Smart Circle International
Reviews and Complaints

I too was almost "taken to the cleaners" - except that I was also checking things as we went. In our case, I booked an NCL cruise, and got a quote from PTS travel for a different one just a couple weeks later. End result: we got a much better deal working with NCL directly, than through this SCAM of a 2-for-1.

I agree VERY UNETHICAL SALESPEOPLE IN SAM"S CLUBS!

Husband purchased from his office two sets of coupons for Studio movie grille and FINS restaraunt which is no longer in business and at the time we purchased the coupons, called the restaraunt and said they were remodeling.No such thing ever happened.Called to get a refund for my 39.95 and got nothing but a runaround.Was told to go online and pick something else.Let's see there were hot dog places and paintball.none of which appealed.I called them back more run around.no refund, just got screwed out of 40$.WOW WHAT A DEAL!

The representative assured me and others that there would be no other costs or obligations. This is not true. She also said that there would not be any type of sales or promotional presentation that the card holder would have to attend. This was also a lie.

My husband purchased a "Smart Circle Card" for 4 Midas oil changes for 29.99. He was told it was to suppport D.A.R.E. When we tried to use the card, Midas said they had cut off the promotion months ago and told Smart Circle to stop selling them. They said, "if you call them, they'll tell you you don't have a receipt. You just tell them you have the card and that's your receeipt." That's exactly what went down when we called Smart Circle. They offered a refund, but only if we mailed them the card.

And nowhere on the card does ir mention D.A.R.E.

I bought a movie ticket deal for Cinema Café and I was quite pleased! As a parent we are always looking for inexpensive ways to have family outings and this was a REALLY good investment!
I would do it all over again!

Sincerely,
Damita Robinson
Hampton, Virginia

I bought a Smart Circle Vegas trip ( Tahiti Village) at Sam's Club, It cost me $198 for 3 nights. It was fantastic, the room was huge with a kitchenette, living room with couch, chair, 2- 42" T.V.'s, a stereo, huge bathroom, awesome pool and lazy river. Great place and great vacation.Also bought a local dinner cruise on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Normally $46 a person, got the smart circle deal got 3 free cruises, 3 buy 1 get one and a 20% discount for $39. Wen't this past Sat, used a buy 1 get 1 and it already paid for itself. Going on the brunch cruise next.

I did however have a problem with a salon card I bought for my fiance, the problem was the girl who was working for Smart Circle wrote down the wrong experation date by mistake. The salon would not honor it, smart circle said they would issue another but it would take a month, Sam;s Club refunded the money instead. So mfar I have been bery pleased with this company.

Tom

We have just returned from a wonderful vacation in Cancun with Sams Club/ Smart Circle, no complaints great food, best trips. Now heading for Orlando hoping for the same.

Dear Lisa 80220,

We are sincerely sorry to hear about your experience with the Las Vegas travel promotion. The Smart Circle strongly believes in upholding a consistent and quality customer satisfaction policy, which includes honoring full refunds for customers who request them, and your purchase is no exception. In order to begin processing your refund, we will need a few additional details, such as a mailing address where we can deliver the check. We also hope to obtain more details from you as to the reasons given for not honoring your requests so that we may remedy the situation and prevent further incidents such as this as quickly as possible. Please contact us at [protected], ext. 216, at your earliest convenience to get the refund process started.

Your feedback will definitely be taken into consideration as we continue to look for additional ways to enhance our service for consumers across the country and bring only the best promotions to Sam’s Club members. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you and very much appreciate your business!

Best Regards,
The Smart Circle

You are required to return the certificate so that you don't get a refund and then try to use it. I

The Smart Circle coupons do work! I have bought them for two years in a row now - 2010 and 2011. The terms and conditions can be found on the Cardinals' own web page at www.cardinals.com/fanapp. The Cardinals are the ones that offer this package. You can only redeem the half price and the all-inclusive tickets online with an additional fee (I think it's $10). The free tickets coupons you can redeem by mail or in person. I have used my coupons last year and this year and had no problems. Because I don't want to pay an additional fee and I live in town, I just get organized, figure out all of the dates that I want to attend games, go in person and redeem all of my coupons. This is a great deal especially if you're going to a lot of games! I'm not sure why other folks had problems; maybe they didn't READ! There are blackout dates and conditions, but you should be able to get the seats they offer as long as you get them way ahead of time (I would recommend at least 2-3 months ahead).

