Pros
I'm only writing this because I can't leave it blank. There is nothing positive about this company, nothing positive about the people who work in the office in Cork.
Cons
They pay less than minimum wage--far less. Several of us were hired on a tour managers for their 'elderhostel' tours which are done in cooperation with Road Scholar in Boston USA. We were rushed through a training day, which was more like an indoctrination, and reminded over and over again that we weren't tour guides, but tour managers. We would be 'on call' 24/7 and had to participate in all client activities from breakfasts at 7am through night-time excursions which might get back between 10 and 11pm. The tours we were put on lasted anywhere from 5-15 days long and we were paid 440 euro a week. On average we were working around 70+ hours per week without a break. They gave us the impression that the low salaries would be made up in generous tips at the end of tours; fair enough seeing that the average expected tips for tours in Ireland and the UK are anywhere from 5-8 euro per person per day. When they neglected to tell us was that Road Scholar puts CLEARLY in their literature to clients is to NOT tip, that it is considered inappropriate, and that all tips are included in the rather inflated prices they charge retirees for their 'educational' tours! Tips are NOT forwarded on to the tour managers, the drivers, or the 'local experts'--any extras the clients think they are tipping for are kept by either EIL or Road Scholar. EIL lie to their employees. They need to be under investigation by the WRC and Labour board here in Ireland.
