brit5alpha,as i said ealier i always see reps eating at the hotels we go to,thought this was perk of the job,as youve said its not always the case.
i hope things get easier for your daughter and if she continues repping,she gets a better deal

Incidentally, is she put under pressure to sell trips? I keep hearing about how this seems to be all the TOs are worried about rather than the customer service aspect. Seems a lot of reps are put under immense pressure to sell a certain amount and that this is the only way they can earn enough to live okay on as well.

Chivas69 wrote:

I think the reps eating at the hotel comments were made because it was stated that they ONLY eat at 5* hotels! If someone makes a statement like that it's bound to get shot down! Maybe she meant her daughters company but to be fair I didn't read it that way!

That is the very reason why I entered into this debate. A very clear statement was made that Reps can only eat in Hotels if they are Five Star Establishments:

Brit5Alpha wrote:

Only if a Rep works in a 5* hotel all inclusive will he/she eat at the hotel dining room/ restaurant

which is simply not true. I have never once insinuated that there are places where Reps are not provided with a meal. (at least I do not think I have?) I have also stated that I am not aware whether or not the Reps have to pay for their meals, get them free or at a subsidised rate.

My Quote:-BHIC wrote:

Whether or not these meals are free or subsidised or have to be paid for in full, I have no idea, but that is irrelavant to the point which is Reps DO eat in Hotel Dining Rooms

I have simply stated what I have seen, and trust that I have not offended anyone.

Val and Rob wrote:

but just because you have witnessed reps being allowed to eat in hotels etc does not mean that there are places where they are not.

In as far as I am aware I have never once denied that there were places were Reps are either forbidden from eating in the Establishment, or do not get some sort of meal provided. (again, at least I don't think I have) I was simply pointing out that saying Reps are only entitled to a meal if they are working in a Five Star Hotel is simply not true.

Chivas69 wrote:

Maybe she meant her daughters company but to be fair I didn't read it that way!

I can confirm that Brit5Alpha did mean this as she has stated so herself and she has also sent me a PM which confirms this. I am not going to quote from her PM as PM's should remain private and I do not wish to betray her confidence, but I believe many of us, myself included, may have misunderstood her and hence the somewhat negative replies she has received to her intial posting.

Brit5Alpha wrote:

BenidormHereICome Forgive me if ive misled anyone, but like I said im basing my facts on what I have seen and heard from reps who work with my daughter

Val and Rob wrote:

Mods.. please don't close it as it has been really interesting

.
I agree, this is a very interesting 'debate' and I too hope it is not locked, but I do believe we may have gone a little bit ?

I am sure Brit5alpha would appreciate apologies from all those who shouted her down in the most appalling and negative fashion.

Now.. lets get back on topic and try to remain sensible...

Something i don't think helps the image of the holiday reps is when you see all those documentaries ( or docusoaps?) where all you see is the rep late at night winding everyone up in bars getting everyone totally hammered until all inhibitions ( and sadly in most cases their dignity and much worse )are lost and it just all looks rather seedy..

is this all staged i ask myself ( i mean i know it is not.but do they just make it look worse for the camera's).. images like that portray the rep as nowt but a party animal anyway...

I think it portrays them very badly. With this type of holiday firm they are actively encouraged to drink to excess etc. (I suspect they might have cleaned up their acts a bit in light of the documentaries/series shown), yet they still have to work their butts off perhaps not on the complaints side - maybe more so on diplomatic issues with hoteliers. Not to mention handling drunken clients and the accidents that must occur regularly.

I've been lucky enough never to have needed any real assistance from a rep but have to say that some 10 years ago when I went on a twenties holiday the rep we had there was the best out of any I had encountered previously. This is purely based on when we did see her she knew our names and room numbers without asking us, and she sent on a photograph that I had purchased from a night out and left on the coach back, direct to my home address.

