Below is my initial letter demanding a repayment from the Church of Scientology. After the repayment letter is a detailed timeline describing the events I experienced trying to obtain a repayment of outstanding funds on my account with the Church of Scientology.
I was forced to receive auditing in order to receive my repayment, since it is the Church’s policy to give auditing in order to try to clear up anything that they did wrong. I received a total of 15 hours of auditing.
I never directly threatened the Church with an attorney because the Church told me that there was a policy stating that they were not entitled to give a repayment if an attorney was involved. I’m not sure if what they said was the truth, but I didn’t want to break their rules and risk losing a significant amount of money.
It took me approximately 10 months to receive a check for my repayment. I hope that my story can help others receive a repayment, so they can get out of Scientology and recover their financial commitments if they would like to do so.
*Note: I have excluded the Church name and the names of parishioners (they are labeled Numbers 1-12) of the Church in order to avoid liability and or threats from the organization.
Letter:
Church of Scientology
November 3, 2009
Mr. Number 1:
I hereby demand a full repayment of all funds currently on account. Within the Church this is commonly referred to as “Advanced Payments.” I also demand that you allow me to return all unopened materials (in shrink wrap and boxes) that came with my initial training package purchase of $XX,XXX.XX since these materials are allowed to be returned per Church’s policy that you stated in our conversation last week. These materials include books, CDs, training manuals, and everything I have not used that came with the package. I have calculated that I have used and or opened $X,XXX.XX of goods/services, which can be seen on the enclosed spreadsheet. The total amount owed to me once you allow me to return all unopened goods is $ XX,XXX.XX. You stated that there will be up to a 3% administrative charge on repaid funds. I have also enclosed a USB flash drive with the following documents to help with the administrative process:
1. Excel Spreadsheet with breakdown of unused and used services and materials.
2. Word copy of this letter.
3. Repayment links word document.
4. Fair Use Quote word document.
5. PDF of my credit card statement with original training package charge.
6. Word document for a few minor issues and last questions I had about charges on my account.
If you could tell me how the 3% administrative charge is determined that would be great. Through my only method of research via the Internet I have found that the administrative charge for repayments is calculated arbitrarily. In the event that I am charged the maximum administrative charge of 3% or $XXX.XX my minimum repayment should be
$ XX,XXX.XX. $ XXX.XX charged in order for me to get my repayment back seems to be exorbitant, so I expect an explanation of this charge once I receive my repayment.
I officially began the paperwork process with you on October 6th, 2009. Since then I was required against my own desire (not physically) to do auditing on an E-Meter with Number 2 in order to complete the paperwork process on October 13th and receive my repayment. On October 13th I specifically stated that I did not want to go on an e-meter and do an auditing session and that I would not do it. However, you stated that it was part of the repayment process and that it was a step that I needed to complete in order to complete my paperwork. This action of giving me no other choice than to do auditing is unethical and something that I should not be subjected to doing. I have attached the only Fair Use Quote policy that I could find in this letter and no where in the policy does it say that a person seeking a repayment of unused services must complete auditing and complete a Claims Verification Routing Form. If there is a more current Fair Use policy that the Church gives to the IRS please show me that document. I also asked how much auditing I would have to do to in order to finish my second major step on the Claims Verification Routing Form (five steps) and you would not give me a definitive answer or even an estimate. Hence, it is clear that the Church has the step on the routing form to keep me on hold without repaying me for as long as possible in my opinion. I believe you think you are helping me by having me do auditing and possibly salvaging me by keeping me in Scientology. However, I have made the decision to receive my repayment for unused services and goods donated. I understand that after receiving my repayment I must leave the organization forever since that is the policy of the Church.
On October 20th I came in again to try to complete the auditing process and instead I had a conversation with Number 2 about all of my issues with Scientology for over 2.5 hours. At one point during the conversation Number 2 tried to do auditing on me, which I agreed with, but he stated when I was on the e-meter that I had “insufficient metab.” Last week on October 27th I came in again on the time that you requested at 8pm and I was told that Number 2 was too busy to meet with me to try auditing again. I was then told to come back on November 3rd to do auditing. I do not want to continue auditing and I simply demand my repayment.
Here is a recounting of how I was originally sold the training package, which I believe was an unethical process:
November 3rd, 2008: Life seemed to be going pretty well besides my persisting headaches and I was still doing one of my Scientology courses, Dianetics, once a week. It was at that point that one of the main guys at the Church of Scientology that sold services started to convince me that if I were able to put in more hours into my coursework and start a training program to do auditing with a partner I could cure my headaches 100%.
The main guy, Number 3, spoke with me for about 5-8 hours over a two day period on a weekend asking me to describe everything I had done to get to where I was (including all of the mistakes I had made) and he convinced me that no doctor could help me anymore because I had done everything possible through medical evaluation. He made me believe that my health problem was 100% tied to my mind, which Scientologists believe is controlled by the spirit, and if I could clear my mind and make my mind function better through intense coursework and auditing over a 6-18 month period (depending on how much time per day I committed) I would cure my headaches.
