Complaint Review: The VLC Mindsplore homeworkers.org

On April 20, 2005, I paid $1457.95 for a course with The VLC. On  February 02, 2007, I paid an additional $449 for the internship program. I have kept all past emails and correspondence, including receipts for payment and grades.

I was in the last part of the program and the school has disappeared.  For the past several weeks, there have been no responses to emails or submitted assignments. In the latter part of November, 2009, I attempted to access the school forum and check my grades. I could not do either. I assumed there was a problem with the website and waited several weeks. In December 2009, I attempted again to contact the instructors and access the site. I can still access the site but no grades or forum. Emails are bounced back. Telephone numbers are disconnected. On December 23, I filed a complaint with the Ontario Canada BBB.  On December 24, I saw notification that the company appears to be out of business on the BBB site.

Their student recruitment website http://www.thevlc.com/ is still up. There are several reputable organizations logos on the bottom of the page, and a blurb that says The Virtual Learning Center are proud members of AHIMA, AMBA, AAPC, adhi, and BBB. They are not. I have been in contact with 2 other VLC students and we have all been doing research. One student questioned these organizations. AHIMA claims never to have heard of them and their BBB membership has expired. She has not yet received replies from the others.

There are several names associated with the VLC. Owners are Stephen B. St. Louis, Bill Redford and Pat Filice.  Others are Amy Rudd, Ken Mack, and instructors Carol Simpson and Linda Najar (who claims to be 'exclusive transcriber to the president of On-time Transcription').. Alternate methods of contacting these people have failed.

They are/were owned by a group called Mindsplore (Stephen B. St. Louis, Bill Redford and Pat Filice), along with http://www.homeworkers.org/.  This is the information that is on their website;

Canada: Virtual Learning Center, 143 Main St. East, Suite 203, Hamilton, ON   L8N 1G4 Canada 

USA: Virtual Learning Center, 1925 Pine Ave., Suite 9035, Niagara Falls, NY   14301 U.S.A. 

Phone :  (905) 521-2193, Toll Free :  (866) 539-1901, Fax :   (905) 521-9799 (24 hr.)

Hours :  Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST (NONE OF WHICH IS WORKING)

Please assist me in resolving this. I want my money back, and I certainly dont want this happening to anyone else. I now have to begin researching other schools, who will not accept any grades or give credit for what I have learned. I have already asked. This is a time-sensitive issue, as my fulltime job ended last week, and I need to start back at square one. Not only am I out the $2000 that I paid, I have nothing to show for all of the work that I have completed.