How I got my FLAG repayment - in 30 days

[tookmeawhile]

Here is how I got my money from Flag. Please note this is not a refund but just getting money back that I had on account. Most on account for future services, some accomodations AND money from unused hours in folder. I remember I had just broken into an intensive. I got the money for around 11.5 hours in my folder, too! From the date of my first letter to them until I got the check was 30 days total.

Special thanks goes to ImOut for the basic format of the letters and assistance. She sent me the letters they used, and I basically just plugged in my info. Also, GoodTwin provided help with my cycle.

I am no expert on how to get refunds. I don't know why this letter/format worked - but it did work. No, they did not take out any admin fees (2% I think) but I heard they can do that.

I did sign the "Release, Waiver and Writ of Expulsion form for the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc." Basically, a standard release form. They wanted it notarized so I did. If you don't want to sign the waiver; well good luck with that. I didn't mind signing it.

I never did contact my attorney.

I sent the first letter to "attn. Treasury" to the address below. Then I got a reply from Flag's legal director, Sarah Heller. You know, if Flag would only deliver services as quickly as this refund, they might not have to give out so many refunds. As you can tell by her replies, she was very, very nice. I wonder if she's a candidate to become an ex-Scientologist soon! Sarah, please PM me if you read this and want out of the SO!

Oh, make sure you send your letters to Flag using priority mail with delivery confirmation - if you send it certified, they will refuse it. Here is a cut/paste of my letters to them:

April 28, 2008

Church of Scientology
Flag Service Org
503 Cleveland Street
Clearwater, FL 33755
Attn. Treasury

Re: Full Refund of all Moneys on Account, $X.XX for Tookmeawhile

Attn: Treasury

I hereby demand a full repayment of all funds currently on account. Within the Church this is commonly referred to as “Advanced Payments”. I have decided to forego all future participation in the Church of Scientology and therefore will never use any money on account for future services. This letter shall serve as proof that I am leaving the Church of Scientology.

This demand includes, but is not limited to: money on account for counseling, money on account for training, money on account for books and other materials, money on account for accommodations as well as money which has been debited and currently held in my counseling folders as unused hours.

This breaks down as followed:

$ X.XX on service account towards future services.

$ X.XX unused hours in my counseling folders.

$ X.XX on account toward accommodations.

A quick and full refund is expected within 7 days of receipt of this letter. 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.

Copies to:

Thomas M. Jones, Attorney at Law
US House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means

Thank you,

Tookmeawhile
Address
Phone Number

 

[tookmeawhile]

Flag's first reply to me...

The Legal Director at Flag, Sarah Heller, left me a nice message on my voice mail. Basically saying she was sending me a letter and then followed up with this letter a few days later...

May 9, 2008

Dear Tookmeawhile,

Your letter, dated April 28th and received on May 3rd was forwarded to me due to your threats of legal action. I apologize for taking so long to get back to you, but I wanted to ensure I had the necessary information before responding.

Although I have never heard of a Church policy entitled “Fair Use” you are correct that a person may, according to Church policy, receive a return of advance donations made, with the understanding that the person would never again receive any type of service from any Church of Scientology.

I will assist you in receiving your return of donations, but you must cooperate with me on this. First of all, I will remind you that you signed agreements prior to beginning any services at FSO. Those agreements included the fact that if you ever requested a return of donations, you would not involve any third parties, including attorneys. Although you may, of course, have any document reviewed by your attorney prior to signing it, the above is still the case. Furthermore, involving an attorney will not get you your repayment any faster.

The second point that is pertinent at this moment is the fact that you agreed to follow the policies of the Claims Verification Board (“CVB”) if you ever asked for donations to be returned. One of the policies of CVB is that a person must do a routing form – a form that takes one through certain specific steps to ensure nothing is missed and the end result is what is intended. This is not a lengthy process.

Therefore, if you wish to get this matter resolved quickly, I need your agreement to drop any threats of legal action and for you to do the routing form.

I am including a copy of the CVB routing form. You will notice that the first step is to meet with the Chaplain and possibly do some actions to see if any type of upset can be resolved. If you wish the opportunity to see the Chaplain, please let me know and I will arrange for someone to see you in Texas, rather than you coming here. If you do not, then please also inform me of that, indicate such on the routing form and continue with the other steps. I will provide you with all of the statements that are required from FSO staff members and give you any other assistance you need to complete it. Once I have the completed form I will submit it to the CVB for you.

I have also included the release which you will need to sign as part of this. You will notice that it is actually for an amount slight more than you thought. We verified that donations received from you and they came out to be a little more than what you indicated in your letter.

I look forward to hearing from you soon. I am also sending [your attorney] a copy of this letter, with all attachments.

