"Girl worked 16 hours a day for 16 days in a row and became ill with Lyme disease"

Review from GLASSDOOR review site
2 Jan 2015
All of my savings gone on this tripe!
Dance teacher
Former contractor, less than 1 year
Bear Mountain, NY
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros

You get to live & work for 3 months on a summer camp in the states. All for a lovely £800+ you pay.

Cons

The price! Extortionate. If you found a way to cut costs I bet more people would sign up to do it. The actual summer camp (Camp T.O.P top of the pines/Vacamas in New Jersey) kept losing all the information, despite me sending it 3 times by email and 2 times by post. When I got there it was the same story as other big companies - there's always those workers who snitch & try to get you into trouble in order to gain a promotion. I spent the whole contract 'watching my back' to try to protect myself. Before I got to the camp I was told 'relax, you won't be working many hours anyway it's all fun and we do our own thing most of the time too' So I thoughts 'hmmm good deal for me paying £800+' UNTIL I ARRIVED. Then I was told the work hours are 7am - 1.30am straight for 16 days. And during the night time, we had to share a bunk with the children. No privacy, no alone time, paid peanuts, surrounded by power freaks who get off on being spiteful & vindictive behind your back, and to top it all off I got Lyme Disease which was misdiagnosed by the camp nurses. Turns out I had it the whole contract and now here I am 1 and half years later still sick and trying to get rid of it. Camp America even tried to wriggle out of sorting my insurance and medical Debark (even though it states in the contract that should you get ill at camp as a direct result of your job, they will pay for your flights home) They tried to get out of paying for my flights - shop around you may find cheaper!

Advice to Management

Stop promoting the vindictive & spiteful camp councillors who grass on others to gain promotion. Stop shouting at the children. It's supposed to be an enjoyable summer for them - not a nazi camp.

"The application process was a nightmare…"

The application process was a nightmare - endless forms, confusing instructions, and no support from their staff

"Dawid"

A really great experience for me. Made me more confident and responsible. As for the bad reviews - I think it strongly depends on the particular camp you're going to. Make sure to review the camp you're going to - reviews are right there under your nose (google them).

"Excellent experience"

Excellent experience! Well efficient and right on time, I could not say much.

"American horror story "

Life-changing expirience? Yeah it was I might never visit US again after this trip. So I spent 3 months at camp for special needs. Looking at some of the reviews I think my director might not be the worst. However, which I don't get as a European you as a consular sleep in the same cabin as your special needs campers so it basically means you work 24/7 if you get lucky you manage to get like some sleep if you are lucky. Yes, there is a overnight duty shift but it is pointless because whenever someone wakes up they wake up the whole cabin. The food is processed crap like horrible terrible disgusting I had diharea from the day 1, so it's not like only not tasty but it made me physically sick and not only me but all the other employees as well. They are mixing salt and sweet together and on the day off they provided only brunch and dinner so 2 meals I was hungry af all the time as well because the food is absolutely not nutritional. The program cost you a fortune and you have to do a lot of paperwork. The pocket money is not enough to cover your expenses. Not speaking of a fact that you are a direct cargiver to those children you are lifting heavy people and they provide you no lifting equipment. Also in the middle of the camp there was a period of 2 weeks off the director told us it is up to us we can either stay at the camp or go travel for 2 weeks but because majority of people didn't have enough money to afford accommodation for 2 weeks they stay at the camp which ment they move all the staff in one dark cabin so it was like 30 people in one room and also we were required to either only stay inside the cabin or leave the camp area completely during the day because during this 2 weeks they rent the camp area to someone else. So they want us not or be visible not to disturb. Also I expected all of us to be treated equally but no, during official staff meetings the staff consist of Latinos and Turkish mainly and the rest of the staff was from UK, but than there was like 6 other people who has different native language myself included. They provided Turkish and Spanish translate on regular basis. I signed the paper which required me to use only English while my Latino colluges could use Spanish in work. I don't speak any Spanish so I spent like 3 weeks in silence listening to my two colleagues probably gossiping in Spanish. In my opinion there shouldn't be any translate at all that way we are all equal. One of the Americans admins( adult women over 50) literally thought I came and applied to program from Russia. At first I thought she was joking but unfortunately no. That was just a cherry on top and like one thing funny but sad as well. Never again American dream turn into American horror story.

"Amazing summer camp agency"

I have to really commend both the U.K. & US camp America offices for how supportive & helpful they have been during my time at camp this summer.
After a tough first few weeks at camp, I was in communication with Camp America about my struggles, and they were so supportive and encouraging to my situation. As well, towards to end of my camp placement, I decided I wanted to change my flight home to a later date, and the US office were extremely helpful with this. I really can’t recommend Camp America as a summer camp agency enough!
Yes there’s lots of agencies out there, but you get amazing support and guidance from Camp America!
I can’t wait to return to my camp for the next season <3

"I have loved this because the website is not confusing and it easy to use"

I have loved this because the website is easy to navigate and it isn't tricky to put in your application. It has also made it easy with steps on what to do next. Camp America is amazing because it provides all the information that is needed and if you need extra help a quick email or phone call can be made and all the staff are so lovely and don't mind at all if you call. I would 100% recommend this anyone who is after an adventure!

"I wish I could go back every year"

I wish I could go back every year, I had the best 2 summers I could’ve dreamt of. Met amazing people (my extended family) from around the world who 8 years later I still talk to regularly. I now have an American family, where I got the chance to really live the lifestyle & experience the holidays with.
It gave me the chance to see places I never thought I would. Im sure some people have had a negative experience, it isn’t for everyone but I personally couldn't recommend the programme enough.
The CA team themselves are so helpful, from application stage to being out there and flying home.

"Communication on point!"

I have been with Camp America since 2017 and have met so many people who I would call family. Communication is excellent. Family feel with the business and they are just so easy to contact.

"No Better Way to Experience the USA"

I completed SEVEN summers on camp in the USA as a participant on the Camp America programme, and cannot speak highly enough of what I experienced. The scheme is really well organised, and everyone involved is helpful and supportive. The care taken in placing applicants was obvious in that I was placed on a camp for underprivileged children from Chicago, which was perfect for me because of past experience working with kids from tough neighborhoods. I had such a fantastic summer, I returned 4 times. Then, when I decided I'd like to try another camp, the US placement team found me a similar camp, also working with campers from Chicago, so I could catch up with all my friends after camp, and I did 2 more summers there. The most important factor in the kind of summer you have is likely to be whether you are matched to a camp that is the best fit for you as an individual, and Camp America definitely came up trumps for me (no political pun intended!) both times! I've had the 'summer of a lifetime' seven times over, and will always be grateful to the people who run this programme.