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The IAS's monthly money-leeching plan

Zhent

Leakus Maximus
Someone gave this to me to post here. It is a nefarious thing, the IAS now encourages public to sign up to recurring donation plans that are fully automated.

paymentplanforme.jpg




And here is another similar IAS form I have collected:

iasmembershipform2011me.jpg



I don't know about you, but handing the Church of Scientology the keys to your bank account and giving free reign to suck money out seems like a recipe for disaster.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with these monthly plans, particularly anyone who tried to stop the IAS from automatically sucking money out of their accounts?
 

Ho Tai

Patron Meritorious
I don't know if it's still this way, but years ago I wanted to stop a particular monthly draft on my checking account and was told by the bank that I had to notify the entity making the drafts to stop doing so. I wonder how much trouble it would be to stop this particular draft once it starts. Would you wind up in ethics if you tried?

I also suspect that there might be a few people (mostly newbies) who think that by doing the monthly draft thing that they won't be subject to regging. :hysterical:
 

Free to shine

Shiny & Free
I hope that any lurkers who are reading this understand that handing over permission for scientology to debit your account is a very silly thing to do. :yes:
 

Helena Handbasket

Gold Meritorious Patron
This is scary, even when it DOESN'T come from scientology. Every time I've done this in the past (and those times are few) I've gotten into trouble.

Sometimes they make a big deal that if you sign up for one of these plans, you are OBLIGATED to continue paying until you terminate your agreement with the "merchant", and that if you close out your credit card, you are STILL liable -- until the end of time.

What we need are more protections in the other direction: if you notify the "merchant" to stop, and they don't stop, they THEY are in trouble. Some sort of notification through a third party would be the way to accomplish this.

And another problem, while I'm at it, are "e-contracts". I'm always afraid that if I click on the wrong thing by accident, I'll have furniture delivered, medications sent to me in the mail, and my roof replaced, all "automatically charged to my credit card in easy monthly payments". At the minimum, a confirmation e-mail for e-contracts should be sent to you 24 to 48 hours afterwards by an independent authority asking in effect, "are you sure"? (Funny they always ask if you're sure for trivial things. You can't even log off this forum without being asked if you're sure.)

Scientology's own policy (for itself) is to avoid any way of making spending easy -- spending is supposed to be hard. Thus the EPO's, Red PO's, committee meetings, and such. But they want to make it easy for the members to spend money -- on them!

But in this case I cannot single out scientology. The entire economy of Western nations is geared towards helping people spend what they've got as fast as possible.

Helena
 

GoNuclear

Gold Meritorious Patron
That form is tailor made for wreaking revenge on those you don't like, provided that you can obtain some key info about them. Ideally, it could be used on abusive politicians like that idiot out in California near the int base or some particularly nasty judges. The results might be worth breaking out the popcorn for.

Pete

Emma: JUST KIDDING, expressed as a "what if" for lulz only!
 

Thrak

Gold Meritorious Patron
What is really bizarre is simply one thing. Why? They have a billion in reserves and all 'he' wants is more. Why? I mean really, why?
 

Freeminds

Bitter defrocked apostate
This is scary, even when it DOESN'T come from scientology. Every time I've done this in the past (and those times are few) I've gotten into trouble.

Sometimes they make a big deal that if you sign up for one of these plans, you are OBLIGATED to continue paying until you terminate your agreement with the "merchant", and that if you close out your credit card, you are STILL liable -- until the end of time.

What we need are more protections in the other direction: if you notify the "merchant" to stop, and they don't stop, they THEY are in trouble. Some sort of notification through a third party would be the way to accomplish this.

And another problem, while I'm at it, are "e-contracts". I'm always afraid that if I click on the wrong thing by accident, I'll have furniture delivered, medications sent to me in the mail, and my roof replaced, all "automatically charged to my credit card in easy monthly payments". At the minimum, a confirmation e-mail for e-contracts should be sent to you 24 to 48 hours afterwards by an independent authority asking in effect, "are you sure"? (Funny they always ask if you're sure for trivial things. You can't even log off this forum without being asked if you're sure.)

Scientology's own policy (for itself) is to avoid any way of making spending easy -- spending is supposed to be hard. Thus the EPO's, Red PO's, committee meetings, and such. But they want to make it easy for the members to spend money -- on them!

But in this case I cannot single out scientology. The entire economy of Western nations is geared towards helping people spend what they've got as fast as possible.

Helena

I'm finding it interesting to think of the "church" of Scientology as a "merchant". Doesn't that blow the whole donation shore story to smithereens? Another interesting question would concern the concept of exchange... what is the Scientology victim getting, every month in equal-sized quantities, that constitutes fair exchange for having their credit card raided? In the Hubbardist mindset, I mean.

