Paisley Photographs

A 23-year-old woman who was offered what appeared to be an exciting job as a tour guide at a Paisley jobs fair says she was left feeling “helpless” after the promised job failed to materialise.

Ella was hired on the spot by Haggis Waggon Tours boss Darryl Smith after meeting him at a jobs fair in Paisley.

Just a week later, she was listed on the company website as a “guest favourite” — despite never having conducted a tour or met a single customer.

A number of claims made by the company have since been questioned.

🚩 The company’s listed “head office” in Paisley was reportedly an empty, locked property.

🚩 The landlord of the premises said Darryl Smith did not hold a lease for the property.

🚩 Ella and other recruits say they were unable to see the tour bus they had been promised.

🚩 A planned Harry Potter tour shadowing session saw Ella and three others waiting for around four hours for a bus that never arrived.

🚩 Images used online to promote the buses were alleged to be AI-generated. Smith said the coaches “do in fact exist”, but explained that the company was still in the process of having them wrapped.

🚩 Ella says she spent weeks researching Scottish history and witch trials in preparation for the role — without being paid.

Another recruit, who has been given the name Jennifer, said she too was hired after meeting Smith at the Paisley jobs fair and had her photograph placed on the company website.

She said she is now applying for Universal Credit and is concerned that the business still has her personal information.

There is no listing for Haggis Waggon Tours with Companies House.

Smith is, however, a director of two other businesses. One, Mó Chroi Travel Ltd, had received complaints on Tripadvisor alleging tours had been cancelled and customers were waiting for refunds. Some reviewers described their experiences as a “scam”.

Mó Chroi Travel Ltd was subject to a compulsory strike-off order on July 21 and was dissolved on July 28.

The situation has also raised questions about how the business came to attend the Paisley jobs fair, which was organised by Invest in Renfrewshire and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The DWP said it was sorry to hear about the jobseekers’ experiences and was considering new measures when engaging with prospective employers.

There were also questions over the use of logos on the Haggis Waggon Tours website.

The website previously displayed a logo suggesting it was “in partnership” with VisitScotland.

VisitScotland said:

👉 “Haggis Waggon Tours is not ‘in partnership with’ VisitScotland.”

The website also previously displayed a TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice Award logo. TripAdvisor said that no experience provided by Haggis Waggon Tours had ever received one.

Darryl Smith has disputed some of the claims made about the business and provided explanations for a number of the issues raised.

For Ella, however, the experience has left her back searching for work after believing she had secured a job she could be proud of.

💬 “You put your trust in someone and then they sort of rip it from underneath you.”

⚠️ The case raises serious questions for anyone looking for work through jobs fairs and online recruitment.