I would like to Blacklist YBM Ssangmun ECC located in Seoul run by director Mary and Supervisor Suzie, a school that still owes me over $1,000 while I am at home and unable to do anything about it.

The address and phone number are as follows:
4F, S and F Building., 749-16 Chang 5-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul 132-928
Tel : 02-956-0509

I was a bit naïve coming into this and I highly recommend that you do not work at this place (or any YBM HOGwan) under any circumstances. My experience was so awful that I did not finish my contract. It was the worst experience of my life and I don’t say that lightly. I left behind my apartment and boyfriend to come home due to this job.

-The day I started work, I was told I would have to work 12+ hours a day for “Intensives” (not mentioned in the contract) as a brand new teacher. Yes, I was working up to 13 hours a day for at least 3 weeks. I felt trapped as I was in a new country and had nowhere to go. This was a nightmarish period. I am 24 years old and this is not my first job and I was so exhausted I cried every night. What the job did not tell me was that the person before me quit and they desperately needed me as a replacement for intensives. Intensives happen about 3 times a year and you get barely any overtime. They will find any way possible to keep you there as long as humanly possible and take away your overtime.

-I taught 8-11 classes on a regular basis., often with no breaks. Believe me, 8-11 40 minute classes is EXHAUSTING.

-My supervisor Jeannie forgot or neglected to pick me up from the bus station upon arrival. About 2 hours late, 3 Koreans who spoke absolutely no English picked me up. I was given a note I could not eat until the morning due to a blood test (after a 20+-hour fight. I was starving and the next day I had my blood test. Then I was brought to work and told I couldn’t eat until hours later.

-WORKSHEET TIME! Rather than give us our scheduled breaks, this school forced me and my coworkers to stay inside the office and make worksheets. These worksheets were absolutely pointless and I never saw one of the worksheets used. When I asked to make worksheets for classes I actually teach since we never seem to have enough material I was told I was not allowed. The worksheets were checked by our supervisor Jeannie (now promoted to manager) who yelled at me for not finishing one once when all the computers were broken. When I complained about worksheet time my supervisor said I was “Weird.” When I threatened to quit, I was threatened with very expensive penalties. My supervisor Jeannie took delight in forcing me to do the useless worksheets. On the YBM website it clearly states that teachers are not supposed to provide the teaching materials.

-My apartment in “Anyang Apartments” had cockroaches, and wasn’t clean. I was given no bed and an absolutely filthy smelly mattress to sleep on and used sheets, and a used blanket and used pillowcase. The apartment came with no curtains (I was woken up at 5 am on a regular basis) and no Tupperware. The stove had to be replaced as it was broken and the shower and sink were broken. The air conditioner (in 105 degree weather) broke shortly afterwards. When I asked my coworkers they had the same problems and or worse, especially with roaches, which infested the entire building. The walls were filthy and covered with random brown stains (which they school cleverly tried to cover up with furniture) and the torn, filthy furniture had literally been dragged in from the trash (this was confirmed by my coworkers.)

-Sick days! I was under tremendous pressure not to take a sick day. Having taken only 2 sick days I set the record at YBM Ssangmun ECC for most sick days. Eventually I developed several infections that went untreated and had to go home without even telling them because I was soooo ill and was having severe kidney pain I felt my life was in danger. I discussed the pain with my supervisor Suzie and the possibility of having to go home and the only thing they could offer me was switching one class around. The did not offer to cut a single class to help me. At least I thankfully caught an emergency flight home and YBM immediately proceeded to harass my boyfriend who worked at another school and his coworkers trying to find me. (They gave me no help beforehand in finding medical care except to say wait 2 weeks or go to the ER-, which I had already done, but had nobody to translate)

-Upon arriving home, they told my boyfriend that he (who worked for a different school in the same company) would have to pay the overtime due to my coworkers. That’s right. They tried to get my boyfriend in a different school to pay THEIR overtime.

-My paystubs were withheld from me almost every single payday. I had to send 4-5 emails begging for a copy of my paystubs every time we got paid, sometimes to no avail.

-In the winter, there was NO HEAT provided in below freezing temperatures for the afternoon students who paid slightly less to go to the program. Students sat there in their full winter coats gloves, hats, and scarves and complained it was too cold to learn. I stood there in my coat and scarf and was too cold to teach. People were constantly ill and still showing up for work and school. I had to beg from the main desk for the remote to turn on the heat, which was often withheld from me. You can forget about heat or AC in the teacher’s room. Oh, and summer is worse. Expect to be working weeks in 90 degree weather with no AC.

-We went through 2 managers and 2 supervisors and several people quitting within just 8 months of being there.

There is so much more to say about the awful time I had there, but to shorten this long, horrible story, I learned my lesson the hard way. Upon arriving home I understood the exploitative and slave driving nature of the YBM ECC Company. I heard even worse experiences from other schools. Do not work for this company especially YBM SSangmun ECC, that’s all I can say.