And your apparent lies about your success as an admiral are a really poor attempt to belittle my information.

How do you know they are "lies"? You will certainly have a clue when I tell you that the captains of these vessels under my command were highly trained sharks, crocodiles, tigers, and grizzly bears.....

You see, anyone can write anything - as I do ...or ....AS YOU DO!!!!!

It is for that reason that I have pointed out my successes and achievements as an admiral. Yes, I am soooo great......LOL

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/review/index.pl?read=30738

Its been 12 years now and we have had a total of 12 complaints filed (out of 13,000 students).

Your claim is that you have had 13,000 students in the past 12 years and had only 12 complaints filed - according to that ratio, you want to imply how great your business is...Another way to market yourself, methinks! This board is the wrong place for such a thing!

I think if anoyne does a bit of research they will find that TEFL International is the most transparent TEFL course in the world.

Here, you are telling people to take a look at your product. Pretty unfair towards other providers in the field as they are unaware of this hidden way of marketing!

You will see that our courses are very well received by our trainees.

Blablabla....the usual marketing trash.

All that makes the complaints against your business all the more interesting. There may be some who feel challenged to dig a bit deeper...hahaha

For my part, I can tell you that I have been a very successful admiral in the past 12 years and that I have commanded over 33,000 vessels in that period. And I have never had any complaints, never. How great I am! It's time for blowing my own trumpet right now!

Toot....toot...toot

Selling yourself as such a "wonderful" TEFL provider is a legitimate thing if you do it as an advertisement declared as such.

This is not the case here.

For Reading Comprehension skills, in posts like yours, people must be able to "read between the lines" because of all the hidden messages there.

Is your "wonderful" organisation teaching that as well?

You have obviously come here to blow the trumpet for your business.

Why should anyone around here care?

Do you really care about the malpractices in the crappy world of ESL?

I posted this link a few months ago when I was at the height of my frustration level, so I am having trouble locating all the links to post the BBB results. I apologize for the delay.

First of all, I understood fully from the beginning that my deposit was non-refundable based on the legal information displayed on their website. They were within their rights not refund/apply my deposit money regardless of the customer service issues I encountered. In the end, I know my reaction was fueled by stress factors outside of TEFL's control (my job, moving, etc.) and my reaction was a bit over the top. TEFL's management has answered all my concerns in a timely manner and as in all businesses, we cannot account for the quality of every single worker. It was unfair of me to blast the entire organization the way I did.

Secondly, after the hearing, the BBB did not agree in my favor. TEFL was not required by the BBB to give me a refund or apply my deposit to a future course.

To wrap things up, once TEFL and I were informed of the BBB decision, the management of TEFL International has been gracious enough to still offer the transfer of my deposit into a future course. I am currently registering for one of their on-site courses located in Europe this fall.

Be careful dealing with TEFL International... get a CELTA or Trinity and don't waste your time and money!!!

The websites I am speaking of are:
http://www.bestteflcourse.com
http://www.teflinternational.com
http://www.teflcoursethailand.com
http://www.teflintl.com
http://teflcorp.com

Please see my BBB dispute post on Dave's ESL:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic=725523#725523

Also see TEFL.net with Alex Cross for Blacklisted schools:
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/category/teaching/tefl/teacher-training/teaching-qualifications/cert/tefl-int/bruce-v/page/2/

My posts keep getting deleted because of TEFL International's advertising dollars.... I will repost as many times as needed to maintain visibility or you can PM me anytime for a conversation about the situation.

BASICS OF MY BBB DISPUTE:
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I am not satisfied with the responses or the treatment received from TEFL International as a business or school. I would like the refund that was agreed to by Bruce and offered by Derek before they tried to resolve the situation one last time in early December 2008.

My changes in programs were due to the confusion stemming from the lack of response from the staff, multiple websites with conflicting project details, and general confusion on their end as to who was "helping" me... and it should be noted that all 4 websites are still not showing consistent data as of today.

I do not feel my constant hounding of TEFL International staff reflects well on them as a business or school or that I should be forced to give up my $500 deposit due to their ineffectiveness as a recruiter/placement agency. The quality of information I received from the TEFL staff was basic information available on the websites and my questions went unanswered as to the procedures to follow for the Thai/Korea project advertised in conjunction with Park English. To date, no one has been able to tell me who the contact is at TEFL from Park English and TEFL has not provided me with a contact name at Park English. The 2 job offers they forwarded were not even within the time frame for me to be in the country (offered February openings when I specifically stated I would be in the March/April 2009 call and in Korea by May 2009 in my multiple Skype interviews).

I consider this highly unethical behavior and I will not do business with TEFL International or trust any more money to their offerings as a school or placement agency.

Regards,
Ann

RESPONSE FROM BRUCE AT TEFL INTERNATIONAL:
I am afraid Ann's story is now contradicting itself.

To quote her original complaint:

"I originally contacted TEFL International in December of 2007 about the 4 month Thai project listed on their website (www.bestteflcourse.com) for Chaing Mai. I applied, did my interview with Alex, paid the $500 deposit for the April 2008 class and processed my VISAs for Thailand in February 2008.

In March 2008, a family member fell ill and I had to postpone the trip."

Yet in her response she claims "My changes in programs were due to the confusion stemming from the lack of response from the staff, multiple websites with conflicting project details, and general confusion on their end as to who was "helping" me"

Finally, to quote our terms and conditions:

"If for any reason you wish to subsequently cancel your place on the course after your part or full fees (i.e. deposit plus balance) have been paid, TEFL International cannot provide any refund except for exceptional circumstances. The course organizer's decision is final. In any case, the deposit is non-refundable. The reason for this is that the staffing for the course and accommodation have fixed costs which have to be paid for in advance and based on a specific number of course members in the group. The college cannot guarantee to replace course members who subsequently drop out."

it is clear that after Ann postponed her original course we were under no legal obligation to assist her further. But we try to accommodate people as best we can. It can get very confusing and annoying, and in Ann's case we spent countless hours trying to help her as she moved from course to course. At times, due to all these changes, we certainly did not follow through as frequently as we should have.

Our offer of a free online course or to hold her deposit for a future course is already a very fair offer.

MY LAST RESPONSE TO THE BBB (who does not seem very helpful):
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The original postponement was handled in a fair manner and I was very happy with TEFL until I moved from the original Thai project. When I was told the original project in Chaing Mai was not available in Spring 2008--that is where the trouble with communication and the confusion regarding the staff and project details came in.

I have tried to get basic details and communication from TEFL, from their multiple admins, numerous websites, etc. and the only time I could guarantee a response was to copy in the VP.

TEFL has not spent "countless hours" assisting me... the original interview with Alex took the most time and the rest has consisted of my hounding the staff to get a few word in a email and broken promises.

Please provide the refund of my funds as agreed to in December 2008.

Thank you,
Ann