I am a recent High School graduate, within the past week in fact. I am trying to apply for USAF, however, over the summer i needed some funds to allow my mother a decent lifestyle instead of feeding 2 people on 1 person's food stamps.
Allianz was the first to contact me back about a job, and asked me to come in for an interview on Monday. When i entered their rundown building i was asked to provide my ID and SSC.
I talked with Mr. Maxwell, and he guaranteed a job position to me. He then told me he would enroll me in F-01, metal detector, and 8 hr + 16 hr for $759 + $40 processing. I was also told that all legal certifications would be given to me at the end of all these courses, together. I also asked specifically if there was a deadline on when i could pay off this sum, where he told me I had as long as i wanted.
The contract stated that this was a job placement agency, not a security company as both the name and what was said implies and reinforces with "allianz security protection llc can only guarantee job placement assistance services. obtaining the actual job is the client's responsibility." (more at bottom)
Yesterday, Tuesday, I returned for the first "class". It was supposed to be for F-01 Certificate of Fitness. Or so the "instructor" stated several times. At the beginning of the class, several people were discussing the possibility of it being a scam, and discussed how much they were being charged. Everyone noticed that there were severe ($300+) discrepancies between amounts charged for the SAME courses.
During the fake F-01 "training" that guaranteed a legitimate CoF from Albany, the instructor seemed incompetent, could not use american english worth a d**n, and spent more than 3/4 of our time discussing his life as well as ways to circumvent the law. At the end of the class, we all received a test, each numbered, giving the assumption that they should each be unique. These old, tattered copies were all the same (people were copying from me) and did not fit the study material's guidelines of
{
...Date of Test: Written tests are conducted Monday through Friday (exept legal holidays) 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM.
*skipping qualification requirements*
APPLICANT INFORMATION
Application Fees: $25.00 for originals and $15.00 for renewals. The fee may be paid ............ Application forms are available at the Public Certification Unit 1st floor, 9 Metro Tech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
....
}
The time was 7:00.
I was also told that the 8hr/16hr training would not be able to proceed unless i paid all but $19 of the remaining funds, and when I inquired about Maxwell's talk of paying it off whenever, they said something similar but not exactly the same as "Well, that is true sir. You will have to take up payment with Maxwell then."
Today, Wednesday twenty-seventh I walked over to 9 Metro Tech Center and took the test for F-01 and because i did not have a letter from an employer, i received a confirmation letter that contained a description of "Citywide Fire Guard for Impairment", a CoF number, expiration date, and THE RAISED SEAL OF THE BUREAU OF FIRE PREVENTION. No bull* about Albany, no wait, and a @25 fee was charged for the process.
The ONLY place to get a legitimate CoF pertaining to F-01 is 9 Metro Tech.
After finishing this test, i proceeded on to Allianz to attempt to get my money back, or more proof that they are a load of horse manure. After telling one Mr. Maxwell my very real story of being unable to pay even $5 more, he took my contract with the receipts attached and crossed off the amounts due and wrote in an amount $200 less. Without consultation of anybody. Or anything.
After a little more talking, I got him to issue me the fire guard certificate since i went through that class.
The details on the certificate contained the following, from the top to the bottom:
{
Certificate of Completion
be it hereby known that
******
has successfully completed the fire safety OFFICER exam PREPARATION training course for security guards
at
ALLIANZ SECURITY PROTECTION
244 west 49th street
suite 700
new york, new york 10019
date to the left
signature of an unidentifiable person to the right
}
No seal, no printed name of the signer, was not a certificate of fitness.
My school provided me awards with more information than this for having the highest average. And has some meaning to some employers.
I then proceeded to a place that a person at 9 Metro Tech recommended to me. This place had a price list. A license from the State of New York Division of Criminal Justice Services to operate as a security guard training school. The initial application fee of NYC of $36. A fingerprinting fee within $3 of the posted NYC fee. Their fee to train you. The total amount was also posted, at $218.75.
I was also told that the process would take some weeks and the license specifically would come from Albany. I was also told that fire guard was not necessary. I was told that metal detector training was not necessary. The part of his course that i caught did not contain his life story, was filled with information, and questions were answered.
Now, to go back to my point earlier. You state that you guarantee job placement assistance services, but you provide fireguard certifications that mean nothing good to anybody, so when i provide proof that your certificate is useless, why can i not get my money back since you have broken your promise?
I was promised a Certification, not a certificate of completion.
I will be going back to 9 Metrotech Thursday to get confirmation that that certificate is useless. Which others have already stated.
If requested, i can post pictures of the contract, the CoF, and certificate of completion with my personal data eliminated.