The idea of curing my headaches seemed like a dream to me and I was willing to spend whatever it took if Number 3 could convince me that Scientology would cure my headaches. Number 3 told me the training would be given to me as a scholarship, which would cost about $XX,XXX all together ($XX,XXX in supervisor fees were taken out along with some other costs) and it would be a tax deduction since it was a religious donation. Right before that he basically high balled me and told me it would cost about $196,000 if I went the standard auditing route instead of the training auditing route, so the training price he proposed didn’t sound that bad after hearing $196k.
I remained very skeptical and I knew it would be tough for me to afford the cost since I only had about $XX,XXX of liquid funds at the time. I have to admit though, the guy was truly one of the greatest salesman I had ever encountered. He told me things like “People spend $50,000 on a BMW. What are you worth?” And “How many more years of your life do you want to live with headaches?”
The tipping point of my decision was when he introduced me to a successful dentist that was a high level OT VII Scientologist. The dentist told me that he was once partially paralyzed on one side of his body and that Scientology cured him. He also told me about how successful he was and how he worked for four out of every five weeks. The dentist also claimed he had several dentists managing his practice during the weeks he visited Florida to receive auditing. I was amazed at how rich and successful the dentist was and he told me about how auditing raised his IQ significantly. As I spoke with the dentist he told me if he could do his route all over again he would go the training route (what they were trying to sell me) and that his wife had gone the training route.
His wife (Number 5) then interjected in the VIP meeting room at the Church and she told me about her training experience. She said that she had terrible migraine headaches and that part way through her training her migraine headaches completely vanished. This amazed me and really made me want to take the plunge, but I wanted time to think about it. Number 3 told me that I only had until about Wednesday or Thursday to decide and that after that time the scholarship would no longer be available. In addition, Number 3 convinced me to discuss my financial situation with him. I told him that I had great credit, so he told me I could probably get a great fixed interest rate on my credit card to buy the package outright.
He was right and he stayed with me in the room as I called my credit card company to get a fixed 2.99% rate on my credit card that had a $XX,XXX limit. Next I asked Number 3 how many scholarships were distributed per year. Number 3 told me that they gave out about 12 of the scholarships per year to hand picked people, which raised red flags for me.
After thinking for a few days about the proposition to do the training program, I decided that I could not do it because of the cost and the questionable sales tactics. I just knew from my experience in sales that it wasn’t right that I had to make a decision so quickly. I was feeling really good after two days of speaking with Number 3, but I did not want to make such a big financial decision so quickly.
When I came in a few days later I told Number 3 I was not going to do it, but he told me jokingly that I was going to do it. He asked me how I was feeling and I told him that I was feeling really good. He then said that I was feeling really good because he had performed auditing on me while we were talking for 5-8 hours the weekend before. This made me think that auditing worked and I could not believe his confidence. Bear in mind, I had paid $1,200 for two 12.5 hour intensives of auditing about a month before, which did not help me at all. The woman auditing me mainly conducted assists since I had a bad headache virtually every evening that I came in after work.
Number 3 had his wife who worked there selling me and reading explanations from L. Ron Hubbard course materials explaining why I was hesitating to buy the package. Finally, after resisting for an hour or two, Number 3 convinced me to buy the package. After all, he guaranteed that after I got through the training I would no longer have headaches (my scientology level would be slightly below clear after I would finish my training). No one had ever made a guarantee to me like that. [End of Sales process]
A quick and full refund is expected within 30 days of receipt of this letter from the Church of Scientology. This demand is in accordance with existing Church Policy, the same Policy that was quoted to the IRS when the Church of Scientology was granted tax-exempt status. This policy is commonly referred to as “Fair Use.”
Failure to comply with this demand will result in legal action by my attorney.
Respectfully,
XXXXXXXXXXXX
CC: US House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means
1102 Longworth House Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515
Attn: Charles B. Rangel, Chairman
Timeline Detailing What I Went Through After The Letter:
11/3/09
After handing my letter to Number 1 before trying to go into an auditing session Number 1 told me that I was “completely off of the rails.” I told him all of the issues that I had with Scientology and how I didn’t think it was right that I had to continue to receive auditing in order to receive my repayment.
As I was discussing my issues with Number 1, Number 2, the auditor scheduled to audit me, came to the room and Number 1 told him about my concerns. I told Number 2 that I would meet with him shortly and that I wanted to finish my conversation with Number 1. At the end of my discussion with Number 1 he finally gave me an estimate of approximately how many hours of auditing I would have to do in order to get my repayment, which was 12.5 hours.
After I got through telling Number 1 all of the things that I thought were negative about Scientology, I met with Number 2. Then Number 2 and I talked about if I really wanted to get help and if I wanted to change, which was yet another sales tactic to keep me in Scientology. Number 2 told me that only about three people had received repayments since he had started working with the XX organization in 1992. I tried not to be too argumentative with him since I knew it was possible that I may not be able to get out of having to do the auditing. I didn’t want to be on Number 2’s bad side if I had to get 12.5 hours of auditing in order to get my repayment.
