Worldstrides

I went with my child's 8th grade class on a trip to DC and NYC with Word Strides Here is an overview of the experience The group that we traveled with consisted of approximately people (students, children and adults) What I didn't realize was that they group schools and other people together I thought it was going to be just my child's school So, we were with another school and a few other parents with their children, some quite young We filled two coach sized buses The drivers were amazing! Basically, you leave the hotel at 8:am every day and return to the hotel approximately at 10:pm You take on the bus whatever you might need for the day Consequentially most students carried large backpacks Every day we were extremely busy There was absolutely no down time Too many activities were crammed into a single day, which made each event a hurried experience The behavior of some of the boys was deplorable There was one that was loud, obnoxious, disrespectful, used bad language, was punching other kids and was just miserable to be around Myself and everyone else had to sit on the bus for many hours listening to his ranting and raving and no one did anything about it Another parent complained to the tour guide (there was one on each bus) and she said that disciplinary action was up to the teachers/chaperones So, I talked to the teacher and she said she didn't know what to do because they had no authority and couldn't give detention or any of the usual consequences I was flabbergasted and furious that I spent nearly $10,for me and my child to attend this only to be tormented by this student for a week!! I myself then tried to talk to the boy, to no avail I just don't understand that other measures could not be taken to handle this student As a note: During the first part of the week, the two teachers on our bus sat in front and laughed and chatted while chaos was going on in the back of the bus They did NOTHING! Most of the kids spent the entire time on their phones, walking with their phones in their faces and the teachers and WorldStrides tour guide did NOTHING!!! Every day we either went to a restaurant as a group or we were given $10.00-$to spend at fast food places The Cheesecake Factory and Carmine's did an exceptional job of accommodating such a large groupWe went to DC first and we were rushed from one Memorial to the other I was constantly trying to keep track of the nearly students we were with, while the teachers chatted and laughed at the front of the line Every time I finally got to the Memorial, after corralling kids, the guide would move on After the second day, I stopped worrying about my child's classmates and me and my child stayed near the front - nearly lost kids that day Finally, by the third day the teachers and the WorldStrides guide figured they needed a teacher in the back - Really? We saw Sheer Madness which was quite good, but not for 12, and year old students - very inappropriate! Most of the time, the students were either exhausted from not sleeping, totally bored or on their phones They certainly were not learning anything - except maybe how to avoid an obnoxious bully or play a new game The students were four to a room and there was only queen sized beds in the rooms The boys were not happy with that arrangement and many slept in the bath tubs or on the floor I would be upset to hear that I spent $5,and my child slept on the floor I think there should be per room and that is it At night there was a security guard posted in the hallway of the students rooms - what a joke! I walked down the hall to get ice and it was supposed to be quiet time I could hear noise in every room and even kids screaming and throwing stuff The guard was on an iPad watching a baseball game I pointed out to him the noise and commotion and he said, "Discipline is up to the teachers I only make sure they don't leave the rooms." I asked to have my room moved to another floor which the hotel readily accomodated I heard from other parents that the hotel called the teachers many times letting them know that they were receiving constant complaints, but the noise continued for the entire trip and for most nights up to 2:am I also heard from students that boys were hog tied and thrown in the closets or tied to the beds with the sheetsWe went to a Baltimore Orioles games We arrived just before it started, sat down watched an inning, got up and had dinner (everyone was given $cash), watched the game until the 4th inning and then we were told we had to leave Are you kidding me? The students were actually watching the game and enjoying it and we had to leave at the 4th inning What a nightmare The itinerary said we would be going to two of the Smithsonian museums and we did We spend hour in the first one and minutes in the second one What a waste!! The students were bored out of their minds during the hour tour of the Library of Congress and thrilled at the museums but didn't have hardly any time there I am not sure who decides on the itinerary but it needs to be seriously revamped Then we drove to NYC Corralling the students became a more difficult challenge and most of the time we would receive conflicting messages from the WorldStrides tour guide and the teachers By this time, it was obvious that the tour guide was frustrated with the teachers and was yelling at the students all the time Why she directed her anger at the students and not the teachers - I have no idea We saw a Broadway show - School House Rock which was amazing However, the tour guide told us that morning as we were boarding the bus that there would not be an opportunity to change before the Broadway show So most of the girls who brought dresses to wear to the Broadway show left them at the hotel Well, something changed and just before dinner the bus stops and allows kids to change, which of course no one did, except for a couple of students who were the teachers children and their friends!!! There was some very upset kids after that The other parents from the other school and a parent who was there with her two girls told me that they were constantly complaining to their teachers and the tour guide about the obnoxious boy and they were furious that no one was doing anything In NYC we went to the Observation deck at Rockefeller Center - that was awesome and the kids really liked it We rode bikes in Central Park and that was fun! We went to a Tenement museum and I found it interesting, but the students were bored out of their minds I tried to step in and make the tour more interesting by pointing out things the students would be interested in I also encouraged the museum tour guide to move it along when he was going into too much detail Yet again, there was a teacher on the tour with us and she did NOTHING!! Doris was our WorldStrides tour guide and she was good, but really needed to take control away from the teachers and/or have a stern talk with them about being consistent and applying discipline There were times when Doris was yelling at the students to stay here and the teachers were telling the students to move - what a disaster!! For the price, I would say this is not worth it Most of the places that we went to in DC were free The hotels were nice (Sheraton and Courtyard Marriott) but students per room was absolutely ridiculous! I would not recommend this to any friends or family

