Railbookers Group reviews

4.2

82% would recommend to a friend

(220 total reviews)
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Frank Marini

84% approve of CEO

82% positive business outlook

Railbookers Group has an employee rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, based on 220 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Railbookers Group employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Transportation & Logistics industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

220 reviews
1.0
Jun 18, 2019

Extremely Toxic

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some nice people work there FAM trips every year Working in travel can be exciting

Cons

It is honestly difficult for me to figure out where to start. Especially taking into account things I experienced myself, and things I witnessed my fellow co-workers go through. For me, it started when I transitioned into the department and was given the responsibility of overseeing a specific line they already knew was not going to be offered moving forward. I was informed all the work was completed and to simply make sure everything flows nicely during the season. It was here, so early in my career with the company, where I realized I will need to learn to fend for myself. As I looked into everything, I noticed almost nothing was done and struggled through the season to ensure minimal chaos due to the lack of care for the product and someone in charge with the organizational skills of a 2nd grader. However, my hard work did not go unnoticed and I was rewarded newer responsibilities identical to those of the manager over me. Of course, I was excited to take on more, but had my reasonable concerns regarding my job title and compensation seeing as though I had the same responsibilities as the manager over me. I was then advised that I was not eligible for a promotion or further compensation but that they could take the added work away... however, it would be used against me should the position open up in the future. At this point, they had finally hired a Director of Human Resources which a lot of us were super thrilled for. My first meeting with this individual was great, and I could tell her intentions were to help as she had been hearing the same from so many of us. Not too long after, I requested my follow up meeting to discuss everything, and she mentioned she was busy and could not get me in the books. The following day, my direct manager had a meeting with me to discuss my concerns. I, personally, was not comfortable with something I brought up to the "Human Resource" department being relayed to my manager before further discussion but it is something I had to get used to. it was so surprising to feel the difference in demeanor and enthusiasm as compared to my first meeting with her... I could tell she was not able to help the way she had envisioned. Soon her job title was changed with a focus on "talent acquisition" and she was let go from the company and we were left without a legitimate Human Resource department, yet again. For the next year or so, I had the displeasure of doing the same job as the manager over me without proper acknowledgement. On numerous occasions I kicked up my concerns to only hear the same political answers from my direct manager who in, my opinion, doesn't have much regard for his employees. Career development didn't mean much more than just taking on more responsibilities it seemed. Again, in my opinion and many others, this not the way to care for your employees. Especially, when one has to sit in meeting with him hearing him talk negatively about his previous employees... makes me wonder what is being said about me now. I have seen long time employees let go during "restructuring" to only help grow existing concerns on job security. If someone with such longevity and so much knowledge of the product is who you decide to let go during a "restructuring period," how should growing employees feel about building a career with you? After so many were let go, responsibilities grew more so in the department I was in as I had to learn to do creative writing (something very new to me). I kicked my concerns up again and was not surprised to hear that "in a culture where we are restructuring, a pay raise is unlikely." In other words, they will save on all the employees let go, shift their work over to kept staff, but not compensate their "valued" employees even a little bit in trying to help them understand the situation in expanded responsibilities. I had to juggle my own responsibilities as well as other departments' who struggled because the workload is just unbearable for almost all teams. Of course, the helpful person I am was taken advantage of and I found myself always having to make sure my work was done, all while being "required" to stay late and/or structure my days around helping other departments. Then responding to critical emails from upper management questioning my work and how I am spending my time during the day. I hope me sharing some of my experiences helps anyone reading as I only have good intentions in sharing them.

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Railbookers Group Response
7y
Thank you for taking the time to post your review. As we have only had one person leave recently and you were honest enough to share the department you worked in, we appreciate you letting us know who you are. We are truly disappointed to read your review as there are many things I can see that you are not being transparent about. In saying that I would like to address your points below to yourself and all as you complimented myself at the bottom, (I am the president’s brother) but you forgot a number of things you and I had conversations about. You talked about opportunity, title and compensation. We are all about promoting from within and giving all opportunity for growth. Even with yourself you didn’t mention that this was the 2nd time you worked for YLG and the first didn’t work out, yet we gave you an opportunity to come back and hired you for a role that you had no experience in but were willing to invest and train you how to do the role. You mentioned our HR Department. We have always had an HR Department. At times we have hired additional staff who were on the recruiting side to help in Talent Acquisition. The individual you had these chats with was serving in that capacity rather than an experience Human Resources professional. When you mention “talking negative about previous employees” that is not the case. We are always talking about any mistakes we have made and how we can learn from them to do a better job for our customers. That typically relates to processes, people or product, so that is not being negative its just about learning and being honest so we can improve. Also, when you mention that you had to “juggle my own responsibilities as well as other departments who struggled because of the workload” you forgot to mention that certain times of the year (booking time vs. customers traveling time) that all departments shift to support each other. In the case of your department- the product department…we put a hold on creating new product to ensure all is operating smoothly for our customers, so you forgot to mention that one as well. You also didn’t mention the time I had to speak to you directly about dressing more appropriate in the office and coming in late on a regular basis. You also didn’t mention how “thankful” you were when you left and how much you learned from the company and how you got a chance to fly around the US and visit all these different places and check out new destinations, hotels and products for our customers. Yet you post this after you leave. Lastly, you have many friends in our company who you grew up with and helped recruit you who have come to myself and others and who are as disappointed as I am. The truth is we wish you nothing but the best for the future as we wouldn’t have hired you back a 2nd time if we didn’t believe in you. We understand now you were not a fit for YLG nor were we a fit for you as we need everyone to be team players based on the needs of our customers. Either way thanks for your comments as well as giving me a chance to comment back in an honest way. Thanks, Jim Marini- Vice President
3.0
Jun 9, 2019