Number 2 said he thought it was probably too late to begin a session (I got there 45 minutes late because of the parking situation) and he said he would go check and see if we could still begin the session. When he left he read the letter that I gave to Number 1. When he came back he told me that he read about how I threatened legal action and how I had sent a copy of the letter to the House of Ways and Means Committee. I told him that I had not sent the letter to the House of Ways and Means Committee yet because I had just finished typing the letter late that day. He told me that was good because if the letter was sent it would be suppressing Scientology. Despite what he said, I sent the letter the following day. Later in the conversation he said he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to audit me any further because of my letter. He claimed the letter would have to be referred to their legal department. I happily responded by saying it was great someone legally knowledgeable within the church would be dealing with me. Next I told him that I hadn’t actually sought legal advice yet, but my great Uncle was an Attorney and that I would seek legal advice at some point if I had to do so. I hoped the implied legal action would eliminate the need for auditing, which I was totally against doing. At the end of the conversation, Number 2 told me that he wanted to audit me intensively and I told him that I would be willing to do that if it was what I had to do in order to receive my repayment. He responded by saying I would have to do the auditing, since it was the Church’s policy for repayments. Reluctantly, I acquiesced and said, “ok”. At the end of the conversation, Number 2 told me he would get back to me about possibly starting auditing earlier in the day the following Tuesday.
11/10/09
I came to the Church at 4pm. I received auditing from about 4:30-7:00 from Number 2. At 7:00 we took about 30-45 minutes off for dinner and continued with about two hours of auditing. My estimate was that we did around four hours of auditing and I hoped I would not have to go in for more than two or three more Tuesdays.
During the session, I told Number 2 about the opinions my friends and family had on Scientology, which were all negative. I also mentioned that many people viewed Scientology as a cult.
At the end of the session Number 2 gave me a lecture. He spoke about early Scientology materials that I had issues with such as The History of Man (a ridiculous space opera book). He described how the text was somewhat outdated and not particularly useful in most cases. I knew he was gradually trying to win me back to Scientology, so I tried to agree with him and be as open minded as possible. I hoped by the end of this whole ordeal I would have my money back and be out of Scientology.
As I was leaving he told me to tell my mother that she should tell her Rabbi that he should classify Scientology as something other than a cult, and that the Jews in Germany during WWII were at one time classified as a cult.
6 hours of free auditng completed after this point
11/17/09
I could not go in for auditing because I had an endoscopy that day and I was put under anesthesia.
11/ 24/09
I went in at 4pm to receive auditing. Number 2 arrived at 4:40 because he said that there were transportation delays. He also said he needed to get my folder to the Case Supervisor with the details of my Endoscopy, since no one had prepared for my visit that day. Despite Number 2’s claim, I knew Number 1 had planned for me to come in that day well in advance. Apparently, the guy who was supposed to make sure my folder was ready, Number 4, thought I was coming in at 6pm and not 4pm that day.
After waiting in the lobby, and being tortured by an L. Ron Hubbard DVD showing how great of a person he was, Number 2 finally came back at 5:45. Number 2 told me he had my folder ready for session, but he wanted me to eat, so I would be ready to have a long session (the Church requires that you eat high amounts of protein shortly before going into a session for the best results). I followed his instructions by eating at a local grocery store.
When I returned we went into session from about 6:30-9:30.
9 hours of free auditing after this point.
11/29/09 (Sunday)
I arrived at 4pm like we had planned the prior Tuesday and Number 2 did not greet me until about 5:30 or 6 again, since he had another person in session. While I was waiting, Number 4 told me a few times that Number 2 had a PC, and had to finish with the PC until he could take me. The long wait was most likely due to Number 2’s inability to get the PC to get a floating needle in his session, which was required before the session could end. When I got into session Number 2 said he hadn’t thought that I would be on time since I had to drive back from a city about 4 hours away, which I thought was very rude of him to assume.
I received two hours of excruciating auditing.
11 hours of free auditing completed at this point.
12/1/09
I arrived at 4pm and was actually taken into session at a reasonable time from 4:30 to 6:30. Again, I was forced to run effort and counter effort processing even though I did not want to do the technique again. I knew the technique did not work. This time Number 2 wanted me to run mainly the first incident that I could recall having a headache, which was approximately four years ago. This did not make me feel better at all. Finally, after realizing nothing was happening, we began running multiple incidents and I got bored. To combat my boredom, Number 2 opened a book I had read before called Advanced Procedures and Axioms. He continued showing me what he was trying to do in the book, even though I knew exactly what he was doing and there was nothing that I misunderstood (he had done this in the same book for every other session with effort and counter effort processing too). My frustration increased, and I thought the book was a bunch of bullshit, but I continued the process. It proved to be a waste of two hours and at the end he ran pleasure processing (the recollection of recent pleasure moments in my life) in a feeble attempt to finally get my needle to float and end the session.
Then the examiner, which was a young guy that I had not seen for a while, did not pass me when he hooked me up to an e-meter. This “exam” happens after every session and you are supposed to say how the session went. If the meter does not show a floating needle the PC has to go back into session to get a floating needle, so no one ever leaves the church feeling badly about a session. I knew at the time I had flunked because I was so pissed off at the time about the session being a waste of time. I was not surprised when Number 4 came to me shortly afterwards telling me that I would need to go back into session. Unfortunately, I had to wait when I returned for auditing, since Number 2 had to take in another girl for a session. I was re-assured by Number 4 that I would get back in to session probably not later than 8:15.
