| Laura Smith |
| Laura Smith My kid shuttle, start a kid shuttle Unresponsive, over promises, under delivers denton, Texas |
| 19th of May, 2011 by User103607 |
| Laura Smith totally over promises and does not live up to what she says she will do for the price you pay to purchase a "start a kid shuttle" from her. She says she will provide 20 hours of consulting time which is absolutely not true at all. I cannot seem to get a hold of her, and she is always "out of the state" where she cannot get "cell phone" coverage. I have heard she has lied about how much money her shuttle company actually made, and has lied about other things that are offered up in her "start a kid shuttle book"- If you are going to purchase a license from her you better be able to look at the binder she gives you and move forward on your own, because expect her to be MIA after the money is given to her. In retrospect, I could have done everything on my own without her "business model" that is probably a lie anyways. The binder did absolutely NOTHING to help me get this business moving forward. I have not even heard from the web designer, so am going with someone else. Do not believe everything she tells you, and be prepared to ask a ton of questions before moving forward. I should have asked her for proof of financials , talked to more than 3 references, etc- now I heard she does not even run My Kid Shuttle anymore, so she is not even in the business anymore. |
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| OMG! Finally someone else has come forward and brought Laura and "my kid shuttle" and "start a kid shuttle" to light. You are right! Once she gets your money, it is OVER! The lies I encountered was that she was in the hospital, it took her 2 weeks after receiving thousands of dollars from me for her to send me the binder which is simply a reference material, not a business model that can be used to get grants as she promised. No financials whatsoever! When asked about the details of financials, she stutters and promises to get back with you. Her contract agreement is a one way stream. She wanted to give me permission to whom I could contact as a reference which was a red flag. When she learned I had contacted other businesses beside the one she "gave permission for me to call" she became upset with the business that released general information to me. She likes to control your every move and when you need something from her, you won't receive it. Yet, have I received a log in to "start a kid shuttle" to talk to the other transportation business owners. Laura and I have clashed on many occasions because she refuses to answer direct questions. One of the web developers of TXWorld passed away which is why you probably can't get a whole to the partner. He is unresponsive and makes up excuses as well. Yet, in your contract, only TX World can host your website. What's the point when you can't get any changes made to your website. I told Laura a long time ago that her greed will cause her to fail and sure enough, when typing in "my kid shuttle" it no longer exists. I was promised cheaper insurance which was a lie. Took them 3 1/2 weeks to never receive a quote so I went with someone else. The grant writer you have to pay yourself and is not included in the quote as Laura initially promised. The analysis for your area is a joke. I am an accountant and the crap they sent me took over a month to complete which was composed of information pulled directly off the internet. No forecast regarding financials in my area and no detailed information about which area to focus on building my business. Just a powerpoint of things googled from the internet that I could have done myself. Also, Laura's website showed a lady by the name of Jamie Euneste owning it. It's funny that Laura claimed to have start over 30+ businesses but you are not allowed to call and speak to any of them. Also, her website showed limited information without the businesses websites that she supposedly set up. Also, Laura wanted to charge a friend of mine $7000 for her business model which is not even worth $700. You have to pay your state, your county, pay for your vehicles and insurance, pay your web developer, and take on all the parents issues yourself. Laura is always MIA and I am soooooo glad someone else have found this out. Everyone that has used me for as a reference already know that I tell them the truth regarding Laura and to not invest in. I lost thousands because of this lady and refuse to allow anyone else to. I noticed she is offering 50% off for her business model but you will never know if it is 50% off or her regular price. It's simply numbers she throws out there. How can you charge one person $7000, another $2500 and another $1500 for the same "business model?" It is a joke and believe me, you are not missing out on anything. Also Laura tries to make you purchase the all inclusive plan at the end. She lied and told me someone in my area wanted the business model, I did not upgrade and she got upset when I told her to prove to me that there was another interested buyer. Funny that after 4 months, there is still not another shuttle company for children in my area. I do believe that locals in my area see all of my vans and would have contacted me personally to see if this business model was worth it. I would have clearly told them it was not and helped them to start their business as well. There are millions of McDonalds that are making it in the same area, so why for once should I be intimidated if another children's transportation service began in my area. Not purchasing Laura's business model is not going to stop them from starting their own business in your area. Don't be fooled. Help one another grow and make a living. That's what networking is all about. I can't shuttle every child in my area and what I offer to my passengers can't be offered by another driver. My shuttle is a ministry and have helped many families in more ways than one can imagine. Believe in yourself, find ways to accommodate and make your business worth individuals time, and you will make it just as anyone else! |
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| Wow, I am glad to see these posts. I thought I was the only one having this issue with Laura. I too have had a bad experience with Laura. I got the hospital story too, still have no log in to the site, and have yet to receive a bunch of the information promised.. including the "financials". She took FOREVER to send me the binder, and then when she did it was missing the business plan and financials. While reading the info in there, my first thoughts were "Are you serious?" The information in there is NOT worth thousands of dollars, and on top of that it's not the info that was promised. It's just her account of what she does with her biz. She hasn't responded to any of my emails in 2 months. And before that I actually got three emails from her account but they were supposedly not from Laura.. one was from her husband apologizing for Laura being MIA and then 2 from some person named Decole. "Decole" never identified herself so I have no idea who she is to Laura. An employee, friend, family.. idk. Anyway, I'd like to speak with someone whose had a similar experience and maybe we can help each other out by sharing our experiences in trying to start our businesses. Might be a helpful way to assist each other since Laura did not provide the assistance promised. Let me know if you'd like to speak with me! |
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I would like to speak with you Ashgirl86! I also got ripped off by this total fraud...but I am doing just fine on my own. I think it would be awesome if we could develop our own network of child shuttle companies where we could have forums etc and actually HELP each other and share valuable information that would be helpful to all!
Apparently, there are lots of us "Laura Smith" licensees. not sure how to best reach out to you. |
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| Hi Brenny, glad to hear you're doing well. I'm making progress slowly, but surely. Anyway, to contact me you can send an email to [email protected]. Hope to hear from you soon! |
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| HI ladies I would like to disucss this with you futher, I too have had issue with Laura Smith and her so called business plan. She has taken thousands of dollars from me. Please send me an email if you would like to talk [email protected] |
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