Job Discussion Forums

[jer.porter]

these people will be sure to cheat you, as they have me!

for 2.5 months they've dragged their heels, constanly making excuses why they couldn't pay me. then they told me my file had been closed because i had been paid! when i confronted them with concrete evidence that i was not paid, they invented lies and made vague threats against me.

they hide behind anonymous email addresses, they have no real office, only a virtual one where the receptionist of the whole serviced office floor answers the phone pretending to be them.

beware of "brian" he is the scam artist behind this whole operation. i posted a message about this company back in august because i wasn't seeing any money out of them, only one excuse after another, and took that message down after "brian" promised to pay me. promise after promise followed, to be met recently by excuse after excuse. now that i showed them their own email where they promised to pay me, they found more excuses and are claiming their solicitors" advise not to talk to me anymore.

these solicitors are probably as imaginary as the "head office" that "brian" constantly referred to. of course while he kept saying that one minute the money was on hand in cash in the office then the next minute the company didn't have money to pay me, he was flying off to new york city for 2 weeks.

BEWARE of these people...one of their own clients even warned me that previous teachers who had worked for her complained of not getting paid.

[11:59]

I am not being funny, and I do not wish to appear too overly facetious, but just who exactly do you think needs to be warned away from working for a tin-pot back-alley firm that goes by a name such as 'Big English'?

Why for crying out loud do people take these jobs in the first place? Is it self-delusion, wishful thinking, a case of trusting to luck, or simply a result of the 'care in the community' policies currently prevalent in the west?

Quite obviously it is the case that if you take a post that does not pay a housing allowance on top of a hefty salary and which does not offer a secure, long-term contract then the (typically, HK Chinese) employers will know that it is because you cannot attract such a post, and you will be treated accordingly, viz., as a desperado who cannot secure a proper job.

[jer.porter]

i agree heartily with your comments that "big english" is a tin-pot back-alley operation...their office is a joke, it's a rented room in a serviced office complex; one day when i visited their office in person and no one was in, i tried calling on my mobile to leave them a voicemail and the receptionist for the whole floor (heaven knows how many businesses) answered the phone pretending to be their secretary!

however, i can't agree with you on your comments about not taking a job with a high salary and housing allowance. obviously you are referring to the NET scheme in HK. not all english teachers in HK have a teaching certificate or years of experience under their belt. we all have to start somewhere right?

the government NET scheme looks for people that have those qualifications, an education in teaching, or experience handling a large class...sure you are earning big bucks on the NET scheme, but you're dealing with 40 students in a class...you work hard for that money.

i took a temporary assignment with big english because they offered a very attractive salary and i had free time. then when it came to payday out came the excuses that whittled down the salary, and it's been an endless saga. the work that i did for them was in JULY for heaven's sake, and i'm STILL debating with them over the money.

[11:59]

[jwbhomer]

Well, 11:59, I think you're being a little hard on the OP. He was naive. He got screwed. End of story. No need to rub his nose in it.

I think it's also quite normal for people in the OP's position to post a big 'WARNING' here. Poor buggers, there's nothing else they CAN do, so they kind of...you know...lash out.

[Charlesm_888]

This was also posted on the Geoexpat website. Admin there identified the OP as a "drive past" and deleted the posting. There are a number of inaccurate statements eg they are NOT in a virtual office, and when challenged the OP disappeared. Looks like the OP is trying to stir it up here as well.

[ChrisRose]

I suggest you do a companies search.

There are available online for between 15 - HK$ 50, that will provide oyu with the names of the company registrants, addresses etc.

If you haven't already done so, contact the Labour Department or file a case with the small claims court.

[11:59]

[Serious_Fun]

I was under the impression that Big English was just a polite term for Fat Limey.

[jwbhomer]

The same rant is on the Taiwan site too. Maybe the OP IS just a syet-disturber. Another chapter in the long book of "Gullible's Travels".