I have a consumer complaint website and have question about trademark. Need help!

[cjwilson3759]

I'm located in Indiana

I am a previous graduate from ITT Technical Institute. I graduated with highest honors and a bachelors degree. I had a GPA of 3.9 out of 4.0 possiable. You would think that I would be happy and that I have done well formyself. The fact is that I did't learn a thing due to the un-satisfactory quality of education, false claims, and the poor instruction and lack there of provided by ITT Technical Institute.

Myself and many other classmates feel that ITT ripped us off. I've come to realize that this is pretty common among many of their campuses. The US Dept. of Education is running a campus wide investigation on all the ITT-Technical Institute campuses.

The feds closed down 10 campuses back in March of 2004 for a day to seize documents and transcripts. I had already met with someone from the US Dept of Education about 6 months prior, to the FED raid, in reagards to ITT-technical Institute. The case is still ongoing.

The Fed raid made front page on many newspapers and even landed in USA today and on yahoo news. The raid was also covered on many news stations across the US including MSNBC.

ITT-Technical Institute is currently in litigation with some of it's investors for the company falsely Inflating stocks.

There are some other web sites out there dedicated to this matter such as http://www.itt-sucks.com/ or http://www.ittsucks.com.

While attending there the program director had heard that my class was seeking to form a class action lawsuit and he was told that I was the ring leader. After he heard this he falsely accused me of threatening him to try and have me expelled from college. This man didn't like to deal with situations. There was no argument between us but he somehow managed to call the police and have me escorted out of the school during the middle of my class. He wanted to ruin my creditability.

I didn't make a fuss and walked out with the police behind me. Afterwards I went and bought myself a mini cassette recorder and then went home to type up what turned out to be a detailed description of the events that happened that day. I was to go in front of the school board the next day to determine what would happen to me next. I gave the Dean my document explaining what happened, how I was wrongfully accused, and why I thought the program director did it. I was told by the Dean that he was tired of student complaints and that he did not care to hear any of them. I didn't get any sort of apologie from anyone but I was allowed to remain at school.

I had my mini cassette recorder in my pocket with an extension mic led up to the inside of my collar and recorded the conversation. I continued to bug myself every day from there on out in case any other situations similar to this big lie were to occur.

I recorded several conversations with the staff members while there. One of which a staff member was verifing and telling me about the school using pirated software, other mishaps, the program director saying, "**** it! let the class sue, maybee we'll get it right next time" and all sorts of other stuff.

(Note: The program director was fired about 4 months after my graduation)

One day I felt fed up, helpless, and unable to afford an attorney so I threw together a web site. I Encoded some of my recordings into Windows media format and streamed them from the website to inform the public of what it's relly like an how situations and classrooms are handled. The web site provided links to news stories on the web in regard to ITT-Technical Institute.

I am wanting to go to the media about ITT Tech and would like to give website location to them as well. It's actually myself and many other students from various campuses.

I registered the domain name stealingistheirbusiness.com and added the subdomain ITT-Tech in front of it.

I need to know if I would be breaking any Copyrights or Trademarks by using the web address http://ITT-Tech.StealingIsTheirBusiness.com

We wanted a domain that was impossiable to not notice.

I don't relly care about the whole incident with the program director. I am concerned with the quality of education and the education that I didn't receive. Also, concerned about current and future students getting ripped off as well.

ITT Technical Institute continues to get away with it because they have the big bucks to pay attorneys and the students can't afford attorneys due to the high cost of student tuition. The students can't afford to sue the school.

The school is a for-profit organization that cares more about making profits and investors than their students. Their ticker stock symbol is ESI and their corporate web site is http://www.ittesi.com. Web site is targeted for investors and includes press releases an finacial releases. Some mentioning many lawsuits and court cost that they are paying. Of course they try to minimize it all but they are paying out millions in court cost, as seen, and attorney fees.

Their schools company website is http://www.itttech.com.

