Job Discussion Forums

[MyTurnNow]

Hi!

Late last year I got very, very raw and dishonest treatment from a large American-owned school chain here. Among many other things, I was illegally ripped off a non-trivial amount of money.

I've laid low for a while while I reassembled my life here, but I am now ready to take a number of actions against them. I've got a fair chunk of their historical records and have more than enough ammo on the Chinese side to make their lives miserable....I'm far from the only person to get screwed by this company; these are not honest or nice people in any dealings with anyone, including the various Chinese government levels. I can also do them some damage among other members of their community. Mine will be the most expensive money they've ever stolen.

But I'd also like to get the American authorities into the fray. I understand that the Embassy/Consulates can help one take action against an American enterprise here. Does anyone here have any experience with this, and any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,
MT

[xiaoyu]

when i had difficulties with an american based international organization at the beginning of my stay in china, i did contact the consulate adn they said that they would be able to help me to a limited extent. they informed me that my first need was to get an international legal opinion or hire an international lawyer who had experience in the situation i was in. after doing so i did not need to contact the consulate again as things settled down quickly. the company was ameson international. if by chance it is the same company you had a run in with, i have loads of info on them adn the name of my international legal counsel should you be interested. the consulate will be helpful, as long as you have as much info as you can get, properly documented and understand the legal situation completely - which it is sounding like you do. i don't know how the situation will be since it appears that you have laid low for a bit, that can at times be harmful to your case. hopefully, not in this instance though. good luck!
xiaoyu

[MyTurnNow]

Thanks, Xiaoyu, for the tip. I'll start with a lawyer.
The company was not Ameson in this case...
It was a while before I even knew what kind of recourse I had against this company...so hopefully the hiatus won't hurt me too much. I have _great_ documentation.

Were you successful in your action against Ameson?

Thanks,
MT

[xiaoyu]

glad i could help!

with ameson i would say i was successful. i didn't push them for the little extra money due me from their breach of contract, but that wasn't the most important thing to me. i have definately put out awareness of them, which to me is everything. universities in the states that i contacted regarding ameson and its recruiting have thanked me for my warning and have taken actioin in some cases. further, ameson has been very very quiet about it all. the legal consult i had was very effective in shutting them up. i certainly could have pursued it further, but once i found a good job in shenyang and got the preliminary information out as much as i could i decided against it.
i also contacted the chinese gov't and many schools about ameson and the situation that they put the schools in by contracting teachers illegally. this had a bit of weight because it was during the WTO initiation. the embassies and consulates in china have also been notified.

good luck with everything. besides getting your money, i would highly recommend contacting the site were you heard of the company to inform it of its actions. i would also recommend getting the word out as much as possible.... it really does even more damage than you would think and spares future students and teachers as well as schools that they may work with.

xiaoyu

[hochhasd]

[Little Tiger]

Good luck to you, a lot of people say that there is no point chasing down a company for them wronging you in China. I hope that you are successful and that you can inspire more people to stand up to these big bad companies that feel they can treat teachers like mud

[igorG]

A lot of people put too much effort into chasing down such companies and on the end they get little if anything for all the trouble.

My wife, a local, owns and manages an international company and she's been chased a couple times, ones by a mainlander and ones by a foreigner. Neither time she lost anything, except for a few quai she had to pay for her lawyers' advice.

A FT, that i go to a gym with, had a run with a local employer that operated foreign company which shipped mainlanders for higher education abroad. According to this fella, little changed in either the company or his life.

It seems it depends on what it is that the issues are. If it is in the interest of the countries, their companies or institutions, little will change after all that chasing. Consulates serve Countries interests first and that's what we all should remember too.

[wangdaning]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are bringing up a thread that hasn't been active (and also the member) for 7+ years. Odds are the company is still pulling the same crap. If they had decided to change, they probably would also have decided to switch their name.

If an American based company has screwed you, then your recourse shouldn't be to get a lawyer practicing international law, but an American lawyer. File your claims, with your evidence, in the US. If you and the defendants are citizens of the US, then it doesn't matter if the violation(s) happened overseas (unless you want to talk about enforcement of decisions).

International law is more about criminal conduct, less about civil claims. Anyway, it hardly ever works, as Igor mentioned. The countries in question have to actually want to punish the violator. Look at Blackwater, still running strong after all these years, and filings, of violating international law (criminal and civil).

[igorG]

I don't suppose the last two posts are encouraging for the issues and OP. In case of educational field and higher education, I think it's a good move to notify awaiting unis. But we can only hope they'll act rather than collect for enrollments. Oh, forgive my assuptions.