do they just make it look worse for the camera's

the answer to this is no, but this does not mean all reps behave like this.
the amount of footage that they could not even show on the late night shows is apparently enormous. a friends daughter worked on one of these shows(for the tv company), and even their out takes for their private christmas show had to be censored!
the tv companies like these "car crash" type reality shows as they cause a reaction and so get newspaper coverage, increased viewer numbers, increased advertising revenue and everyone is happy except, usually, the "victims" family.
there will always be people who want to be party animals and think the reps job is a way to do it on the cheap -the PR's on the bars seem to be the same-, but they rarely make a career of repping and would not normally last more than 1 season(in my opinion).
there are good reps out there in all resorts who are trying to do a good job and provide help, and when you get one of them at your hotel it can be a great bonus.
there seems to be little on this topic from reps explaining what they do, and what their primary duties actually are, ie selling trips or helping holidaymakers. if they are not really glorified sales people maybe one or two can explain the commission arrangements to us. it might help us understand.
i know they work long hours, but if the job really involved surviving on 2 hours sleep a night for 80p per hour i dont think there would be a huge take up.
when people talk generally about the negative aspects of their job/life they forget about the positive aspects and vice versa. i doubt very much if this members daughter had a rough deal 24/7 during her time in resort.there must have been some good times!
you have to take account of both sides and get a balanced view.
i'm sure reps work very hard in the first year just to survive the experience, but if they do that i'm sure they are the ones who go on to be the reps we want to see when we are on holiday.
now if only we could get the T/O's to listen to what we the holidaymakerswant from our reps wouldn't it make all our holidays better.

well said Jimdf.

we have been lucky and have only needed the rep once, which was during a stay in Lanza a couple of years ago. there was a huge tropical storm that shut the airport etc, wrecked the island and among other things flooded our room, clothes and even the mattress on the bed. we went to see the rep to see if we could move rooms.. the rep was totally disinterested and said the maid would decide!!!

anyway, in general the rep avoided the place for most of the holiday as it was such a poor hotel and there were so many complaints, i think the rep had had enough and just went missing...this was for thomas cook (am i allowed to name the company mods? if not, please remove it)..

i guess there is good and bad in every job..

there seems to be little on this topic from reps explaining what they do, and what their primary duties actually are, ie selling trips or helping holidaymakers. if they are not really glorified sales people maybe one or two can explain the commission arrangements to us. it might help us understand.

I can not help too much here as I was a childrens rep however, I did not witness nor here of any of my collegues complaining about being pressured. It was, in all, a very relaxed 6 months!

I think Brit5alpha came on with the best of intentions regarding her concern for her daughter's wellbeing. Unfortunately the title of the thread led us to believe that she was referring to ALL reps, and hence the negative replies. I dont think anyone meant to be bullying.

I think the poster who said "there are good times which make up for the bad" really said what I was thinking.

If you are having such a bad time ALL the time surely you wouldnt stay, there MUST be some incentive, be it the sun, the fun when off duty, or whatever, which makes up for the hard work (or otherwise).

There are many more occupations who work harder in much less pleasant surroundings who I would have a lot more sympathy for. My daughter is working in a Nursing Home at the moment during the summer to help fund her university education.

She is washing elderly people, changing incontinance pads, is training to care for tube fed patients, and covering for other members of staff who havent come in. She has gone many days without a lunch or tea break. She isint complaining about it and neither am I.

You makes a decision, you either live with it or leave the job if you are not happy.

Many holiday reps do leave in their first season, that's the main reason that brit5alpha's daughter has the workload she's got at the moment. But, like with most jobs, if you stick at it through the tough first years/seasons you will more than likely end up in a much nicer job whether that be because of the resort/country you are in, the company you work for or because of promotion. More specialist companies who don't use the large complexes tend to employ older and more experienced reps and their main aim is not to sell trips but to give good customer service.

SandC, I am one of those older reps, working with a small company!!!! Very true, my main aim is to ensure that clients have the best holiday possible. I am there to meet them at the airport, get them to their cars, ensure they know where they are actually going to (they have detailed instructions), answer questions, solve problems, accompany them should they have the misfortune to be ill, or robbed etc etc etc. And yes, sell them excursions if they want them, for which I am paid a commission, which varies depending on the excursion.

I used to work for another holiday company, doing their Welcome Meetings, on a commission only basis. No base salary, no petrol money, just commission and I was lucky enough there to be paid 15% of all monies taken, which is I think, very unusual. It was hard work and I would sometimes do more than 6 meetings in a day, all in different resorts and locations Some days I earned nothing at all.

I see the reps of the bigger holiday companies here, coming and going, and sometimes think they don't help themselves. A lot of the new intake hasn't even bothered to learn the basics of the language, have made no effort to familiarise themselves with where the complexes or hotels are in resorts before they arrive, or even at the airport where to get help re lost baggage, wheelchair assistance etc, and then wonder why clients get cross with them!!!!! Some tend to look down their noses at us "old timers", but guess who they turn to when they have problems!!!

Yes, they work very very hard, and I certainly would not want to have to work like that now, but as you say SandC, if they can stick that first season, they will have learned an awful lot, mainly about how to handle the clients, and should reap the benefits from then on in!!!!!

