Re: EF, Explorica, Passports and the Dishonest Teachers

Trish

Posted on 10/15/10

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I work for L.E.A.D USA and we are a sponsor of Teachers.net. We
understand that a tour director can make or break a trip! Tour director
tips are always automatcially included in our trips. We find our teachers
do not want to worry about if it is, how much they should tip, trying to
collect it, it is done for them. We pay well therefore we have some of
the best tour directors in the country!! We are also upfront about it so
all of our clients know.

On 10/06/10, Debbie Fremming wrote:
> On 4/28/10, Verity wrote:
>> Adam has made a good point about my ability to pick and choose. I
>> have been in the business a long time and so I have a lot of repeat
>> business. The company I started out with did not allow tipping at
>> all and paid us well, so I was spoiled. I can also negotiate my
>> contracts with many tour operators, especially if I am requested by
>> a group. New tour guides are not in the same position and
>> unfortunately, many good ones leave because they do not make enough
>> money. The tour companies should have the gratuities
> automatically
>> added into the trip and if the guide or bus driver does not
> do a
>> good job, they should be let go. One of my companies sends me
> a
>> separate check for the gratuity after the trip is completed and
>> they have received a good report. I've been reading a lot about
>> teachers complaining about their pay. Most of them are
> members of
>> unions which try to negotiate better contracts for them. We're
>> mostly independent contractors and working seasonally, but are
>> entirely at the mercy of the companies and the teachers. The
>> companies are not interested in protecting their guides. They
>> should imagine what it is like to be a professional guide on
> duty
>> 24 hours with the responsibility of a group of students and get
>> paid less than minimum wage. Waiters and waitresses are treated
>> better.
>>
>> On 4/24/10, Adam wrote:
>>> Its nice that Verity can pick and choose the tour company he (or
>>> she) works for, and settles only for those who pay a "decent daily
>>> fee." Unfortunately, in these troubles times, most of us cannot
>>> pick and choose companies and we have to go with the work that is
>>> offered. I agree with what both Verity and Lorna have to say. We
>>> work long hours, and as with any service industry, are at the
>>> mercy of the teachers for our tips. I believe that dishonest
>>> teachers are few and far between, but they are out there. I wish
>>> there was a way of letting the kids (and their parents) know that
>>> a tip was not received, especially when one was collected from
>>> them. I've been lucky to have worked with wonderful teachers who
>>> have been extremely generous with the tip and hopefully forums
>>> like this will educate and reinforce the need for gratuities to be
>>> given to reward hard work.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 4/20/10, Verity wrote:
>>>> I am a tour guide who has been 'stiffed' by many of my groups
>>>> and it is not due to the quality of my guiding. The tour
>>>> companies that tell the teachers to tip are paying us poorly
>>>> to begin with and our income is really based on the tips and
>>>> the number of people on the bus. Spending one to two weeks
>>>> 24/7 with a group, giving them the best service possible, and
>>>> then not getting anything, is disgusting. And you can't
>>>> complain to the companies because they don't care. The bus
>>>> drivers want us to bring groups to more souvenir stops to
>>>> make up some of the slack with commissions. I take pride in
>>>> my work so I now only work for companies that pay me a decent
>>>> daily fee, regardless of the number of people on the bus. But
>>>> believe me, it is not only with North American teachers
>>>> because this system was started by European companies for
>>>> European teachers. I was even fired by an Australian company
>>>> when I confronted an Aussie teacher, after a three week trip,
>>>> who gave no tip to either me or my bus driver and the teacher
>>>> said that she thought the tip was included, when it clearly
>>>> wasn't.
>>>>
>>>> On 4/18/10, Lorna Mail wrote:
>>>>> I've travelled with all of those companies for 20 years.
>>>>> More and more I hear of many colleague teachers who do not
>>>>> tip the Tour Directors for the wonderful job they do! The
>>>>> most terrible cases are those teachers who collect the
>>>>> money from the students and they pocket most of it. This
>>>>> information is going around the world more and more among
>>>>> Tour Directors and Travel Companies with evidences. If some
>>>>> teachers are doing this, we should not be surprised that
>>>>> the reputation of Northamerican teachers is becoming what
>>>>> it is now!! This is mostly embarassing especially
>>>>> considering that we, teachers get so many benefits and
>>>>> stipends and advantages, that I will not mention here! So
>>>>> those teachers are destroying the reputation of many others
>>>>> who do this with passion. They steal the money of their
>>>>> students and the tip of their Tour Director. And this is a
>>>>> crime!!
>>>>> Lorna

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