Complaint Review: Ultimate Women;s Expo - Nationwide

I have a small company that participates in consumer trade shows with an emphasies on "Women's " shows. I have been an exhibitor / vender since 2011 and have participated in 30+ events, so I feel somewhat qualified to file this Ripoff Report.

This past week end (May14 - 15, 2016) my company had a booth at the Ultimate Women's Expo in Atlanta, GA. This Expo is just one that are organized by The Ultimate Women's Expo company. My purpose in participating was to sell my products and make a profit so that I can stay in business. I can not believe how ashamed I feel for getting suckered into this show. All of the company's information lead me to believe that it was a well attended show and that the attendees were there to buy. Nothing could be further from the truth. I might not fully understand what the term "Well-qualified buyers" means, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean someone who is only interested in purchasing items with a Yard Sale/Flea Market attitude. While the management company did manage to get a large the number of attendees through the gate, the pre-distribution of free tickets does not equal "Pre-Qualified" buyers.

From a Show Management standpoint, I made repeated visits to the on-site show office to speak with any member of the management team concern other vendors who were standing in the middle of the show aisles trying to coral attendees into going to their booths. This prevented those people from ever reaching my booth. Also, several vendors moved their merchandise racks and dispaly tables into the aisleways so that they could expand their booth space. Not only was this a clear violation of show policies, but more importantly it created a safety issue. Along these same lines, no fewer than 15 vendors were observed walking through the aisles with samples of their merchandise trying to get attendees to stop with their "shopping" and follow the vendor to their booth, which in all cases was in a completely different section of the show. When these concerns were brought to the attention of the show management NO action was taken.

For any Exibitor / Vendor who might be interested in participating in any event organized by The Ultimate Womens Expo company, please be aware that well over 50% of all of the vendors at the recent show I participated in at Atlanta were 1st time participants with this expo company. The sole purpose of their marketing is to entice new companies to sign up for their shows because the vast majority of companies that have done shows with them would NEVER do it again.

When you peel away just a few layers of the onion you'll find that inside is NOTHING. 

As far as having the mind-set of "Well, I might as well do the show and make a few dollars" out of the 30+ shows that I have participated in, this was the only show in which I lost money. Given the travel time, hotel and meal costs, and direct booth expenses, I lost close to $1,000 on this miserable show.

Will I ever do another show organized by The Ultimate Women's Expo group? NEVER!!!! If you are a vendor reading this and considering signing up for any of their shows, you'd better do your homework and be prepared to lose your shirt.