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“Camp Leaders exploits money from young people.”

8/23/16

I'm afraid to say that Camp Leaders, though a useful mechanism for applying to summer camp, is essentially a way to siphon off a huge amount of money from young people wanting to work at summer camp. They take several hundred pounds in fees from you at the beginning, largely simply for so-called 'admin costs' (i. E. to supply themselves with salaries). Once I arrived at my camp in the US I found out when talking to American counselors that my paycheck was half of what they were earning - why? Camp Leaders. About $1,700 was. This was not something that had been made clear upfront to us; in fact, at the preparation day in London we were told to go to, they discussed the fees, and they claimed that it was 'camp' that paid this sum, not you. What they happily omit to say is that camp is paying this money out of your own paycheck, so in fact it is you paying this money.

This is utterly ridiculous. The fees to work at camp in the United States are not that high; it is simply a job, and under no other circumstances would you spend that sort of money (for me £450 fees plus $1700, i. E. about £1750) to go and work! The main services they provide are the following: sending off your application to camps; booking your flights; providing health insurance; sponsoring your visa.

The first of these seems very useful when applying, because you only have to fill out one form for Camp Leaders detailing the areas you would like to work, and they send out lots and lots of applications, almost guaranteeing you a job. However, your chances of working at summer camp are very high if you simply apply straight to camps; of course, you have to fill out a separate application per camp, but for the amount of extra money you will make not having to give it to Camp Leaders, it is well worth the extra effort. Camps need a lot of people, and especially if you have some experience working with children or skills (however basic) in outdoor activities finding somewhere to work should not be too hard.

Secondly, booking your flights; quite simply, this you can easily do yourself, and not something you need to have an external company do for you.

Thirdly, providing health insurance; again, basic health insurance coverage is not too difficult to purchase.

Finally, they sponsor your visa. This is something that often seems very attractive for Brits coming to camp; there are two points to make on this. First of all, I was personally very irritated at Camp Leaders because I have a US passport, so I did not need a visa, something Camp Leaders knew. As a result, the proportion of my fees that were spent on this aspect were simply me giving money to the company for nothing in return. However, if you do require a visa there are many other organisations (google 'designated sponsors j-1 visa' for the government-approved list) that will sponsor it for you. These will of course require some fees, but you will still be paying far less than you would if you operated through Camp Leaders.

Overall, therefore, the company is an utter scam. Their business model is simply to exploit young people's desire to work at camp by performing tasks for them that they could do themselves, as detailed above, and then taking an enormous chunk of their paycheck when they are working the US. They will get few repeat customers (all the other British counselors I know who used them will never use them again), but they know that they will get enough new customers every year that it does not matter. This is straight-up exploitative and very unfair.

Two further things to add; first of all, I do not mean to be disparaging on the individuals you interact with at Camp Leaders; those I talked to were all very friendly, helpful, and kind people to work with. As far as my experience went, the system was operated smoothly and efficiently. The second thing to add, is that I cannot recommend working at summer camp enough; it was an incredibly fun experience, you meet a wonderful group of people, and working with children in an environment like that was enormously fun. I very much urge anyone thinking about it to go and do it, it was a very special experience. I simply think that using Camp Leaders is an awful idea because of the hidden costs; I was lucky in that my camp paid fairly well, so I still managed to come home with money. I know other people who went through Camp Leaders and who worked at different camps who earned maybe $800 (£600 or so), which means they essentially break even when you take into account the fees they gave Camp Leaders at the beginning.

I would therefore urge anyone considering Camp Leaders to think very hard about it; the benefits you receive from Camp Leaders are all things that you can do yourself, and which may take a little more effort and time from you, but overall will mean you earn far more when you are in the US.

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Thank you

Camp L. – CampLeaders Rep Over a year old

Hi David, thank you for reaching out to us, we appreciate your feedback.

