What gets you on the Disavowed List?
- Cancelation, chargeback or decline of the Operation Phoenix Program. We’re pretty clear on the website – this is a non-refundable purchase.
- More than two cancelations or declines of any membership or program.
- Any chargeback of any programs.
- More than two trial memberships.
- Using the Self Defense Company Name or Programs without permission or proper certification.
- Misrepresenting yourself as an instructor in good standing.
- Misrepresenting your credentials in training certifications including but not limited to martial arts, law enforcement, security or military.
Look, if you do any of the above, there’s a good chance you don’t want to be here anyway – so we’re going to blacklist you and make sure you can’t purchase anything from us “by accident” in the future.
However if you do want off the disavowed list — Contact Member Services at customerservice@theselfdefenseco.com
Owen Brown
Owen signed up to be a Self Defense Company Instructor then let his payments decline. Mr. Brown was only a probationary instructor and never took the level 1 promotion exam to be certified. Per his agreement, he is no longer an instructor in good standing. He appears to be operating in the Philadelphia, PA area – but after numerous attempts to contact him by email, phone, and social media he has yet to respond. Mr. Brown can contact us to talk about becoming reinstated and getting his level one certification.
at present Mr. Brown is NOT qualified to be a Self Defense Company InstructorAhmed Sameh
Reason for being disavowed – Multiple Elite Trial declines, Operation Phoenix default on payments.
From Bronze Member to Hater. Two years ago Mr. Ahmed was singing the praises of the SDTS HERE but now he tells a different story. In his words in 2016, “I spent 10 years searching for a true self-defense system, many traditional masters here [in Egypt] deceived me. I study martial arts, but I do the SDTS to protect my family.” Since then Mr. Sameh has taken a different opinion of Damian Ross and the Self Defense Company – in recent emails he used the term FRAUD to describe Damian and the Self Defense Company. And well, that’s his opinion but it’s NOT why he’s being disavowed.
Mr. Sameh is being disavowed because of multiple subscription declines, most recently Operation Phoenix. On May 24th, 2018 Mr. Sameh too the SDTS Elite Trial (order 428804) and let his subscription decline – never making a single payment. Then most recently he purchased Operation Phoenix on October 11th – the first day of its availability..and too the Elite Trial again…letting it decline again.
After multiple emails to customer service it was revealed Mr. Sameh had NO intentions of being a member or making good on the Operation Phoenix Program. You can read the email chain in a document Ahmed Sameh Emials
And this is why he made this list.
Felipe Hernandez, San Antonio TX
Mr. Hernandez purchased the payment option on the Operation Phoenix Program, then canceled payments and issued a chargeback with his bank. For those of you who don’t know, the Operation Phoenix Program has a no refund, no chargeback policy because of the nature of the content. You can see this policy plastered all over the page HERE <<.
Mr. Hernandez made NO ATTEMPT to contact the SDC and has logged and attempted to download the content (which you can’t).
Raymond Nelond, Baton Rouge, LA
Raymond looks like a nice guy…but make no mistake, he’s a serial purchaser with ZERO intent on ever paying for your hard work…
Ray purchased the Operation Phoenix Program, then let the payments decline. Remember Operation Phoenix is a NON REFUNDABLE program. But he didn’t stop there…he purchased the Knuckle Duster Program Plus the ELITE Membership (guess what happened next…he let those decline as well).
We understand if you purchase one program and stopped but after that, you’re just taking advantage. If you don’t like what you see…no problem, just part ways, but don’t try to work the system — WE WILL NOTICE.
Brett Beveridge, Miami Florida
On July 27, 2018 Brett Ordered 60 Minute Self Defense, Guardian Weapon Retention and made 3 out of the 4 payments of his Elite Membership.
Now if Brett got the Elite Program by accident and wanted to cancel for a full refund, he could have by September 1, 2018. But he didn’t. Instead, he stayed on as a member, made 3 payments, and then decided to issue a chargeback for his payments.
And that’s why he’s on the list.
