I am not one of the cadets laid off by EZY, rather one of many cadets currently treading water waiting for a TR and then line training, all the while in the knowledge that repayments for my loan are imminent! So as of this time, my contract with CTC personally has not been fulfilled. I have tried to write not as an individual (although that I have clearly not acheived!) but more as a representative for those currently in a similar situation, and those who will be joining the pool each month. I think my personal feelings are echoed by those other cadets at least to some extent.
I don't think debating the customer/product status of cadets is necessarily particularly constructive, but I would whole-heartedly agree that on handing over £60k, cadets should indeed be considered a customer. And I think we are considered customers at times (particularly when they are trying to get us to hand over that money), but when it is more convenient for CTC, cadets are treated much more like a commodity as you say, namely when the going starts to get a bit tough.
What has bothered cadets is the lack of information that comes our way. CTC do have a strategy, and this strategy effectively dictates what happens next for each of us, but we are not told what that is! Something very simple like knowing your position in the holdpool, for example, is quite important when trying to sort your life out for the interim. But to my knowledge, even after numerous attempts by different people, this has not once been disclosed.
In hindsight, pprune might not be the best place to try to make a point like this, but perhaps putting it out there might bring something useful to the table.