Noma Collective is a horribly unethical company
Noma Collective is a horribly unethical company. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY!!
Noma was founded by digital nomads who wanted to find a way to make money off of exploiting newer digital nomads' desire for "community." Their business model is basically to charge you to have travel buddies, which their website and advertising claim will turn into "lifelong friendships" and "family." But they're basically a mean girls club where if you don't fit their mold, they'll take your money and then kick you out in a foreign country with no refund or support.
And what's worse is, they make you sign a contract that's designed to allow them to do this. Please GO READ THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS!
They also send out FOUR different versions of their contracts to their customers with conflicting terms so that their lawyers can choose the most beneficial contract for Noma when you complain, which is entirely illegal and unethical.
And in my case, Noma and their attorneys threatened to tell my employer that I was working abroad with them if I didn't drop my complaints.
Here's what their contracts tell you, literally in writing:
They aren't providing the coliving space and they specifically disclaim any requirement that the description of the coliving property is accurate. That's literally intended to allow them to lie about the quality of where you're staying.
They require you to disclose any disabilities/mental health issues up front. Why do they need that information?..... Just to have a reason to discriminate against people with disabilities. I personally witnessed the Noma leader leaving people behind on tours who couldn't keep up because they were short or out of shape or needed to stop for water or a bathroom. The "family dinners" would serve food items that some people were deathly allergic to and Noma's response was to tell them to go get lunch somewhere else, not with the "family." Same thing with people's choice to be vegan/vegetarian. The Noma group refused to stop at a bathroom that a transgender person could use (literally 1 block away) and instead made them choose between holding it or risk having issues with the bathroom attendant. One girl got in trouble for leaving the dinner table when her PTSD was triggered by another member arguing that snuff films were "art" that we shouldn't judge. Another girl got in trouble for yelling at a man who groped her in a club. And if you're ADHD and take meds that aren't allowed in the EU, Noma can kick you out for violating their drug policy.
Their contract literally uses the term "annoyance" in the Code of Conduct to build in a loophole to kick you out and keep your money if ANYONE (on their staff or another customer) finds you annoying, i.e. not conforming to their mold, or even just complaining about how what you were told about the trip wasn't true.
Their advertising is all a lie. First, they pay money for good reviews, then post them like they weren't paid endorsements. (Which is illegal btw) They also refuse to post any bad reviews or reviews that aren't glowing on their website or social media. Some of the other "members" on your trip will actually be paid "content creators" tasked with making reels and posts about how amazing everything is -- of course leaving out the non-amazing stuff like when the wifi is bad, or your room is too small to even open your door--and you don't get to opt out of Noma using your image to sell their product.
Their ads say they curate trips, but their contract literally says they're just a marketing company and not responsible for providing ANYTHING.
And if they do something wrong and immoral or unethical, they've structured their company so that you have no recourse and can't sue them. The guys who built the company have no permanent address. There is no office in the U.S. or U.K. and they make you sign an arbitration and mediation agreement which their lawyers will then simply refuse to participate in, leaving you with absolutely no way to hold them responsible for their actions.
