Five-Star Dishonesty

I am a tour guide. Management has it set up that for every five-star review we receive on a certain website, provided we are mentioned by name, we will get a $5.00 bonus.

So, I give myself a catchy nickname, let’s say Sally Seashell. I mention my name a few times during my ninety-minute tour, and at the end will say one time, “If you enjoyed your time with us today, please go to [website] and mention Sally Seashell. The bosses read it every day!”

One tour guide will consistently get twenty five-star reviews per day. For reference, I might get three or four in a whole week.

I ask if I can shadow this amazing tour guide to learn some tips and tricks. What I see shocks me! She literally tells everyone to take out their phones and pull up [website], and tells them she needs to see a five-star review with her name mentioned, and only then will she “reward” people with various coupons. We are supposed to give those coupons out for free!

Horrified at this complete lack of professionalism, I report this to our boss. He does not seem concerned until I say, “What happens when [Other City #1] or [Other City #2] sends people out here undercover to see how she does it?” Apparently, my boss had been getting a lot of praise because we have by far the most five-star reviews. Does honesty mean nothing?