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
I want this company to be more professional
I canceled 2/and did not receive a check until last week 4/It's not hard to refund electronicallyThe same way they took my money, they should have refundedI didn't receive a check a refund until after I'd gotten in touch with Revdex.comYet I'm charged $Why should I have to pay $for a Full Refund Program, when they're keeping the initial deposit of $So I'm out $and all I received is a $t-shirt.
Their secretary answers the phone and connects you to someone whose never there
Regards,
*** * ***

Last year we signed out son up to go on a class trip to FloridaWe paid the sign up and made several payments towards the tripAs the trip grew closer we realized that financially we could no longer afford to send him, I sent an email to Worldstrides telling them we needed to cancel and they never responded A month or so later I sent a second email telling them we would like to cancel again no responseI immediately sent another this time they said I need to trip number and account number before they would respondI didn't have this information so I had to try to locate itAgain I sent am email cancelling the trip...no response I then sent am email asking for my money back again no responseToday I called the 1-number and was told no refund would be issued that I had paid and they keep automatically and they wont be returned because I cancelled with in days of the tripHad they responded to my first emails it would have been prior to the days

My child brought home material for a Worldstrides trip to France for her 8th grade class on September 6thAfter reviewing the basic materials and speaking to her French Teacher I chose to Enroll my husband, daughter and myself for the trip and proceeded to call to set up monthly payments on September 15thWhen I spoke to the customer representative he stated that this deposit will go toward the trip amount and because I am paying now I will save *** discount and that a total of *** per account would need to be paid within daysOnce the first payment is processed and if cancellation proceeds first payment that I would receive only a percentage backThere were zero conversations about a "grace" period in the first days, I set up the plan and completed the conversationFast forward to now (October 6) and a situation has occurred to where we are unable to move forward with the trip, have not surpassed the day mark and have only paid the deposit on each account