Thanks

 

[HomeGuru]

I'm located in Indiana

I am a previous graduate from ITT Technical Institute. I graduated with highest honors and a bachelors degree. I had a GPA of 3.9 out of 4.0 possiable. You would think that I would be happy and that I have done well formyself. The fact is that I did't learn a thing due to the un-satisfactory quality of education, false claims, and the poor instruction and lack there of provided by ITT Technical Institute.

Myself and many other classmates feel that ITT ripped us off. I've come to realize that this is pretty common among many of their campuses. The US Dept. of Education is running a campus wide investigation on all the ITT-Technical Institute campuses.

The feds closed down 10 campuses back in March of 2004 for a day to seize documents and transcripts. I had already met with someone from the US Dept of Education about 6 months prior, to the FED raid, in reagards to ITT-technical Institute. The case is still ongoing.

The Fed raid made front page on many newspapers and even landed in USA today and on yahoo news. The raid was also covered on many news stations across the US including MSNBC.

ITT-Technical Institute is currently in litigation with some of it's investors for the company falsely Inflating stocks.

There are some other web sites out there dedicated to this matter such as http://www.itt-sucks.com/ or http://www.ittsucks.com.

While attending there the program director had heard that my class was seeking to form a class action lawsuit and he was told that I was the ring leader. After he heard this he falsely accused me of threatening him to try and have me expelled from college. This man didn't like to deal with situations. There was no argument between us but he somehow managed to call the police and have me escorted out of the school during the middle of my class. He wanted to ruin my creditability.

I didn't make a fuss and walked out with the police behind me. Afterwards I went and bought myself a mini cassette recorder and then went home to type up what turned out to be a detailed description of the events that happened that day. I was to go in front of the school board the next day to determine what would happen to me next. I gave the Dean my document explaining what happened, how I was wrongfully accused, and why I thought the program director did it. I was told by the Dean that he was tired of student complaints and that he did not care to hear any of them. I didn't get any sort of apologie from anyone but I was allowed to remain at school.

I had my mini cassette recorder in my pocket with an extension mic led up to the inside of my collar and recorded the conversation. I continued to bug myself every day from there on out in case any other situations similar to this big lie were to occur.

I recorded several conversations with the staff members while there. One of which a staff member was verifing and telling me about the school using pirated software, other mishaps, the program director saying, "**** it! let the class sue, maybee we'll get it right next time" and all sorts of other stuff.

(Note: The program director was fired about 4 months after my graduation)

One day I felt fed up, helpless, and unable to afford an attorney so I threw together a web site. I Encoded some of my recordings into Windows media format and streamed them from the website to inform the public of what it's relly like an how situations and classrooms are handled. The web site provided links to news stories on the web in regard to ITT-Technical Institute.

I am wanting to go to the media about ITT Tech and would like to give website location to them as well. It's actually myself and many other students from various campuses.

I registered the domain name stealingistheirbusiness.com and added the subdomain ITT-Tech in front of it.

I need to know if I would be breaking any Copyrights or Trademarks by using the web address http://ITT-Tech.StealingIsTheirBusiness.com

We wanted a domain that was impossiable to not notice.

I don't relly care about the whole incident with the program director. I am concerned with the quality of education and the education that I didn't receive. Also, concerned about current and future students getting ripped off as well.

ITT Technical Institute continues to get away with it because they have the big bucks to pay attorneys and the students can't afford attorneys due to the high cost of student tuition. The students can't afford to sue the school.

The school is a for-profit organization that cares more about making profits and investors than their students. Their ticker stock symbol is ESI and their corporate web site is http://www.ittesi.com. Web site is targeted for investors and includes press releases an finacial releases. Some mentioning many lawsuits and court cost that they are paying. Of course they try to minimize it all but they are paying out millions in court cost, as seen, and attorney fees.

Their schools company website is http://www.itttech.com.

Thanks

**A: oh brother.

 

[cjwilson3759]

40 grand for an education not received keeps me from being able to say oh brother. I can't just say oh brother for every check written to Sallie Mae. People can say that you get out of college what you put in. Well I put in 100% and drove 120 miles a day five days a week to attend. And the quality of education is piss poor.