It was fun, but highly stressful for very little pay.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Opportunity for growth and experience

Cons

Large workloads and you're seen as a money maker not as a person

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Railbookers Group Response
7y
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience at Yankee Leisure Group. I am sorry you didn’t come away with a perfect experience but thank you for being a part of the team. I would like to respond to your opinions on working at YLG because I think you accurately highlight some great positives that come with working for the company but also seem to contradict those points you mention later in your review. For example, you rightly praise the opportunities for growth as a positive aspect of your employment. I couldn’t agree more. For myself, I’ve experienced amazing personal and professional growth during my six years with YLG, as I’ve moved from the front lines of our sales team to managing a global department. During your time with the company (and my own), YLG has grown tremendously from our humble beginnings in Beverly, Massachusetts to offices in California, London, and Sydney, Australia. That growth has created advancements for all of us, including numerous new roles, departments and opportunities to grow personally and professionally as I’m sure you’ve observed. The majority of our staff have been promoted from within, which is a testimony to our commitment to helping team members both learn and grow. Not to mention, the travel opportunities are amazing. You must remember that each year everyone on our staff is given the chance to experience one of our vacation packages firsthand at no expense. These trips take them to national parks in North America, as well as sought-after destinations in Italy, the Swiss Alps, Japan and many more spectacular places around the world. With all that in mind, I was a little surprised to see you mention in your review (and contradict your earlier praise for growth opportunities) that personal growth was a challenge. The truth is, personal and professional growth go hand in hand as a result of the hard work and dedication of our staff in lifting up our organization. And as we do, our individual team members with it. In reflecting on your two years with YLG, I would reconsider that those two opinions seem to be at odds with each other. Thank you again for your review, and please reach out at any point if you would like to discuss this further. Yours, Andrew L. Channell Senior Director of Product 978-867-1122
1.0
May 29, 2019

AVOID AT ALL COST

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are no pros working for them...

Cons

Shambolic management, low basic salary, disgusting attitude, late shifts including weekends, monitoring on everything you do, useless training, poor commission scheme & rude attitude from the managers . Can't wait to get out of here...

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Railbookers Group Response
7y
We appreciate you sharing your feedback regarding your experience working for Railbookers. Obviously, we are concerned that a current employee of ours is this displeased with their role and sees zero pros of working for us even after being employed for more than two years. It is our hope that everyone on our staff feels both valued and finds purpose in their work. If you’re not comfortable confronting your direct supervisor, have you made an effort to contact Human Resources to discuss these concerns? Your feedback would be helpful in both resolving such complaints as well as to further educate and train supervisors on management techniques. Regarding the shifts our agents are scheduled for, they include (at the latest) a 7 p.m. finish and include one Saturday a month to assist during peak periods. For a call centre, this is not unreasonable and is pretty standard industry-wide. This goes for our commission structure as well, which rewards consistent performers. Currently, seven of the eight supervisors and managers on our staff have been employed with the company for more than two years and have been promoted from within the call centre. It is apparent that they’ve not only thrived from the training they received but also the performance management and the supportive structure Railbookers provides. As a company, we believe in our mission-driven company culture. That’s why we provide career advancement and awesome perks for those who not only have the ambition and drive but those who demonstrate leadership traits, regardless of their position. The atmosphere in the office is tremendously positive, especially as of late following the exciting announcement of this year’s FAM trips. These trips are all-expenses paid experiences that each staff member gets to participate in—as long as the employee has been with the company for a minimum of four months prior to the trip’s start date and is in good standing. Again, we sincerely thank you for your feedback and are disappointed to hear how unhappy you are in your current role. At Railbookers, we aim to foster an environment of transparency and honesty and hope you can approach the appropriate party to voice your concerns so that we may address them.
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Glassdoor has 222 Railbookers Group reviews submitted anonymously by Railbookers Group employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Railbookers Group is right for you.