I’m confused… Regarding the probationary instructor, isn’t it an option to essentially “pause” the instructor agreement and reinstate it at a later time by resuming payments?
And as far as the former Bronze member who is now “no longer interested,” I don’t even know what to say. He obviously was already familiar with the training, but didn’t want to pay for the elite membership? And Operation Phoenix…that’s some good training. When I got my Phoenix membership it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it’s great training.
It seems to me that it’s pretty simple to stay off the disavowed list. I know I’ve never had any issues with SDC. And if for some reason I ever were to encounter any issues, I’m confident I’d be able to resolve them with a simple phone call or email.
Keep up the good work Damian and crew. I know I appreciate my membership, the friendship of others in the system, and all the help and advice you all give.
Hi Sean – thanks for posting.
The Instructor issue –
Expertise
First you’re only on probation for a year – during that time you need to get your level 1 cert which means you must test and have an SDC instructor of Level 1 or higher evaluate you. Right now Owen is teaching without certification which means he’s not QUALIFIED to teach our programs.
BRANDING
Second, if you’re no longer paying your SDC Instructor Membership fee – you no longer have the license to use the logos, names of the programs and any other brand names used by the SDC.
However – if you’re an instructor and you receive a certification you can use the SDC certification in your credentials.
So let’s say Owen was a level 1 instructor and failed to keep up with his payments and left the program. He still carries the certification credential, but he can only list it like any other rank or certification.
for example:
Owen Brown
Head Instructor
Black Belt in TKD
SDC Level 1 Instructor
CPR Certified
That’s it – he can’t say he’s teaching for and in conjunction with the SDC, use any of our logos, etc.
Membership issue –
Like you said, if Ahmed or any other member, takes multiple trials, and cancels they’re only trying to take advantage of the system.
He already knows what the program is about and…already knows the costs. Anything past the second trial and cancelation will get you disavowed.
That’s different if you start in one month – use it for several months, stop and come back later.
He has made ZERO payments and let everything decline multiple times.
It’s incredible to me the lack of respect that people have. Would they go to a dojo over and over again demanding a “free trial”? When I trained TKD, I paid from my first week. That’s just the way it works. It’s crazy that people feel that SDC is any different. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I neglected my training. I became a member, reviewed some module 1 stuff, then didn’t touch it again. For years. But that doesn’t mean there’s not value. In fact, the biggest value was I could come back, review, and dive right back into training.
Oh, and thanks for your reply, the info and the thoughts behind it. I realized after I posted that I said I was confused… just want you to know, I meant confused about people being so ignorant. I knew you had good reason to put them on blast on the disavowed list!
Hey, have a great Thanksgiving if I don’t talk with you before!
Hey Sean – no worries but you hit on a good point…the SDTS is made for just that – go, come back, go…come back.
Training (even with me) comes in waves. Once you get your foundation set — you can go and come back…it’s self defense…not a title fight.
Have a great Thanksgiving.
Okey let’s make things clear, you said that I tried the elite program twice, and that’s not true. I only tried it once and I found that it’s not elite as you said, and it’s not complete as you marketed it. The program misses a lot of important subjects like the following:
1 – You don’t have solid counter offensive tactics, if things gone wrong.
2 – Module 5 escape and evasion, misses a lot about fighting multiple assailants, and any expert will say that it’s not enough.
3 – Knife defense misses a lot about real dynamic combat.
Remember Mr.Ross that you said in the first module that you have to assume that the criminal is armed and have friends, yet you didn’t focus on that enough later, you missed a lot.
Remember Damian that I paid all the fees for the bronze membership and I really enjoyed the program at that time, but when I tried the Elite program, I found the truth.
I first liked the SDTS because I faced a lot of violence since my childhood and I know already the reality of combat, but your problem is that you’re not improving anything, you’re just trying to collect money in the fastest way possible, I’m not an amateur and I have 2 black belts, so it’s disrespectful from some people here to say words like “ignorant”.
Let’s now talk about the operation phoenix program, This program is not the same as you promoted it, and there’s some people here already said that, you want me to pay all this amount of money for just 2 videos Damian, The only good thing about it, is that the real gentleman and the real warrior Carl Cestari appeared in it.