I ate, came back to the Church, and waited. The wait proved to be miserable again, and I was half asleep when Number 2 came out and got me at 9:30. At this point, even though the protocol was for me to go back into session, they had me go back into see a “new” examiner, Number 5, who was a nice lady, and simply state what happened in my session. I stated what happened and Number 5 told me I had a floating needle. I was extremely pissed that I had to wait around until 9:30 for such a stupid thing.
After passing the e-meter with Number 5, I asked Number 2 if we were done with the auditing step on the routing form, since I had done 13 hours by this point. I also mentioned that Number 1 had told me that this step in the process never took longer than one intensive, which was 12.5 hours. Number 2 answered by explaining that every PC was different and that we would keep going. This got me even more angry because I had been wasting my one day off every Tuesday just to complete one step on this seemingly endless routing form in order to get my money back. I argued with him for a while and told him how the whole process was holding me back in life (it was supposed to help me in life). He then proceeded to attack me by saying that he was giving up his time on Tuesdays to audit me and to help me for free. Essentially, this free auditing was only a ploy to keep me in the organization for longer and a tactic to convince me to continue services with the organization. I told Number 2 I just wanted my repayment and forcing me to get an indefinite amount of auditing hours was unethical and not helping me. He then said, “So you don’t want to be helped?” I replied by saying that I didn’t want to be helped. He then said he would record that data and give it to the case supervisor.
Next I asked him what the legal department had told him after I gave my controversial letter to Number 1 demanding a prompt repayment. He said the attorney replied, “Go ahead and audit him.”
Not long after leaving the church that night I called Number 2 to try to make matters better. I made an apology in an attempt to keep Number 2 compliant during the remainder of my repayment process. I told him on the phone that I actually did want help, but I did not believe he could help me anymore. I also expressed how frustrated I was with the whole process that I had to endure.
13 hours of free auditing completed after this point.
12/08/09
I called Number 1 to tell him I could not come in that day because my parents were in town. I also asked Number 1 if my auditing was finished and if I could move on to the next step on the routing form, since I had completed over an intensive of auditing (his original estimate was one intensive). He then told me he would have that information if I gave him a call later that evening.
I was unable to call him later that evening, but I guessed that if I would have reached him he would have simply stated a time for me to come in next Tuesday. Moreover, I knew I would be subjected to continue to be a slave to auditing in order to complete this step.
12/15/09
I spoke with Number 1 several days before my visit and told him to find out what my next step was because I was not going to do any more auditing. He said that he would get back to me, but when he called me back to set up an appointment for me to come in at 5pm on Tuesday he stated that he still didn’t know what the next step was.
Then I called Number 1 on Tuesday, a few hours before coming in that day, to remind him that I was not going to do any auditing and I asked him what I should do when I came in to the Church at 5pm. He told me to meet with Number 4, so I did that.
I briefly went over my issue with Number 4 to make sure that he was aware of my situation. Number 4 then said he had set up a meeting with me to meet with a Sea Org member from LA.
I agreed to meet with the Sea Org member and I was completely surprised and frustrated by her the meeting when I told her about all of my problems and issues. I emphasized how much false information the church advertised on L. Ron Hubbard and I showed her the book Bare Face Messiah and the specific references that were in the book. The girl’s name was Number 6 and she stumbled over her words and objections trying to convince me that I had read false information. After about 10 minutes of her listening to me bash L. Ron Hubbard and his successor, David Miscavige, along with all of Scientology in general, the meeting ended, and I was directed to Number 4 again. I was very surprised that someone who had signed a billion year contract with the Sea Org could not do a better job of speaking with me and persuading me.
When I met with Number 4 again he tried to be jovial with me regarding my whole repayment process. He listened to my concerns and responded in the best way that he could to try to make me still think highly of him, which he succeeded in doing. During the conversation he said that someone leaving Scientology and receiving a repayment was about as bad as his daughter getting raped, which I thought was an awkward and inappropriate metaphor; he got his point across.
Following my meeting with Number 4, I met with Number 1 and reiterated that I would not continue with auditing. Within a minute or two of meeting with Number 1, Number 2 came into the room and told me that he would not audit me, but there were some things that he had to go over with me upstairs (I smelled something fishy going on though). He then asked me about the amount of sleep I received and what I had eaten. This raised a major red flag for me. He wanted to audit me and make sure that I was sessionable. After some hesitation and repeating the fact that I would not do anymore auditing I went upstairs with Number 2 into his auditing room. He proceeded to persuade me to do an interview on the E-meter regarding PTSness (something or someone that causes you to be held back in life and causes you to be sick/ill) and he read a reality factor. The reality factor statement, written by the case supervisor, was in response to my insistence on continuing with the repayment process without any more auditing. The case supervisor’s letter stated that it was understood that I wanted to continue with the repayment, but after reviewing my case further, they wanted to re-evaluate my medical history and make sure they had all the information correct. In response to the letter, I told Number 2 some of the procedures that I had gone through with several doctors and I reiterated my current health status.
