September 11, 2006


To Whom It May Concern:

In the last two years my step-son (20 years old) drug problem has gotten really bad. In April and May of this year things has gotten out of hand. We tried sending him to the Service but they won’t take him as long as he is on reporting probation. It looked like he was going to end up in jail or death. We finally decided on sending him to a Drug Rehabilitation Center. We wanted one out of state so his girl-friend or any of his drug buddies couldn’t contact him.
During the last week of May 2006,we called 1-800- No Drugs, looking for a Drug Rehabilitation Center to send our son to. They hooked us up with Narconon Stone Hawk Rehabilitation Center of Battle Creek Michigan. We talked with Ramsy Darwish, CCDC an Intake Counselor at Stone Hawk about our situation. He convinced us (calling us every 2 or 3 days for a month) that Stone Hawk is where our son should be. We finally agreed with him and on June 30th we entered our son into the Stone Hawk Rehabilitation Center at a cost of $23,500. (This is a 3 to 6 month program and money had to be paid upon entering the program). I paid $15,000 (borrowed credit card) and $8,500 on a line of credit I had. (I plan on getting a mortgage on some property to pay this off).
Ramsy Darwish, CCDC an Intake Counselor was there to help check him in. We just finished driving 7 hours to get to this rehab and it was a little after midnight. We had plenty of paperwork to fill out. On one of the forms, it said that the program was a No Refund Program. One of the questions that we asked at that time was if our son threw a fit were they going to throw him out. Ramsy assured us that they dealt with that all the time and that would not be a problem.
At that time I figure that Stone Hawk was the best place for our son. After all what was I going to do with him. If I could handle him at home, I wouldn’t have signed him up for a drug rehabilitation program. The day before, our son sold his pick-up and didn’t have any money to show for it. (I’m assuming that the money went for drugs). After checking him in they took him right to Detox.
On July 2, (2 days into Detox) our son passed out and was vomiting blood, the RN at the center would not let him go to the hospital. Our son finally convinced them to take him to the hospital. They said they would take him AMA (against medical advice). At the hospital they said he was dehydrated and started him on IV’s. After going back to Stone Hawk, he finished the detox withdrawal part of the program.
Our son started the next phase of the program (Therapeutic Training Routines Course) which teaches one’s ability to confront and communicate. Our son was having problems with getting through this phase. During this period we were talking with our son and the counselors (Anthony, Patty, and Ramsy) trying to get our son through this part of the program. On July 13th or 14th we talked to Patty (our son’s counselor) and he told us that if he couldn’t get our son though this course by the end of weekend that they would have to let him go. We called Ramsy and told him about the situation and he assured us that he would talk to our son to help get him through the program.
On July 18th around 7:00pm (18 days into the program) they loaded my son’s belongings and drove him 26 miles away to a motel room and dropped him off. They paid for his room (from his medical fund) and gave him $10.00.
We have a phone message that says; “This is Jai the administrator of Stone Hawk of Battle Creek, Tory just had another outburst and we are basically washing our hands at this point and time, he is being on a 2 week AMA, basically a 2 week suspension.”
The next day we went to get our son and took him straight to another Drug Rehabilitation Center at a cost of $8,000 (a borrowed credit card) for the first two week and $6,000(another borrowed credit card) for the following 4 weeks. After that I’m not sure what we will do.
On July 27th we got a hold of the owner of Stone Hawk (PerWickstrom) and he told us that there would be No Refund and that our son was on a 30 day suspension AMA (against medical advice) and that he was going to hold the bed for 30 days. Our son could have up to 3- 30 day suspensions (and he would hold a bed all this time) before they kicked him out. This is where they get a 3 month program.
Since that time our son is in another rehab center and he has passed the first part of their program (two weeks) and his continuing in the second phase of the program without a problem.


I guess the story I want to tell is that Narconon Drug Rehabilitation Centers are all over the United States and they have a no refund program where they can take your money ($23,500) and stick it to you. You don’t know it’s a No Refund Program until the day you get there and then you are so desperate to turn your son or daughter over to get them off drugs you will sign anything.






Sincerely,

Greg and Beth Beha
19431 Taylor Ridge Road
Glouster, Ohio 45732
740-767-4243
gregbe@frognet.net

I hope this website will help get the ball rolling, Mr. Beha.

I admire your fortitude in standing up to this fraudulent program.

If you don't mind, I think you should post here about the offer in which Narconon basically asks you to lie as a condition for receiving half of your money back.
I think that's a very important issue.

Thanks for posting, and please spread the word about this board.

Cheers!

