Smartravel - Smart Travel - Travelwise review: Deceptive Sales 2

This company offers "free" cruise or vacation getaway packages to have you come in and listen to their presentation. Once you get there they have you sign a form agreeing to pay for the taxes on the trip (around $150). I dont mind paying the taxes but when you go to try and book your "free" trip, you will find that its basically impossible to book because no weeks are available unless you are willing to pay an upgrade fee of a few hundred dollars. The "free" trip becomes more expensive than just booking a cruise directly. We were very flexible in our travel dates and yet were told they could not accomodate any of the dates we wanted without the upgrade. What a ripoff.

I did a little digging on this company and found besides their office in Cincinnati, they had an office in Columbus which closed in response to complaints / investigation of their business practices. My sister in Cleveland was invited in to a company called TravelWise and when she went in, the sign out front said SmarTravel. She asked if she was in the right place and was told they had changed their name - even though all the pictures insides had TravelWise on them. VERY very shady...

The product they sell is a complete SCAM. The salesman and manager both said over and over that we could travel anywhere for $99. The true cost of a trip was over $1, 400 when all the undisclosed costs such as peak season and an actual bedroom (ie non efficiency) are added in. You also have to pay an yearly charge to be part of the plan. I knew it was a scam when they told me there were 2, 500 resorts but only had pictures or even the names of maybe 50. Once I got home I looked up their website and almost all of the places were dumps. When you see what you get for $1, 400 you will be VERY disappointed.

I have never seen a bigger SCAM business. The owners name "David Weiss" was given to us in our presentation to contact if we had any issues. I am so tempted to call and complain but if he owns these businesses he must be behind the thievery. AVOID AT ALL COSTS