After I described my health situation, which was very good not withstanding my headaches, Number 2 made me read many documents about suppression and PTSness. At this point everything was virtually identical to an auditing session that I had done with another auditor (Number 7) over one year ago. Hence, I was duped into 2.5 hours of this entire process from 7:30pm until 10pm.
Towards the end of the session after reading tons of materials about PTSness, Number 2 asked me if he could help me with PTSness and suppression. I responded firmly, “No.” He continued to try to persuade me, but I held my position. Next he tried to coerce me into saying something that I felt bad for doing. I told him about a situation a long time ago with work and he prodded for me to tell him a recent event. It seemed as if he was trying to get me to tell him something that I had regretted doing, which had to do with my repayment. He may also have been trying to squeeze something out of me that I had done to stop the advancement of Scientology.
After telling him many times that I had nothing to tell him for which I regretted or felt bad about, he stopped asking me the question. After telling Number 2 repeatedly that I did not want to be helped further by him or the Church, he did a havingness process (process by which you locate objects in the room and imagine having them) to end the session. Then he said, “End of Session,” and I responded by saying, “I thought you weren’t auditing me?” He then told me he had a habit of saying that at the end of meeting with someone in his room and he proceeded to show me a reference that stated how he performed a PTS interview on me.
I ignored his lying and insisted that he sign my form. In an annoying manner, he signed the section covering the auditing handling on my routing form and I became one step closer to finishing the repayment process. This was a revelation for me because I had spent many hours every Tuesday for 2.5 months (excluding two Tuesdays) and one Sunday at the church receiving auditing that I did not want to receive. I was almost at the point where I thought the auditing would never end.
I then passed the e-meter check with the examiner by saying what we did in session and I thought of a lamp (I learned in the book The Complex that the needle will float if you imagine any object). After I passed I asked Number 2 how I could get the remaining Chaplain signatures. He said that Number 1 had to do that since he was the Chaplain. Next I proceeded to get the signature from Number 1 and I tried to contain my feeling of relief. He then left and typed a document stating the auditing I had done (well over 12.5 hours is what he wrote). Upon Number 1’s return, he told me that I had to get a statement notarized showing I had not received any repayments yet or in the past. Number 1 then told me that I no longer had to make appointments to come in and that I could come in any evening or weekend (during the Foundation Org times) to finish up the repayment process. Lastly, he told me that I would need to see the Treasurer next after I came in the next time with my notarized document. I shook his hand and left the church elated, knowing the auditing had finally ended. I hoped that I was one step closer to receiving my massive repayment.
15 hours of free auditing completed after this point.
12/20/09
I left work early because of weather conditions and decided to go in to the Church during the foundation hours to make more progress with my paperwork. I arrived at the Church at 4:40 with new signed statements ready, one of which was notarized per the instructions on the routing form. I was still on the steps of the routing form that required the Chaplain’s signatures. The Chaplain was Number 1, so I looked for him when I got to the church. I was told he was downstairs near the seminar room and I found him at about 4:50. I called him several times before finding him, but he never answered his cell phone and his mailbox was full.
After I found Number 1 he said he was in the middle of something and asked me to wait on the second floor. I asked him how long he thought I would have to wait and he said about 30 minutes. After 60 minutes I called him and got no answer. At one point a woman, whom I had never met before, approached me and asked what paperwork I was seeking because Number 1 was still in the middle of something. I told the woman that it was regarding a repayment. She acknowledged my response in an awkward manner and left without returning.
Number 8, the bookstore manager saw me waiting. He said he would try to find Number 1 if I called and could not get a hold of him. I called again and received no answer, so Number 8 went to find Number 1.
At 6:15, after I waited for 75 minutes, Number 1 came and said he never meant to make me wait that long. When he arrived we went into a secluded room and he proceeded to read my signed and notarized documents. Shortly thereafter he left to make copies (even though I had made my own personal copies it was reassuring that he would make more copies as a witness). Number 1 came back at about 6:30 or 6:40 with the copies and he signed a couple of the steps that needed to be done on the routing form. He went over the steps that needed to be covered by the Treasurer and told me he would go find the Treasurer and come back.
At about 7:00 he came back with my routing form. With Number 1 was the examiner, an OTVII scientologist that helped sell me my initial training package, Number 5. Number 1 told Number 5 about where I was in the repayment process. Number 1 then told me that the Treasurer had left already for the day because of a family issue. I told Number 1 I would be back on the evening of the 28th. He said that was fine.
A moment later another woman walked in to the room. I had never met her before and her name was Number 9. According to Number 9, she was a long standing Scientologist. She had heard about my visit to the Church the previous week and how I had brought the books Bare Faced Messiah and The Complex. She asked me many questions regarding where I received most of my information and she wanted to know more about why I was seeking my repayment and why I was leaving Scientology. I proceeded to tell her my reasons. She asked me repeatedly if I would be interested in seeing information about the books that I had read. I told her no because I knew it would just keep me running circles longer and it was only a ploy to make L. Ron Hubbard seem more like a glorious man to keep me in Scientology. All the while this woman was talking to me, Number 1 had left the room and Number 5 was just standing there saying nothing. The fact that Number 5 was hovering there and saying nothing was really awkward, and in my opinion, was another one of the Church’s intimidation methods. After all, someone that is OTVII should always make things go exactly their way in the material world.