First of all we’re very glad that you had a great experience working at a summer camp in America and would recommend the experience to others. We’re also glad our process worked smoothly & efficiently for you and that our staff were helpful for you.

We are disappointed however that you would describe our company as an utter scam when you’ve highlighted that you had a successful summer camp placement through Camp Leaders, complimented our customer service and had a great summer in America.

The first and most important thing to note is that the summer camp J1 program is a cultural exchange program, not a program that is there to make money. We make this as clear as possible. If you are looking to earn good money whilst you travel, camp is not for you. If you are looking for an outstanding experience with lots of support with great people, with a bit of pocket money, camp is for you.

In response to your payment issue

To make the program accessible to all we have set up the fee structure in such a way that the participant only has to pay a portion of the fees in advance of their departure to America. The rest of the fees are then covered by the camp at which the participant will work for the summer. The camp pays an agency fee to Camp Leaders when the participant completes the full contract. So in essence, the participant is 'working off' the fees which have been paid on their behalf by the camp.

When you get placed you get a contract from camp outlining what your pocket money is. You get 100% of that pocket money. This will be the contract that you signed before you left for camp. Any participant can call us to walk through the contract before they sign it.

The placement fee that camp pays depends upon where in the US they are based, the age and experience of the participant, what they will be doing at camp etc. It is not fixed. This cost is outlined to the camps, as they pay it. It is usually referenced in the contract you sign with camp too.

This is all outlined in the program agreement you sign before joining the program and the fee disclosure section of your profile. It also highlighted multiple times by our customer service team throughout the process and at the preparation day you attended.

The pricing page on the front end of the site gives you an idea of the amount of pocket money you can could get for the summer; http://www.campleaders.com/gb/summer-camps/pricing/

This practice is standard with all of the agencies who work with camps, allowing more people to head to camp by lowering the upfront fees.

In response to apply directly to camps

Yes, you can apply directly to a summer camp without using an agency. However by building your online application with Camp Leaders you are adding your skills, strengths, experiences & personality to our online database which can be seen by all the American Camp Directors we work with. We work with 500+ ACA accredited camps which means you’re chancing of getting a placement are much higher. We also try tailor to your needs as much as possible so we can place you with a summer camp that is the best possible fit for you. Our customer service team are all in constant contact with directors and each team have all personally been to summer camp so can help you build your online application to look its best.

Of course you need to get your visa which you can not do directly yourself as the US Government needs a recognized body to carry out checks on both the camp and the participant, things like collecting and checking references and ensuring the camp has appropriate insurance.

In response to flights

The Camp Leaders program offers every participant that applies the option for us to book their flights or not. Therefore you can book your own flights if you wish. However 85% of our first time participants choose to let Camp Leaders book their flight due to the added advantages and cost-effective price.

Our flights team will then arrange and book your flights but also organise your onward travel to camp and be there to help you with any flight changes or problems that may arise with airlines.

In response to insurance

The Department of State insists that every participant has insurance. To fulfill this obligation we provide insurance as a part of your package.

During your preparation day we walk you through the insurance so if anything does happen to you in America you have the necessary basic coverage required. The American system works differently to the U. K. and we aim to make the differences as clear as possible for participants.

In response to Visa

You can contact any of the other visa sponsors and join their programs. Each has it’s own merits.

We believe in the in country support that we give ensuring that people are ready for camp. All of the agencies work on the same cost model for first time placements. In some cases you might be able to pay less, but in that case you would get less support, for example not having a local office to get you ready, not having a face to face interview and so on.

The program includes a lot more than listed above. This includes the 24/7 support in the US, camp visits in the summer checking in with participants, the support offered at the embassy on busy visa days, the fairs we have where we bring America camp directors over from the US to meet participants and much more. We believe the program offers great value for money and an outstanding experience.

Thanks again for your feedback, if you wish to discuss this further then give our team a call on 0151 708 6868

Kind Regards,

Liam - The Camp Leaders Team