English International
Havefunteaching.co.uk Broken promises, unpaid wages, violence

Dear interested and concerned readers, I am writing this report, as I feel I have been wronged more than most by this company (and thats saying something!) But first of all, lets deal with the accusations that have been made;

1. English International send people out to China on the pretence of sending them to a training centre, with a job waiting for them. This is true!

When I arrived in China I recieved no training what so ever (unless you count spending half a day with their incompetent 'boss', watching him 'teach' 4 year olds very badly. In fact I believe the one piece of advice he did give me was 'When you speak English to them, you should do it with a Chinese accent. Nice right!? I spent weeks trailing around Shenzhen and Dongguan with someone trying to find a job and being pressured into signing any contract I was offered, regardless of whether I was happy with the contents or if I could even understand them!

2. English International will fully refund your visa and flights on completion of contract.

Hmmm really? Well unfortunatly this also seems to be a fallacy as I do not know one person who has got their money back yet, Although I am assured by one of his Chinese agents that one person has recieved theirs, and to be fair, not many people finish their contract with Eng. Int. but I think this in itself says a lot about how it's employees feel less than 6 months after starting work! Also on this point, I am in contact with some of the other teachers working here, and I know of one teacher who has worked until the end of his contract and they are now refusing to pay him his flight and visa on the basis that his girlfriend (also eng. int. employee) is going to visit her family in England for 2 weeks and they do not believe she will come back. This doesn't seem right does it? Surely these people should be treated as seperate entities. I think the fact that they do not believe she will come back also is a good indicator that they are aware of the fact that they treat people very poorly and so nobody wants to work with them.

3. English International do not condone violence of any kind.

This is their official stance, but it seems that in reallity, they will happily turn a blind eye to one of their Chinese agents actually waiting outside one teachers school for him and threatening him with a blade. I was in contact with the teacher this concerned and can confirm that it definatly did happen, I can also put you in contact with the other people who can confirm this. While Eng. Int. may not be responsible for the behaviour of it's employees in their free time, after being made aware of this, E-I. took no steps to either support the teacher, who was scared out of his mind and left as a result of this, or to discapline/sack the agent who made the threats.

4. English International provide free accomadation.

In some cases, the school will provide accomadation, but in more cases you will be told that your wage is less than it actually is, and they will pay it out of this.

5.You don't need a working visa to work in China.

Er... no, you do, really! I understand that while it is OK to travel to China and look for work on a tourist visa, as soon as you start you MUST buy a working visa. Some schools will pay for this, but many expect you to buy your own. English International CANNOT provide a working visa, for many reasons pertaining to Chinese law.

6. 'I'm not going to lie to you...' This is Billy's catch phrase, and I can guarentee then next words to leave his mouth will be a complete fabrication of 'the truth'

7. There is no 'Andy' that has ever worked for this company.

I know this to be a lie, I know there are at least two teachers called Andy who came out to China with English International.

Also, I would like to give you a few more examples or their broken promises/'supportiveness'

When I arrived here, I was expecting to be taken for two weeks of training. As I have already stated, this never happened, I spent a few hours watching Billy 'teach' 4 year olds, so I was hardly what you might call 'trained up'. It was at least 3 weeks before I even met Billy or had any contact with him. I was picked up from the airport, driven to a hotel in Shenzhen (which I paid for, and when the time came for him to re-imburse me, of course he had an excuse as to why not!) and then not contacted for weeks. (fortunatly I had a few friends arrive at the same time, so I wasn't totally alone. I didn't actually get a job for weeks and weeks and was pressured into signing contracts that I couldn't actually read as they were written in Chinese. Fortunatly I'm not so stupid.

Before Christmas I was unfortunate enough to be mugged by someone in Dongguan district. I rang Billy to ask for help, and was told he could do nothing, even though I was only a bus journey away and I was stuck far from home with no money to return to my apartment.

Another problem that arose after I had been here for four months was that Billy decided he was going to take another half a months wage off me. When I signed up with English International, the fees were different. The conditions were that you would be paid a minimum of 600 Pounds and that they would take half your wage for three months (not four as it is now). After meeting with Billy and some other teachers and agents just before the new year, Billy told us that the deal had changed for new teachers, and now they would take their cut for four months. We were all a little shocked, as it did seem very unreasonable, but people make their own decisions, right? Well not always. After assuring all of us that this would not afftect any of us he then decided to forget the conversation and take it anyway. Nice guy, huh?

He has threatened one of my friends who saw him for what he really was, a con-man, and decided to find his own work. He was trying to intimidate him for months afterwards in order to extort the money he 'owed' Billy for leaving.

In addition to all this I have never recieved any money for my transport to and from work (as it states they will pay in the website) and I also know that at least one of the testimonies on the website was written by them, not 'Darren' as they claim. 'Darren' was a teacher with E-I who left them some months ago, after batteling with them for some money they owed him and just generally haveing problems trying to get help with anything. Unfortunatly I am no longer in contact with Darren, but where ever he is, I hope he is doing well.

I could go on for hours and hours about the shortcomings of this company, but I will finish here by saying;

Teaching in China is a wonderful experience, and even though I have struggled to deal with E-I and their lies, I will not leet it put me off working here for the porseable future. If anyone is interested in working out here and has any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Avoid this company at all costs, they really did ruin the first few months of my stay here, but I am strong, and will not be beaten by a ramshackle group of con-artists who make a living ripping off well meaning (and unfortunatly sometimes, naieve) people. I am sure there are many companies like this operating in the UK and if just one person reads this and it makes them think a little more about their decision, then it has been worth writing. I would urge anyone else with similar experiences to let the public know what has been done to them and also, would be grateful if they would contact me, maybe we can do something to recover out losses/make others aware of whats really going on with E-I and other similar companies.

Safe Travelling,

P.S: I am sorry for currently remaining anonymous, but as I am still stuck working for them until I finish my contract with my school, I think you can understand how this would make life even more difficult for me when dealing with them. I assure you, as soon as my contract finishes, I will happily state my identity to them and gladly face them in a court of law, if they have the courage of their convictions and the backbone to try and prove me wrong. Good Luck to every one, and thank you for taking the time to read this.

I really could keep going

Company: English International
Country: United Kingdom
Region: United Kingdom
City: Leeds
Address: Forsythe House, Heardrow Leeds
Phone: 07732524417

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