I went with my child's 8th grade class on a trip to DC and NYC with Word Strides Here is an overview of the experience The group that we traveled with consisted of approximately people (students, children and adults) What I didn't realize was that they group schools and other people together I thought it was going to be just my child's school So, we were with another school and a few other parents with their children, some quite young We filled two coach sized buses The drivers were amazing! Basically, you leave the hotel at 8:am every day and return to the hotel approximately at 10:pm You take on the bus whatever you might need for the day Consequentially most students carried large backpacks Every day we were extremely busy There was absolutely no down time Too many activities were crammed into a single day, which made each event a hurried experience The behavior of some of the boys was deplorable There was one that was loud, obnoxious, disrespectful, used bad language, was punching other kids and was just miserable to be around Myself and everyone else had to sit on the bus for many hours listening to his ranting and raving and no one did anything about it Another parent complained to the tour guide (there was one on each bus) and she said that disciplinary action was up to the teachers/chaperones So, I talked to the teacher and she said she didn't know what to do because they had no authority and couldn't give detention or any of the usual consequences I was flabbergasted and furious that I spent nearly $10,for me and my child to attend this only to be tormented by this student for a week!! I myself then tried to talk to the boy, to no avail I just don't understand that other measures could not be taken to handle this student As a note: During the first part of the week, the two teachers on our bus sat in front and laughed and chatted while chaos was going on in the back of the bus They did NOTHING! Most of the kids spent the entire time on their phones, walking with their phones in their faces and the teachers and WorldStrides tour guide did NOTHING!!! Every day we either went to a restaurant as a group or we were given $10.00-$to spend at fast food places The Cheesecake Factory and Carmine's did an exceptional job of accommodating such a large groupWe went to DC first and we were rushed from one Memorial to the other I was constantly trying to keep track of the nearly students we were with, while the teachers chatted and laughed at the front of the line Every time I finally got to the Memorial, after corralling kids, the guide would move on After the second day, I stopped worrying about my child's classmates and me and my child stayed near the front - nearly lost kids that day Finally, by the third day the teachers and the WorldStrides guide figured they needed a teacher in the back - Really? We saw Sheer Madness which was quite good, but not for 12, and year old students - very inappropriate! Most of the time, the students were either exhausted from not sleeping, totally bored or on their phones They certainly were not learning anything - except maybe how to avoid an obnoxious bully or play a new game The students were four to a room and there was only queen sized beds in the rooms The boys were not happy with that arrangement and many slept in the bath tubs or on the floor I would be upset to hear that I spent $5,and my child slept on the floor I think there should be per room and that is it At night there was a security guard posted in the hallway of the students rooms - what a joke! I walked down the hall to get ice and it was supposed to be quiet time I could hear noise in every room and even kids screaming and throwing stuff The guard was on an iPad watching a baseball game I pointed out to him the noise and commotion and he said, "Discipline is up to the teachers I only make sure they don't leave the rooms." I asked to have my room moved to another floor which the hotel readily accomodated I heard from other parents that the hotel called the teachers many times letting them know that they were receiving constant complaints, but the noise continued for the entire trip and for most nights up to 2:am I also heard from students that boys were hog tied and thrown in the closets or tied to the beds with the sheetsWe went to a Baltimore Orioles games We arrived just before it started, sat down watched an inning, got up and had dinner (everyone was given $cash), watched the game until the 4th inning and then we were told we had to leave Are you kidding me? The students were actually watching the game and enjoying it and we had to leave at the 4th inning What a nightmare The itinerary said we would be going to two of the Smithsonian museums and we did We spend hour in the first one and minutes in the second one What a waste!! The students were bored out of their minds during the hour tour of the Library of Congress and thrilled at the museums but didn't have hardly any time there I am not sure who decides on the itinerary but it needs to be seriously revamped Then we drove to NYC Corralling the students became a more difficult challenge and most of the time we would receive conflicting messages from the WorldStrides tour guide and the teachers By this time, it was obvious that the tour guide was frustrated with the teachers and was yelling at the students all the time Why she directed her anger at the students and not the teachers - I have no idea We saw a Broadway show - School House Rock which was amazing However, the tour guide told us that morning as we were boarding the bus that there would not be an opportunity to change before the Broadway show So most of the girls who brought dresses to wear to the Broadway show left them at the hotel Well, something changed and just before dinner the bus stops and allows kids to change, which of course no one did, except for a couple of students who were the teachers children and their friends!!! There was some very upset kids after that The other parents from the other school and a parent who was there with her two girls told me that they were constantly complaining to their teachers and the tour guide about the obnoxious boy and they were furious that no one was doing anything In NYC we went to the Observation deck at Rockefeller Center - that was awesome and the kids really liked it We rode bikes in Central Park and that was fun! We went to a Tenement museum and I found it interesting, but the students were bored out of their minds I tried to step in and make the tour more interesting by pointing out things the students would be interested in I also encouraged the museum tour guide to move it along when he was going into too much detail Yet again, there was a teacher on the tour with us and she did NOTHING!! Doris was our WorldStrides tour guide and she was good, but really needed to take control away from the teachers and/or have a stern talk with them about being consistent and applying discipline There were times when Doris was yelling at the students to stay here and the teachers were telling the students to move - what a disaster!! For the price, I would say this is not worth it Most of the places that we went to in DC were free The hotels were nice (Sheraton and Courtyard Marriott) but students per room was absolutely ridiculous! I would not recommend this to any friends or family

