Who is Kirk Leipzig?

The blog storm about JL Kirk and Associates has been swirling, so the truth meter for me began to ring loudly. It all started when Kat Coble, a fledgling writer got miffed at an interview with a job training/career counseling company called J.L. Kirk and Associates. Long story short, Kat's unemployed husband follows mandatory company policy and takes spouse to second interview, where spouse is offended by everything from the rugs to the Christian music on the company speakers. When the company says the fee for couseling and job hunting is 4grand - the couple walks. No money exchanged, no problem, right?

Ooops.

Kat's a blogger...as we all are. She airs her grievances, along with a million other complaints on her blog about everything from the number of parking places at her small public library to Christian weight loss programs. (Hey...Kat Coble must really have a hard time with Christians, this chick because she mentions it a LOT) She airs her opinions, as we all do about the J.L. Kirk company, a place that she calls a rip-off. Pardon me here, but did she lose any money? No.
It's a free country, and a business names their fee and she leaves...end of story, right?

In researching, the J.L. Kirk company trains and helps higher level executives find higher paying jobs for a fee...a fee for service business model. Since lots of us have paid our 30grand for MBA degrees, only to find that does not guarantee a job, 4 grand seems small if I get a job. They promise two years for that $4,000 bucks. Lord, I wish my lawyer retainer was $4,000 for two years of work!!

Then I headed over to the BBB reports to find the good old J.L. Kirk name there, and voila! It's got a 'pattern' of complaints. Further investigation shows anyone can complain to the BBB, a disgruntled or fired employee. Guess what? That's exactly the source of most of the complaints at the BBB. I also noticed the complaints were all resolved to the Better Business Bureau's satisfaction.

The shinola really hits the fan when Kat is served papers to cease and desist fraudulent or misleading information about J.L. Kirk. Everyone has gone crazy over "Kirk sues blogger". Serving a cease and desist isn't 'suing a blogger'. It's legally asking someone to stop saying things that aren't true with malice behind them. From the way things look, J. L. Kirk owner, Kirk Leipzig seemed to have no intention of actually suing if she took down the misleading information. It seems if her words were true, she would have had a leg to stand on and could have left the information up. We have that First Amendment thing going for us, don't we? But, the First Amendment was never intended to protect a wannabe writer seeking attention by trying to destroy a business or a person.

The interesting thing in this story, is the total lack of journalistic integrity by Kat Coble. We are led to believe that she was lied to, misled, and ripped-off by a Christian who has angels, Bibles, and Christian music (OH NO!!!!) in his office. But when you read further, it looks like she simply walked in an office and didn't want to pay for a service. I am still not exactly sure why Kat Coble is so against Christians saying they are such within the walls of their business. I am also unclear as to why Christians can't charge for their services. $4,000 seems fair for two years of retainment by a professional. However, I didn't pay anyone to help me find my job. I'm not a high level executive with a salary in the 100,000 range. However, like Kat Coble aspires to be...I'm a bestselling author masquarading in my between deadline moments as a blogger. I love attention as much as the next guy, and blogging is about the most enjoyable way to get it.

Now, I've got to find out more about this Kirk Leipzig fellow. So far, I get that he's a Christian and really wants everyone to know it. And he charges for the work he does. And he doesn't like people saying misleading bad things about him. Hmmmmmm. Seems like any business who sees the name Kat Coble should watch out. There's no telling what she could be miffed about next. Wouldn't wanna be "Kat Cobled" !