Deception by omission of the truth part 2
AKA How I got sucked in, lost money, and learned lots of things that weren't in the class curriculum
This is part 2 of a 3-part series. Part 1 can be found here.
I signed up for ninety days and was attending everything I could to get what I needed for the online course before September. I enthusiastically tucked into the course offering; certain I could learn by example as they had built a very successful business. Instead of spending my short summer outdoors, I was in my office, pushing through the course to learn what I was missing so I could get to the business of publishing my own program.
Hmmm… some of this material is not very good, it is repetitive and a lot of it is rather pointless. It seems to have a lot of other modalities thrown into the mix, but not enough to be useful. Oh well, I must not be to the part where they are going to teach me what I came for, I thought. Just keep going.
One of the things I learned in the course was Human Design. I discovered that I am a Manifesting Generator whose authority is the sacral. That means my gut talks to me to tell me things are in alignment for me; if things are not in alignment, my gut will clench is what I am learning. Uh oh…
What is the sacral response in Human Design?
Sacral Authority belongs to both the Pure Generator and the Manifesting Generators. It is associated with a gut feeling or response and often has a solid verbal uh-huh or unh-uh. It can also be a sensation within the body of pulling toward or pushing away from a decision.
I began to notice that the focus of the calls was how to use Facebook to create groups, to bring people to your group… grow your audience but there was nothing about content creation. I asked and was told that I needed to have a market before a product. The product would come later.
I charged on to the end of the online training and found absolutely no information on how to create content and get it online, so I asked again. Oh, that was coming. I started to question things more overtly in the calls and noticed that my queries were not really welcomed, if Brad was on the call, there were times I felt downright bullied into silence. This happened in live calls as well as in the private Facebook group.
By this point, I had learned enough about Human Design and my sacral authority to recognize my gut had tried to tell me this was a mistake before I handed over my credit card; I just had not learned its language yet.
The other thing I noticed is how the topics changed in the calls when Brad was hosting. If someone in the group had a specialty, or when I, myself mentioned something I studied like Ho’oponopono; it would show up a few calls later with Brad as an “expert” on the topic. When it was a topic that I was well versed in, I could see that he had surface level knowledge of it, not enough to be an expert who should be leading others on the subject matter. The shine was not only fading now, the paint was literally peeling off this guy.
I had a couple of run ins with him and spoke to Mrs. Brad about it. She assured me that he had high integrity and if I was offended by his actions, or that I found his comments misogynistic and bullying, he would want to own those actions. Would I consider meeting with him to share my experience and give him a chance to take ownership?
Deep sigh. Sure, I guess it cannot hurt.
That lasted for a week before he was back to his unsupportive, sarcastic and demeaning self. I knew I was done, which was fine because my time was just about up. About then was when he messaged, offering me a second level training package that they “don’t just offer to everyone”. Applicants are “handpicked” and he thought I was a good fit for an additional $4k USD for another 90 days.
UNH-UH, Brad, we are done here.
I informed Mrs. Brad that I would not be continuing and to be honest, I did not feel I got what was promised. She asked if we could have a meeting to discuss my needs, for me to unpack my feelings with her. In our meeting, I told her what I had wanted to learn from the onset and how I was assured they teach those skills. She said, yes but not in the first 90 days; a gross omission in my opinion.
I spoke my mind to which she at first responded with questions and controlled answers, quickly turning defensive then evolving into becoming “offended” that I would question her integrity. She asked what would make me feel complete with them, I said that although I had learned some things in the course, they did not meet my stated learning objectives and I felt that I did not, in fact, get my money’s worth.
Dead silence there.
In fact, by that point, I decided that even if it was cutting off my nose to spite my face, I would NOT be publishing my course until they were so far in my rear-view mirror that there was no chance, they would try to take credit for my success.
I logged out of their school, exited all their groups and declined to provide them with a review of the course.
Stay tuned for part 3 - what I learned from this expensive lesson, and tips so you do not fall into the same trap.
I've been there a few times, Patricia. I call it the "String Theory". They string you along and offer the promised goods "in theory". Just sign up for the next course, ad infinitum.
I just retired (at age 70) and started my Substack, UnCorked around the same time you started yours. First post was Jan 12. I think I have 40 posts now and 48 subscribers. I try to post five days/week. When I hit 100 subscribers, I will add a paid subscription. I would invite you to take a look and subscribe. Thanks.
Oh man, so sorry this happened to you Patricia. But thank you for writing about your experiences. Wishing you and your business all the best moving ahead.