Sincerely,

Sarah Heller
Legal Director
Church of Scientology
Flag Service Organization

 

[tookmeawhile]

My second letter to Flag...

May 14, 2008

Sarah Heller
Legal Director
Church of Scientology
Flag Service Organization

Dear Sarah Heller,

Thank you for your reply. At this point, I have only copied my attorney; I have not seeked his advice or services.

Thank you for the offer, but I have no desire to see or speak with the Chaplain. I have thought about this for a while, have made my decision and would like all the terminals on the routing form to respect my decision and let me move on with my life. Please note I have not been eligible for services at Flag Service Organization since 2003.

Enclosed is the Release, Waiver and Writ of Expulsion form for the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc. As you can see, I have signed it and had it notarized.

I believe you have all the information necessary on my part to send the repayment of $X.XX without further delay. Please have the repayment check prepared and mailed within two weeks of receipt of this letter.


Thank you,

Tookmeawhile
Address

 

[tookmeawhile]

2nd reply from Flag...

May 19th, 2008

Dear Tookmeawhile,

Thank you for your letter dated May 14th and the signed release.

As I said in my earlier letter, a CVB routing form must be submitted and approved. In the spirit of expediency, I am having a routing form filled out for you here, attaching your letter and signed release (as well as the attestations needed from our end).

I expect to hear back on it shortly and will let you know when I do. I do not anticipate any problems with getting it approved.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Sarah Heller
Legal Director
Church of Scientology
Flag Service Organization

 

[uniquemand]

I don't think you actually have to sign that waiver to get your money, and I wouldn't, if I were you, unless your attorney says you must.

 

[Good twin]

Good job TMA!
....and thanks for dinner.
GT

 

[tookmeawhile]

My 3rd and final reply from Flag...

May 29, 2008

Dear Tookmeawhile,

The Claims Verification Board did approve the repayment of your earlier donations. Enclosed is a check in the amount of $X.XX.

I do believe this concludes our business, I wish you well.

Sincerely,

Sarah Heller
Legal Director
Church of Scientology
Flag Service Organization

 

[Good twin]

I don't think you actually have to sign that waiver to get your money, and I wouldn't, if I were you, unless your attorney says you must.

You aren't, he did. He got his money back. Did you?

 

[tookmeawhile]

I don't think you actually have to sign that waiver to get your money, and I wouldn't, if I were you, unless your attorney says you must.

I really didn't see any harm in signing the waiver. I don't even know if it is a legal waiver. But so what anyways? It wasn't a gag order; it basically said I wouldn't sue them, that I was no longer going to take any more services from them, etc. I wanted a smooooth and fast repayment cycle - and I got one!

 

[Good twin]

I really didn't see any harm in signing the waiver. I don't even know if it is a legal waiver. But so what anyways? It wasn't a gag order; it basically said I wouldn't sue them, that I was no longer going to take any more services from them, etc. I wanted a smooooth and fast repayment cycle - and I got one!

That's my favorite kind.

 

[uniquemand]

I can respect that. You got what you wanted, that's the bottom line. Glad this thread is here, to help dispel the illusion that the Church tries to instill that Scientology can't be beaten. They can. It's not prohibitively expensive, either. The more often it is done, and the more people make it publicly known that it's easy, or that there is a navigable route to it, the better. Knowing what I know now, I'd hire a lawyer immediately after getting out, immediately press for any monies I could get back from these swindlers and thieves, and then sue them for emotional distress. The Church is pretty much emotional distress deliberately inflicted to make you vulnerable to high pressure sales techniques. Whatever tech is "delivered" is totally secondary to the continual damage to your life that they do.

 

[Good twin]

I can respect that. You got what you wanted, that's the bottom line. Glad this thread is here, to help dispel the illusion that the Church tries to instill that Scientology can't be beaten. They can. It's not prohibitively expensive, either. The more often it is done, and the more people make it publicly known that it's easy, or that there is a navigable route to it, the better. Knowing what I know now, I'd hire a lawyer immediately after getting out, immediately press for any monies I could get back from these swindlers and thieves, and then sue them for emotional distress. The Church is pretty much emotional distress deliberately inflicted to make you vulnerable to high pressure sales techniques. Whatever tech is "delivered" is totally secondary to the continual damage to your life that they do.

So is that what you have done or are doing? :confused2:

Why not?

 

[Good twin]

Repayment advice is free

For anyone who doesn't know or hasn't followed the board for as long as I've been here (since February)........my friends and I (ImOut and her hubby and TMA) have been fairly successful in helping people get money back from the cult.

Without hiring expensive legal teams and waiting for long drawn out periods of time a handful of us have assisted in recovering over a quarter of a million dollars so far.

