As stated earlier in the thread, I am no fan of paying for ICUS to get ahead, and agree with the general sentiment of the thread. I have not done it and will not do it myself.
But, at the same time, I would like to add a little balance to the conversation.
Those that think that this company is at fault for offering the service, or that the AFAP is at fault for advertising it, I think you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Firstly, the AFAP already advertises plenty of those jobs from the companies that refuse to invest in/train their own and demand 10/50/100 hours on type for a job.
There are also plenty of companies out there offering (or exploiting young pilots, as some put it) at double the rate advertised by the company in question, or more! Advertising it at that price is actually helping to put 'exploitation', as some put it, out of business.
Secondly, there are plenty of legitimate situations where a bit of ICUS can help one to get/stay current, as opposed to using it and one's (or one's daddy's) money to get ahead of the pack.
GG suggested that spending the money on a simulator would be better than flying ICUS in preparation for a renewal. I don't disagree entirely, but also think it depends on in which area you struggle. In one night of ICUS you would typically do 5hrs with 2 day and 2 night approaches and get a reasonable refresher in the aeroplane for a price that would only get you about 40mins of private hire or dual in the aircraft.
There are also instructors trying to get hours towards a M/E instructor rating. I don't think they should be paying for these hours either (I think the requirement should to have 50hrs on commercial ops, and only as PIC, not ICUS), but that said, its a hell of a lot cheaper and also hell of a lot more valuable than private hiring and flying around aimlessly.
How about we attack the companies that put the people in such situations, and the pilots that at times throw money at aviation to get ahead even when it is not required (i.e. the I'll work for nothing or the I'll pay you for a job types), instead of the AFAP for simply advertising a legitimate service?