Between October to December I enrolled & paid in full for my daughter *** *** to attend a class trip to ***After the payment in full was made, weeks later I found out that we were moving & have moved to MinnI cancelled the trip in Feb and was advised that after I submitted an email, I'd get a refund for 80% in 7-bus days by checkThat rep was "***." I did notI called back and that gentleman advised that I would get that refund in 4-weeks and that it was scheduled to be refunded to the debit card I used; further said that it was scheduled for the week of March 21stHis name unknown
I get the refund todayI called, the 1st gentleman (name unknown) I spoke to said that its 75%He said that this is a matter of 5%I said that this is a matter of all the misleading conversations and even at 75%, the amount is wrongHe stated not according to his math? At this point, I asked for a supervisor, I got Jessica L*** out of VA

We made an online payment to the company world strides for *** plus the *** service fee$*** was taken out of bank account through *** BankVisited *** Bank many times and the money had been taken from account and processed by WorldstridesHowever Worldstrides continues to say they did not receive the fundsthe bank transaction clearly states that the money was paid to Worldstrides So that worldstrides continues to take monthly amount from account receiving the monies twice

We paid a $deposit for our daughter to travel to England in July with Worldstrides through her high schoolRecently terrorist activities have seemed to be escalating in Europe and the State Department issued a travelers advisory for Americans traveling to European countriesWe are concerned for our daughter's safety and there is no way their company can ensure that my child will be safe from any type of terrorist attacks while in EuropeI contacted the company today to cancel her trip and get my $refundedThey told me that I would have had to cancel within days of booking the trip to get a refundI explained about our very real fears in regard to traveling to Europe and that and advisory had been issued by the State DepartmentThey said that didn't matter, we would not be refunded the $I cannot believe that a company can retain $for a trip that is to take place more than year from nowBased on everything that has been happening around the world, I feel

Dear ** ***:
Thank you for contacting WorldStride regarding your accountsIt is my understanding that you and *** were scheduled to accompany *** *** *** on their upcoming trip to FloridaHowever, you recently cancelled your accounts and requested a refund
On April 23, 2014,
when you registered online, you were presented with and agreed to certain Terms & ConditionsThose Terms & Conditions provided a detailed explanation of the $non- refundable deposit, as well as the Full Refund Program FeePursuant to the Terms & Conditions, the Full Refund Program Fee for this trip was $
The Terms & Conditions further explain payment plan options, handling fees and late fees which may be associated with your accountYou chose to spread your payments out into installments rather than enroll in the EZ Pay program for paymentAs explained in the Terms & Conditions, "If you choose to follow the installment payment following your registration, except the initial deposit and the final paymentThere are NO HANDLING FEES associated with payments made through the EZ Pay program."
In reviewing your accounts, I see the following:
*** ***: 4/23/14- $payment for the non-refundable registration fee
5/13/14- $payment
*** ***: 4/23/14- $payment for non-refundable registration fee
5/13/14- $payment
Pursuant to the Terms & Conditions and payment option selected, each account was charged a handling fee in the amount of $for the 5/13/paymentsTherefore, the refunds for you account would be $on *** and $on yours
Unfortunately, we are not in position to provide a refund for the non-refundable deposit or the fee for the Full Refund ProgramHowever, we have made an exception and refunded the handling fees on each of your accountsThis brings your total refund up to $for both accounts to be applied to the credit cards used for payment
I apologize for the frustration this situation has caused you and do hope that you and/or *** will be in a position to travel with WorldStrides in the future
Should you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly at ***We will be providing a copy of this correspondence as part of our response to the recent filing you made with the Revdex.com (Case # ***) in Richmond
Sincerely,
*** ***
Paralegal/HR Assistant

We made an online payment to the company world strides for *** plus the *** service fee$*** was taken out of bank account through *** BankVisited *** Bank many times and the money had been taken from account and processed by WorldstridesHowever Worldstrides continues to say they did not receive the fundsthe bank transaction clearly states that the money was paid to Worldstrides So that worldstrides continues to take monthly amount from account receiving the monies twice

I enrolled my daughter account #*** for the trip #***, also enrolled for the so called program FULL REFUND PROGRAM in May I paid for the non refundable deposit fee and I registered for automatic withdrawals of monthlyMy daughter changed schools and I have to cancel the tripI emailed on 9/to cancel and I received an email from Jawaun C***, stating that they will retain for the non-refundable deposit and also for the cost of the program...? Cost of the program? they never advertise clearly to schools or parents about this fee, also they told me I will received my check between to weeks I talked to Tom M*** about this fee and that I want my full refund and my check immediately because it was already weeks without receiving a refundMark said the refunds take days to be issued after the cancellationMark denied that customer service is telling a different statement to the customers and did not want to refund the sayin

