It is now 2011 and my daughter is in high school. It has been quite a few years since the fiasco trip to Washington DC. I am prompted to write, yet again on this blog regarding travel scams aimed at children. Just today my daughter received a letter in the mail stating she has been "chosen" to be a student ambassador to Scotland, Wales and England.
The letter has on it a list of all the past presidents as "honorary chairmen." That to me was a BIG tip off. My bet is that all of those presidents didn't even know that the company existed.
It is nothing more than a glorified tour company trying to snag another sap with an expensive and poorly planned trip abroad. After doing a Google search for "People to People International scam" I found lots of information on them..................none of it good.
The bottom line:
If you want your child to visit a different country to experience culture then just go on a family vacation there. It will probably cost the same in the long run as it would with the tour company for just your child.
Tips for fund raising that are easy and profitible
If our little group had known which of our ventures was a waste of time, we would not have even tried them. Many indoor craft sales were a waste of our time and not worth the effort we put into them. Most of the "easier" ways I am going to list involve at least several members of a group and they should have some internet savvy.
First up, get a blog like this one and don't have it related to your group activities. I am not saying don't write about what is going on but have it relate to another subject and talk about that. Your blog is not for communication but a way for your group to earn money. For more information on earning money with your blog visit this website for complete how-to's
How to make money with your blog
Next make and sell your own calendars, books and other printed items to sell. Go to lulu.com where you can do all that for free and just pay for your items as you need them. You can also use lulu.com to sell your items for you.
Both of those methods above require more than just one person with technical know how. I knew about these methods when I was involved with our group 2 years ago but I was the only one with internet know how. It is just too much for one person to do. The rest of the parents in the group just baked and made crafts, hence our involvement with lots of failed craft fairs.
First up, get a blog like this one and don't have it related to your group activities. I am not saying don't write about what is going on but have it relate to another subject and talk about that. Your blog is not for communication but a way for your group to earn money. For more information on earning money with your blog visit this website for complete how-to's
How to make money with your blog
Next make and sell your own calendars, books and other printed items to sell. Go to lulu.com where you can do all that for free and just pay for your items as you need them. You can also use lulu.com to sell your items for you.
Both of those methods above require more than just one person with technical know how. I knew about these methods when I was involved with our group 2 years ago but I was the only one with internet know how. It is just too much for one person to do. The rest of the parents in the group just baked and made crafts, hence our involvement with lots of failed craft fairs.
Washington DC travel video
I just stumbled on this interesting video on YouTube. It is a walking tour of Washington DC. Enjoy the music and the sights:
Parents have started early this year (2010) to fund raise for their trips to DC
My own daughter is now in high school and it has been 2 years since that Washington DC trip that this blog was all about. The next batch of 8th graders have started to do fund raising even before the school year has started. From what I have heard so far, the parents lost money instead of getting money. That is not a good start. I don't know if they are using World Strides again this year but I hope they are not. They should give a local travel agency the opportunity to get them some great deals.
I never did get that $100 or so back from World Strides. Their claim of it being "just too small of an amount for them to refund" is such BS. I certainly hope that this blog and others like them have caused them to lose more than $100 over the last 2 years. Just to make sure they do get what they deserve I will up date the blog with any news on World Strides and their nasty business practices.
I never did get that $100 or so back from World Strides. Their claim of it being "just too small of an amount for them to refund" is such BS. I certainly hope that this blog and others like them have caused them to lose more than $100 over the last 2 years. Just to make sure they do get what they deserve I will up date the blog with any news on World Strides and their nasty business practices.
Post your 8th grader travel trip experience
If you have an 8th grader that took or is planing on taking a trip with their classmates to places outside of your state and have had experiences with the trip, I urge you to post a comment here. The purpose is to help others decide on which travel agencies to take or avoid. You can post your good stories as well as your bad ones.
The kids and parents had an interesting time
If you plan on working with World Strides as your tour provider then I must warn you that you will be spending hours doing walking to and from your destinations. They don't believe in tour bus travel unless it is from city to city. In Washington DC the tour guide took a wrong turn and took our group on an extra mile or so hike which took more time for a trip that was on a schedule. Time that could be used to actually see something that is taken up by cross town walks.