Hello, my family is a recent victim of the Stone Hawk rehab center, and I'm desperately trying to get my money back. My son has had a drug problem for the past 10 years, although he had been drug free for the last 4 years until February of 2007. A girlfriend broke his heart, and he chose to use again. For this, I was very disappointed. He tried 3 times to detox himself, and admitted he needed help. His father and I felt we had a small window of time to find him a facility, in case he changed his mind, or worse died of an overdose. I too went on line, and found this amazing facility, called Narconon Stone Hawk. I emailed them, and shortly after got a call from a Nic saying he had graduated the program just last November, and was an addict like my son. He went on to say that the program saved his life, and we needed to help our son as soon as possible. I found the cost was $27,900 (seems it keeps going higher by the day). This was a huge amount for my ex husband and myself. I even decided to use my inheritance from my mom, because I felt it being a 4-6 month program that it was our sons best chance to get his life back. The advertise a 70% success rate, and that sounded like the miracle we were looking for. Nic continued calling me, and telling me we needed to do something soon, and I finally told him we would bring our son there, but not for another week, because our son wanted to say good bye to some friends first. He said that wasn't good, and that something could happen to him in a week, but said ok to us. He said to ensure a bed (because we wanted to wait) I had to put a $5000.00 deposit down. I wasn't happy, but he said they only had 2 open beds, and to ensure one I needed to put the deposit down. Again, I agreed out of fear. The following Monday May 7,2007 we drove 3 hours to Stone Hawk, and Nic met us at the facility. This is the first time we saw the center in person, and it did look somewhat run down, but Nic assured me they were going to be fixing it up, now that the weather was warmer. We then were given the contract for our son, and ourselves to sign. Never before this moment had we been able to view the contract. It said if he was dismissed or left the program after 2 weeks, we would lose $15,000 automatically, and a $1000.00 per day after that. We also were told at that time we needed to give them another $500.00 for an emergency medical fund for him, plus he would need some money in his student fund. My head was swimming, but you're there, with your child, and feel you can't walk away now, so we signed. Three weeks later on May 31st., our son called and said he was done, and wasn't staying at Stone Hawk. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed, and shocked. I couldn't understand what happend, since I had been calling to find out he was doing, which always had been positive comments from his superiors. My son had even called the day before this call, and said he was good, and felt good, but let me know that they do push Scientology, and he didn't like that, but he did enjoy the "sauna therapy". Back to May 31st, I get another call from my sons supervisor, and he asked if I had spoken with my son, and I said "yes" and whats going on?. He told me that my son and a girl student where having inappropriate contact, and they wanted to put them in different facilities. They said they thought they had had sex, but could not prove it. It was at that time I found that they put the male and females students together in the sauna. Are they nuts. This is not Club Med, and a stupid thing when you are dealing with people with addiction problems, in a sauna for hours a day, bonding about their lives, problems, etc., then to be half dressed on top of it. It's bound to pull them together. I would never put males, and females in that position in a rehab facility. They said they like to keep a "real world" approach, so that when they go back into the real world, they aren't overwhelmed. I truely believe they set them up to fail, then leave the program, and "bingo" another bed opens up, and the scam starts again. My son and the girl were determined at that point to leave, and I couldn't talk him out of it. The next time my phone rang was 10pm that night, from my son, and he said he was at a Marathon station in downtown Battle Creek Michigan. He said he signed himself out (they tried to talk him out of it), and he said he didn't want to go to motel with them, so they let him walk out the door, and told him if stepped foot back on their property they would call the police. I signed a part in the contract that said they would hold him up to 12 hours to give us time to drive there, and pick him up. So here we were, 10 pm at night, and 3 hours away, and not sure where he was. If he hadn't had a phone card, he wouldn't have been able to call. They didn't give him his student money, or anything. He was alone, with his belongings in his bag, and in a city he didn't know. The girl found him later, because she too,walked out. My ex had to drive up there, and found them at 2am in the morning, got a motel room, and tried to deal with Stone Hawk the next day. Stone Hawk wanted them to come back , but they refused. They told us 2 other people left the same day, and 18 had walked out of the program that month. No one at Stone Hawk (Per Wickstrom, Daniel Greene) will return my calls. I sent a registered letter to Per Wickstrom, and he refused it. They know what they're doing, and aren't willing to be fair with the families. I need help to try to get our money back. or at least a large portion of it. Three weeks, and out $27,900, plus my $500, plus his student fund. HELP. Linda from Ohio skeptical.gif

Hello everyone--I am back

After many months of no contact due to moving. I am back on line working on my quest for a refund from Stonehawk.

ANYONE trying to get money back, my attorney is representing 3 of us. Please contact me or Jon Schrotenboer at www.kuiperorlebeke.com

Where else can I post. Please spread the word.

Betsy l