On June 5, my teen son accessed the services of Virginia Personnel, Inc. Before he knew it, he had given them every penny of his hard-earned savings and owed them a balance of $180, to be taken from future earnings in $40 installments: this agency wiped a teenager clean and left him in debt. My son initially thought their fee was $3.65 three sixty five. As it turns out, their $365 fee is only for, as described to him in person, the offering of only two job contacts a week: addresses and phone numbers only, without information about wages, hours, etc.
These scant services are less than any reasonable person can do on their own using classified ads and the yellow pages (which, by the way, a former Virginia Personnel, Inc. Employee tells me is exactly how they get their phone numbers). Virginia Personnel, Inc. Did not tell my son they would set up appointments, interviews, or jobs for him, as lineated in their contract. The very day my son signed the contract he was chided for turning down a job that he was not interested in.
My son came home from this agency in debt, in tears, and feeling very stupid. I attempted to intervene on his behalf to see if the contract could be voided and his money refunded. The consultant who worked with my son would not divulge her full name on the telephone. While I understand such a policy at the lower level, her supervisor also refused to identify herself by name. I also take issue with the patronizing manner in which this supervisor spoke with me. Further, she called me immature and rudely offered me unsolicited parenting advice.
Virginia Personnel, Inc. Refused to answer my questions and repeatedly maintained that they could not discuss my son's case with me, as he is an adult. While I understand the legality of not discussing a clients case with a third party, Virginia Personnel, Inc. Breached my son's confidentiality themselves by freely speaking of their interactions with him, when they thought it was to their defense.
For example, the nameless supervisor described the sign-up session with my son and her perception that he clearly understood the terms of the contract. She went on to sarcastically suggest that I put him on restriction for his actions. She would, then, treat him as an adult when it comes to contracts and fees, but suggested that I treat him like a child for being such a dupe.
Virginia Personnel, Inc. Is an unethical business with the abominable practices of misrepresenting their services and taking advantage of teenagers.
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