Customer Service Representative | Pearson, ON | Jan 31, 2020
Only take this job if it's your last option
Pros
- The people you work with are great, and it really does feel like a big family. Everyone is always willing to help out.
- After 6 months, you do get flight benefits. There are a number of limitations, but yes, you do get to fly next to free wherever Air Canada flies.
- You don't need a university degree
- There are opportunities for advancement if you stick around enough
Cons
- Pay is minimum wage
- You have to be minimum bilingual (most jobs that require this pay way more)
- You don't get to choose your hours for the first year. You work 9 hour shifts, 5 days on/3 days off. You will work every single weekend. You might start 9 AM a couple days, then be scheduled to start 4:30 AM the next day. It happens. You have no choice. Your only option is to trade away those shifts, but who will want to take a 4:30 AM shift? Exactly.
- Due to not being in control of your schedule (both the hours and days are not up to you, unless you trade) it will be hard to have a life outside work. You can't make any weekend plans. You can't make time to pick up/drop off kids, see family or go out when your friends are off work.
- Your schedule/hours are subject to change. You might have Saturday off, but 3 days before they might schedule for a shift that day, and you HAVE to work it, unless you can trade it away. Or, you may be working Saturday but end in the afternoon and have plans for the evening. They can change your hours to something like a 1 PM - 9 PM shift a couple days bef
4.0
Bilingual Customer Service Associate | Montréal, QC | Oct 17, 2022
great coworkers, sense of belonging but low salary for the work u have to do
The first 6 months are the strictest but once you pass the probation period (180 days) you are good and don't really need to worry about them firing you.
During the probation, you can't be late, no sick days included, not unionized, can't forget your RAIC, the slightest mistake is enough for them to fire you.
The coworkers are really friendly and nice for the most of them. Its feels like a big family. Everyone around you is ready to help, even the manager tries to help the most they can. And if you are ever in a difficult situation with some customers, there is always people there to back you up.
The managers are nice when you get to know them, at first, they seem really strict and mean but throughout your journey with them, they open up to you and get used to seeing you. And they can get really great. Both every relationship needs involvement from both sides.
Do your job, help the customers, reflect a good image, do what you are supposed to do, and you should be good.
If they know that you slack, they might be on you but if you do what you're supposed to its all good and they won't bother you or watch your every move.
You are assigned to a position for your shift but if they need you somewhere else and you are trained for it, they are going to send you there to help out.
The salary is not the best and could be way better for all the things we have to do. But it follows a scale and goes up every year. They are going to use you as much as they can to try to mainta
3.0
Gas Station Attendant | Montréal, QC | Sep 25, 2023
Your mileage may vary
You will find extremely polarizing opinions about working as a station attendant at AC, because one person's experience can be wildly different from someone else, depending primarily on your personality, and perhaps a little bit of luck.
Some days, it feels like a great job and you are thankful to be there. Other days, you question why you are wasting your time with this job and you feel like quitting on the spot.
If you are a very social, likeable person, chances are you will love working there. Special treatment is common place. You will get easier tasks, more breaks, spend lots of time socializing instead of working, and never be hassled by management.
If you are introverted, and prefer to just go to work and do your job. You will most likely be exploited and abused until you have about 10 to 15 years of seniority. You will be given the most difficult, almost impossible to complete tasks, and you will be punished for not completing them according to the unrealistic expectations.
If you are unfortunate enough to be one of these people, this job is incredibly hard on the body. You will destroy your shoulders, your knees, your back, and your mental health.
That being said, there are many upsides:
- Almost limitless flexibility with
your schedule.
- Health & dental benefits
- Access to standby passes for
you and your friends / family.
- Job gets much easier with
seniority.
- Very dynamic place to work,
every day is different.