I got these last year and although the process was not perfect, I'm still glad I purchased them. I waited too long into the year to use the free tickets but I used all the others and saved hundreds of dollars at the end of it all. At time I had trouble getting some of the codes to work but eventually I was able to sit in all-inclusive seats for half the price which was great. Hoping I can find it again this year so I can see a few more games.

the only website that comes up when you enter the cards smart circle address on the back of the card is the complaint site! go figure!
it's a shame i'd really like to go to the game and sit on the porch, but the chances don't look to good from what i'm reading above, and i won't drive over 100 miles on the chance that it'll work, if i can't mail them in and get the tickets in hand, then i guess i am SOL !

I cannot find a website to access tickets as listed in my package. Where do you go online to get tickets. I bought these last year and did not have a problem. So, what's the problem

I agree that this is nothing but a big scam... I purchased my ticket package through SSM Healthcare in St. Louis and as I went to redeem my tickets, all the codes were invalid. This is ridiculous. I call their customer appreciation hotline and then explained that I needed to mail my vouchers back to Ontario Canada, it could take 5-7 days to receive it and the whole process could take up to 4-6 weeks. I guess 4-6 weeks is a set time frame for all telemarketer, tv ads and scammers so they think you will forget about being ripped off. I fully intend to get my $40 back and make sure that they never are allowed to sell any items in SSM facilites. For those out there, dont waste you time supporting SMART CIRLE, THEY are a bunch of scam artists.

The website to redeem your tickets is cardinals.com/smartcircle its on the back of your coupon book

The deal is great! I have used several in the past and they work perfectly if you follow the directions. All you have to do is get your tickets early and not wait till the last minute. the games sell out like the rep told me, so if you send off your vouchers like they give the option to do, then you get the best seats . also, if you look at regular ticket prices you will see how awesome of a deal you are getting because it would cost my family of 4 over $80 to sit in the terrace seats, so even if we do sit there, we are saving at least $40.

And for people who are having trouble with the buy one get one free tickets, if you don't type in the redemption code exactly as it appears ( it is case sensative), then they don't work. So pay close attention when your typing in the codes.

And you can also take any of the tickets to the stadium and redeem them too. Hope this post helps.

What is the website to redeem the coupons at?

I cannot find anywhere on line to redeem my coupns. The sales people said there was site to order a form to mail in, I would like that information or a refund, Not many people have money to throw away ... Please advise @georgiamos@aol.com

I have to say, it's very disappointing to think you're getting sucha great deal and then your codes are not valid...I just got my package deal and the codes are also saying invalid...

The same thing happened to me as happened to Sharitech. When I called Smart Circle, they told me to call the Cardinals. After 30 minutes on hold with them - and I understand why because they are so popular! - I gave up. I have emailed the address and called the number given to Sharitech. I believe I, too, deserve a refund.
Disappointed Fan

This only shows the advertisment page. During the booking process, did any of those pages show the cancel policy? You may have not seen it.

I completely disagree with Hopper2648, I think that was a script they copied and pasted. Tell me, have you received your refund? I bought a smart circle card for a salon in Vegas, it was supposed to be good for 6 months but when I went to the salon within the time frame they told me they were no longer accepting it. I tried to get a refund through smart circle and was told I couldn't. when I threatened to tell the better business bureau the response was "Go for it, I deal with the BBB everyday". WHAT KIND OF COMPANY HAS TO DEAL WITH THE BBB EVERDAY, absolutely ridiculous. Do not trust these sales people and do not purchase their products! Try to find one good story regarding this product, I highly doubt you will.

