No Blood from This Turnip

I ordered Harner’s book and sent an e-mail to one of the shaman assistants:

Now that the original energy from the intro to shamanism class has faded, I’m feeling that it’s not the right time for me to do the Level I class, so I’d like to withdraw from that. I understand there is a fee for this. Fine. Please deduct whatever that is and refund my money.

I figured that would be the end of my involvement with the Foundation of the Sacred Stream; a refund would come in the mail in a couple of weeks, and I’d walk away with a few good stories to tell friends over food and drinks. I’d couch myself as misguided and bumbling and hopefully people would chuckle. Four days later the assistant replied that their policy is that they “don’t give refunds,” and that I could apply the $275, minus “a 10% administrative fee” towards a future class. I wrote back that I had no intention of taking another class and would they please reconsider. “This is not a reasonable policy,” I added with a flourish, “and makes me concerned about the integrity of your organization.” Later that day I got an email addressed to a handful of people asking for a ride to the very workshop I’d paid for. I switched from wimpy frog to angry bear mode, and fired off an e-mail to the entire group:

I’m curious how you got my email. I have second thoughts about studying with Isa and I asked for a refund for this class—last week. They waited several days to get back to me—until after my check was cashed and they’re refusing to give me a refund, which really puts up red flags for me.