Do NOT work for Jilin povince Education Corporation Company (RUN BY MAGGIE WANG AND HER MOTHER) address: No.338 Jiefang Road, Changchun City, Jilin.
I wonder how do so many people still fall for this trap after all those reviews and warnings! I will just add my story to the list, maybe .. hopefully it can make a difference with a person out there or two.

Ok, I am Egyptian. It all started for me at the end of 2011, when a friend of mine told me about this recruiting website www.allestrarecruiting.com. I posted my CV and got a response from a person named Xandria. telling me that she will put me in touch with a school in Changchun, China. I agreed. Sent me an initial contract, it looked ok. I asked to modify a couple of things, she was flexible.
I started talking to the "school" after that directly, to find out that it is not a "school" it is an agency. I talked to Maggie about the visa, she said we want you here ASAP coz the new semester will start and we will send you and F visa (3 months visa, not working permit, like conference visa or whatever) and we will extend it when you come here. I agreed. Arrived in China Mid Feb, sent them my date and time of Arrival to Changchun (I was arriving by the train from Beijing at around 6 am) to find out that there is no one waiting for me at the train station (it was mid Feb 2012, it was literally less than -25 degrees) I didn't have a Chinese phone, used my Egyptian roaming number to call them, the guy was sleeping! I waited for around 45 minutes he arrived. wasn't a perfect start.

My Egyptian friend had already arrived before me by a few days, started "training" and was staying in a decent apartment downtown, he had a flatmate. They asked me to stay with my friend in his room on his bed for a few days coz the flatmate is leaving soon to another city. I refused, saying my contract says separate room. after arguments they tried to put me in a building near the office called (21st Century) .. it is like a shared apartment with common bathroom. The room are awful, super cold, heating not working, dirty bathroom. I refused this one too, yelled at the housing lady (called Ja-Li, married to a British dude working for the agency too) and said I won't stay here. They had to put me in a hotel by the office for 3 nights until the guy staying with my friend moved out then I moved in.

They asked me about teaching preferences, I said I prefer a university, they arranged and interview and I got accepted. Started teaching at the university. I stayed there for 1 year. Here are my impressions and conclusions:

1. The agency takes money from the school as the school is not providing me with a teacher's apartment on campus (I am the one who wanted to live downtown)

2. The school paid the agency 2 lots of flight allowance for me (4000 RMB each semester, total 8000 RMB) on my contract with the agency, total is 5000 RMB. When I was leaving the country 1 and half month earlier than the end of contract date (Jan 2013, Maggie deducted the "difference" of that period off the 5000!

3. Throughout the year, I had to fight each month with the scheduling girl there about my "hours" .. for the first few months I got paid WAY less than the original agreement.

4. I had to teach KG for around 2 month to try to make up for the weekly hours difference, they sent me to a crappy KG with NO ONE speaking English, inc the owner, and I am not good with kids. It was disastrous and SO unfair to the kids of course. The agency didn't give a s*** about my complains.

5. There is a long Holiday in China in May (around one week) I got 10 days off from the school. I wasn't paid for those days. Caused another huge fight there.

6. Obv the rule is no "actual" work no pay, so winter vacation not paid, days off from school not paid, I had some seniors classes stopped from end of May, they, again, started deducting hours as I am not doing "full hours".

7.They make you pay for internet, water and electricity bills. Most of the time Ja-Li would just ask you for the money, I refused to pay any until I saw each and every single bill.

8. They hire young Chinese girls to work for the agency, I won't speak for them. Their deal is dreadful but they can speak for themselves if they want to, but what I have to say is that the turnover rate is super high among the Chinese people working there, most of them take it as a temp job (they get paid 1000 RMB a month, working 6 days a week, from 8 to 5 or 6 sometimes)

9. I talked to some girls who used to work for the agency, basically once any of the girls leave the agency, they start spreading rumors about her among the other girls and the foreign teachers. The girls who left told me that the main reason they left was the face that the agency makes them lie to the foreign teachers TOO MUCH, about the hours, scheduling, accommodation, whereabouts of Maggie, EVERYTHING. They just couldn't take it anymore. The most common rumor the agency always spread about those girls that they started dating foreign teachers (which is not allowed according to the girls' contract with the agency) and they kicked them out. Most of the time, not true.

10. throughout this year, I saw SO MANY fights at the office from the foreign teachers with the staff, specially Maggie about the hours, the agency promising to give full hours, teachers filling in for other teachers and not getting paid, crappy apartments and so on.

11. Back to visa issue, when I was renewing the visa for the first time (Sophie, the girl who used to work there at this time, of course she left) asked me for the fees of the visa renewal! I refused, she asked for fees of taking photos! I refused. I said you are my employer you pay this stuff. They said all the other teacher pay the visa renewal fees! I said I don't care. The thing with those people that if you don't fight back for everything they try to do to you, if you don't have some balls, you're screwed. Totally. They play on that, teachers' naivety, they intimidate them, threaten them that they will call the police and get them in trouble, threaten to cancel their visa which they can't even do unless the teacher lets them take the passport to the visa office to do that.

12. I heard so many stories about the abuses and illegal s*** they do with the foreign teachers' passports, importing stuff into the country under the teachers' names and whatever, what I personally saw and witnessed is that they have some "French" wine importing going on at the same office (!!) can't say I know if foreign teachers' passports are used in that or not.

13. Maggie is VERY diplomatic, they is smart, and successful in what she's doing. Obv she got all the police officers in the whole province in her pocket, so don't even try to go down this road. You will lose a lot. In the beginning she will get you to sit next to her, smile to you and tells you that she likes you (as a teacher I mean) then asking about your teaching preferences and asking you to be flexible in the beginning and by next semester (always f***ing next semester even if you arrived before the semester starts by enough time, but it is always the upcoming one!) she will get you exactly what you want, NEVER happens, NEVER.

14. I won't even start talking about the Philippino teachers conditions, they can talk about themselves if they want to, but the least I can say about that is that what the agency is doing to them is shocking, appalling, horrifying and unbelievably pure evil.

15. Just don't go there. Please if you are reading this, please don't go with those people. Under whatever conditions. DON'T. I am one of the few who didn't get totally screwed over by them coz I had some balls and they saw that from day 1, but trust me, it is not worth. THOSE PEOPLE ARE EVIL. The whole thing is not a scam, there is a company and there is an agency but it is all s***. You will go there and you feel trapped. You will hate yourself and you will curse that day when you took the decision to be with those people. No matter how broke or desperate you are. Keep looking, there are literally hundreds of thousands of other places and agencies and schools around China. Generally speaking, try to be directly with the school. I don't have experience with other agencies to be completely fair but I heard the whole agencies business has become so sketchy.

Finally, I will keep checking this thread every other day, if you have questions or comments, please feel free to post them and I will do my best to help.

Hope everyone is doing well out there,

Peace out,

M