I posted about this experience on another site, and was encouraged to post it here by some people to serve as a warning to anyone contemplating going to China, especially those outside China, who are using an agency to place them.. I recently had a nightmare experience with the above named agency, Jeal Recruitment..
I've been in Bangkok for 2 years, teaching. About 6 months ago I decided I was bored of Bangkok, and also like the OP I wanted to experience another country while I am still young and capable..
I searched for jobs on the internet and came across a promising ad from an agency named Jeal Recruitment, advertised on another popular teachers website. Basically, I contacted them, was offered what seemed to be a very reasonable job teaching at a high school, with better than average pay, in a city called Hangzhou, about 150km south of Shanghai. I spent about 6 weeks exchanging emails with the agency, doing medicals, getting visa's etc..
I was all set, after a lot build up, lots of planning and research of the city I was going to live in, and I flew out on August 31st, arriving at Shanghai in the early morning next day.
I was met at the airport by a pleasant young lady, an English teacher from the school, and we jumped in the car for the 3-4 hour drve to Hangzhou. Being so tired after my night time flight, I soon dozed off..
Imagine my suprise to be woken up some hours later, the young girl woke me to say we had nearly arrived.. There was no city!! We had gone past it, I had been lied to!!
The school was actually nowhere near Hangzhou, in fact it was stuck out right in the middle of the countryside, next to a fcuking pig farm in a county called Zhuji, maybe 80 km's from Hangzhou.. There is nothing around at all.. The school itself is huge, a boarding school with maybe 6000 students, so its quite a big campus but thats it! Nothing else, except for the factory opposite, belching out smoke and poison all day long..
It gets worse however.. Not only am I dumped out in the middle of the effing countryside, I find I am totally alone. I was told, there were 7 foreigners currently at the school, by the agency. I soon discover there are none! The apartement I am given to live in is in a terrible state, everything is filthy, broken furniture lying around, no air conditioners working, and its really hot of course. Also there is no internet, no telephone, no TV.. I am totally isolated and cut off fom the world, not even sure where exactly I am!
Imreally not happy about this, really mad at being lied too and I tell the girl who is with me this.. She seems really shocked and upset, its not her fault I know, but she is the only one there to yell at! I tell her to go and get the boss, whoever the FCUK he is, right now! She takes me to his office and leaves, never to be seen again..
I explain to the guy I am not happy, whats going on? The apartment is crap, I have been lied too etc.. He denies any knowledge about this, starts blaming the agency.. I tell him I am leaving.. He begs me not too, says how expensive it was for the school to get me here, paying for my workpermit etc.. He inisists he will organize everything today, clean my room, get me internet and a phone soon.. So I calm down, and I agree if he can make the room liveable I will at least stay tonight to think about the situation.. Then he goes on to tell me about the job.. Again I have been told a different story.. The job is teaching primary school kids, a job I hate, when I was told it was teaching high school kids!! It gets worse, he expects me to start teaching the very next day! So I just say no, and walk out.
Feeling really pissed and isolated and not knowing what to do or where I am, I wander around the campus, everywhere people are staring at me like I am an alien. I am alone, thinking I want to leave, but don't even know how to get away from the school, to the nearest town, I dont even know the name of the nearest town!
Then finally something good happens!! I hear a voice say 'hey you farang!!' WOW!! What a joy to hear those words! 3 teenage boys, thai exchange students, living at the school, come to my rescue!! They spotted the yellow wrist band on my wrist andwere quite delighted to meet someone who had visited their country.. They spoke great English so I quickly explained to them, I'm in trouble, dunno where I am , and I need to get out..
The boys, good as gold, agree to showme how to take the bus to the nearest town, Zhuji city, about 20kms away.. I offer to buy them dinner if they come with me, so we all jump on the bus together.. In Zhuji I need their help, I need to buy a sim card so I can call my friends in Thailand or England and discuss what the fcuk to do next!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I called my mate, he told me just get back to Thailand fast! My old school I had just left hadn't replaced me yet, and I could still probably have my old job, money being a bit of an issue to me..
The next morning I woke up early, told the boss I was leaving.. He starts yelling and getting angry about the money the school has lost, howlet down he is, so I just walked out again.. quickly, I got the bus into town, jumped on a train to Shanghai, then into a taxi, straight to the airport, within an hour of arriving at the airport I was in the air, flying back to Bangkok!!
I have never, in all my life been so relieved to get away from somewhere! It was a total fcuk up, I was set up by thoses cheating shits who tried to trap me.. I will never trust any agency or any chinese person ever again, it was 100% lies about everything, the location, the job, the living accomodation,everything!! All in all, it must of cost me at least 60,000 baht, my non-b thai visa and my apartment in Bangkok!! A very costly, nightmare experience that I would never wish on anyone..
Please, please, anyone considering going to China especially, or any otherplace that they don't know, please be very carefull. Especially, don't trust the lying chinese sods, they will say anything at all u want to hear, just to get you there. Thats all they care about, once you are there, the agency gets their money, so they will say to you whatever it takes.. Don't trust them!!
You have been warned..!!
Topic: Jeal recruitment and Zhuji Ronghuai school, Zhejiang (Read 601 times)