I have had a monthly fee electronically debited from my checking account for many months to cover a trip to *** with my daughter's 8th grade classThings came up with my health that is preventing me from taking that tripI called on 8/30/to cancel and was advised I would get refund of $in to weeksI called on 09/09/to see if the refund was sent yet and was advised the first costumer service rep was wrongMy refund would be $and it would be sent between 9/12/and 09/15/On 09/16/I called to check the status of my refund and was advised I was again given wrong informationThat refund would take days because they have to wait days for my last payment to clear the bankWell my last payment of $was electronically debited from my back on 08/16/It is now 09/21/2016, my refund has yet to be sent

I paid for a school trip for my niece to *** ** sponsored by World Strides in March for $*** including a *** full refund charge The trip was scheduled for departure on June 6- The child's mother went to *** *** *** *** on May 17th to inquire about the departure time from the school A administrator at the school informed her that World Strides changed the trip dates The parent called World Strides to ask why wasn't she nor I was informed about the trip being canceled on this date A representative with World Strides told her, the trip was rescheduled for June 6-and the new cost of the trip is $*** I contacted World Strides to voice my disappointment with them cancelling the trip and raising the price to $*** for a two day trip to *** ** because the school didn't meet the forty student requirement to ride the bus for this trip I requested World Strides to refund the money I paid for the trip World Strides informed me

I have been told they have financial problem ant refund my moneyThe financial department does not read emailsI have to wait for a review to make a decision on my refundI called an canceled my trip and they won't honor my refund

First I'd like to say the customer service representatives will all tell you different stories My son recently went to the *** trip and his trip was paid in full and then he received donations from foundations who wanted to help him on this experience The trip was overpaid by a significant amount and WorldStrides held the money for months and we still have not seen the refund They said it was because "he might have additional expenses come up" What additional expenses??? The trip was paid in full there was NO way additional expenses would even come up?! He did not have the money to use for spending on his trip and they have still kept the money stating they issued a check and it will take days Well past the days and still no refund They are shady and tell different stories every time you call for an update They lie to you and should be held responsible for their actions I am preparing to file with the NM Attorney General if I do not get the refund Parents

I signed my son up for this trip not knowing that I would be moving in the upcoming months I also did not know that I would not receive a full refund if I canceled

This company is a nightmareThe payment system is a jumbled messThe website is awfulThey charge you to use a credit card on the siteHowever, I would never put my checking account info into the site because it is not a secure siteWhen our group was working out final payment options, Worldstrides sent me an email that they were cancelling my tripsThen, they told me it would take 4-weeks to get my money backReally? 4-weeks?
I didn't even want the trip cancelledSo I go to the awful website, and they have the wrong balance for the final paymentI am forced to call and deal with this situationThe whole process to make a final payment took me minutesI would expect that a company dealing with school trips would be far more customer service orientedThe message I get from this company is that they want my moneyThat's allI honestly don't even feel good about this trip knowing this company is handling itI would strongly advise anyone planning a trip to stay away from Worldstrides

Awful representation of a possibly wonderful companyA super pushy representative named LUCY MAKIN kept calling me at work to try and get me to book a trip with themWhen I told her that I was part of a different travel organization and that I wasn't sure who else at my job would be interested in leading a group such as this, she made a snark comment back and hung up on meI would never, because of her disrespectful first impression, even think about dealing with such a company

On behalf of family who recently attended a tour group ran by this company, I wish I could rate minus a star, trip was all around disappointing, makes me not want to visit France or Italy especially with this tour groupPeople do your homework please when researching tour groups, there is a reason they have so many "stars" on ** ***! Note: company was contacted to no avail

I have been trying to get my refund 2MONTHS after we started making payments after $payment we received a refund for I was told a few times when I called asking questions about your program and the refund program that we would not get the back if we chose to cancel I understand and AGREED TO ONLY THAT I have been trying to get my refund (-the $non refundable deposit) since April No response to numerous emails, or call backs when I have requested someone to call me, during this time from April-July I was charged Handling fees/ late fees I am requesting the remaining $to be refunded There are other complaints of the same issue on Revdex.com and various sites