Hopper2648,

We are sincerelyy sorry to hear about your experience with the go cart promotion that was offered through the local marketing firm affiliate in your area. We've contacted the company in question to have them immediately examine your purchase so that we can clear up this issue. The Smart Circle strongly believes in following a customer satisfaction policy that offers full refunds for our customers and your purchase is no exception.

We would like to start the refund process as soon as possible, but need some additional information from you. Please contact us at customercaresupervisor@thesmartcircle.com so that we may begin to gather this information.

Your feedback will definitely be taken into consideration as we continue to look for additional ways to improve our service to consumers across the country and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. We appreciate your business and hope to work with you again soon!

I bought that very same package you are talking about and ended up staying at the dirtiest nastiest Ramada Inn (I believe it was called Westgate)... anyway, the 90 minute tour is not 90 minutes but rather 4 hours, where you are taken on Timeshare tour and afterwards insulted and kept "prisoner" for 4-5 hours. I say prisoner because the sales people insist you take a ride with them, instead of using your own vehicle. The free tickets they mention is given in form of cashback, which I believe was only $120 dollars. The hotel charged us a $10 a day fee for processing, the people on the phone charged us $15 a day to take a reservation AND we had to pay for the package.

OVERALL I would not suggest people to purchase this FRAUDULENT advertisement/vacation/package!

The big problem with Smart Circle is that they open these small branch offices through new "business owners" when in reality these are just more people feeding the machine. Defined Industries Inc. is one of these so-called "businesses" and runs exactly the same scam, but because it goes by a different name you cannot find any info online showing it for what it really is. Defined Industries Inc. IS a sub-company of Smart Circle and will screw you over the same way. STAY AWAY.

I have been working for a company like this for 5 days now. My first day was horrible. I walked around Dallas from 9- 5:30 and made $30. My feet had blisters all over them, I had shin splints, and I was exhausted. The next day, I was feeling like such a horrible person and so upset about the way that people were looking at me and judging me, that I called my leader to express my concerns. She referred me to another leader to talk to them. They told me to just keep going and I would sell. So I did. I got told that I needed to get a real job by various people that I would try to sell to. On my fourth day, I was sent to a bad part of town for the second day in a row. The day before that I had only made two sells, giving me $20 for my eight and a half work day. I was almost mugged by a guy in the parking lot of an abandoned shopping center. I called my store owner and was promised commision for two sales, even though I had not sold anything for that day. I DID NOT recieve that money at the end of the day and went home empty handed.
If someone is reading this and thinking that I should just get out of this job and stop complaining, I can ensure you that I am actively looking for a new job right now. I have $665 to pay in rent every month and need to be making some money. Times are tough for everyone and those of us who have been weaseled into this job were NEVER told that it would be a door to door sales person position.
In addition, I would just like to say that this company is not ethical. They lie to people. For example, the girl that I went around with yesterday told people that Planet Beach, which was who we were selling for, had just opened a new location right down the street, but in reality, the closest location was about 20 miles away. We also sold a package to a pregnant woman and I have been loosing sleep about the fact that this woman was assured by my coworker that is was safe to tan while pregant just to make eleven dollars. You don't get a tax form to fill out either. I cannot justify going around to different businesses and lieing to their employees.

Thank you for your frankness and sharing your experience with Smart Circle. I was approached by VS Advertising (Colorado Springs) this week regarding an Entry Level Marketing position with the same promises and sales pitch as you described. Now, after reading your comments, I will politely turn down their employment offer and not turn back.

