I made an agreement with head hunter (John Gardner) in Feb 2006 that I would pay him 5000 to find me a job that met my expectations. The arrangemetn was that I would pay him 3000 upfront as a retainer and 2000 6 months after i have been in the new position. If he could not find me a job that I could accept in 12 months then he would return my retainer fee. My main concern was that I had already been applying to different companies prior to signing up and might land a new job without needing their help. He then told me to give him a list of companies that I had applied too and should I land a job wiht any one of these companies then he will refund my retainer. This is exactly what happened, and for a couple of weeks him and his associates were no where to be found. Then after several attempts to contact them, the owner John Gardner agreed that if I sign a release form, they will refund me the money. After more delays again I finally received the waiver and mailed it back on April 10. The contract was stated that i would "release" the company upon receiving my initial deposit of 2868.50 CAD. They have confirmed receipt of the waiver on email. John Gardner the owner and president then promised to reimburse my credid card early May, on email. I have sent them a demand letter from my lawyer Karen Zvulony, but this was ignored.
I then decided to sue Cornerstone Career Partners in small claims. I won. I then had notice of examination in which i summoned John Gardner to ask how I could collect.
Apparently the company in Toronto had all its assets seized by the landlord so it had no assets to pay me back. At the same time, John Gardner incorporated another company called cornerstone career partners in Oakville (same name, same website, same service, same owner, same employees, same customers) but I am unable to sue the second company as both companies are separate entities.
This a scam designed to steal $$ from people by making false promises and claims without having to pay any recourse to the victims by incorpating the same company again as a different entity.
I did some research on the web and suspect that cornerstone career partners is highly affiliated with the Bernard Haldane group of con-artists in the US. Same pitch and run, same business model etc
John
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada
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