Yeah, I got my Bachelors degree but I didn't just want to buy it. I wanted to learn something and my intentions were to attend a college that knew what and how to teach. I was fooled..

Let me tell you what I do for a living. I work as a web applications developer. My job consist of mostly Cold Fusion Programming and database development. I've had to fall back on what I've taught myself over the past several years.

Now what I went to college for was 3D computer animation and interactive media. What I am currently do for a living and what I attended ITT Tech for training in a careeer I wanted to be in are two totally different things. Why don't I work in the field of what I attended college for? Well, a degree may get me an interview in the field and maybee I could even land the job. But, I would not be able to maintain that position because of the simple fact I know nothing more about 3D animation, 3D Studio max than the day I signed up. Now I attended every day and maintained highest honors (Means all A's). The instructors that ITT Tech hires are moslty previous ITT graduates with no experience. If a company keeps hiring instructors after instructors, from the same school, no experience in field, then they will end up employing a bunch of inbreeds with no knowledge of what they should be teaching.

I can not be more honest when saying that they don't know Diddly. 3/4 the time they don't teach. Heck, I wasn't hard to get high GPA becuase hardly nothing was assigned. There was rarely any lectures and rarely was class told to open books.

I had an instructor who couldn't answer anything about what he was supposed to be teaching. How many times could you stand to ask questions about something you relly wanted to learn only to hear the answer "I don't know"? The simple answer for everything there was, "I don't know" and just left at that. They didn't even have answers for what should have been the easiest things.

Two quarters our class was locked out of some of the core applications that we were supposed to be learning. Why? The answer is because ITT-Tech installed the application on every system in the class but no one could run them. They failed to purchase the proper amount of licenses to run the software. 3D Studio Max require what's called a hardware dongle to run. It's like a key that attaches to a printer port. You must have purchased a valid licensed copy of the software to get one. Now this classroom had 20 plus computers without them. We were unable to run the core software. This application is whole reason anyone attending wanted to even attend in the first place.

The instructors computer didn't even have one and he couldn't even run it. As a result he couldn't even begin to teach. I was so pissed off at the end of the quarter when I found out what the final for that class was going to be. I remeber getting in and sitting down to take the final. The instructor announces that since we and him didn't have access to the software that the final exam was going to be, "Guess your instructors age and you'll be graded by how far off you are." This was obsurd and I was totally pissed. I went straight up to the program directors office to complain.


Now my associates degree is in Computer-aided Drafting. I got that dgree from ITT Tech as well. But I can truthfully say that I learned something on that. I have worked as a Civil Engineer and an Architectual Engineer using AutoCAD. ITT tech requires that you take Computer-aided Drafting before you can take the program in 3D Computer Animation. The 3D Computer animation program was their Bachelors program. Every single person that attended that Bachelors program had no desire for Computeraided Drafting. Everyone took it to get to the Bachelors program including myself. I could care less about Computeraided-Drafting and to be truthfull I hate it. But I most definatly learned way more about Computer-aided drafting than I did about 3D computer animation. I've retained it and learned from it because it was actually taught. I didn't care to learn it but I know it well enough to maintain a job doing it.

Now I am an honest person. I was excited when I finally got what was supposed to be the chance to learn what I origionally attended ITT-Tech for. I'd previously spent two hardworking years going through the associates program and I was finally eager to learn. I was only dissapointed to find out that no one knew what they were doing and were unable to even do anything basic. It was like the upper management stopped caring about the students after they enrolled in the program. They didn't care to listen to address any of the issues with that program.

So many things were mishandled and mismanaged by the upper faculity that you would most likly think I was making it up if I even told you. Now I am not one to expect a free ride. I got the degree I origionaly wanted. But it's worthless because I can never put it to good use unless I wipe myself with it. I will never be able to maintain a job in the field but I have a degree in it? I am not the only one and I can pretty much tell you that there are 13 others in my same boat. Those people are every one of my class mates during those years while attending. We've all sought attorney's and have done it together. Attorneys say that we have good merit but won't take the case on a contengicy basis. Were broke and in debt. We can't afford attorneys.