I'm sorry, but I'm already starting to see that there is nothing professional or corporate about this company and I've only been with them for 4 weeks. I've already decided that this is my last week. The people that you speak of aren't necessarily afraid of a job that pays %100 commission; they're afraid of not being paid what they are owed and wasting a lot of their time and gas to be brainwashed into thinking that they are going to handed this golden ticket if they work hard enough. I personally don't think anyone with a vagina is ever going to be promoted to owner and this is based on me seeing females in the company that are working just as hard and putting up as many numbers as the men and they are stuck at account manager and assistant manager status. I, personally, am still stuck in "training" mode because they claim that they haven't yet been able to obtain my rep ID number which would allow me to start getting paid off the people that I sign up for a free phone and are approved and sent a phone. I'm putting more and more wear and tear on my car with all this driving and honestly, almost from day one I smelled a pyramid scheme. I didn't show up for work yesterday and never called with an explanation and my manager (who says he's an "owner") was blowing up my phone all day. Now do you think he was concerned about my well-being or concerned about the cash cow that he's managed to cultivate in just a few short weeks to make money for him while he stands behind a stand doing nothing? As long as I don't have a rep ID number they get to pay me $8/hour to make someone else money. As long as I get at least 27 sign-ups in a week I've already covered my salary and anything else after that goes straight into my manager's pocket. Trust me when I tell you, when you're giving away a free phone getting 27 sign-ups isn't a hard feat to accomplish. I've read too many complaints and have already seen plenty of things myself which are questionable about this company and the people working for it. I go bye-bye now...

The funny part, is that they (the person writing the first one) stated that it is 100% commission. That was incorrect in the first place. I just went into an interview two days ago. It stated 30%. Also, if I find out that this company is making fradulent sales, I will contact an attorney and sue the pants off of this company. I was 'shadowing" a EC (Event Coordinator) yah, right! More like sales person, and it showed a bad reflection on me because the people purchasing this product looked at me. I don't lie, steal or cheat and this is deformation of character, so I do have a case. I called the hotel that they were in and told the HR manager how fake this company is. I don't think they will be in business anymore after all of the class-action lawsuits that will take place.

And what about money missing from our pay checks. And honestly, you've just been brainwashed, or you're a manager who is scared because if people read this, you wont make any money!

It's funny that you defend the "10, 000 salespeople" at Smart Circle but not customer who was mislead into buying products from a " 100% commission salesperson." Thanks for enlighteneng me on this companies practices. Also, if they are in a retail environment they are not allowed to make 100% commission. It's against the law. I'll be contacting the attorney general in Texas to look into this further.

the whole time there they talk talk talk all about creating buissness people. teach you to run your own buissness. [censored] if you do try to start your own they'll sue you. and treaten you. crooked horrible dishonest people. liers scam artists. FAKERS. Sue me you fake ###!

Not only this, but they will fire you for things that arent your fault to coveir their own ###, and then try to stiff you on the money they owe you. Would not trust this company with a raccoon, and certainly would never do business with them after I have seen how they work.

I currently work for a company in Florida under Smart Circle. It is true that they do not pay salary and it is Comission only... I work with certificates and I have used them myself. Thank God I havent had problems with the certs that I've purchased neither than with my boss. I'm already in Leadership and I'm on my way to get promoted to Assistant Manager (I've only been in the business for 2 months). If you have good people skills, you will progress in the company. You also need to be a great salesperson. I have to agree in the interviewing part... We do say the exact same "pitch" to every interview that comes in to the office. It is almost 12 hrs, but remember that the time that you're in the office is not work time. Also have in mind that you can deduct all your expenses when you do your taxes. I'm making $1, 000 weekely (Just so You know).

this job is commission, no base pay, they call it profit sharing, you work up to if not more than 12 hours a day. when they send you to one of their sams clubs or BJ's or whatever it is hard to keep track of your sales they tell you that sams club sends out the checks weekly and sometimes have you working the location with one or two other people. This is how they cheated me out of my money. When I first worked at sams with 2 other people at the smart circle display/kiosk we sold a lot and had to "share" the profit. The next day they said we would get paid $400 each. I waited for a week and asked for my check it was not even half of that mind you i worked there all week. I asked what happened to the money i was supposed to make they told me the customers brought the products back to the store so we didn't get credit for it. also a couple of weeks later i spoke to one of the people that worked with me that day and he asked me did i get my $400 check for that day and i said no he got kind of quiet and said that's messed up. he said him and the other girl both got their checks for the $400 for that day. They would give me advance payments at times which made them seem cool but every time i was supposed to get my hundreds of dollars check they would take out for the loan of course and give me change. I made enough money just to pay my babysitter and i am a great sales person i pulled the long hours and made the sales but not the money. This place will take advantage of a nice person quickly the smiles and pep talks and flexibility at times gives an illusion they care about their employees. I have to put it out there the ### who scammed me her name is Kayla shes a dick sucking [censored] who lies cheats and steals and she does with a big ### smile and a mini dress. She is evil beware! ###in Theif

