Had Potential

This experience was not what I expected it to be, especially considering the rave reviews found here on go overseas, which is where I found this company. I would like to explain my low rating beginning with the overall positives and moving on to what I perceived to have truly diminished my experience.

The Positives:

As the previous reviews state, Italy is a beautiful country. I had a host family my first week and they were absolutely amazing! Staying with a host family helped me get situated in Italy as they shared their knowledge with me and welcomed me into the family. I believe that they will be lifelong friends, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have met them. The camps are genuinely lovely, I loved working with Italian children and had great experiences at these camps. My two-week camp in Sanremo was held in a beautiful venue by the beach. As well, our camp director (shoutout to Anna!) was lovely and made my experience there a positive one.

The Negatives:

The low review comes from, what I feel, was a lack of honesty, transparency, and communication on the part of Educo. A lot of my complaints would not be complaints if it wasn’t for the lack of information received going into the program and while working for Educo.

1. Laundry. This one may seem trivial; however, I think it plays into my main points about information and communication. From the first week of orientation I had little to no access to a washing machine and this was something that I wish had been made known to me from the beginning. I had a host family for only one week, and luckily they had laundry. The other weeks I was put in a flat (that was grimy with black mold in the kitchen and one of the bedrooms and that had exposed wires throughout), as well as a bed and breakfast. Both places were not equipped with laundry, and the 50 euro food stipend (which I will get to) was not enough to cover both food and a laundromat. The possibility of not having access to laundry should have been communicated to us from the beginning, as I would have set aside a budget for it. This would not have been the biggest deal if I had only known in advance and been able to make plans accordingly.

2. Money. As previously stated, we received a 50 euro stipend during the weeks we were not placed with a host family. A stipend that, after the first week of being in Educo provided accommodations, I had to chase the company down for. At first, this was apparently my mistake-as I was told that I needed to hand in my receipts in order to receive the next stipend. However, after handing in my receipts and emailing questions to the financial department, I received neither the money I was promised nor answers to my questions. Five emails later, I still had no response. A week and a half later, I finally received my stipends but still no answer to my questions. I had to pay a lot out of pocket over these last weeks and, if I had known this would be the case, I would have better prepared for the possibility of spending a lot of my own money.

3. Communication. The lack of communication was a constant issue for me while working with Educo. The head of human resources, Sophia, was one of the only management contacts given to us. However, since she was dealing with so many tutors, it was evident that she had neither the time nor the means to properly address each tutor’s needs. But, because this company was apparently founded in 2006, my sympathy waned considerably. There should be more people and/or departments to reach out to, answer questions and put out fires (of which there were many). Instead, many of us got last-minute information, answers, and for some, nothing more than radio silence.

The information sessions during training week gave the impression that Educo would cover almost everything, never leave you hanging, and be quick with solutions should difficulties arise. Much of this did not come across as true, and because of the initial impression given at orientation, I ended up frustrated and sorely disappointed by my interactions with Educo. Yes, the camps were fun, and Italy is beautiful, but the stress of dealing with this company worked to diminish my overall experience at an exponential rate. As a result of all the above mentioned, I made the decision to quit early and I can not, in good conscience, recommend this company.

P.S. This low review also comes from conversations had with fellow tutors and friends whose experiences with Educo were quite a bit worse than mine and completely unacceptable. However, I will leave their experiences for their own reviews so as not to put any words in their mouths.