Gentlemen, let’s talk in a more civilized way, I’m not trying to get in to a war with you or your company which I respected a lot before, We can solve things in more political and civilized way.
Ahmed thanks for posting…
1. First you did take the Elite Program Twice:
Receipt 428804 on May 18, May 24 2018
Receipt 512711 on October 11, 2018
2. You are trying to ‘go to war’ with us — in your email “I advise you my friend not to challenge me.”
Counter techniques —
This is the genius of the system and why it actually works under REAL conditions.
The only, and I repeat only thing that works is an aggressive response to an attack. Specific defenses DO NOT WORK. All you care about is position and distance then controlling MOMENTUM and BALANCE.
This is Module 1 stuff – always attack the man. Even armed, clear the weapon and attack the man.
Escape and evasion – “experts” are wrong. They’ve been wrong for centuries.
You can only fight ONE ATTACKER AT A TIME.
The only way you do that is by keeping mobile and using methods based on the least amount of bodyweight commitment.
Operation Phoenix is exactly as advertised.
That being said — it seems like you’ve taken a giant step backwards.
Specific defenses – “counter techniques”…I bet you’re doing knife disarms…
The only thing we teach is what has been proven to work.
Simple, core combat methods that always take ground…
But I’m not done…
Just so we have a point of reference I would like to introduce the person you are proudly training with now…
Neil Lohan…THIS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING.
Enjoy people….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRLu4zXHvnA
https://youtu.be/Iox39jRHv1E
Thanks for replying Damian..
Why you’re talking as if you’re the one who invented this system? you copied and pasted Carl Cestari Videos exactly as it was.
https://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=62583
Here we can see your reality Damian, everyone can see and read it.
You got the whole point wrong, I’m not talking about specific defenses or knife disarms, but it seems that you only trained with Carl for a short period and missed a lot of points.
You also have some videos where you’re doing some joint locks and throws, we all like martial arts, and we all have background in it.
The man you mentioned is one of the best in Chinese Martial Arts, and it’s disrespectful to bring him to this discussion.
LOL – You’re referencing a post from 2007 from a bitter guy who couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag…nice.
The fact is that I appear in the vast majority of videos THAT guy posts and the other videos were filmed in my club!
If I’m such a scumbag and he’s such a tough guy…and I SCREWED his instructor…then why didn’t anyone of these people sue or even IDK…confront me.
The person in the post did nothing…NOTHING.
That’s because they’re bullshitters.
Oh and I even reached out to Bullshido at the time to tell MY SIDE OF THE STORY…they weren’t interested… AT ALL.
I spent a lot of time and $$ proving I was right: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-superior-court-appellate-division/1642412.html
Funny, when you “discovered” this from 11 years ago, you never brought it up to us…Instead you continued to purchase our products after the fact — even though you thought I only trained with him for a limited time.
If you didn’t think the SDTS and what we offer wasn’t of great value…you would have NEVER come back after May 24th or even stayed on the mailing list.
Finally, DO NOT mention the name of the Godfather to my daughter again – YOU HAVE ZERO position to do so. You don’t know SHIT about it…me and my relationship to him.
Tom who started the war, because he should talked to me in more professional way, I have Bachelor degree in hospitality and tourism and I know how to handle problems in professional way.
First, this isn’t a war, it’s just entertainment.
You started this by ripping us off, taking multiple subscriptions and programs even though you had NO intention of keeping up your end of the bargain.
Do you think that words like “SHIT” will lead us to a solution?
Solution…you’re posting on it.
I think we’re done. Good-bye.
Haha, Nobody cares about this…Lol
But I’m still sure that I didn’t purchase the elite program twice, and I know that it’s just a dirty trick for collecting money. Bye :)
Sir, just to be clear…below are the receipts for your trials.
Trial 1
https://www.myselfdefensetraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-20-at-2.27.37-PM.png
Trial 2
https://www.myselfdefensetraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-20-at-2.27.25-PM.png
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