It is being proven more and more as I talk to people about World Strides is the fact that they are a cheap skate company that charges for more than they are putting out for. One point is the fact that our group stayed in an unmarked "hotel". Now you tell me where World Strides found a hotel that doesn't have any marks of a name on it. I wonder if a hotel like that even has a business license.
Of course my rants about World Strides could not be complete without a mention about how they make numerous contributions to political leaders. Why would a tour company that specializes in tours to Washington DC make so many contributions....In wonder about that one.
By the way if you have missed it, take a look at the other posts in this blog to see the comments made by former World Strides employees and customers. It is a real eye opener.
If you really like the information in this blog and want to make other people aware of the facts please Stumble it, Digg it or Tweet about it. The more people that are informed the better and maybe one day our kids and schools will not be taken in by this kind of company anymore.
It is being proven more and more as I talk to people about World Strides is the fact that they are a cheap skate company that charges for more than they are putting out for. One point is the fact that our group stayed in an unmarked "hotel". Now you tell me where World Strides found a hotel that doesn't have any marks of a name on it. I wonder if a hotel like that even has a business license.
Of course my rants about World Strides could not be complete without a mention about how they make numerous contributions to political leaders. Why would a tour company that specializes in tours to Washington DC make so many contributions....In wonder about that one.
By the way if you have missed it, take a look at the other posts in this blog to see the comments made by former World Strides employees and customers. It is a real eye opener.
If you really like the information in this blog and want to make other people aware of the facts please Stumble it, Digg it or Tweet about it. The more people that are informed the better and maybe one day our kids and schools will not be taken in by this kind of company anymore.
World Strides, a company full of controversy
Because of the very informative comments that this blog has gotten regarding the tour company, World Strides, I will try and keep the blog up beyond the date of the children's trip. Just visit some of the blog posts regarding World Strides and you will read the many people that have had both positive and negative results with the company. Former employees have also left not so nice comments about the company.
Worldstrides the tour company your school should stay away from
In my previous post about our problems with Worldstrides (you can read that post here) I mentioned the fact that Worldstrides had been involved with a bankruptcy. I had found that information via a private members only message board. It may or may not be in error but apparently the post got the attention of Worldstrides themselves. It is amazing to me that a blog that gets only 3 visitors a week would set off alarms at a small travel agency (Worldstrides only has 300 employees worldwide, hardly a large corporation) Because of that post I got a long 5 paragraph email from Mr. Martin, one of the VP's at Worldstrides trying to "correct" my blog post.
In answer to that email I will "correct" the word bankruptcy with a link to a court document that goes into great detail about how Lakeland Tours (which is what Wordstrides use to be known as) debts mounted up and how Worldstrides was formed under questionable dealings. You can see that document in full here. You can form your own opinion about Worldstrides after reading that.
Next I would like to mention that Mr. Martin prided himself in the fact that the Better Business Bureau of Richmond, VA gave Worldstrides an A+ as a rating. That is indeed true but on the same page they (the BBB) mention the 18 complaints against the company, in the last 36 months alone that were "resolved" (it was not mentioned how they were "resolved")
Another website also listed complaints against Worldstrides and you can see them at this link.
Mr. Martin's email goes on to mention the fiasco with the Bush inauguration which I had mentioned in the prior blog post. He said and I will quote him here, "During the inauguration program we provided an additional 1-2 days of lodging, meals, sightseeing, and transportation for over 1,000 students affected by both security and weather issues. This was done at no additional cost to the participants." Since I have no way of knowing if that is true or not I will give you a link to the news article that started of of this and let you decide. Here is the news article. Of course Worldstrides did not give out refunds to those kids, why am I not shocked. They like to keep what ever money comes their way and they stick to their no refund policy - they kept my money didn't they.
That is not all the news I have on them. Stay tuned for the next installment because there is more!
Those people at Worldstrides should have given me my money back. Now they will get lots of unwanted and free publicity.
In answer to that email I will "correct" the word bankruptcy with a link to a court document that goes into great detail about how Lakeland Tours (which is what Wordstrides use to be known as) debts mounted up and how Worldstrides was formed under questionable dealings. You can see that document in full here. You can form your own opinion about Worldstrides after reading that.