Most students are in 20's and can't afford attorneys unless they've come from a wealthy family and have the family to finacially back them. The higher-ups at ITT know this and they themselves can afford the best attorneys. This is how they can get away with it. No normal people one outside of ITT walls hears these complaints. Very few are heard and when they are most people think their just complaints coming from whinners who expect a free ride. Perhaps if they heard these same complaints more and more from diffferent people they will begin to question themselves. Until then I have to let it out and I will do so in my own ways. If that means construct a web site that many will gauk at then so be it. Eventaly it'll pay off in the end and whenever that might be.

As a result of all this I can't simply let go or just say, "Oh Brother". So please do not say things like such. You are not me. You haven't been through what I've gone through. In fact, I hope that you get the best out of life. For some people things come easier and they don't even consider or realize it. It's hard enough to make it today without somebody taking advantage of you. It's even harder when you have to pay for it.

 

[totd2008]

Hi cjwilson3759,

I know you posted your complete two years ago, but on the off chance that you are still checking this posting I thought I would reply. Was there any further development in your case?

Currently in California there is a piece of legislation, SB 823, which aims to provide students of trade and vocational schools (like ITT Tech) with a direct legal right of action against schools which fraudulently induce their students to enroll, through misrepresentations, bait and switch tactics, and a variety of other strategies that schools have developed to wrongfully recruit more students.

As you mentioned it is hard for students to find attorneys willing to take on these types of cases because the damages are usually limited to tuition. This bill, which is a continuation of the Maxine Waters Student Protection Act that expired on July 1, 2007, would provide students with the ability to obtain a greater amount in damages if the school willfully misrepresents material information.

Although, you do not live in California, consumer rights groups are currently looking for stories from former and current trade school students so that they can show the Governor and other politicians what can happen if these schools are not effectively regulated.

 

[quincy]

Quite frankly, cjwilson3759 (if you are still checking your post after 2 years), judging by your grammar and spelling, I am surprised you even graduated from middle school, let alone ITT Tech with a 3.9. If I were you, I'd sue your elementary and secondary school district for failure to educate - not ITT Tech.


(oh, and cj, if you DO sue, use your sentence, "I continued to bug myself every day from there on out..." as proof of failure to educate. It's my favorite! )

 

[netstudent]

Hey quincy,

Instead of being an ass hole, maybe you could take the time to listen to someone's thoughts and understand their concerns. Last time I checked, this was a place to get advice and talk to people about legal concerns. I had no idea this was a grammar school. They guy wasn't wanting your opinion on grammar. He was voicing his concerns to anyone who would listen, not trying to prove to the world that he is a English major. Who cares if his words were grammatically incorrect. I go to ITT-tech in Nashville and graduated as Valedictorian, with a 4.0 GPA and the place just frikin sucks. It is exactly what everyone has described, very low quality of education. It just pisses me off to see someone going through the same issues I am and paying out thousands of dollars. Then when you try to tell someone about it, some di** head has to come along and talk about something that is completely irrelevant like grammar. Thats exactly why ITT is taking peolpe's money. Because people like you won't take the time to listen. Your too busy trying to find ways to discredit the lad that is getting cheated.

Now I'm not a slacker or lacking intelligence and I'm sorry if I'm coming off as double A hole myself. I don't really care. I just stumbled across this thread and it just ticked me off so I had to put my 2 cents in. More people should be standing up to get something done about ITT and their scandalous methodologies.

 

[quincy]

Whoa. I sure hit a nerve.

The post was over 2 years old, netstudent. But your point is taken. I was being an *******, just as you are now.

I am sorry that you and the others consider ITT a lousy school. If you had read this post two years ago, you might not have gotten screwed by it yourself.

And, my point actually was less about cjwilson and more about the abysmal education some kids are apparently getting in middle school.

 

[netstudent]

Well again, sorry about the language and extreme post. Maybe you aren't an a hole and ya I probably do seem like one myself. I knew about the rumors going around about ITT before I enrolled, but I thought they were all just a bunch of disgruntled slackers and I could make my own way through the ciriculum. I have done pretty well for myself on my own accord and everything I heard about the school turned out to be true. I have even attended 2 separate campuses. Wish I could do something about it as that other guy was trying to do.