Of course it would be a stupid, stupid thing to sign up to. But walking inside an org is a stupid thing to do, and it goes downhill from there.

Without doubt, this latest development will lead to more people being made more miserable. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot we can do, except encourage them to slip quietly off-lines, and get a new telephone number.
 

Freeminds

Bitter defrocked apostate
What is really bizarre is simply one thing. Why? They have a billion in reserves and all 'he' wants is more. Why? I mean really, why?

It's just a stat. The people will ultimately leave. Everybody "betrays" David Mismanage in the end. They leave, or in some cases "disappear" ... only the money remains. In his anguish, Miscavige tries to focus on the stats that can still be made to go upwards. That's square footage... and cash reserves.

To a ruthless man who seized a business empire only to find that it's collapsing, money offers a comfortable means of keeping score, while denying what is obvious to outsiders: that Scientology isn't working.
 

anonomog

Gold Meritorious Patron
What is really bizarre is simply one thing. Why? They have a billion in reserves and all 'he' wants is more. Why? I mean really, why?

Good question.

Why imprison people in the Hole? Why abuse and torture people? Why force people to divorce? Why chase down and harrass people who no longer want to be a part of it all? Why mention The McPherson case at an event when some had no clue what he was talking about?

I think it is similar to a serial killer or rapist taking trophies except his trophies are living people with ruined lives.
He gets a power thrill from the initial action but gets the thrill replayed whenever he is face to face with the people from whom he has taken money, love, freedom and dignity.
What a rush for him to know he can ruin people and they will still clap and smile and serve him.

Power. I can do all this to you and no-one can stop me.
 

Thrak

Gold Meritorious Patron
Good question.

Why imprison people in the Hole? Why abuse and torture people? Why force people to divorce? Why chase down and harrass people who no longer want to be a part of it all? Why mention The McPherson case at an event when some had no clue what he was talking about?

I think it is similar to a serial killer or rapist taking trophies except his trophies are living people with ruined lives.
He gets a power thrill from the initial action but gets the thrill replayed whenever he is face to face with the people from whom he has taken money, love, freedom and dignity.
What a rush for him to know he can ruin people and they will still clap and smile and serve him.

Power. I can do all this to you and no-one can stop me.

That's probably as good of a theory as I've heard. DM is on the same level as a serial killer playing games with the cops trying catch him as well as the people he faces at the various events. That really sounds about right. The numbers don't matter, it's just the game. I think you hit the nail on the head.

Is it just me to think a guy like that shouldn't be the head of a "religion"?
 

xseaorguk

Patron Meritorious
if you have signed up and want to finish payments, just report your card as stolen and it will be blocked.
You will then get a new card with a new number.
Has happened to me before:yes:
 

Dunvegan

Patron
if you have signed up and want to finish payments, just report your card as stolen and it will be blocked.
You will then get a new card with a new number.
Has happened to me before:yes:

True fact.

Probably the least complicated method to end charges. It works on a different principle than a automated bill-pay agreement. The theft or loss of a card immediately voids all uses of that card number beginning the instant it is reported to the bank.

Chargebacks for anything you wish to dispute since your 'loss' take further work.
 

JackStraw

Silver Meritorious Patron
What is really bizarre is simply one thing. Why? They have a billion in reserves and all 'he' wants is more. Why? I mean really, why?

My guess is that it's not about the money. As you say, they have more than enough.
It's more about control. A constant reminder of the ongoing battle against the oh-so formidable enemies of the church. It's a way keeping the public engaged with the group in the battle.

Keep in mind, the only reason Hubbard chose psychiatry as his BIG ENEMY is because he needed an opponent for his game. An opponent being a necessary part of a game...

He said he had no problem with them, he just needed an enemy to have a game.

Jack
 

GoNuclear

Gold Meritorious Patron
My guess is that it's not about the money. As you say, they have more than enough.
It's more about control. A constant reminder of the ongoing battle against the oh-so formidable enemies of the church. It's a way keeping the public engaged with the group in the battle.

Keep in mind, the only reason Hubbard chose psychiatry as his BIG ENEMY is because he needed an opponent for his game. An opponent being a necessary part of a game...

He said he had no problem with them, he just needed an enemy to have a game.

Jack

It's always about the money with Scientology, the rest is just conversation. True, Sea Ogre reserves are upwards of 1 billion. 1.5 billion is what I saw posted and that was sometime back. But why spend any of that or even some of the return on investment from those accounts, when you can bilk the Scientology public out of more.

Pete
 

TheRealNoUser

Patron with Honors
The beautiful thing about all this is that this is the way Scientology treats its own members.