Next I would like to mention that Mr. Martin prided himself in the fact that the Better Business Bureau of Richmond, VA gave Worldstrides an A+ as a rating. That is indeed true but on the same page they (the BBB) mention the 18 complaints against the company, in the last 36 months alone that were "resolved" (it was not mentioned how they were "resolved")
Another website also listed complaints against Worldstrides and you can see them at this link.
Mr. Martin's email goes on to mention the fiasco with the Bush inauguration which I had mentioned in the prior blog post. He said and I will quote him here, "During the inauguration program we provided an additional 1-2 days of lodging, meals, sightseeing, and transportation for over 1,000 students affected by both security and weather issues. This was done at no additional cost to the participants." Since I have no way of knowing if that is true or not I will give you a link to the news article that started of of this and let you decide. Here is the news article. Of course Worldstrides did not give out refunds to those kids, why am I not shocked. They like to keep what ever money comes their way and they stick to their no refund policy - they kept my money didn't they.
That is not all the news I have on them. Stay tuned for the next installment because there is more!
Those people at Worldstrides should have given me my money back. Now they will get lots of unwanted and free publicity.
A sad day
Today I had to call Worldstides and cancel my own daughter's trip. Try as we might we could not fund raise enough money to even come close to paying even 25% of the total amount due. My daughter took the action well. What upset me was the fact they would NOT refund any...and I do mean any, of my money, stating the amount is too SMALL!!!
Worldstrides, if you are reading this, no amount of money is too small to refund in this economy. I did let everyone else in our small school group know about me not getting a refund and they were totally shocked.
Also today I received a rather long and odd email from a Mr. Martin from Worldstrides. He apparently has visited this little blog and he was not happy with my findings via the internet on Worldstrides. I will be sharing what he wrote in his email in a post that I am drafting. I would not have even mentioned his "interesting" email until I was informed about the "sorry but that amount is too small to refund" policy they have at Worldstrides. If they had not pissed me off with not refunding my money I would not have dug really deep in finding even more dirt on Worldstrides. Let's just say that I will be sharing my sources of information with the readers of this blog.
Worldstrides, if you are reading this, no amount of money is too small to refund in this economy. I did let everyone else in our small school group know about me not getting a refund and they were totally shocked.
Also today I received a rather long and odd email from a Mr. Martin from Worldstrides. He apparently has visited this little blog and he was not happy with my findings via the internet on Worldstrides. I will be sharing what he wrote in his email in a post that I am drafting. I would not have even mentioned his "interesting" email until I was informed about the "sorry but that amount is too small to refund" policy they have at Worldstrides. If they had not pissed me off with not refunding my money I would not have dug really deep in finding even more dirt on Worldstrides. Let's just say that I will be sharing my sources of information with the readers of this blog.
Fundraising updates
Since the chili feed in December the group has been very busy still trying to save up enough money to at least defer some of the payment for the trip to Washington DC and New York City. Here is a list of what we have been up to:
Flea market and craft sale at the Elk's Lodge in Lebanon, Oregon. That was on the Valentines Day weekend. The results were 4 - 5 items sold over the course of 2 days. As a group we decided not to do those types of events anymore. The buyers were mostly neighborhood retired folks with very little money to spend.
In February we sold snacks during Lacomb School's science fair. Nachos, chips and sodas all sold well.
On March 7th we were at a garage sale held in the gym at Pioneer School in Lebanon. Items sold in the $2 and under range and I am not sure of the money amount made but it was a lot better than the Elk's Lodge flea market by a long shot.
Last night it was family night at Pioneer School. For .50 you could watch Madagascar 2 with a bag of popcorn in the gym. Our group sold candy bars, chips, fruit snacks and sodas. We almost sold out of everything which is a good sign.
Flea market and craft sale at the Elk's Lodge in Lebanon, Oregon. That was on the Valentines Day weekend. The results were 4 - 5 items sold over the course of 2 days. As a group we decided not to do those types of events anymore. The buyers were mostly neighborhood retired folks with very little money to spend.
In February we sold snacks during Lacomb School's science fair. Nachos, chips and sodas all sold well.