 

[quincy]

Oh, good. We're friends again.

Listen, netstudent, if you really think ITT-Tech is horrible, write to your Congressman. Apparently totd2008 of California is trying to get legislation passed by rallying former disgruntled ITT students. There is nothing that says you can't be vocal about your experiences with ITT, too (well, you might want to leave out a few of the ******, ) There is probably a consumer rights group in your area that can assist.

 

[cjwilson3759]

A few responses

totd2008, I just found my way back to this post. Are you still on the hunt for stories on experiences from previous ITT students? Contact me


quincy, Considerate of you to come down from your Ivory tower long enough to read and comment on my previous 2yr old post. My sincere apologies for the mis-use of bad grammar. The cost of ITT Tech student tuition is so high that I couldn't afford to pay attention in my ITT Tech grammar 101 class! Muawhhaahaha!

Do you have anything relevent to my experince to pick at now that you got my attention?



netstudent, I'd have to agree with in regard to your judgement in character. It's sad to know that there are others getting shafted by ITT Technical Institute. Please feel free to contact me in regards to my experiences if it will ever help you out in the future.



Current an previous students, Don’t let education get in the way of your learning (Mark Twain)



Thanks again

 

[cjwilson3759]

I just came across this posting listed at the url below and I can't help but snicker because it is all so familiar and so right on! Every ITT Tech student learns this down to a T through experience of attending ITT. Oh and yeah, I'm still sore about ITT and the wounds will never heal untill I get my money back. Yes ITT, I'm still me and I still despise your practices. Grow a conscious!

http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.657933/browse_thread/thread/89702f562e2faccb

 

[quincy]

Hey, CJ! I am only down from my Ivory Tower briefly, so this will be quick.

Your complaints about the Tech schools are shared, apparently, by several Tech students and there have been, in the past, state and federal investigations into their practices. ITT Techs are "for-profit" schools and many (NOT ALL) have been accused of putting profit ahead of the students' educations. Policies at these targeted schools have been monitored, and administrators have been relieved of their positions on at least two campuses within the last couple of years. The complaints that led to their dismissals were similar to the ones you outlined in your original post, and that ones totd2008 mentioned.

I am surprised that your and tot's high school counselors, when discussing post-high school education with both of you, did not give you a "heads-up" on your particular Tech schools, as there was press given to the Techs at the time.

(by the way, I noticed a couple of misspellings in your current posts but the grammar was pretty good )

 

[Imagae]

I'm located in Indiana

I am a previous graduate from ITT Technical Institute....

Hello cjwilson.. I am hoping you, yet again, find your way back to this post. I am in the last quarter of my first year at ITT Tech in Troy, Mi and wow... yeah... not good. I am seeking to join (or ignite) a class action suite against that whole organization. How do these people sleep at night?? You know, the Dean of Students was actually fired in my 3rd quarter? Apparently too many people were receiving A's in Physics, and the school fell under investigation...

I am maintaining a 3.9 and it means NOTHING. None of my credits will transfer to a University so that I can pursue a valid education. Best of all, I was told that they WOULD before I signed my life away to these people. That was my biggest question when considering ITT Tech as this particular location only offers an Associates program, and I am in pursuit of a BA. Yep, I was flat out lied to. The horror stories I have found online in the last hour, let alone the last few weeks are just insane. Tell me where you are on this please.

Thanks,

Imagae

 

[quincy]

Just as this old post keeps popping back up, Imagae, I imagine cjwilson will, too.

What really disturbs me about your post, and cj's post, and totd's post, and netstudent's post, is that information on the ITT-Tech schools has been available for a long time now, with lawsuits brought against some of the schools dating at least as far back as 1995. Yet somehow students are still surprised about their ITT credits not transferring and their ITT degrees not being recognized when they try to apply to other colleges or universities or to grad programs, and when they find their ITT education is less than stellar.

