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VietCanada
Joined: 30 Nov 2010
Posts: 590
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 Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:07 pm Post subject: VStar HCMC |
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Be very careful with this school. A foreign teacher had $500 stolen from them by the Vietnamese manager of the English department.
The teacher was stupid and didn't count their money.
Apparently the Vietnamese manager of the English department, the teacher's immediate supervisor counted out 100 100,000 dong bills in front of the teacher and said it was 20,000,000.
The sad teacher signed that they had received payment and well they hadn't eh! When the teacher rushed back to the school expecting the mistake to be corrected the head of the English department lied and said that they had in fact counted out 100 100,000 dong bills twice. The teacher was escorted from the bulding by security to prevent them from talking to any of the other foreign teachers on site.
The school is now threatening the teacher with deportation and a law suit if they speak to anyone about what happened.
VStar is a pseudo International school in district 7.
From the same source they apparently ask teachers to bring in all their documents, (degrees, passports whatever) so that admin can process them into the system.
They then withhold all these documents for the duration of the teachers contract. This is to prevent teachers from quitting.
In fact the teacher needed to enlist the aid of the local police to get these documents returned to them. The principal of the school used this event to threaten the teacher for about 2 hours before returning the docs.
Quite by chance, just tonight I was talking to an admin at my workplace who told me that they also use these kinds of tactics on VN parents who are unhappy with their shoddy teaching.
Work there if you want but watch your valuables and count your money. Your supervisor is apparently looking for suckers to enhance their personal wealth.
Always count your money. The fact that the school rep counted the money in front of you means nothing.
VStar- now you have two people to deport and sue. |
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ExpatLuke
Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:44 am Post subject: |
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Getting paid in cash? Why? Probably means they don't pay taxes. I'm not saying anyone deserves to be cheated out of half their monthly salary, but if you're working illegally you only have yourself to blame.
This is exactly why working illegally isn't recommended. You work for shady schools, with shady managers, and when something goes wrong, there's nothing you can do to protect yourself.
Luckily for these schools, these no shortage of stupidly naive foreigners willing to come to a developing country and work illegally with absolutely no rights or protection. |
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Mattingly
Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 249
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 2:37 am Post subject: Re: VStar HCMC |
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| VietCanada wrote: |
Be very careful with this school. A foreign teacher had $500 stolen from them by the Vietnamese manager of the English department.
The teacher was stupid and didn't count their money.
Apparently the Vietnamese manager of the English department, the teacher's immediate supervisor counted out 100 100,000 dong bills in front of the teacher and said it was 20,000,000.
The sad teacher signed that they had received payment and well they hadn't eh! When the teacher rushed back to the school expecting the mistake to be corrected the head of the English department lied and said that they had in fact counted out 100 100,000 dong bills twice. The teacher was escorted from the bulding by security to prevent them from talking to any of the other foreign teachers on site.
The school is now threatening the teacher with deportation and a law suit if they speak to anyone about what happened.
VStar is a pseudo International school in district 7.
From the same source they apparently ask teachers to bring in all their documents, (degrees, passports whatever) so that admin can process them into the system.
They then withhold all these documents for the duration of the teachers contract. This is to prevent teachers from quitting.
In fact the teacher needed to enlist the aid of the local police to get these documents returned to them. The principal of the school used this event to threaten the teacher for about 2 hours before returning the docs.
Quite by chance, just tonight I was talking to an admin at my workplace who told me that they also use these kinds of tactics on VN parents who are unhappy with their shoddy teaching.
Work there if you want but watch your valuables and count your money. Your supervisor is apparently looking for suckers to enhance their personal wealth.
Always count your money. The fact that the school rep counted the money in front of you means nothing.
VStar- now you have two people to deport and sue. |
As you state, you ALWAYS count your money.
Why would anyone not?
If I give someone a large wad of money I want the person to count it right in front of me. Then they are assured it's the right amount and that I:
1. have not made a mistake and
2. have not cheated them.
One of the reasons why I left teaching in Saigon is because, sadly, the schools are run by crooks.
EFL in Saigon is an awful industry. |
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I'm With Stupid
Joined: 03 Sep 2010
Posts: 432
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| Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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Or get yourself a CELTA so you don't have to work for dodgy schools that pay their teachers in cash.  |
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Mattingly
Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 249
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 8:51 am Post subject: |
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| I'm With Stupid wrote: |
| Or get yourself a CELTA so you don't have to work for dodgy schools that pay their teachers in cash. |
I am referring to people who have a CELTA.
And also those who do not. |
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VietCanada
Joined: 30 Nov 2010
Posts: 590
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| Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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| ExpatLuke wrote: |
Getting paid in cash? Why? Probably means they don't pay taxes. I'm not saying anyone deserves to be cheated out of half their monthly salary, but if you're working illegally you only have yourself to blame.
