I am an FT in China and have been doing this for a long time now. I still consider myself to be learning every day, yet I continue to be more surprised with the unbelievable actions of Chinese management and especially recruiters. Talking about Chinese management would be a rant in itself, so I'll confine myself to the topic here... recruiters. The latest experience is with a company called "English International." They are primarily represented by 2 Chinese girls. One is called CoCo. The other is called Snow. Both are money obsessed, to your face liars who con "fresh off the boat" foreigners in to signing ridiculous contracts verging on extortion. Their website:

http://www.teflinchina.com

Also check out,
http://www.teflinchina.com/Contact.asp

CoCo was previously known as Silvia. Lucas is a chinese man who "enforces" contract terms by visiting foreigners (who've learnt better at their placements by talking with other FT's) and threatening them with fines, prison terms, deportation and in one instance physically threatening a girl with a knife and telling her to just do what she's told. Both Silvia and Lucas have changed names, both spent time in jail and changed the company name/location more than once. As far as I can gather, they were in jail for organising/supplying fake visa's, operating without any license, and a violence related grievance. I don't know how many times they've done this, but will they ever stop? I hope this helps word get around and at least makes their job more difficult.

Their contracts are standard exploitation. Full of promises.
6 month to 1 year contracts. Failure to complete = penalty. 9000RMB penalty per incomplete semester. The FT must pay this out of their own pocket.
FT's must pay for their own flights, transport, visa's, and lodgings during orientation/training (160RMB/night in a hotel E-I arrange. Seems suspicious to me, but that's only my opinion, not a fact.) Allegedly they will be reimbursed with flight and visa costs upon contract completion, but in reality I have not met one E-I FT who received such benefits, even partially. There is always some reason they find to deem the contract was incorrectly completed.
Half (yes, I do mean 50%) of their pay is taken each month.
Hidden fees galore meaning the 50% FT's are supposed to get each month is often light for some ridiculous reason or another.
Promised bonuses for excellence are never paid.
Heavy penalties for partial breeches, such as genuine sick days.

In speaking with the E-I teachers, I have found that the schools are paying up to 8000RMB per month.
E-I contract says the teacher will get a minimum 5000RMB per month salary. CoCo tells the teachers the schools are paying very little. She lies to both sides and skims it each way.
After following the "contracted 50% commission" in reality, an E-I FT's salary is as low as 2000RMB per month.

I have continued to find work in China off my own back for over 6 years now, and will never use an agency or suggest one to any westerner who asks me. Still, over the past few months I have continued to meet E-I FT's in this area, so I know they have at least one school contract here. They all have similar complaints and tell similar stories of being treated very well by the school, but very badly by the agency. I feel very sorry for those FT's.

Please please please pass the word to Brits as they seem to have a recruitment office over there. They pull as many people off the street and convince them they will have a grand easy life in China. "No degree?" No problem! You don't need one! "No TEFL? No TESOL?" No problem, they're un-necessary! "No experience?" No problem. "No work experience of any kind?" No problem, you can get some in China! "I'm shy." It's not really work anyway, you just sit and chat with Chinese people.

Why do people believe this?

Remember, "English International"... one to AVOID!! If you've signed up, get out before it's too late. You can easily find work by yourself, simply by being a native English speaker and having confidence to stand in front of a class. No job is easy, don't expect work the other side of the planet will not really be work just because it's a different culture. Teaching English in China is rewarding, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed all these years, and it does afford a generous amount of free time, salary and exposure to a fascinating culture. But work is work. Don't believe sweet-talk!

Con-men in UK, con-women in China. I guess East and West do sometimes work well together! Unfortunately.