LaVonnia B.
Inauthentic Motives, Deceptive, and Belittling
My experience was a high pressure sales scam! We received a postcard in the mail from Brio Vacations/ Travel inviting us to attend a virtual travel focus group and receive a vacation gift. They ask about salary, age, and tell you that you have to have a credit card (hum . . . I wonder why you need to have a credit card!?) They call it a travel focus group and they started the virtual session with a whole list of dos and don'ts rules. The Brio representative stated to the participants that we want you to get your free gift (I guess the free gift is supposed to be the incentive to keep you obedient to their rules), and we will boot you out of the session if you are not following the rules. Stating the rules -- if your not looking at us, if you're not laughing at our jokes, if you not nodding in agreement when we speak, if you are not listening to us, if you're not engaging with us, if we see you answering your phone, looking around, watching TV, etc, etc. All of these really crazy belittling rules for adults in a virtual session in their own home, and the representative was pretty nasty. He told us if you need to go to the restroom you have to ask for his permission first. Is that crazy or what? -- Adults don't have to ask permission to use the restroom! The goal was to sell us a high pressure vacation package - these plans are no longer called "time shares" but now called vacation packages. They get upset if you turn away from the screen for any reason during the session, they don't even want you to drink water or they tell you they will boot you out of the session (that is what they call it - "booting you out") and they continuously tell you - you won't get a gift if you do any of those things (like you're a child). That is not a good way for a company to obtain business from consumers! We are not children -- we are adults, this was a very poor way for Brio Travel to establish a rapport and communicate with consumers that they had invited to a focus group. No one wants to waste time with a company who treats folks this way. Brio's entire objective was to pressure us to buy a vacation package from them. That's their bottom line - buy from us -- it is not a focus group! We got the jest of their motives and ended the session with Brio. We would not allow them to pressure us into buying anything! A very cruddy way for a company to engage consumers with tasteless and degrading rules! I would advise against using Brio Vacations, they treat customers poorly unless you make a purchase from them. It's truly a disappointing company. And keep in mind, everything that's free isn't free (as they state on their postcard invite). Read the reviews from people who have received the Brio subpar gifts; all of them come with hidden costs, making the gifts far from free as they advertise. It’s far better to pay for your own vacation and avoid the hassle of dealing with this type of a vacation company (Brio), who does not value consumers nor know how to treat them. If you should receive a "Congratulations" invite postcard in the mail to attend their virtual travel focus group for a "free gift" -- you would do better to discard it - it’s not a legitimate offer, and they have [very] poor customer relations when you do not subscribe to their immature, petty, and degrading rules, or purchase their travel packages. It was a total waste of our time -- Brio Vacations is bad news!!
Response from BriovacationsJun 7, 2025
Thank you for your detailed feedback. However, we believe this review was mistakenly posted on our profile. Brio Travels is an India-based travel agency and does not conduct virtual focus groups, sales presentations, or enforce the kind of restrictive rules described in your message. We do not send postcards or run offers involving “free gifts” with hidden costs or high-pressure sales tactics. It appears your experience is with another company operating under a similar name. We kindly ask you to verify the business you engaged with and update your review accordingly to avoid confusion. If you have booked with Brio Travels or have any questions, please contact us directly at [email protected]. Warm regards, Team Brio Travels www.briotravels.com



