Avoid Bluniverse: Hefei, China

[Indigo Summers]

Avoid Bluniverse like the plague. Until recently, I was in regular contact with Bluniverse to organize my employment.

Among many things, I was guaranteed a 5 day working week and was told I would not be required to be within the school outside class times.

The shock came when I landed in Hefei. They had the nerve to tell me AFTER I flew in from the other side of world that I would now have to work 6 days a week, and stay in the office 8 hours a day!!!

Now, I have few years of experience in the ESL game, and know what questions to ask and how to ask them. I know this wasn't just a case of miscommunication. They LIED to get me there, and I assume, they expected me to stay as I spent a good deal of time and money to get there!

Fortunately, I have worked in China before and know that ESL teachers are in demand here. Needless to say, I left on the first available train out of Hefei.

Stay well clear of this school. Bluniverse is bad news!!!

[JustR]

I'm sure there are bad schools everywhere. But why is it that I hear of so many horror stories coming out of China!?

[Warrigal]

Originally Posted by Indigo Summers

Avoid Bluniverse like the plague.
...
Stay well clear of this school. Bluniverse is bad news!!!

I worked with them for a year, during that time they managed to cheat many teachers, including myself. The usual is to make the job sound great, when you sign the contract, they tell you some of the other stuff that is not in it, then continue to change the rules to suit themselves, then finally give you an ultimatum, accept it or quit... When you quit, you loose all benefits of airfare, holidays (which they will try to cheat you out of anyway), the last months pay and anything else they can get, such as wanting you to refund for visa fees, etc. They also give you fines for their mistakes, e.g. fine you 500RMB for not showing up for class when they get the timetable wrong.

The sad thing is, there are many schools like this in China.

Just be careful and don't let them keep your passport as I've heard many stories where they offer to keep it safe for you but not return it when you need it.