Who pays for One Ton Ramp classes?

[Handmaiden of Dog]

Oh this just makes me feel sad. The more I read about the Maxwells, the more I dislike Steve and this just fuels my rage. He is a nasty man and if there was any justice in the world he would be a sad and lonely man with no friends and no family. But religion papers over so much and allows so many damaged, ugly, twisted people to present as Christians.

So the question I am left with is: does Steve know he is over-charging people or does he truly believe he is offering value for money? Is he a con man or a misguided soul?

[quinoa]

So she can't think of anyway that the money could get stolen, and then one kid just found money scattered all over an abandoned field? And none of the other kids saw any money? That is a strange story.

I sort of thought she was trying to accuse one of the church members who was with them of stealing the money while in the van.

If the story is absolutely true, though, it seems pretty likely that one of the kids took the money and then when he realized it was supposed to buy their Thanksgiving dinner, he cooked up the "plan" to find scrap metal and the miraculous money-in-the-field gave him a way to return it. It still sounds like less money than she originally had, so I wonder if they were unable to pay their bills?

I've always felt pretty terrible for those children. Their life is an endless round of grinding poverty and "soul-saving" in Mexico alternated with traveling the US in a trailer begging churches to give them enough money to keep feeding their family.

[sparkles]

Oh this just makes me feel sad. The more I read about the Maxwells, the more I dislike Steve and this just fuels my rage. He is a nasty man and if there was any justice in the world he would be a sad and lonely man with no friends and no family. But religion papers over so much and allows so many damaged, ugly, twisted people to present as Christians.

So the question I am left with is: does Steve know he is over-charging people or does he truly believe he is offering value for money? Is he a con man or a misguided soul?

IMO, Steve doesn't think he's overcharging but I do think he believes that he's offering a specialized, godly service that you can't get anywhere else and charges accordingly. And as long as there are people who will pay for his services, either because they're like-minded and/or out of ignorance, he has no reason to revise his pricing. He probably has no way of knowing if prospective students can actually afford the fees and have stretch their budgets to the max and TBH, it's really not his problem. That's THEIR choice. And even if they know something is pricey, some folks (myself included) are more likely to buy anyway if it's from a trusted source or because of the convenience factor. For example, I've been a subscriber to the aforementioned lynda.com for probably close to 10 years now (it's a deductible professional development business expense for me). I know there are a lot of great free videos out there--and even more shit ones as well--but frankly, my time is a valuable commodity and I don't want to waste it sorting out the wheat from the chaff. So because I was familiar with Lynda through her books and DVDs and knew what I'd get from her website would be of similar top quality, I had no problem signing on. I'm sure Steve fans feel the same way about what he offers. To them, he's a trusted source and he saves them from what they probably think of as ungodly missteps by looking elsewhere for instruction.

As to whether or not he's a con man and misguided soul, HELL YEAH!

[Palimpsest]

IMO, Steve doesn't think he's overcharging but I do think he believes that he's offering a specialized, godly service that you can't get anywhere else and charges accordingly. And as long as there are people who will pay for his services, either because they're like-minded and/or out of ignorance, he has no reason to revise his pricing. He probably has no way of knowing if prospective students can actually afford the fees and have stretch their budgets to the max and TBH, it's really not his problem. That's THEIR choice. And even if they know something is pricey, some folks (myself included) are more likely to buy anyway if it's from a trusted source or because of the convenience factor. For example, I've been a subscriber to the aforementioned lynda.com for probably close to 10 years now (it's a deductible professional development business expense for me). I know there are a lot of great free videos out there--and even more shit ones as well--but frankly, my time is a valuable commodity and I don't want to waste it sorting out the wheat from the chaff. So because I was familiar with Lynda through her books and DVDs and knew what I'd get from her website would be of similar top quality, I had no problem signing on. I'm sure Steve fans feel the same way about what he offers. To them, he's a trusted source and he saves them from what they probably think of as ungodly missteps by looking elsewhere for instruction.

As to whether or not he's a con man and misguided soul, HELL YEAH!

Not sure if this helps or not, but when Mr P and I checked out the Inspire! conference, we both left with the impression that Stevo was a very slick salesman, a peddler of snake oil, and that the presentations were just hour long infomercials for different Maxwell products.

Don't forget two very important things about One Ton Ramp:

1. You must protect the women. If your daughter or wife takes the course from home she will never have to talk to a man directly. A female "member of staff" (read one of the daughters or Teri) will take her questions, relay them to the staff member (Maxwell with penis) who knows all the answers, and then bring the answer back to the woman. So efficient.

2. One Ton Ramp needs cash up front. Credit is unGodly and saving for things is important. If you can't afford it immediately then you must get an envelope and put a little money in it every week until you can pay in full for the course and materials. I can't remember if they give any refunds if you decide the course is crap. My guess is no.

Conman or misguided soul? BOTH!

[formergothardite]

I sort of thought she was trying to accuse one of the church members who was with them of stealing the money while in the van.

If the story is absolutely true, though, it seems pretty likely that one of the kids took the money and then when he realized it was supposed to buy their Thanksgiving dinner, he cooked up the "plan" to find scrap metal and the miraculous money-in-the-field gave him a way to return it. It still sounds like less money than she originally had, so I wonder if they were unable to pay their bills?

I've always felt pretty terrible for those children. Their life is an endless round of grinding poverty and "soul-saving" in Mexico alternated with traveling the US in a trailer begging churches to give them enough money to keep feeding their family.

I suspect the child took it, too. He has lived a life of such horrible poverty that I could see him taking it to save for a treat or just to give him a feeling of safety. I pity these children.

