accounts and both are still inactive (screen shots attached).
  Also stated in their response is that I willingly and voluntarily withdrew from the school, another indisputable lie.  I have attached the email correspondence that clearly states that I was actively exam prepping and making sure that my status stayed active with the school.  The time from completing my last class until they took away my access was only five (5)business days and only one (1) business day from when I requested the exam vouchers.  Once my Teams access was removed, I no longer had access to my course materials to prep for or qualify for the vouchers.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  05/10/2022

  Hi team,

   

  You should be aware that the person filing this complaint, has not rejected our services. 

  We have granted him access to our system and he has been provide3d everything he needs to complete his practice exams.

  In his last message he laid out his communications with us. However the main point of this complaint is he wants to receive his testing vouchers.

  Yes he has requested them. We have not denied him access to these vouchers. The problem is that he has not completed the process to receive them.

  He has to complete three practice exams and score in the 90s before receiving the voucher. Students have to follow our process. this is a requirement 

  to remain enrolled in the school They cannot complain to the BBB just to get their way. This is not fair to us as a business. We have guidelines and states regulations 

  we have to follow for education management.

   

  Hi ******************,
  
  Please see the attached documentation of our communications with Mr. ***************** law withdrawals, do not have to be formal. If the student makes a request
  Verbally, written or electronically we have to honor it. He specifically told us he was joining
  another program and did not need access. This is why we disabled his account.
  
  Also the student was officially withdrawn by the VA. We re-enrolled him under a fully
  paid and support scholarship. Our scholarship is not required by the state or the VA.
  We chose to offer him the scholarship to help and assist ******** veterans.  His complaint
  Makes it appear that we do not value his service or want him as a student. However we
  willingly extended ourselves to assist him. He turned down the scholarship and now he
  has changed his mind. We are still open to helping him. We just need him to follow the
  certification voucher process.
  
  
  Please feel free to let me know if you need anything else.

  ***********************

  Future Tech Program Director

   

  Customer response

  05/14/2022

   
  Complaint: 17026860
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  Subject:  **** Vanderverts response to FTCIs two statements on 5/11/2022

  Date:  May 14, 2022
                                                 

  FTCI submitted two statements and I would like to address each separately. 

  The first was submitted by ***********************.

  One, at no time have I asked to be removed or disenrolled from FTCI.  In fact, all the provided correspondence and my actions suggest otherwise.  I would challenge **** to submit any evidence to support his claim.  Why would I request to be disenrolled only 5 days after completing a class and not yet getting the exam voucher?  I completed the course while enrolled at another school, with high marks from both professors (that email was provided in an earlier response.)  His story has changed from his first response to allow him latitude to my challenge.  He previously stated that they removed my access after 30 days, yet the facts show that my access was removed only five business days after completing the Scrum course.  The Academic Directors response to my email access being cut off was due to the IT department cleaning accounts to clear up licenses, seems like they dont know or dont want to admit why.  My statement of events has remained consistent throughout with supporting documentation. Another statement that **** made was that I declined the **** Scholarship, Im not even sure that I understand why he would say this as I applied and was approved by the school. That is an easy thing for him to verify, maybe he doesnt even know the facts of this complaint.

  My response to the Academic Directors (***************************)statement:

  At no time have I tried to not follow the schools process.  When I requested the first voucher it was because my professor stated in an email (provided) that I qualified for that voucher.  I even stated in the email to ******* and **** that I had not yet qualified for the *** voucher but was exam prepping to be able within the next two weeks.  That hardly sounds like someone that is not following their process, at least in good faith. If my professor was incorrect about the requirements for the voucher, that sounds like a communications fault of the school.  He stated that I was not denied access to the exam vouchers, but my closing my Teams account I could not take the practice exams to qualify for the vouchers; in effect denying me access to the vouchers.

  One of the biggest issues that I have with his statement is that he doesnt believe that individuals should be allowed to complain to the BBB just to get their way.  The mission of the Better Business Bureau is to promote marketplace trust and serving as an intermediary when customers have complaints. At no time did I complain just to get my way or to get around the schools processes.  I made every attempt to contact them and received no responses until they had to respond to my complaints.  I would say that the BBB achieved its mission statement in this case.

  At 7:15 pm EST on May 9, 2022, I was contacted by FTCIs IT department granting me access to Teams and student email.  The Teams account was the same account with all previous classes and materials, the student email was new with none of the previous account emails and materials.  At 8:00 pm EST on May 10, 2022, ******* and I spoke on the telephone for approximately 20 minutes.  This conversation was basically to ensure that we both understood the schools policies concerning vouchers, that I had access to all materials and groups needed to qualify for exam vouchers, and I would be placed in the next upcoming Six Sigma course.  On the evening of May 12,I took the first of two qualifying *** practice exams passing with a score of ****% but realized during review that two of my answers graded as incorrect were in fact correct (I notified the school and the instructor that supplied the exams.  On the morning of May 13, I took the second qualifying exam passing with a score of 97.7%.  I submitted both scores to the required parties of FTCI.  I received congratulatory emails and instructions to set up a Zelle account and provide them with the account information to make a deposit to cover the cost of the exam.  I did as was instructed and later received a deposit from FTCI in the amount of $555.00 USD.

  The experience that I have had with FTCI has been completely unprofessional and frustrating that I needed to defend against their lies.  After the military, I spent eight years as a Federal Law Enforcement Officer for the *****, during this time worked undercover narcotics, domestic terrorism, and intelligence with years of training in investigations and documentation. Many times, I have been accused of having the highest standard of integrity, being too black & white, but never a liar.  I believe that I have presented my full case to the BBB and do not intend to make any further responses to FTCI.

  Sincerely,

  
  

  
  *****************************

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