Camps International Ltd.

Nodiggidy123 · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:28

Just been to my. girlfriends 15 year old daughters school for a presentation by this company.
http://campsinternational.com/reque...MIwLaG25H71gIV8DLTCh2dtAf_EAAYASAAEgIH_PD_BwE

They offer children trips around the world to help carry out volunteer work and adventure experiences. this particular trip was to Costa Rica in 2019 for 4 weeks.

They guy presenting was obviously a experienced sales person prromoting what a amazing and rewarding experience this would be and how it would look great on your CV etc etc.

The catch. The trip is 4k, it's pitched that the students should fundraise to pay for the trip. With a couple of payment options with the first payment of 200 being due in 2 weeks. And 200 every month after for 20 months

Personally I have huge concerns. 4 K is a large amount of money for a 15 year old, the money paid is nonrefundable. And personally I don't think students should have this financial stress in there gcse years.

I'm assuming this firm make a lot of money from students initially signing up and for one reason or another have to cancel. For me personally I think they prey on these kids and parents who don't want to say no to what on paper appears a massive opportunity.

Has anyone else had any experience with these guys? Am I being overly pessimistic?

shauncr91 · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:36

4 grand to go and work overseas voluntarily? Unless your kid is going to be a humanitarian aid worker I don't see why any employer would care about it on their CV.

Diddums · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:38

shauncr91 said:
4 grand to go and work overseas voluntarily?

This. Jog on.

Nodiggidy123 · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:41

shauncr91 said:
4 grand to go and work overseas voluntarily? Unless your kid is going to be a humanitarian worker I don't see why any employer would care about it on their CV.

They also will train her to get her padi open water dive cert but essentially yes. Personally I think she should just save and when she has the money to pay for something outright her self she can then go and book something. I'd obviously contribute a little but certainly no where near the 4k price and certainly I wouldn't be booking anything like that this close to Christmas.

I'm tempted to ask the school what the hell they think they are doing allowing this sort of promotion. There is obviously something in it for them.

Rroff · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:44

shauncr91 said:
I don't see why any employer would care about it on their CV

Yeah except in very specific roles the advantage of having it on a CV is practically nil.

shauncr91 · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:45

It would appear that the Open Water Diving cert can be had for less than £250...so there's still the other £3750 to account for. I'm not saying it's a con as such, but more of a massive waste of money in the long term. There'll be a few kids at school who do it and everyone will want to do it just to be part of that clique, 5yrs later nobody will give a toss when they are applying for entry level jobs.

Diddums · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:48

It is a con. I don't care what anyone says, this is using peer pressure to get parents to fork over. This creates a massive divide between the haves and have nots. What's the bet their refund policy basically goes "lol nope soz".

Nodiggidy123 · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:52

Diddums said:
It is a con. I don't care what anyone says, this is using peer pressure to get parents to fork over. This creates a massive divide between the haves and have nots. What's the bet their refund policy basically goes "lol nope soz".

From what I've researched so far. Any money you pay leading to the final due payment in may 2019 is non refundable. Like you I think. It's a con. The amount of money they must make from kids who initially sign up pay a few hundred to a couple of grand and then cannot make the payments could be huge.

I've explained to her my opinion and offered to help find alternatives for her. But she's got her set on it. Obviously I don't want to let her start and her be massively upset if it all go pest shaped. Much rather if she does want to do something. Save the money, have it ready to go and then contact charitys and find out how she can help.

Rroff · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:53

Diddums said:
It is a con. I don't care what anyone says, this is using peer pressure to get parents to fork over. This creates a massive divide between the haves and have nots. What's the bet their refund policy basically goes "lol nope soz".

Googling it many of the articles have a similar summary - that a lot of these companies encourage peer pressure to get parents to feel like the bad person if they don't pay up and concerns that in many cases the companies are making 50-70% profit out of it and if the parents booked everything direct it would cost half as much or less.

LeeUK · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:55

School as well as the sales man will be getting commission on those £200s until everyone drops out one by one.

Diddums · 18 Oct 2017 at 22:56

It's predatory marketing, potentially getting people in to massive debt because they don't want their kids to be left out. That said, the school has some responsibility to allow it too. If I was a head master I'd tell them to scram. It's morally wrong what they're doing.

FurryLemon · 18 Oct 2017 at 23:06

It's based around the workaway idea, but for kids.

https://www.workaway.info/

4k is steep though.

RDM · 18 Oct 2017 at 23:19

LeeUK said:
School as well as the sales man will be getting commission on those £200s until everyone drops out one by one.

The only thing schools get out of it is a free teacher slot or two.

Having spoken to some of the students that have been on one of these trips they found it to be a very fulfilling experience and a massive confidence boost. I Be;I eve they are a charity and most of the money goes towards the projects overseas, but no idea how much the directors earn.

Martini1991 · 19 Oct 2017 at 00:01

How does a 15 year old have 200 pound a month.

PapaLazaru · 19 Oct 2017 at 00:03

Made £685k net profit last year on a turnover of over £10m.

dowie · 19 Oct 2017 at 00:08

Nodiggidy123 said:
They also will train her to get her padi open water dive cert but essentially yes.

sounds more like a holiday with some token 'volunteering' chucked in

if she wants to do some volunteering or indeed just go traveling then there are plenty of other organisations out there - I don't see why a 4 week holiday to Costa Rica is worth putting in a CV though tbh...

I'm tempted to ask the school what the hell they think they are doing allowing this sort of promotion. There is obviously something in it for them.

maybe not:

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"

platinum87 · 19 Oct 2017 at 00:09

If i would volunteer i would expect you to pay my flights + accommodation + food at the minimum.

Volunteer work abroad for a 15 year old sounds strange tbh.

Other than that, IMO you should never do something because "it looks good on a CV".

dowie · 19 Oct 2017 at 00:09

RDM said:
I Be;I eve they are a charity and most of the money goes towards the projects overseas, but no idea how much the directors earn.

it doesn't look like they are a charity, can't see any registered charity number on their website at first glance

FurryLemon · 19 Oct 2017 at 00:27

platinum87 said:
If i would volunteer i would expect you to pay my flights + accommodation + food at the minimum.

Well you'll never be a volunteer then! hundreds of thousands volunteer yearly for free. Some even pay. If you want to got to Africa or any other poor place, there is normally a daily charge for food of 3-5 dollars.

horseunderwater · 19 Oct 2017 at 05:04

they are a business and registered in the uk as such. on the statement of accounts there turnover for 2016 was 10 million profit of 4.5 million