ITT is the largest operator of post-secondary tech education in the U.S. - and they are nationally accredited. But not all of the campuses have regional accreditation, which means credits and degrees are not always recognized by other colleges and universities. Also, ITTs are for-profit schools. They NEED students, so recruitment becomes a big part of their success. This can, and has in the past, led to recruiter misrepresentations.

Numerous lawsuits have been brought against ITT by former ITT students, for misrepresentations made by ITT Tech recruiters and for ITT marketing practices. ITT, in addition, has been sued over inflated grade point averages which allow students to qualify for more financial aid, and over falsified records so ITT schools could get more federal grants. Suits have been brought charging illegal uses of "incentive salary structures" and suits have been brought over violations of various state statutes. ITT shareholders have brought class action lawsuits. There have been charges of stock price inflation based on false facts. And investigations into various ITT operations (recruitment, admissions, graduate salaries, credit transfers, retention, attendance, student placement) have occurred on campuses in Indiana, Oregon, California, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and others.

If you really want to help other students avoid the problems you are experiencing, contact high school counselors. These counselors should be helping junior and senior students with their decisions on post-secondary education. Perhaps by educating the counselors about ITT in Troy (not ALL ITT campuses have reported problems), these counselors in turn can advise their students better.

And if you are interested in suing, I suggest you contact an attorney in the Troy area, or travel a wee bit to Lansing, Detroit or Ann Arbor and check out the free help available at their law schools.

 

[markish]

Just as this old post keeps popping back up, Imagae, I imagine cjwilson will, too.

What really disturbs me about your post, and cj's post, and totd's post, and netstudent's post, is that information on the ITT-Tech schools has been available for a long time now, with lawsuits brought against some of the schools dating at least as far back as 1995. Yet somehow students are still surprised about their ITT credits not transferring and their ITT degrees not being recognized when they try to apply to other colleges or universities or to grad programs, and when they find their ITT education is less than stellar.

ITT is the largest operator of post-secondary tech education in the U.S. - and they are nationally accredited. But not all of the campuses have regional accreditation, which means credits and degrees are not always recognized by other colleges and universities. Also, ITTs are for-profit schools. They NEED students, so recruitment becomes a big part of their success. This can, and has in the past, led to recruiter misrepresentations.

Numerous lawsuits have been brought against ITT by former ITT students, for misrepresentations made by ITT Tech recruiters and for ITT marketing practices. ITT, in addition, has been sued over inflated grade point averages which allow students to qualify for more financial aid, and over falsified records so ITT schools could get more federal grants. Suits have been brought charging illegal uses of "incentive salary structures" and suits have been brought over violations of various state statutes. ITT shareholders have brought class action lawsuits. There have been charges of stock price inflation based on false facts. And investigations into various ITT operations (recruitment, admissions, graduate salaries, credit transfers, retention, attendance, student placement) have occurred on campuses in Indiana, Oregon, California, Nevada, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and others.

If you really want to help other students avoid the problems you are experiencing, contact high school counselors. These counselors should be helping junior and senior students with their decisions on post-secondary education. Perhaps by educating the counselors about ITT in Troy (not ALL ITT campuses have reported problems), these counselors in turn can advise their students better.

And if you are interested in suing, I suggest you contact an attorney in the Troy area, or travel a wee bit to Lansing, Detroit or Ann Arbor and check out the free help available at their law schools.

SOMEONE HELP ME.

I have not started ITT yet and I am supposed to start in march. After reading numerous posts from people on this thread and many other websites I am about to drop this school immediatly. Is it really that bad? Maybe some of the programs are better then others? Im getting a accociates in computer networking (or whatever its called i forget what it is specifically.) I went to the campus and it looked silly to me. It looked smaller then a grocery store and wasn't much of a "campus" , but more of a building with lots of rooms and was only a one floor building. The people at the desk were totally clueless about everything it seemed like.

Im looking to get into the tech field and specifically networking and now I'm upset because it seems this school is a total fraud. Where do i go from here? Where else is there to go for this type of education?