ToursByLocals Reviews

3.5

59% would recommend to a friend

(36 total reviews)
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Lisa Chen

Not enough data to show CEO approval

31% positive business outlook

ToursByLocals has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 36 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The ToursByLocals employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Hotel and travel accommodation industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

36 reviews
1.0
21 Jun 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The headquarters of the organization is centrally located and it offers easy access by public transit. ToursByLocals offers free coffee and free healthy snacks. Casual attire is allowed. ToursByLocals offers a certain schedule flexibility to most of its employees.

Cons

Favouritism is a serious issue at ToursByLocals. Employees are promoted to made up roles. Some are allowed to work from home or remotely based almost exclusively on their personal relationships with the owners, president, and directors of the company. Workers in the call centre are expected to perform a long list of robotic tasks, and are constantly reminded of their small errors made while following unnecessarily detailed procedures. Despite recent efforts ToursByLocals does not listen to its call centre employees. The procedures and some positions at ToursByLocals change yearly for no apparent reason and with no consultation of its employees. The organization does not seem to value long time employees.

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ToursByLocals Response
7y
We're certainly not happy to read these comments on Glassdoor - our message to the team is that we’re all tasked with inventing ToursByLocals and we encourage frank discussion with anyone who has concerns. ToursByLocals is growing at greater than 50% per year and is constantly evolving procedures and organizational structure with a view to improving our effectiveness. It is not correct to say that we don't consult with our employees regarding these changes - everyone has input. But we don’t always get it right. We would encourage this person to not have their comments end here. Instead, we want productive conversations with any team member who can help us improve.
2.0
16 Mar 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I made a few nice friends. Downtown office location. 9 to 5 but includes weekends. I have no more positives (Filling minimum character)

Cons

The salary was average for what they expected. Vacation May to August months not allowed. This company thinks they are laid lack but one of the managers was uptight and condescending. Always checking up on me while giving others free pass and hugs. We felt like child. Started to suddenly call us love dear and honey, very annoying and it came from nowhere. If manager cannot be consistent with personality and temperament they should at least be professional. Moral of employees low. Most who have been there longtime hardly smile yet alone say hello

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ToursByLocals Response
7y
We’re so sorry to hear this employee experienced distress during training and coaching sessions. We listened to those complaints at the time, and discussed them with the manager involved. As a consequence we feel that she (and the whole management group) have acquired greater skill in giving appropriate feedback. With regard to the last comment, we prefer to promote people from within. The person in question started in customer support. Her Bachelor degree in Economics, together with internally provided training meant that she was well positioned to take on the work of an accountant.
1.0
20 Mar 2018

Poor management

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They have a good benefits package and are flexible with working remotely. Some positions travel quite a bit.

Cons

They are not very forward thinking in terms of management style - very old school mentality. If you want to clock in and out and keep your head down then it may be the job for you. Salaries are low compared to industry standard too. They are also very slow to adapt to technology and trends. Very very poor communication between teams, especially management.

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ToursByLocals Response
7y
We’re glad this former employee recognised the workplace flexibility and travel opportunities we aim to offer staff. We completely agree that we need to improve communication between departments and that management needs do a much better job of communicating with employees . On a recent internal survey to gauge levels of employee job satisfaction and identify areas for improvement this was an area flagged as needing improvement . As a result, we’re actively encouraging more formal and informal communication between teams, and holding leadership accountable for making this happen. There’s no doubt it’s a challenge, with offices and employees spread out over 4 continents. We’re surprised to hear about the “clock in and clock out and keep your head down” comment as this would not be a good strategy for getting ahead. We aim to hire people with bold ideas and the determination to help us grow and improve.
Viewing 1 - 3 of 36 Reviews

Glassdoor has 65 ToursByLocals reviews submitted anonymously by ToursByLocals employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if ToursByLocals is right for you.