This is exactly why working illegally isn't recommended. You work for shady schools, with shady managers, and when something goes wrong, there's nothing you can do to protect yourself.
Luckily for these schools, these no shortage of stupidly naive foreigners willing to come to a developing country and work illegally with absolutely no rights or protection. |
Being paid in cash has nothing to do with taxes or any other deductions. I get a printed receipt showing my hours taught, rate of pay, gross pay, deductions and bonuses from every school I've ever worked at except for a couple that just paid me in full.
AMA is the only school I ever worked for that gave me a cheque. They paid cash for a little while a couple years ago but the receipt never changed.
VStar deducts 10% if you have a work permit and 20% if you don't. Apparently they deduct about 50% if you don't expect expect your VN supervisor to hatch a plot to steal your money.
That's why I posted this.
I've heard of schools stealing or rather just not paying what they agreed to but I have never heard of the head of the English department finessing a teacher when given the opportunity. Never. Not even in Korea.
To me this was noteworthy and deserved a mention on this and other boards that teachers seek advice about teaching in VN.
Prior to this event I would have said that if you are legit you have little to worry about in this country.
And yes, always count your money.
AT VStar you should also check and keep track of your personal belongings before you leave the premisses. |
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Prof.Gringo
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!
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| Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:35 am Post subject: |
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| VietCanada wrote: |
| ExpatLuke wrote: |
Getting paid in cash? Why? Probably means they don't pay taxes. I'm not saying anyone deserves to be cheated out of half their monthly salary, but if you're working illegally you only have yourself to blame.
This is exactly why working illegally isn't recommended. You work for shady schools, with shady managers, and when something goes wrong, there's nothing you can do to protect yourself.
Luckily for these schools, these no shortage of stupidly naive foreigners willing to come to a developing country and work illegally with absolutely no rights or protection. |
Being paid in cash has nothing to do with taxes or any other deductions. I get a printed receipt showing my hours taught, rate of pay, gross pay, deductions and bonuses from every school I've ever worked at except for a couple that just paid me in full.
AMA is the only school I ever worked for that gave me a cheque. They paid cash for a little while a couple years ago but the receipt never changed.
VStar deducts 10% if you have a work permit and 20% if you don't. Apparently they deduct about 50% if you don't expect expect your VN supervisor to hatch a plot to steal your money.
That's why I posted this.
I've heard of schools stealing or rather just not paying what they agreed to but I have never heard of the head of the English department finessing a teacher when given the opportunity. Never. Not even in Korea.
To me this was noteworthy and deserved a mention on this and other boards that teachers seek advice about teaching in VN.
Prior to this event I would have said that if you are legit you have little to worry about in this country.
And yes, always count your money.
AT VStar you should also check and keep track of your personal belongings before you leave the premisses. |
Thanks for your post. This is indeed taking the art of the scam to a new level here in VN. |
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frere
Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2
Location: hanoi / uk / where next?
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 3:50 am Post subject: |
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| i would not like to share a flat with expat luke. second forum where i see him badmouthing the other contributions with nothing positive or helpful to add. |
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TRH
Joined: 27 Oct 2011
Posts: 340
Location: Hawaii
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 8:28 am Post subject: |
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| frere wrote: |
| i would not like to share a flat with expat luke. second forum where i see him badmouthing the other contributions with nothing positive or helpful to add. |
I don't know ExpatLuke personally, but generally I have found him to have sound advice based on actual experience. His posts are generally short and to the point, unlike myself at times. He does have a bit of a thing about chastising those who choose to work illegally and those who work without requisite qualifications but he is basically correct in that respect. He has also given out realistic advice to new posters about how much difficulty, or not, they will have in finding employment in various cities other than Hanoi and HCMC and how much they can reasonably expect to make. I see him as someone particularly knowledgeable about the Central Region.
Can you be more specific about who he has "badmouthed" or are you just VietCanada with a new handle? |
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ExpatLuke
Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 744
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 10:33 am Post subject: |
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| frere wrote: |
| i would not like to share a flat with expat luke. second forum where i see him badmouthing the other contributions with nothing positive or helpful to add. |
I'm curious what the other forum might be. Daves is the only place where I used the handle of "ExpatLuke".
Reading my responses in this thread, why do you say I have contributed nothing positive? I think the advice given is pretty sound. Maybe the "stupidly naive" part was a bit harsh, but it was intended to be serve as a wake-up call to those who might be considering moving here without the right requirements. |
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RustyShackleford
Joined: 13 May 2013
Posts: 449
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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| I'd like to add in that ExpatLuke has generally been on the ball. He has his opinions, but his facts are sound and, outside of his dealings with VC, his tone is generally pretty leveled without that much condescension or oneupmanship. |
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