Sorry rant over

sand c... there are some jobs you are "born" to do.. and in my humble opinion..reppin is one of them.. in the same way nursing or looking after old people or anything in the care industry etc takes another type of person.. you do not do it for the money,, you do it for the love of the job and the buzz you get from helping some one else out weighs all the negative stuff that comes with it.

i have worked in care and nursing for years.. loads of rubbish shifts, giving up my family on xmas day for someone else who i don't know etc..for rubbish pay and bosses that don't really give a fig as they are at home.. but its worth it all for the joy you bring to someone else. Its a buzz in itself and if you are born to do it you will do it no matter what. sorry if this is but thats the way i see reppin.. if you are bron to do it you will do it no matter what and it takes a special type of person to be able to stick with it.. so well done brit5alphas girl for sticking with it..

I agree Val. I have nothing but respect for care workers/nurses etc., it's just that so many people see being a holiday rep as a holiday with pay. That's why so many don't stick at it, because the reality is different. You don't have people yearning to be a care worker.

My dad is in a nursing home, has been for about 4 years now and I have to strongly defend the staff there against those who know diddly squat about it and say that nursing homes are full of abusers who don't care. I do get to shut them up because the hear nothing but the bad stuff and don't have first hand experience.

It's off topic, but I can't compare holiday reps with care workers because care workers are worth their weight in gold and holiday reps aren't. Sorry, but that's the truth.

holiday reps have a different function than people involved in care.. and yes people who work in care are worth their weight in gold.. every single one of us needs someone to care for them at some point in their life.. but we might not always need a holiday rep.. That being said, i think anyone that sticks at it the way brit5alphas daughter has must be a very determined person and truly dedicated to her job.

We tend not to have much to do with reps on holidays as we like to do our own thing, but i would like to think that if we did need a rep for something we would be fortunate enough to get a decent one that actually cares about their job and the customers they have.

The real blame for reps lies with the big TO's who don't really give a stuff who takes the flak for poor service as the reps can be recruted 10 a penny and easily replaced. The glam side of the job will always mean there are hoards of eager youngsters queueing up to become reps. The real big time bosses who dictate what sort of service is provided by the company are always nowhere to be seen and obviously are happy to let a rep take the flak for poor service. ( i am not sure if i have just expressed that paragraph very clearly....i hope you all understand what i am trying to say..)

.i hope you all understand what i am trying to say..)

Perfectly understood by me

The same scenario could be applied when you go into a shop in the UK to buy say electrical goods...and you know more about the product than the sales person.
Should the product malfunction, then you find out, that some of the customer "after care" service is diabolical.

Same thing, just a slant on the service provided by companies.

i would like to think that if we did need a rep for something we would be fortunate enough to get a decent one that actually cares about their job and the customers they have.

I think that would be the general consensus of everybody on this forum, but the reality is, that it is not always the case.

SanJi x

I was in the Ambulance Service until my own heart attack in 1999, I am now a Care Worker in a Residential Home, well actually I split my time between working in a Residential Home in Skeggy, and a Care Home in Lincoln, but I do not see how Care Workers can be compared to Holiday Reps?

The point trying to be made BHIC was that people who work in care homes don't exactly do it for highly paid wages as we know they aren't, they do it because their reward is knowing that they've made a difference to someone's life and because they love the job, reppin isn't highly paid but good reps do it because they like to look after their holidaymakers and because they too love the job, val and rob's post explains that above

Just the aspect that both professions attract those who want to work with and for people and not for the money. Although I think the draw for most reps is the location, ie. in a holiday resort and the people are a little further down the list!

Shell wrote:

The point trying to be made BHIC was that people who work in care homes don't exactly do it for highly paid wages as we know they aren't, they do it because their reward is knowing that they've made a difference to someone's life and because they love the job, reppin isn't highly paid but good reps do it because they like to look after their holidaymakers and because they too love the job, val and rob's post explains that above

Hi Shell. yes I think I understood the point that Val and Rob was trying to make, but as a Care Worker myself, I cannot compare myself to a Holiday Rep. I'm paid more than .80p per hour for starters and although the hours are there if I want them, I do get time off.

Shell wrote:

because they too love the job

But it soes not sound like the original Author of this thread's daughter loves her job very much? And in addition to that her mother seems, rightly so I suspose, somewhat worried about her and her Repping Job.

My parents are not worried for me as a Care Worker, they are very proud of me.