I joined a local group that had investigated my home after some shadow figures started popping up at random. I asked for their help as I was terrified and had no idea what to do. I paid them roughly $500 to do it, and honestly thought they were an okay group.
Anyways, I paid $80 bucks to join their group and was given a specific field of expertise (videography) to focus on. I ended up being responsible for setting up and tearing down cameras, and monitoring audio and video feeds during investigations. I ended up having to use my own equipment, despite being told that my entrance fee would go towards equipment. That was my first red flag.
We had a psychic in the group that I vocally spoke out against due to her pulling stuff out of her ass. During the investigation of my house, she claimed an old man used to live there - which was bullshit considering the house was built literally two weeks before moving in. She claimed the old man had lived there for 20 years, and would sit on the porch scowling at children. The porch wasn't built until two months before the investigation. Needless to say, she was completely full of shit.
Anyways, I had confided in the leader of the group about the psychic's made up stories, and was told that if I had mentioned anything to the group about her "mistakes" that I would be banned. I failed to realize that the psychic was the leader's aunt. He was a dick to me for the rest of my time with me, using vague threats to keep me quiet.
This is what led to me being banned:
We were investigating a farm house a little ways outside of the city. We do two trips: Orientation and investigation. Orientation involved sending someone to the home to interview the occupants and map out camera spots. On this occasion I was sent out to the farm as I was the closest to them. I spent about three hours talking to the family and mapping the house. They were experiencing poltergeist activity - mainly things disappearing and finding furniture in weird places. The couple had two small children around the age of ten whom I wasn't allowed to speak to for whatever reason. They seemed genuine so I went ahead and ordered an investigation.
The morning of the investigation I stopped by the home to set up cameras and audio equipment. I had six cameras through out the home and set up the monitors in the garage.
The investigation went on for several hours with zero activity. At one point, the family and the group settled in the kitchen for coffee and to discuss experiences within the home. I was watching the upstairs landing while everyone was downstairs, and then I noticed something strange: one of the bedroom doors had opened fast enough to bounce off the wall and almost come to a close again. It made me jump and got the attention of the folks in the home. Right before they went upstairs I saw the culprit. It was the youngest son who had done it. He snuck out the door, down the stairs, and out the front door before anyone reached the stairs. I was about to call it in to let them know it was one of the kids, but then the psychic decided to give the performance of a lifetime.
She walked up the stairs while declaring with bravado "I can sense you! I can feel your anger! Prove yourself to me!" (like I said, bravado). She reached the room and touched the door knob and then froze. She started shaking and growling and then said in a lower voice "Get out of my house! I will kill you!" before collapsing on the floor and pretending to be knocked out.
While I facepalmed the parents flipped shit. They were terrified religious folks who now believed the devil was in their house. I decided to keep to myself and watch everything unfold.
The psychic eventually "came to" and claimed that there was a great evil in their home. She said that she would need to perform an exorcism, and offered to do it at a low price ($150, no joke). The parents hesitated and said they had already paid a lot of money and didn't think it would cost more. The psychic claimed that if they didnt get an exorcism, the house could become a "hellish nightmare." They asked for some privacy for a few minutes so they could talk it over, and came into the garage to speak. They were surprised to see me there and asked if I could leave for a minute. I stopped them and said they needed to see something. I pulled up recorded footage of the entire event, showing them that their son was responsible for the matter. I probably shouldn't have said it, but I told them I was certain the psychic was scamming them and to not go through with the exorcism. They looked very disappointed and embarrassed, and I apologized for having wasted their time with the investigation. We all agreed that the son was the likely culprit for the "paranormal" events, which put them at ease.
I expected them to say something to the group about it all, but they just thanked them and told them that their services would no longer be needed. The psychic tried to persuade them into doing the exorcism, saying their house could potentially kill them. They politely declined despite the psychic being visibly annoyed (probably upset that her performance was all for nothing). We cleaned up and headed out, and I kept my mouth shut.
Four days later I received a phone call from the group leader telling me that I was no longer welcome in their group and that I would be receiving an invoice for the lost $150 - claiming I had maliciously slandered their name so they