My experience with this company was pretty similar. I got hired by a company called Global yes they took me on an interview that consisted of going door to door to different businesses and pitching people working at their desks to buy gift certificates. The interviewer did take me to some city that was pretty far out i was new to the state so i don't know exactly where i was lol anyways she did tell me to save my questions till lunch and did pay for my lunch. I went out for a few weeks with the same woman because i didn't have a car at the time and i sat and listened to her give other interviews and realized it is a scam. I did make money but they did cheat me out of most of it and this company is a boiler room growing and creating other boiler rooms. All u have to do to become a team leader is get 5 people under you and you can open up your own office and create a name for the business you branched off. You have to be a real ### whole and a person with no conscience to go far in that business not to mention you have to have your head so far up the bosses ### you can see his bald spot. i got sent out with a male leader after a while on one of their home improvement businesses and got sexually harassed in a residential neighborhood at like 10 at night about 2-3 hours away from home. I played it cool so i wouldn't get left and never went back.

This is probably too late for you but I recently quit working for a Smart Circle (now Community Appreciation, formerly DS-Max or Granton Marketing) satellite office and have begun to do research on the cult mentality/deceptive business practices of the organization. Here is an amazing rundown of the business, written 6 years ago, with little difference between then and now:

http://wolfram.org/scam/ds_max/index.html

The person who wrote it worked with the company for four years, making them a veritable expert. I, on the other hand, only wasted 4 months and only a few thousand dollars. You'll notice I've listed a few different names that they've been known as. I assume it's because they want to avoid postings like this.

Sounds like a great job for someone with no experience in the work force in a time when skilled and highly trained people are finding it difficult to get work. Burger King is probably safer, but the pay is definitely low. In a position like this a driven and determined person can make good money. 20 plus years ago I sold 8 x 10 portraits made from snapshots (obviously before the technology boom). By getting someone to commit to pay $680 (over years) I earned $68 straight commission. It was a tough job, sucking people into listening to me, convincing them what I had to offer was worth the money, convincing them they could afford the low payments. I didn't particularly like working from 10 am to 8 pm to barely make ends meet, but making minimum wage working retail didn't appeal to me either. After about 6 months I quit, but I had learned a lot about human nature. I had learned to sell myself which came in real handy getting better jobs. Today I credit my time selling those portraits with my career success as much if not more than my college degree.

So..you enjoy the comapny & people you work with lying to you & treating you like crap?

I work for smart circle and everything you said is completly backwards they do pay you a base pay of minimum wage for 40 hours or if your leads that you generate is higher then that base pay you get the commision. However if you suck at the busniess then you will be getting fired after 2 or 3 weeks at base pay because you are just dead weight. Hours are 12:00 to 7:00 and it is 6 days a week so that is about 42 hours not 68 and I know the pay scale did change scence you left but it is actually $54 a lead and I do anywhere from 20 - 30 leads a weeks do the math but we dont get paid on lead but on issued lead which I have a 60% conversion so that is still a great check. Also as far as the the people not going out to interviews being USHS or directly Home Depot your manager should be able to print you out a list of all your leads with the Phone numbers of those people or just keep the info that you got from them when you generated the lead to call them back and ask how it went and usually if it didnt issue they say they cancle but im sure you are just not an entrepreneur and this job isnt for you but dont smite it because it wasnt for you.