When Number 9 realized I was not going to budge on allowing her or anyone else to show me more information, our meeting ended and it was about 7:15 or 7:20. I left with my paperwork and I was happy I had made more progress on my routing form.
12/28/09
I arrived at the Church at about 7:10 to meet with the Treasurer, Number 10, to finish up my paperwork. I waited in the lobby until about 7:25. When Number 10 arrived he was with the Ethics officer, Number 11, whom had I met with many months ago when I found some negative postings on the internet about Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard’s history. Number 10 told me he wanted me to meet with Number 11 before we did the paperwork. Reluctantly, I met with Number 11.
At the beginning of our meeting, Number 11 said that Number 9 had mentioned that I wanted to speak with her about questions from material that I read pertaining to L. Ron Hubbard’s history. I told Number 11 that I specifically told Number 9 that I did not want more information. Number 11 still continued to prod me on what I knew. I stated a few things that I had previoiusly read and Number 11 proceeded to refute what I had read in her cheerful persona that she was trained to do for many years. I finally agreed with her to disagree and ended the conversation.
Next I met with Number 10. He said that all my paperwork looked good and that he was going to send it out to the course verification board as soon as he got one or two signatures from his supervisors. Number 10 was actually one of the nicest guys that I ran into during my repayment process. He didn’t try any funny stuff and he understood that I wanted to get my paperwork submitted in a timely manner. I spoke with him about returning unopened books and he was surprised that I had not already done that. I told him I wanted to return the books several months ago, but Number 1 would not allow me to do so (not allowing me to return the books simply delayed the repayment process longer). In order to return my books, Number 10 told me that I would have to meet with Number 8, the bookstore manager, to arrange a drop off time. We both tried calling Number 8 on his cell phone, but apparently he could not pick up the phone, since he was calling from the church regarding a future event. Number 8 was most likely not aloud to have his phone on while on duty. Number 10 suggested that I wait on the second floor for a bit to see if Number 8 responded.
When I reached the second floor I waited until about 8:45. I received no response from Number 8 after a long wait. Luckily, Number 10 was kind of enough to come to the second floor to check in with me. He let me know that all my paperwork was good to go and that Number 8 was probably not going to be available that evening until at least 9:30. He also said it would be best for me to just call Number 8 later on the phone, since I would have to come back to the Church with several boxes of books later anyways. I thanked Number 10 and left.
2/2/10
I finally picked up my finished paperwork from the Church. Number 1 called and told me that the paperwork was ready to be sent to the claims verification board and that it was in his in basket at the church. I went to the Church and one of the staff members gave me the folder. After obtaining the folder, I went home, scanned every document for my personal records, except for a statement about church accounts, and mailed the claim.
The claim form stated that I could not use delivery confirmation. The delivery confirmation restriction appeared to be a long standing tactic used by the organization. Maybe they did not allow delivery confirmatin, so they could act as if documents were lost in the mail? Despite being uneasy about not using delivery confirmation, I sent the document via priority mail without delivery confirmation. After all, I had every single document scanned and saved on my computer, so if they denied receiving the documents I could send a copy of everything again quickly.
2/11/10
A few days ago I called Number 1 to ask how long it would take to get my repayment and how I could find out if my claim was received. Number 1 said he did not know how long it would take and that he did not know how to find out if the Claims Verification Board had received my package, since he had never contacted that office. His response appeared to be a pitiful attempt to make it appear as if no one ever requested repayments.
From my research during the repayment process I deduced there were at least hundreds if not thousands of people around the world trying to make repayment claims.
Note: *At this point it had been about 4 months (October 6th) since I declared that I wanted a repayment and to never be associated with Scientology again.
2/27/10
I called a receptionist that answered under the phone number listing for the Claims Verification Board (found on a google search) approximately one to two weeks ago. The first time I spoke with her I told her I wanted to confirm that the claims verification board had received my package, since delivery confirmation was not permitted. The receptionist told me she would find out if the package was received.
I called the receptionist back the next day and she still had not found out if my package was received. The day after that I called to speak with her and she was not there, so I spoke with someone else. I asked the man why I could not speak with the claims verification board office directly. His answer was that they would never process any claims if they received phone calls. I told him that it was yet another ploy to prevent people from following up on claims.
The following day after speaking with the man I got a hold of the receptionist again. Thankfully, she told me that she had found out that my package had been received. The date that she told me the package was received was sometime between February 13th and February 19th (I was not sure of the exact day when I updated my records). I marked February 19th on my timeline for the package being received in order to eventually calculate how long it would take to process a claim. Number 1 had told me several months ago that the repayment processing should be done in a timely manner, but more than three months was not a timely manner in my opinion.
In the IRS statement that I found for repayments it did not state how long a timely manner was.
3/19/10
I called Number 1 and left a message around March 19th (one month after claim was received in California) to find out what the status was of the claim and what the estimated time was for receiving my repayment.