On March 7th we were at a garage sale held in the gym at Pioneer School in Lebanon. Items sold in the $2 and under range and I am not sure of the money amount made but it was a lot better than the Elk's Lodge flea market by a long shot.
Last night it was family night at Pioneer School. For .50 you could watch Madagascar 2 with a bag of popcorn in the gym. Our group sold candy bars, chips, fruit snacks and sodas. We almost sold out of everything which is a good sign.
Headaches with Worldstrides
The time is getting closer for the parents to come up with the money for trip. In a few weeks all the money is due. I will be calling Worldstrides myself to see if they offer any financing options for the price of the trip. As a group we have been highly disappointed with Worldstrides as a company to deal with. They are constantly adding $15 late fees and $6 processing fees to each monthly statement we get from them. At those rates their monthly payment system is more expensive than using a credit card.
This is the first time that the Lebanon School district used Worldstrides and it will be their last. The school district had been using a local travel agency for years for the trips and had heard good stuff about Worldstrides (via Worldstrides own publicity no doubt) that they thought that they would give Worldstrides a try. The only problem with that is the fact that we are suffering because of it and it might put the kids trip into jeopardy.
In the last few weeks I have done some internet searching to see what I could dig up about Wordstrides. I have found out that they did have abankruptcy (see updated blog post for the truth about Worldstrides in great detail - click here), not an official bankruptcy but failing to pay huge debts. Around 2005 and they were also investigated by the Federal Government for fraud concerning a group of high schoolers that purchased a trip from Worldsrtrides to see President Bush's inauguration. They never got to the inauguration.
This is the first time that the Lebanon School district used Worldstrides and it will be their last. The school district had been using a local travel agency for years for the trips and had heard good stuff about Worldstrides (via Worldstrides own publicity no doubt) that they thought that they would give Worldstrides a try. The only problem with that is the fact that we are suffering because of it and it might put the kids trip into jeopardy.
In the last few weeks I have done some internet searching to see what I could dig up about Wordstrides. I have found out that they did have a
The Lacomb School craft sale and chilli feed was a great success
Finally we had a successful day selling items. After those 2 disappointing craft sales earlier we are finally making some headway. The kids manned the Christmas tree sales, the craft tables, food sales and even managed to sell more candy cane grams. I know I am exhausted from yesterday's activities as I am sure that everyone else it too.
We still have about 20 Christmas trees left to sell and we are trying to round up a place to sell them next weekend.
Everyone deserves a pat on the back for making the 2009 DC Trip group's efforts a success at Lacomb School.
We still have about 20 Christmas trees left to sell and we are trying to round up a place to sell them next weekend.
Everyone deserves a pat on the back for making the 2009 DC Trip group's efforts a success at Lacomb School.
We have Christmas trees!!!
Cindee managed to round up a donation of 25 Christmas trees for the group to sell at the Lacomb School chili[ feed and craft bazaar this coming weekend. All the girls helped with loading the trees on a flat bed trailer this morning after they were freshly cut. Everyone got soaking wet from handling the damp trees and the light rain that fell.
If you happen to be in the Lacomb area this Saturday then drop on by the Lacomb School from 10am to 3pm and say hi. We will be there selling the Christmas trees for $15 for the big ones and $10 for the smaller ones. We are also supplying the deserts for the chili feed. I will be making filled cupcakes, Cindee will be bringing pies and I think that Diane will be making brownies. We also will have for sale jewelry and crafts that the girls have made.
If you happen to be in the Lacomb area this Saturday then drop on by the Lacomb School from 10am to 3pm and say hi. We will be there selling the Christmas trees for $15 for the big ones and $10 for the smaller ones. We are also supplying the deserts for the chili feed. I will be making filled cupcakes, Cindee will be bringing pies and I think that Diane will be making brownies. We also will have for sale jewelry and crafts that the girls have made.
We are in the newspaper!!!
The article about our efforts finally is in the Lebanon Express. You can see the article here. Larry did a good job but he did manage to misspell my last name twice, it's HINTERLANG not HINTERLAND. He must have been using automatic spell check. Also the photo lists Becky Bond and she is not in the photo at all.
The article mentioned Becky's book and when she has it finished you can be sure that it will be announced here. Right now she and her mother are in Utah and she is taking more photos of "Dilbert" (the rubber duck) for the book.