- Can be lots of down
This is by far the worst place I have EVER worked at. Management do not care about you. They listen and say yes all the time but really they do not care. Every time I suggested something to a supervisor so it would make our work easier they would say "I've taken it into consideration" but really all they wanted was for you to do your job and not think outside the box. If ever you did really have a good idea and upper management approved it the supervisor would take credit for it and say it was their idea. The work schedule is horrible. They ask you to work on holidays with the promise of giving you the day back when you want it but you would then have to fight to take that day back or they would offer you a Wednesday off instead of attaching the day off to a weekend. HR is horrible. Might as well not have one. They never reply or when they do it's to tell you they've forward your email to someone else. At one point they hired a new team to work with us and I learned they made more per hour then I did (after 6years of service) and when I asked HR why, they referred me to managers and my manager told me it was a company decision and to not ask any other questions or there would be heavy consequences. Upper management think they are above everyone and done care about you. Salaries are HORRIBLE. They pay you 15$/h even after 8 years of service and say there is a monthly bonus, but make up excuses to not pay the bonuses you really never get that bonus that was promised 1000$/month
Dear [Company],
I wanted to take a moment to provide some feedback on my experience as an employee at [Company]. I believe that open and honest communication is essential for the growth and success of any organization, and I hope that my feedback can contribute to improving our workplace.
Firstly, I want to express my gratitude for the opportunities and support that I have received during my time here. I have learned and developed my skills in ways that I could not have imagined. The training programs and resources provided have been excellent, and I feel that they have empowered me to excel in my role.
However, there are a few areas where I believe there is room for improvement. One of the main issues I have noticed is the lack of clear communication from senior management. It would be beneficial for the entire team if goals, objectives, and expectations were communicated in a more transparent and timely manner. This would enable us to align our efforts properly and work towards common objectives.
Additionally, I have noticed a lack of opportunities for career growth and development. While the training programs have been insightful, there is limited visibility on progression within the company. It would be greatly appreciated if the company could invest more in providing clear pathways for advancement and promotions.
Furthermore, I have observed that the work-life balance at [Company] could be improved. There are instances where employees feel overwhelmed with their wor
2.0
Customer Service Representative | Toronto, ON | Jan 16, 2019
"It was an amazing company 20 YEARS AGO"
I will give this a fair review, so believe me when I say this will be the only review you will ever need if you need to decide whether to work there or not.
Pros
-Health and dental benefits
-Extremely cheap tickets. Including business class
-if you are single, you can nominate anybody to use your passes, so they can travel without you(economy only)
-$50-60 for a business class(standby for seats) ticket anywhere, plus you can bring a friend.
-Lots of vacations. You can get up to at least 4 weeks.
-You can sell your shifts and get more days off.
Cons
-Yes, you can get cheap tickets but your pay is terrible.
-Starting pay at $14 (customer service. flight attendants make almost double)
-With the tax deductions, union fees, and other deductions, you will probably only be getting 700 dollars every two weeks. Can you survive on that?
-You get a 0.50 raise every year. It will take you at least 6 years to make $20/hour
-Tax deductions, insurance, union fees will leave you with a $700 pay cheque every two weeks.
-Yeah, you can get cheap tickets but how are you gonna travel with that kind of money?
-You are at the mercy of 'shift bids. You don't get extra pay for midnight shifts (6pm-4am) or really early shifts(starting at 3:30am or 5am). If you are new, as in (less than 5 years with the company then I guarantee to you that you will have to do those shifts for at least one period(6 months).
-The senior agents will get the good shifts and the new agents will get
Air Canada hired me for Customer Experience Specialist. Of our class, two people didn't pass the five week training, 50% didn't pass probation.
The hardest part of this job is that Air Canada trains Customer Experience Specialists for 5 roles at the airport. For a minim wage job, the scope of responsibility is too wide for someone entering the airport environment. While Air Canada gives priority to people who speak English and French, they don't pay more for this added skill set. Bilingual C.E.S.s are forced into lines which involve Gate Control or boarding an aircraft. This is a high stress task, involving rapid computer key boarding skills and interacting with passengers to solve travel problems. If you get stressed out, or make a mistake, you get fired on the spot, which is emotionally exhausting for the employee who are forced to take on these tasks even if they don't feel comfortable with the whole process and responsibility. At minimum wage, you must have a backup plan for your finances, or you will be short money every month. The floor managers are new and come from other industries, so they haven't done the job that they are managing over. There is little or no opportunities for moving ahead unless you have been there for a few years. The union is useless for as long as you are on probation. The uniforms never arrived within six months of working there, and were delivered in parts, so it was never complete enough to actually be useful. The training was intense and covered a lot of material, but little of it was actually relevant to my role, because passengers wanted rebooking, which is something that we never
Prostravel benefits, steady paycheck.
ConsManagement hasn't functioned in the role, the training is for 5 jobs, any mistake can get your fired with little room to defend yourself.