4/15/10
I left a message for Number 1 again stating that I never heard back from him after leaving my message a few weeks ago. I also added that it had been approximately two months since my claim was received in California.
4/21/10
I called the treasurer, Number 10, at about 8:15pm. I told him that I wanted to follow up to find out the status of my repayment since it had been over 60 days since my claim was submitted. I also told him I had left a message on Number 1’s cell phone several weeks ago and that he did not return any of my phone calls. Number 10 told me he would try to find out some information for me and that I should follow up with him on Friday.
4/23/10
I called Number 10 and he said he had contacted several people and could not get any information regarding the status of my claim. He told me he would keep trying and possibly contact a few other people. He said to call him back on Tuesday.
4/26/10
I received a voicemail from Number 1 stating that my claim was almost processed. He asked me to give him the contents that were on the flash drive I had given him many months ago for the flag banking officer to review. I emailed him the documents in addition to my original routing form documents with all of the signatures. I asked in the email for him to send a confirmation back stating he had received the documents.
I did not receive a confirmation.
5/12/10
I called Number 1 again and left a voicemail stating that I wanted to confirm that he had in fact received my email. I also stated in the message that I wanted to check on the status of my claim, since it had been approximately 90 days since the claim was received by the verification board in Los Angeles.
He called me back about one hour later from a blocked number. I answered my cell phone when I was in my bedroom, and I did not get very good reception. After speaking with Number 1 briefly, I lost the connection. However, Number 1 did tell me before we got cut off that he had in fact received my email with the electronic documents.
About a minute after I was disconnected I called Number 1 on his cell phone and he did not answer. I text messaged him saying that I called his cell and that I would like for him to call me back. However, he did not respond to my call back or text message.
5/13/10
I called Number 1 and left a message stating that I heard him yesterday at the beginning of the conversation and that I was glad he received my email with the electronic documents. He called me back about 20 or 30 minutes later and I asked him to explain to me where we were at in the repayment process. He told me that the flag banking officer was processing my claim and that they had everything that they needed. He said it was taking the flag banking officer a bit longer to process because their system was not set-up for returning brand new books.
I asked Number 1 how much longer I should expect until I would be cut a check. He told me that he did not want to give me an exact estimate, but that it would probably be in around one month. I responded by saying that if I had to wait another month that it would be a total of four months since my claim was received in LA, which was not a reasonable amount of time. He answered by saying that the funds needed to be set aside and that the lack of Church funds was the reason for the delay. After he told me this I automatically assumed that the church had little to no money in reserves.
I ended the conversation by asking if I could follow up in two weeks. He said that would be fine.
5/22/10
Number 10 called me and left a message to call him back. I called him back and he told me he wanted to check in with me about my repayment. He claimed things were moving along for the funds to be set aside. Number 10’s call hinted to me again that they did not have funds to give me and that they needed to collect $XX,XXX in donations in order to make a repayment. He ended the conversation by saying he thought I would be able to get a check in one to two weeks, but to not quote him on that.
5/29/10
I left a message for Number 1 regarding the status of my repayment.
6/5/10
I called Number 10 and he said he would follow up with the LC or the LC communicator to see the status of my repayment. Again, he said that he thought things were coming along and that they were almost ready to pay me.
6/11/10
I left a message for Number 10 to call me back with the status of the repayment. I left a message for Number 1 to call me back with the status.
6/15/10
I left another message for Number 10 to call me back with the status.
I left another message for Number 1 to call me back with the status.
6/18/10
I called Number 1, and surprisingly, he picked up the phone. He told me that they had not set aside the funds yet for my repayment, so I asked him how far along they were with gathering the funds. He told me they were about half way done collecting the funds. After his response I became very upset, but I continued discussing the matter with him professionally in a non-threatening way. I asked him if he they had started collecting the funds when I submitted the repayment in February or if they began collecting when the repayment was approved by the claims verification board. He responded by saying he thought they began collecting funds when my claim was submitted in February.
His response was shocking to me because it had been four months since my claim was submitted. I estimated that it could be another four months if they had only collected half of the funds since that time. I also pondered later as to what percentage of their revenue they were actually collecting every month in order to repay me? I gathered that they were most likely not putting a significant percentage aside to try to make my repayment under a certain timeline. The question was if the IRS gave them tax exempt status to make repayments in a timely manner, how long was a timely manner?
I asked Number 1 if there was any way he could expedite the process, since four more months was not a timely manner. He answered that he would look into seeing if they could speed up the process and that he would check with the fbo (flag banking officer).
I told him I was not trying to be threatening, but I had done every single thing that they had asked me to do since October. I also said that since I still had not receive my repayment, I was at the point where I felt like I had to get a third party involved and I did not want to have to do that.
I ended the conversation by asking him if he could do the following three things for me:
- Tell me the maximum amount of time I could expect to wait to receive my repayment.
- See if he could speed up the process.
- Send me a document and discuss the total amount that would be repaid to me with the breakdown. My claim was for $XX,XXX and I knew that up to a 3% administrative fee could be taken out.
Number 1 said he would get me the answers to the above three items by Monday, June 21st or Tuesday, June 22nd.