Just to set the record straight about the Christmas trees - that was Cindee's idea and I knew nothing about it. The story made it seem like I was the one in charge of the Christmas tree venture. I just want to give credit where credit is due.
I just checked the statcounter of this blog and so far only one visitor has come from the link in the Lebanon Express story. Hopefully more people will be dropping by later today. Now I have to drive into town and finish up my Thanksgiving dinner shopping and pick up a newspaper with the story in it. I am sure that paper will be collected for many years to come.
The article mentioned Becky's book and when she has it finished you can be sure that it will be announced here. Right now she and her mother are in Utah and she is taking more photos of "Dilbert" (the rubber duck) for the book.
Just to set the record straight about the Christmas trees - that was Cindee's idea and I knew nothing about it. The story made it seem like I was the one in charge of the Christmas tree venture. I just want to give credit where credit is due.
I just checked the statcounter of this blog and so far only one visitor has come from the link in the Lebanon Express story. Hopefully more people will be dropping by later today. Now I have to drive into town and finish up my Thanksgiving dinner shopping and pick up a newspaper with the story in it. I am sure that paper will be collected for many years to come.
The craft fair at the Eagles lodge was a dud
When I say "dud" I don't mean great. The craft fair that the group attended on Saturday, November 23, 2008 was the worst sales we have had yet. I think that after the $10 table fee we netted $2.00 for the whole day. The only sales made were to the reporter from the Lebanon Express.
Did I mention that we are all going to be in the local newspaper? Well I am mentioning it now. Larry is the reporter that is doing a story on our group's efforts. The story might be in the Lebanon Express this coming Wednesday. It will give me an excuse to buy the paper tommorrow. Larry did the interview on Friday the 22nd at the school with all the kids going on the trip. The following day he came to the craft fair to take photos of the group.
Hopefully the article will mention this website and we get lots of visitors.
Our next event will be at Lacomb School on December the 6th. The school has asked us to supply desert for the chili feed they are hosting. I will be making jelly filled cupcakes with whipped cream frosting, Diane will be making brownies. There will also be pies. We will have a table of crafts there as well. Cindee is trying to locate someone willing to donate Christmas trees for the group to sell at Lacomb School on the 6th. If you know of anyone willing to donate trees then just leave a comment below. If you put your contact information in the comment I won't publish it but we will be in touch with you.
Did I mention that we are all going to be in the local newspaper? Well I am mentioning it now. Larry is the reporter that is doing a story on our group's efforts. The story might be in the Lebanon Express this coming Wednesday. It will give me an excuse to buy the paper tommorrow. Larry did the interview on Friday the 22nd at the school with all the kids going on the trip. The following day he came to the craft fair to take photos of the group.
Hopefully the article will mention this website and we get lots of visitors.
Our next event will be at Lacomb School on December the 6th. The school has asked us to supply desert for the chili feed they are hosting. I will be making jelly filled cupcakes with whipped cream frosting, Diane will be making brownies. There will also be pies. We will have a table of crafts there as well. Cindee is trying to locate someone willing to donate Christmas trees for the group to sell at Lacomb School on the 6th. If you know of anyone willing to donate trees then just leave a comment below. If you put your contact information in the comment I won't publish it but we will be in touch with you.
Results of The Oaks craft fair
Our group made $62.50 at The Oaks craft fair on Saturday. Colette and her daughter were there all day. Cindee was there for most of the day with her daughters and I was there for 4 hours with my daughter. Colette made a really cute pair of mister and misses turkeys. If she makes more for our next craft fair (which might be this coming Saturday) I'll get a photo of them and put it here on the blog. A little bit of everything sold from cookies to jewelry and even a few items we had left over from the garage sale.
Cindee will be contacting the American Legion to see of they have a space available for this coming Saturday. It is the only craft fair that is running this next weekend.
Cindee will be contacting the American Legion to see of they have a space available for this coming Saturday. It is the only craft fair that is running this next weekend.
Our next craft fair will be at the Oaks
If you happen to be in Lebanon, Oregon on Saturday November 15, 2008 drop on by The Oaks, a senior community living center on the west side of Lebanon we will be there. They are having their annual craft sale and we have a table at the event. Doors open around 8:30am and Collette will be setting up the table. I will be there around 9am with a few items I have made.