If the CoS believes that people who actually like Scientology should be treated like this, can you imagine how much respect they have for everyone else in the world?

This is a perfect example to illustrate just how vile the "Church" of Scientology really is.

Thank you David Miscavige for yet another footbullet ! The news of this financial scam will get spread far and wide, and even your existing members are going to be pissed at this one !!

TRNU.
 

Ho Tai

Patron Meritorious
It's always about the money with Scientology, the rest is just conversation. True, Sea Ogre reserves are upwards of 1 billion. 1.5 billion is what I saw posted and that was sometime back. But why spend any of that or even some of the return on investment from those accounts, when you can bilk the Scientology public out of more.

Pete
I read an article the other day about the guy behind the Seagrams fortune. He is being sued by his relatives for backing out of simply considering buying out the shares of his relatives in some company. The relatives are saying that "It's not about the money." The guy's lawyer said "When they say it's not about the money, it's about the money." That hit me hard, thinking about times in my former life when I heard "It's not about the money!" Funny how in my new life it really is never about the money - it just doesn't come up!
 

Captain Koolaid

Patron Meritorious
This is the final stage of what MR calls 'Corporate Scientology'. Over the next 20 years the organisation will shrink steadily, until the decline is so obvious that even the remaining indoctrinated sheep cannot ignore it.

This is the time to get everything of value from those remaining members before they realise that everything is just a charade. I think that Miscavige is quite astonished that the money is still flowing in, and he's going to ride that wave as long as he can before taking off to a country that doesn't extradite.
 

Freeminds

Bitter defrocked apostate
This is the final stage of what MR calls 'Corporate Scientology'. Over the next 20 years the organisation will shrink steadily, until the decline is so obvious that even the remaining indoctrinated sheep cannot ignore it.

This is the time to get everything of value from those remaining members before they realise that everything is just a charade. I think that Miscavige is quite astonished that the money is still flowing in, and he's going to ride that wave as long as he can before taking off to a country that doesn't extradite.

Twenty years? Good grief. I'd give it five. Those "remaining indoctrinated sheep" aren't as stupid as you think. Some of them are still pro-Hubbard and are genuinely disappointed that Scientology hasn't become the standard system of education, healthcare, government... but even they aren't blind to the sparse attendance at Scn events. Many others are in a condition of "silent running" and are hoping to slip away without being noticed and 'handled'. The truth is that leaving gets easier with each day that passes, because there are fewer staff left to handle the victim, and their morale is little better than that of the disillusioned publics. Also, with each day that passes, there are more exes on the 'outside', and thus the threat of disconnection becomes less significant.

Scientology always had a very high turnover of members. How could it be otherwise, for a 'technology' that can't deliver what it promises? With the 'raw meat' warned off by the media (and the protesters), membership can only fall... and what is the purpose of Scientology?

Recruitment? - Can't be done.
Defending the 'good name' of LRH? - Who will listen?
Training? - Then why are there less completions today than before?
Fundraising? - For what, when the cult's mothership is already parked on a huge pile of cash?
Massaging celebrity egos? - Celebs have their own for that.​
... so is this what the faithful signed up to spend their eternity doing?​

David Miscavige's own condition seems to be deteriorating, but he's right about one thing: Scientology must expand, or die. Rather like a ponzi scheme, Scientology has to be seen to be growing, or it the whole fairytale ceases to work - and when the crash comes, it comes hard and fast. Debbie Cook's defection is a symptom of that crash.

The thing about finding a country with no extradition treaty... okay. Maybe. But why wait? Can one human being (Davey cares nothing for anybody else) actually spend even a hundred million dollars? People talk about Scientology being a billion-dollar cult, so let's assume that the transferable and liquid assets a short guy with a bad haircut could leave the country with equate to a tenth of that sum.

Spending a hundred million dollars is quite a tall order, made harder when one is already over fifty, and not in great health. Hanging around in a stressful job that often provokes one to violent rage can only reduce life expectancy... so why does little David Miscavige stay at the helm? To ensure that when he finally skips, he does so with two hundred million dollars?

That would be stupid. Even by his own semi-educated standards, that would be very stupid.

So why stay? To protect and preserve Scientology? Don't make me laugh. Miscavige has done more to bring about the end of Scientology than anybody else. (I wish I'd done more, but the sad fact is that David Miscavige is the greatest SP alive today.)

So it's not for the money, and it's not out of a sense of duty. Why, then?

I propose that the reason Little Dave remains at the helm of Scientology... is because he likes to play with human lives. Stroking a large pile of used dollar bills over in Lichtenstein wouldn't amuse him for long. He likes to control people. He likes to scare people. He likes to hurt people. Davey can't give up control of Scientology, because it's the thing that allows him to indulge his addiction.
 
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