This is pretty good for a 9 month gig. I never made that much as a reg or a mission exec. So The write up TMA is offering here is valid and workable. You can change it or use your own ideas. It would be helpful if you added any successful actions you may have found on this line.

WE are very happy with the results we have gotten so far and we have more in the works. Anyone else have any wins along these lines? Would love to hear more.
GT

 

[Wisened One]

..... a handful of us have assisted in recovering over a quarter of a million dollars so far. GT

DAMN you are GOOD!

 

[Good twin]

DAMN you are GOOD!

Thank you. I couldn't have done it without my dear friends ImOut and her hubby. And TMA and all of my good friends here at ESMB.

You may not know this about me, but I was kinda messed up when I first left the cult. I didn't know what was what. I didn't know if I had ANY ability since the abilities I thought I had turned out to be based on some huge con. Well you know...the usual stuff. I had no desire to help or take a stand or fight or roll over or any stuff.

Finding other exes gave me my legs. I was gradually able to put one foot in front of the other. I was able to allow myself to form opinions and become a new version of myself without being a good little Ronbot.

Helping people get their money back seemed like the least I could do, considering how much I talked people into spending in the cult. Glad to do it and plan to do more.

BTW - TMA is the first of MY contacts to get money back from the IAS as well as Flag. That's pretty cool dontcha think?

GT

 

[Wisened One]

Yeah ALL you guys (TMA, ImOut and Hubby) are Good!

And yes, I, too was sorta nuts when I first left in 2004. So much so, I would never think about it much, just live, and that's it. You should go back and read some of my earlier posts here, GT. I literally worked out some of my thought processes regarding scn here on the board and boy did this board ever help me, too! to Zinj, Paul, FTS, Emma, etc! Back then (and they still don't), they never invalidated me or tried to jerk me out of my working it all out for myself. It was life-saving, lemme tell ya! Because for me, it was a HUGE loss about their being no REAL Clear and OT, ya know?

And then when I found YOU..being able to talk to you, to see that you were ok, and now on this journey out with me....well, YOU have saved my life in more ways than one, girl! *happycry*

And NOW lookatya! Still helping others......

I sooo can't wait to see you again!!

Michelle

 

[Feral]

Well done TMA,

My wife and I have now recieved the last check from cof s. Total $120,000. It was a five month battle for a few reasons, my wife was one of the very first GAT OTVIIs in NSW, there were four in Sydney prior to her. So she was number 5 in the state, they were reluctant to have us go over to the 'dark side' as I heard we were!

The other reason was that I had become quite active in telling our story, caused OSA a lot of problems with all the defections which we played a small part in. They kept trying to exchange my repayment for my silence, it didn't work out too well for them!!,


The funny thing was that if they had payed us quickly we would have had $20,000 LESS due to fluctuations in the dollar so they did us a big favor while working very hard, and failing to shut us down! LOL!

I too have TMA, I'mOut, clearcat,Good twin and Graham Berry to thank!!

You guys are legends!!!

 

[tookmeawhile]

BTW - TMA is the first of MY contacts to get money back from the IAS as well as Flag. That's pretty cool dontcha think?

GT

Awww.... Yes, it is cool! Without the help of ImOut and GoodTwin, I don't know how I would have gotten my repayments!

Don't forget about my Dallas Org repayment as well! I just started a new thread for it as well.

http://forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?p=172197#post172197

And here's the thread for my IAS return of donations thread:

http://forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=8526

 

[Good twin]

Live long and Prosper, Feral and Mrs PattyCake!
(damn ImOut needs to redo the math - we getting closer to our first million!)

Well done TMA,

My wife and I have now recieved the last check from cof s. Total $120,000. It was a five month battle for a few reasons, my wife was one of the very first GAT OTVIIs in NSW, there were four in Sydney prior to her. So she was number 5 in the state, they were reluctant to have us go over to the 'dark side' as I heard we were!

The other reason was that I had become quite active in telling our story, caused OSA a lot of problems with all the defections which we played a small part in. They kept trying to exchange my repayment for my silence, it didn't work out too well for them!!,


The funny thing was that if they had payed us quickly we would have had $20,000 LESS due to fluctuations in the dollar so they did us a big favor while working very hard, and failing to shut us down! LOL!

I too have TMA, I'mOut, clearcat,Good twin and Graham Berry to thank!!

You guys are legends!!!

 

[Good twin]

This is just such an emotional evening for me.

Awww.... Yes, it is cool! Without the help of ImOut and GoodTwin, I don't know how I would have gotten my repayments!

Don't forget about my Dallas Org repayment as well! I just started a new thread for it as well.

http://forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?p=172197#post172197

And here's the thread for my IAS return of donations thread:

http://forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=8526