6/23/10
I left a voice message for Number 1 to see if he found the answers to my three concerns.
6/26/10
Number 1 called and left a message stating that the claims verification board had thoroughly approved my claim and my check should be ready to be picked up this week sometime. I was ecstatic after hearing the news.
I was fairly certain I would be receiving my repayment soon, but the news from Number 1 made me realize that most of things he told me on our last call were not true. My guess was that the church was receiving funds transferred from the IAS or a pool of funds from other church organizations. The other possibility was that they were being forced by the claims verification board to pay me that week and that it was not true that they only had half of the funds on June 18th to pay me.
6/28/10
I called Number 1 and left a message to see if the check was ready for me to pick up, and if not, what day this week I could pick up the check.
I called Number 10 and told him about the message that Number 1 had left me about picking up my check that week. He responded by saying that he was pretty sure I was going to get my check very soon, but he did not want to give me an exact date. I told him that I was happy my repayment would be made soon.
We then got into a long conversation about my views on Scientology. I told him how unethical I thought I was treated since I sought my repayment in October and he answered by saying that it depended on what my definition of ethical was. I tried to pursuade him to read Barefaced Messiah, so that he could become more educated on Scientology/L. Ron Hubbard’s history, but he responded with the typical canned Scientology objections and he compared Barefaced Messiah to Mein Kampf. I told him that I would be more than happy to read Mein Kampf in order to see Hitler’s perspective. I also said I knew some people that had read Mein Kampf, but my persuading did not convince him about reading Barefaced Messiah.
I questioned Number 10 about the scientific results of scientology, since I believed there really were none. He was very knowledgeable of scientific studies himself, since he was a veterinarian. At that point he began speaking to me about science and nutrition in an effort to help me with my health issue. I was appreciative of his advice even though none of the advice was knew to me. We eventually ended the conversation on a good note and with the expectation that I would be receiving my repayment soon.
7/4/10 (Saturday)
I called Number 1 and he answered his cell phone. I asked him if I could pick up my check since he said it would be ready to be picked up within one week last Saturday. He answered by saying he thought it would be ready to be picked up by this upcoming Friday, July 10th. I told him that was not the week he had stated in his voicemail. He responded by saying there was nothing he could do about it. Then Number 1 told me he was fairly certain I would have a check by next Friday, but that he would call me as soon as he knew that I could pick up my check.
7/7/10
I called Number 1 and left a message to see what the status was on the repayment check.
7/10/10
Number 1 called to tell me I could pick up the check Monday night at 7:30.
7/12/10
I went to the church to pick up my check and told the front desk that I was there to see Number 1. The guy working at the front desk called Number 1 and Number 1 told the front desk guy that he was not going to be in that day, but that Number 12 would meet with me.
After a few minutes of waiting, Number 12 took me to a room with a desk and gave me a release form to sign. I told Number 12 that I was hesitant to sign the release form until I saw the check and the actual amount I would be receiving. I also told him that I wanted to see the breakdown of how the amount on the check was calculated (just in case they decided to short change me). Number 12 then called Number 1 and asked him if he could show me the check with the repayment amount breakdown. Number 1 told him that the amount was XX thousand and some change, but that the exact breakdown was not available. Number 1 also told him that 2% was taken out for a processing fee. After I heard Number 1’s response and that I would receive over XX thousand I agreed to sign the release. I knew my repayment claim was close to the amount that Number 1 had stated and I was not going look into the details of a figure that was plus or minus a few hundred dollars.
The release had eight statements. The first statement said I was no longer in agreement with Scientology’s teaching and that I was requesting a repayment. The second statement said that I waived all claims against the church in return for the repayment. The third statement waived provisions of California Civil Section 1542. The fourth statement signified a settlement of disputed claims, but not represent any wrongdoings of the church or it’s members. The fifth statement said that I may no longer receive Scientology services. The sixth statement said that I was not under duress when signing the release. The seventh statement said that I was not under the influence of any drugs that affected my judgment. The eight statement said that “In the event any provision hereof be unenforceable, such provision shall not affect the enforceability of any other provision hereof.”
While I was signing the document, Number 12 went to get my check. As I was waiting for the check, Number 3 came into the room and asked me how everything was going. I responded by saying everything was fine and I avoided a conversation with him.
Number 12 came back with a check and he signed my release as a witness. The check amount was for $XX,XXX, which looked close enough to my claim amount. I took the check and Number 12 said “It’s been real.” As I left the church I was almost fully ecstatic. The payoff for all of my efforts had come to fruition, yet at the same time I was a bit concerned that the check might bounce.
Shortly thereafter I looked at the check more closely, which had the name of the payer. Underneath the address it stated CVB account. I believe this confirmed my inference that the funds were paid out by the course verification board and not by the specific church that had taken my money. If my inference was true then what Number 1 and Number 10 had told me about the funds being set aside was a lie.
7/15/10
The check cleared in my checking account!
I had gone through unwanted auditing and paperwork since trying to get my repayment since October of 2009 (10 months). It took five months after the date my claim was received by the claims verification board for me to receive my repayment check.
Congratulations! I appreciate what you have written here. It will help others.
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