I have the inside scoop

Since a number of crucial posts have been deleted I am not really sure what has prompted all this hostility.  I do detect an attempt now to make some fictitious dispute with Johnny the cause for the expulsion.  Java you are craftily shifting the referent to suggest that what is in jeopardy is our access to “truth” which is the service that you provide to this forum. 

The truth is Java that I can pick up a phone and call Johnny.  Anyone who visits this site has the same privilege and access.  Johnny is very open about his past.  He also answers whatever criticism is posted here on this site. He is not afraid of the truth.  He does have a business and he has posted a package outlining his services and fees.  But he also does a lot of pro bono work.  Johnny is totally transparent and our access to the truth will never be in jeopardy if there is transparency.

Transparency is essential in a democracy as it provides the basis for the checks and balances that are necessary to ensure that citizens’ rights are not being undermined.  There is no transparency in the Canada Student Loan system or HRDC or the department at Justice charged with pursuing defaulted borrowers.  So yes we are in a battle here to uncover the truth.  What is the real reason that statements of account are not regularly sent out?  Doe the lack of accountability encourage theft and is this what has happened to all the money that the Auditor General noted is missing at HRDC?  There is a relationship between truth and transparency.

As Java you encouraged people to Google you and you provided your name in your email address so that this was possible.  I discovered that you had been a bill collector and that you seemed to still be offering something related to this activity on numerous web sites.  Also as Islander you have encouraged posters here to post the identities of collection agents on the web.  You also have a particularly low regard for someone in this line of work and consider them less than human.  Redemption or compassion does not factor into your assessment of collection agents. Why should I exempt you from the same scrutiny that you demand be imposed on others?  Your associated with the collection industry is rather vague.  Are we not entitled to know this considering you are offering advice? 

I have nothing against debt collectors if they obey the law.  I also have nothing against people earning a living.  Java you have said that you are offering some kind of alternative to student loan borrowers.  What kind of service might this be?  Why don’t you just hang your shingle and offer the service?  Considering how adept you are at creating aliases do you not think it might make people a little nervous to simple entrust their lives to one of your many identities?  You are not transparent and so we are left to wonder what truth is being revealed.  Or are we being duped yet again? 

Cheers

Holy Crap! What the hell is going on here?

This all started because someone from "the other side" posted??

I could understand Islander's frustration, but suggesting that Misty be a "loan shark or prostitute" is offensive, not matter who Misty is or where she worked. That's uncalled for and I don't see in any of Misty's posts anything remotely that offensive. I don't know what her delated post was, but I'm sure she was reacting to Islander's post and she did apologize in another post. Sorry Islander/Beachcomber, but man, that was kinda low.

Look, I'm with all of you guys, and I have horror stories as well. I know that there are lurkers who are trying to stir up trouble on the forum (collectors and the like), but can't we just give someone the benefit of the doubt first? I do agree with Misty that CIBC SUCKS. I think it's important to have an insider's view on the whole process, it could be a great complement to Johnny's knowledge and experience.

I know this site is much better than that. It's informative and has some really great threads. If I was new to this site and joined to get help and info about my student loan crisis, and this tread was the first one I read, I wouldn't come back.

Um, well, if it's not too late to address the excuses for incompetence that the edulink guy gave,  I'd like to mention that I work for a call centre and if we made mistakes like that for any reason we'd all either be pulled off the phone for more training or fired.  You guys aren't supposed to be some crap tele-sales rep.  Your field is specialized, your job is clear, and it's not getting done.  Can you possible imagine it being accepted (whatever the reason) if emergency police lines suffered that level of failure?  Or Hospital data was lost in that manner?  The problem with organizations like Edulink is complacency and the feeling that it's ok to be crap because they are not doing an important job and they can get by and won't be fired for their failure. Well, I think it's high time our society said that it is not acceptable and high time we demanded accountability and service.  Our student loans cannot be equated with fast food, our lives hang on them. Regardless of turn over it should be the responsibility of the company to ensure anyone on a phone is trained.

Mark:  Just wanted to put my two cents in ... (and why not?  everyone else has ...  ).  I am disappointed to the extreme in Islander's recent posts --- he/she has usually had interesting, informative things to say.  However, there is absolutely no reason that you should be expected to put up with any kind of abuse and harassment, which is what those emails constitute.  I am concerned, actually, that Islander seems to be delusional and somewhat divorced from reality.  This is not the first time that I've seen an ordinarily rational person on a forum suddenly degenerate into a ranting, hostile individual.  Maybe things got too much for him/her --- and, just given the style of writing, Java/Islander/Beachcomber certainly seem to me to be the same person to me as well.

Anyway, didn't mean to go on here.  What I wanted to get at is that I hope, Mark, you aren't letting one (or two) people spoil what you have set out to do here.  There are an awful lot of us who appreciate immensely the opportunity to participate in this site, and who applaud and admire your efforts. 

This is your site, you can toss anyone you feel like, and nobody here really even has the right to question you on that ---- even though you do explain.

Keep the faith!  We're all behind ya ....