I also have had the same experience, not only am I disgusted w Smartcircle but also w the holiday inn that I thought I was buying this discount card for. They took no respnsibility for this saying that it is a third party thing, funny though because holiday inn is the only name I see on it. Bunch of CraP !

Wow; after reading all the complaints, I feel I am not alone. I have been calling and leaving messages for someone to call me regarding a so called travel package that I was supposed to have received.
To this day, I have not heard from anyone. I send an email with my complaint all they sent me was a ticket number to hold on to.
Maybe they are waiting for it to expire, then they will call me and say (sorry but your coupon is expired).
I would like to know if anyone of you ladies have a direct phone number or contact number so that I may apply for my refund.
I wanted to take my 85 year old mom on a mini cruise and sorry to say it never happened thanks to their bad representation. Please help!

I too bought several packages...when I went home excited, I got on the internet to see just how much I was going to save...boy, was I shocked...Not only can you get a better deal going direct to a company...you can get even better deals booking on the pricelines, expedia and etc. I work for a fortune 500 company so I figured that they would not bring in an unreputable company as an "Employee Appreciation" program for it's well deserving employees...again, I was wrong!

There were many hidden fees, Complimentary nights can cost you well over $100.00 with undisclosed charges.

When I called to request a refund, your about to read the same thing as above...the first call, I stated I wanted a refund as stated on the packet, "100% guaranteed within 30 days, no questions asked". The CS told me it would take 6 weeks or more to process my request and then they would issue me a check...I explained to her that was unacceptable...She hung up on me. I called back and went through the process again, this time I did get confirmation numbers for each packet...after spending all of my time going through the questions for each individual packet, I was informed that it would take at less 6 weeks to process my request after I had returned all of the packets, along with a written detailed statement of why I was returning the goods. What happened to "No questions Asked" as stated on their 100% Satisfaction Guaranttee? Upon hearing this I requested to speak with a supervisor...I was put on hold for an extended amount of time, my minutes on my cellphone are ticking away and then the phone hung up on me, imagine that!

I have no choice but to go to my bank and request a "stop payment" thank god for credit cards and dispute arbitration!

I wonder what the Attorney General in Atlanta would think of this? Hmmm, maybe it's time for an investigation!

I contacted the CS department to see about what i need to do for a refund. The first time I tried to use the coupon the salon wouldn't take it. then my coupon burnt in my house fire. They said they could not do anything, not even with a copy of my check. This is bad customer service, but they certainly tried to sell me another coupon. I asked her why I would buy another coupon if the salon didint even take the first one, she stated that is all i can do for you and hung up.

4/20/09

I purchased a vacation package from The smart Circle and was told I could stay at any Disney Resort of my choice I just had to make sure there was availabilty an to make a rsvp at least 30 days prior. And when I called (they ) smart circle said I did not have a choice of where I was gonna stay and they could not tell me I had to wait for an email or letter with a conformation and It would take up to 7 days and said I had to pay the $15.00 a night tax on the room right then on the phone or I could not get it. I had already paid $49.99 for the package so I went ahead and paid the $45.00 and it's now going on 2 weeks and I have not received any emails or letter in the mail. I have no way of getting ahold of them and when I try to call Smart Circle I can't get anyone on the phone. And also I was told when I called to to book the room that I would have to go to a welcome center first (the day Im due to check in) an they the welcome center will tell me where Im gonna stay for the weekend and then give me the voucher for the hotel they pick which would be a Holiday Inn express or something similar. And it would be atleast 6 miles from Disney and they would make arrangements to take us to the timeshare and do the tour for 90 mins. I am so disappointed at how this company keeps you in the dark on where your gonna stay an how they turn everything around but take your money right away. I do not like the fact that I have to waste my time driving to Orlando pay for gas and have no idea on where Im gonna stay until I go to the Welcome Center at which I have no idea where that is until they email me. Save your money an dont waste your time to much of a hassle. I'm gonna try an get my money back.)
M.Parker