Strategic Dream Vacations LLC Ken and Kassie (Cole?) You get what you pay for- or just a little less. Internet

Dont be fooled by Ken and Kassie, husband and wife team of Strategic Dream Vacation's (SDV) initial pleasantries. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of canceling prior travel plans in order to book a resort stay with SDV. They were incredible nice and thorough at first, during our initial phone call! I thought I was about to embark on an incredible weekend resort stay in Orlando, however I should have known the price, and the vacation itself, was too good to be true.

After the initial booking phone call, and despite several phone calls following that, I received no information (address, confirmation number, nothing)  about my hotel until the day before. (Note: When they did call back the day before my vacation, they told me they had been "too busy" to call back or email the information.) The day of, I was told I had to make an additional stop prior to arriving at the hotel to pick up a fax copy of my check-in paperwork -- red flag (Note: On their website, they claim they usually send this fax directly to the hotel.) Upon arriving at the resort I discovered that they had filled out my check-in paperwork incorrectly, resulting in a price discrepancy that I had to pay for despite the initial full payment made to SDV (not including the usual hotel deposit fee and tour fee.)

Once checked in, a whole day was wasted awaiting Ken or Kassie's phone call with our resort tour information that would earn us Disney/Universal Studios/Blue Man/etc etc tickets. No call ever came, even after I placed several to them and left voicemails. Instead we did our best to enjoy the resort until Ken and Kassie found the time to get back to us, a day later. After receiving our tour information and time, we waited 30 minutes only to be told that we could not be toured, gifted, or our tour fee refunded due to age and living restrictions (Note: These restrictions had already been verified by Ken and Kassie at the time of booking, who both assured us that we would have zero issues.) After missing my initial phone call, Kassie called back and told us to pay for our tickets up front and that they would send us on a tour the next day, which would supposedly reimburse us for the money. After explaining that this was inconvenient, impossible, and that we run the risk of the exact same situation happening, Kassie transferred the call the Ken who asked if I was going to be a "pain in the a*s" to quote his wife. Thank goodness for having a personal level of restraint, because I was in shock and instantly became angry. After Ken had a short conversation with the resort, we were gifted our tickets and went on our way with Ken's promise that he would personally refund my tour fee.

The Monday after returning home from our vacation (which was pleasant aside from Ken and Kassie's negligence and lack of courtesy bordering on verbal abuse) I placed a call inquiring about the refund of the resort fee. I left a message because, as per usual, no one answered the phone. Ken called back later and said he would put the refund through with his Kassie and asked that I write a positive review of my stay (in exchange for a free vacation). The nerve. A week later, no refund. I called again and was told by Kassie that she knew of no refund and would confirm with Ken. Three days following that, my calls were going as unanswered as the two voicemails I left. I finally surrendered any further contact with them as moot and decided to use the last of my effort to give any other unsuspecting travel-goers some insight on SDV.

Ken and Kassie of SDV's negligence, ignorance, lies, and bribery put a major damper on what should have been a pleasant surprise vacation for a very special occasion (the celebration of my anniversary.) Aside from betraying the trust of travel-goer and travel agent/broker, Ken and Kassie were unabashedly rude and deliberately obtuse. Paying extra for a vacation that had already been negotiated, as well as being blatantly ignored to avoid paying for a promised refund, is a small price to pay for a lesson well learned to never trust anyone else with your happiness and that of your loved ones when it comes to special occasions or vacations. My advice to anyone fond of traveling is to save yourself the hassle, time, and stress and book direct or corporate rather than cutting corners or price tags. Dont end up at the mercy of a cut-throat agency like SDV.