Our last craft sale was dismal as the take was only $62.00. That was before the $5.00 table charge so we only gained $57.00 for the whole day but that was $57 dollars than we had more than the beginning of the day.
Hopefully this coming Saturday will be better.
Our last craft sale was dismal as the take was only $62.00. That was before the $5.00 table charge so we only gained $57.00 for the whole day but that was $57 dollars than we had more than the beginning of the day.
Hopefully this coming Saturday will be better.
Our first craft fair sale
One of the moms managed to get a spot at the local Methodist Church's annual craft fair. The craft fair took place on Nov. 8, 2008 from 10am to 2pm. I took in several machine embroidered items and nice baby quilt. One of the girl's Grandmothers had made several beautiful necklaces and I also saw a few cell phone charms. Two of the moms also baked cookies and cakes.
The quilt got sold as did a few other items. Not many of the cakes sold so they will be frozen for the next sale. When you think about it, Walmart freezes all of their baked goods for transport so we are just following their example.
Not many people were at this years craft sale. I visited that particular craft sale last year and there were more sellers as well as many more buyers. Mostly retired people were the shoppers.
The next craft sale will be this coming weekend (Nov. 14-16, 2008) if we can get a spot in one of them. There are about 3-4 in the local area (Lebanon and Albany, Oregon). I will be making a few stadium/lap blankets with machine embroidered pictures on them. Wish us luck and good sales.
The quilt got sold as did a few other items. Not many of the cakes sold so they will be frozen for the next sale. When you think about it, Walmart freezes all of their baked goods for transport so we are just following their example.
Not many people were at this years craft sale. I visited that particular craft sale last year and there were more sellers as well as many more buyers. Mostly retired people were the shoppers.
The next craft sale will be this coming weekend (Nov. 14-16, 2008) if we can get a spot in one of them. There are about 3-4 in the local area (Lebanon and Albany, Oregon). I will be making a few stadium/lap blankets with machine embroidered pictures on them. Wish us luck and good sales.
Our second meeting
Tonight we had a brief meeting as a group and talked about several various ways we would be fund raising. Of course we will be participating in several local craft shows/sales. Hopefully they are not booked up by now and the cost of reserving a "spot" or table will not break the bank. After our short meeting we all went to the school district meeting where we all came away with more handouts and ideas for fund raising.
We seem to have a talented bunch when it comes to cooking and crafts. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.
We seem to have a talented bunch when it comes to cooking and crafts. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.
What we have accomplished so far
Since we came together as a small group of parents last month to raise funds for our children, to take this fantastic trip to the east coast, we have raised just over $400. It was mostly due to the garage sale that Cindee offered to host at her home. All of the items were donated by either us (the parents) or by friends and neighbors. There was a huge abundance of items that did not sell at the garage sale.
Cindee also had many larger items that would not sell and the people that donated them did not want them back. I'll have to give her a call and find out if she managed to sell any of the items or if they are still out in the rain (she only had a carport to store them under).
WARNING: a rant to follow -
It makes you wonder why people use the guise of donating an item for a good cause just to find a way to dump it. Don't they realize that a non-selling item has to be stored, transported to another donation spot or to the dump? All of that costs money to a financially strapped group to begin with. End of rant.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the people did come back and take back their items that did not sell.
Another way that the kids are raising money is selling See's candy bars. I don't know the figures on those sales but for now the candy selling has come to a halt until the school can get more to sell.
Cindee also had many larger items that would not sell and the people that donated them did not want them back. I'll have to give her a call and find out if she managed to sell any of the items or if they are still out in the rain (she only had a carport to store them under).
WARNING: a rant to follow -
It makes you wonder why people use the guise of donating an item for a good cause just to find a way to dump it. Don't they realize that a non-selling item has to be stored, transported to another donation spot or to the dump? All of that costs money to a financially strapped group to begin with. End of rant.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the people did come back and take back their items that did not sell.
Another way that the kids are raising money is selling See's candy bars. I don't know the figures on those sales but for now the candy selling has come to a halt until the school can get more to sell.
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