1.0
Customer Relations Representative | Calgary, AB | Jan 7, 2021
Beware of the senior staff/management
First thing first Beware!!! Your hard work won’t get noticed, the only thing they will notice if you have finished your work no matter how you did it, you do it correctly or not or just forwarded it or just closed the issue without doing anything. They will tell you initially that don’t ask colleagues for any questions/ difficulty you have. But that’s the only thing that works. But if you ask any seniors or managers about anything, they will take it to negative. Instead of leading, training or helping you out like a leader, they will think that you don’t know your work, you aren’t for this job. This is coming from someone who rarely asked questions from seniors but something that’s really different and not taught was asked. Throughout the time, I did my job perfectly, just when I had issue with one task that was confusing even for trainers because of new COVID rules, they decided to get rid of me. Very unprofessional management VERY VERY VERY UNPROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT. They are not leaders at all. Also beware of the senior staff because they are together with them. I have noticed very few people last in this company, that comes to the point that they are not worth working hard. I have seen people so dumb, doing many wrong things that still works there but if you have been perfect throughout and just had one issue, they will tell you to go. So now you know what type of employers they are and this is the reason they are NOT even listed as the top 100 employers in Canada. Benefi
Salary and benefits should be separated for this review. Yes benefits are good but when you start at $14 hour you end up taking home around $10/hr due to deductions. One cannot live on this wage alone, flights are very cheap although they come with the risk of getting bumped,as you are always stand-by, and it happens often. I have been forced to buy full fee return tickets with a different airline on more than one occasion just to get home. Travel is a great benefit..that is if you are able to save any money to fly and stay somewhere.
The expectations from the company would equal that of one in a mid/high ranking job in which you would be properly compensated.
There is a separation between the previously hired staff (from years ago) and the newer staff. It could be due to the fact that they make approx double what the newer employees make and do the exact same job.
With the overselling of flights, cancellation of flights, tight timelines to close flights and then see another off, there is a constant buzz of stress and negativity from both passengers and employees.
I do like my job and in general the people I work with but I would not be able to ever consider this as a career job because the expectations vs the compensation is unrealistic to be able to live a fruitful life and the stress that comes along with the job as well as the high expectations are not worth the insufficient salary.
There is no room for advancement either, you get your .50/hr raise every year
Conslow wage, low morale, high expectations, stress due to overselling of flights
1.0
Bilingual Customer Service Associate | Pearson, ON | Dec 15, 2019
Disrespectful co-workers
Dis-respectful and rude co-workers with the exception of a few; constantly watching you so that they can report you. If you work seasonal, you are not entitled to any benefits. The company lacks organization big time; not all employees are knowledgeable when it comes to the company's policies; not to mention the computer system ( hahaha) What a joke!!! The company itself breaks many labour laws and regulations; they think that they own you once you become employed. Many people are overworked because they work too many hours in the day. Considering the environment at the airport; people need to have rest in between their shifts. They DON'T care. I saw a co-worker pass out on the floor of the airport due to exhaustion. If you decline hours do get rest; they make you look like the careless one.
They test for language proficiency and at the end you do not work in the department of your language expertise. They put you in a different area all completely from your language of knowledge...
Did I mention they are unionized??? They protect the lazy and the employees that work get bombarded with the work of those who do nothing. Breaks in general??? Many times you miss them because the employees that are supposed to come back and start working after their break; do not show up. There are no rules for many of the employees that have ties with management; they can do as they please.
Overall, if you want to work at a place where you will be disrespected; this is the place for you!!! O
Questions and answers about Air Canada
How often do you get a raise at Air Canada?
Asked Nov 9, 2022
nothinng until new contract
Answered Sep 19, 2023
Yearly
Answered Sep 17, 2023
What is the promotion process like at Air Canada?
Asked Nov 7, 2022
0
Answered Sep 19, 2023
Non existent
Answered Sep 16, 2023
How often do raises occur at Air Canada?
Asked Nov 5, 2021
Comme le stipule la convention collective
Answered Sep 28, 2023
Yearly
Answered Sep 21, 2023
What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Asked Nov 12, 2022
Long
Answered Sep 29, 2023
Management was kind, lots of people are ready and willing to take shifts
Answered Sep 9, 2023
How long do you have to work at Air Canada before you can go on maternity leave?
