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Has anyone had any experience with Two Worlds United, a foreign exchange placement service for high school students? I am beyond the frustration level trying to get them to acknowledge me since they failed to place my daughter last September and will not refund me any of the thousands of dollars fees that were all paid in advance. I mean they will not answer e-mail or phone messages (they do not have live people on the phone, just leave your name and number and we will call you back). When we were applying and paying they were always available.
DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD WITH TWO WORLDS UNITED!!! Please see my website: www.myexperiencewithtwoworldsunited.com. Please contact me through the attached blog for more information. Also, contact your local FBI office. This company is a scam, you will not get anything you were promised.
Any info regarding TWU would be appreciated as we are in the process of sending our daughter to Italy thru this program. Having read these e-mails we are now concerned. What should we do and to whom do we file complaints?
DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD THROUGH THIS PROGRAM! They are a scam co. Please see my website www.myexperiencewithtwoworldsunited.com. To date, we have filed complaints with the Atty Gen's in CA, FL, MN, NH, DC, Better Business Bureaus in Hillsborough County FL (call Lois Taylor, ask her about TWU) Santa Barbara CA and Clearwater FL. Internet Fraud, FTC, our local FBI offices and our local police dept's upon receiving threatening calls from Mr. Diez the Vice President of TWU. You need to contact an atty and get you daughter into a school sponsored program or a nationally recognized one such as AFS.
I also had a bad experience with Two Worlds United as last
year we decided to send our son to participate on a summer
program in France.
My son didn't want to stay by the beach, TWU promised my son
to be in the country of France, one week before he left,
they changed him to a small city right on the beach. They
promised that he would participate on after school
activities, he never did. After him being two weeks there,
the people at the language institute asked him not to show
up next day as he hadn't paid for the course, and we paid at
least one month before he left. The list goes on and on. Of
course contact TWU at this point was almost impossible.
Fortunately, we could make arrangements with the people in
France and also the host family was a good family, otherwise
this experience would turn out a nightmare for my son.
After multiple calls, and claims to different customer
protection organizations, I received a check from TWU
united, supposedly to return the money we paid for the
activities my son never had. We don't know if the amount was
what it supposed to be as we never received an invoice from
TWU with the detailed of what we paid for, in spite of the
fact that we asked for it several times.
If you asked me, please never do business with this people,
for us wasn't as bad as it could be, but you never know. TWU
is not an organization you can trust in.
DO NOT STUDY ABROAD WITH THIS PROGRAM!!!! I went to Scotland my junior year in high school - it was a nightmare. I was sent to live with a family that could not afford me: the program had told them that if they took an American student into their home, they would send their daughter home with that student FOR FREE.
I didn't speak with my host family until TWO days till I was supposed to depart; I was supposed to be in contact with them MONTHS before I left. Once TWU had my money, I never heard from them again. I called my host family two days before I left to let them know how excited I was to meet them. They did not even have my flight information - the program didn't tell them which airport, what time, or what day I was flying in. May I reiterate: I was leaving in TWO days.
TWU said there would be a counselor or representative in the area: no such person existed. There was NO SUPPORT anywhere.
As a sixteen year old, I was very aware and upset about what a burden I was to my host family. My school counselor there pulled me out of their home and put me with another family that was horrible. Mental problems, disfunctional family problems, not enough room problems - and there was four boys, one of which was my age.
I did make some amazing friends, but, given the choice, I would take back those two-and-a-half months of my life and sacrifice never having met them. I, and my family through me, have been scarred by this program. If the program had put me with a family that could have afforded me, there would never have been such ill feelings from the start (let alone lying to the family in the first place about their daughter coming home with me). If there had been a support person/representative, I would have had someone close by to share these problems with.
The money we used to send me on this exchange came out of my college funds. We figured this experience would be worth the expense. We never received a receipt, and we've never seen a dime of this money in recompensation.
Please, PLEASE, do not let your child, or yourself if you are a student, suffer as I have. I would not wish this experience on my worst enemy.
How dare you try and say that the TWU program is a rip-off. I've been going on these trips for three years now and I don't appreciate you trying to make other people think this program is horrible.
Not a lot of children get to do what I've been able to do. I've been to Australia twice, England and Ireland and this summer I will be traveling to France with TWU. Tell me, if the program is so horrible, why would so many children be interested in it every year, especially children like myself who choose to continue the program all throughout their high school years.
This program has truly made a big difference in my life and all your comments, which look like they are from the same person, are ridiculous and false. I and many other students that I know who have been in this program will back up this organization against SCAMMERS and EVIL people like YOU!!!!
I am very pleased that you have been so fortunate and have been able to enjoy and benefit from you travels. I am happy to hear that you have not been taken advantage of as so many of our own children have. I can assure you that each one is a real child and that the pain and disappointment they have suffered at the hands of TWU are just as real as the joy that you have experienced. Can you imagine the disappointment of a young person who looks forward to just such an exciting adventure only to be cheated of his/her money and trust? Can you imagine the feeling of abandonment and fear a teen must feel when he/she finds him/herself alone and with out the support or services TWU promised in a foreign country? These children deserved to have the unique and wonderful experience that you describe and if TWU truly is the stellar company that you profess; then I urge you, in the name of all those who were not so fortunate, plead with TWU to do the right thing by these children. In the meantime, Joshua, I am afraid that we will continue our crusade to have these people stopped so that there are no more stories like the ones our children now have to tell instead of the wonderful ones they had dreamed of.
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