[Jana814]

Oh this just makes me feel sad. The more I read about the Maxwells, the more I dislike Steve and this just fuels my rage. He is a nasty man and if there was any justice in the world he would be a sad and lonely man with no friends and no family. But religion papers over so much and allows so many damaged, ugly, twisted people to present as Christians.

Well said about Steve

[YPestis]

I don't think the Maxwells are overcharging for a company of their size. The problem is that they are competing against larger companies selling the same products for far less. This makes the Maxwells' stuff overpriced by comparison. Even the ITonRamp classes wouldn't be overpriced since it's a small sized class with a skilled professional teaching. The problem is that the same information could be imparted through far cheaper CC classes or free tutorials online. If the family wishes to survive financially, they need to find a "niche" that larger companies are not filling. People will only pay for a premium if they feel Nathan Maxwell can give them lessons they can't find in cheaper community colleges or a public libraries. This may be especially true for cash-strapped fundie families with their single income and multitude of children. I'm sure even the most fundie families will draw a line at how much they are willing to pay for the privilege of a "Christ-centered" learning environment.

[Coconut Flan]

I'm not sure I'd trust how skilled Nathan is given his background or lack of out of the home education.

[RosyDaisy]

I wouldn't trust the Maxwells with changing a light bulb much less a computer.

[coexist]

I don't think that's paticularly late is it? My daughter has several age mates (she'll be 2 next month) who are only just starting to say a few words. I think everyone develops at different ages and some kids don't talk much until they're quite old.

My daughter started talking very early-- seven months-- and has been a chatterbox ever since! My son though never said much more than a peep till just before he turned two. My mother was in town to visit when he randomly blurted to her, "I have blue socks!" It blew our minds. Guess every kid just waits till they're ready.

[Palimpsest]

I wouldn't trust the Maxwells with changing a light bulb much less a computer.

Oh, now that is not fair! :lol: The boys are pretty good at home renovation. Look at what they did with Joseph's house Steve and Teri's office!

Hmmm. I could use a decent handyman or two. If I could hire Joseph and John for renovations on my old house and the girls as painters it would be a great opportunity to try to deprogram them from Steve's cult.

Oh, right. They only travel with the whole family. Forget it. Teri is past help and Steve is creepyscary.

[LucySnowe]

Because I'm so sure that when you attend a community college computer course you're being subjected to subliminal messages commanding you to do drugs, have orgies and pray to satan.

Me: Honey, when you did a computer course at a community college, were you subjected to subliminal messages commanding you to do drugs, have orgies, and pray to Satan?

Mr. Snowe: ...no, I learned C and C++. Why are you asking?

Me: Take a guess.

Mr. Snowe: The fundies?

Me: Yup.

[formergothardite]

Two years at a community college and no one offered me drugs, tried to have sex with me, and the only people who witnessed to me were Christian. But I did get to meet people from various walks of life and find out that they weren't scary and evil, which is why most of these fundies actually want to keep their kids away from college. They must keep them in the bubble of believing anyone who isn't exactly like them is bad.

[BornFree]

Oh this just makes me feel sad. The more I read about the Maxwells, the more I dislike Steve and this just fuels my rage. He is a nasty man and if there was any justice in the world he would be a sad and lonely man with no friends and no family. But religion papers over so much and allows so many damaged, ugly, twisted people to present as Christians.

So the question I am left with is: does Steve know he is over-charging people or does he truly believe he is offering value for money? Is he a con man or a misguided soul?

Does anyone actually know what the Maxwells charge for their computer courses?

[Coconut Flan]

Computer Essentials - - - - $200

A+ Track - - - - - - - - - - - -$1000

HTML - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $250

PC Reloading - - - - - - - - - $175

[NurseNell]

When you have to take all your money out of the bank to pay for bills then you shouldn't be wasting it on a computer class that consists of stuff you can learn for free. These people need to learn better money management.

So she can't think of anyway that the money could get stolen, and then one kid just found money scattered all over an abandoned field? And none of the other kids saw any money? That is a strange story.

Good grief, she's either very naive or deep into denial. One of the kids stole the money, then felt bad and looked for a way to return it.

[RosyDaisy]

Computer Essentials - - - - $200

A+ Track - - - - - - - - - - - -$1000

HTML - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $250

PC Reloading - - - - - - - - - $175

Oh now, this is a ripoff.

[thekate]

Computer Essentials - - - - $200

A+ Track - - - - - - - - - - - -$1000

HTML - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $250

PC Reloading - - - - - - - - - $175

Have you tried turning it off and on again? ;)

[Jana814]

Have you tried turning it off and on again? ;)

Good one!!

[already hungover]

Have you tried turning it off and on again? ;)

PC LOAD LETTER? The fuck does that mean?

[doggie]

PC LOAD LETTER? The fuck does that mean?

reinstalling the os I would think. of course a simple search will tell you how. but that would require an evil google search.

[RosyDaisy]

It means restoring the PC back to it's factory settings, as in the way it was when it was bought.

[slickcat79]

PC LOAD LETTER? The fuck does that mean?

WHY does it say paper jam when there IS no paper jam?! :lol:

[socalrules]

It means restoring the PC back to it's factory settings, as in the way it was when it was bought.

As someone who has crashed and reset many, many, many computers, I am trying to understand why one would need a class for this. Normally the computer comes with a cd, or you download the data onto cd when you buy the computer, put the cd in the computer and it resets itself. The instuctions come with the computer. How stupid can you be to need to pay to learn that? I am horrible with technology and I can do it. Fundies are supposed to be so frugal, yet they spend on the dumbest shit.

[RosyDaisy]

WHY does it say paper jam when there IS no paper jam?! :lol:

Best guess....there's something wrong with the printer. The cause of most of my paper jams is named Eli. A quick blast from canned air or using one of those little computer vaccums gets the hair out nicely.