After nearly 30 years in business, New York-based tour operator SmarTours has officially ceased operations.
17.01.2025 - 10:25 / insider.com
I know full well that new internet scams are popping up every day. I'm suspicious to the point of being cynical and I've worked in online media for more than 15 years. I thought I was scam-proof. I was wrong.
At the tail end of spending time back East with my family, my son got sick on the day we were supposed to fly home to LA, so I delayed our flight for two days. The plane ticket was easy to switch with no extra charges, but when I went to extend my rental car, the company website said they'd charge me more than $3,000 for a rental car that was supposed to be just $51 per day.
I was panicked. I told myself this must be a mistake and called their customer service number for help. After an hour of getting redirected to automated lines over and over I felt sick. I couldn't pay for this — it would cost more than our entire trip. If I could just get in touch with a live person, I had hope that everything could be worked out.
I remembered I had had luck contacting corporations through social media before and found the rental company's official Facebook page. I posted a message about my situation with a plea for help.
I was flooded with relief when I received an immediate reply from a profile with the title "Customer Service". The person on the other end asked for my phone number and email address, and I got a call minutes later. With a shaky voice I explained what was going on and the voice on the other end of the phone — someone named Kenneth — apologized for the error and said he could help.
And that's when he got me. I was so desperate to connect with a live person, that I was willing to follow every instruction that he gave me to rectify the situation.
Kenneth (who knows if that was even his name) said that not only would I not be charged the exorbitant fee for the extra two days, he would make my extra two days complimentary just for my trouble. All I needed to do was confirm my credit card number.
He said for safety reasons I shouldn't tell him the number over the phone, but instead download an app called Remitly where the number would stay confidential. He said he would send a $100 refund to my card to make up for the extra two days I'd be charged. Looking back, I now realize this doesn't make much sense and it wasn't even the right amount. It should have been $102 if he was crediting me for two days. But, I didn't even hesitate for a second. No warning bells went off in my head or my gut. I was just so glad to finally be getting help. I followed his instructions.
Then I got another Facebook message from a different "Customer Service" profile stating they were trying to contact me but I wasn't picking up the phone. "It's OK," I typed. "I'm talking to someone right now."
"Hang up," they wrote.
After nearly 30 years in business, New York-based tour operator SmarTours has officially ceased operations.
It just got easier to visit Iceland and the rest of Europe from the Sunshine State. Icelandair recently announced new service between Miami, FL, and Reykjavík, Iceland that will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The inaugural flight will takeoff on October 25, 2025, and the service will run seasonally through March 2026. Best of all, Miami travelers can connect in Reykjavík to another Icelandair flight for access throughout Europe, including Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Zurich.
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