Thread: Angelina's ESL Cafe in Beijing - Another Dubious Teach In China Scam?

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I was just reading an old 2010 report from the China Teachers Alliance that says "85% of all agents and recruiters will cheat you one way or another". Judging by the complaints I see at all the ESL & TEFL message boards and forums, I think this number is now in the 95% range! Anyway, the three biggest scam recruiters also appear to be the three largest and oldest in China, and one of them is even operated by a foreigner from Australia who used toe be the CEO of Dell English! But first the dish on Angelina's...

Angelina's ESL Cafe is clearly Chinese owned as you can see their staff above. I cannot find any license for them in Beijing at SAIC under that name so perhaps their real company has a different name or they simply are not licensed. This company as you can see from the complaint history below, has been around since 2004, and they just recently got caught by the CFTU using a fake white list that they falsely claimed the Chinese government put out. They even called it the "SAFEA White List" which SAFEA now vehemently denies. Until just last week, Angelina's sales people were even saying they were "a subsidiary of the ministry of education" and an "affiliate of SAFEA" - both of which are blatant lies. As of last week they changed their tune and said they are "endorsed by SAFEA" and even that is a lie. What IS true is that they are "registered" with SAFEA as are 389 other agencies and over 6,800 schools in China that hire foreigners - as the law requires.

As you can see, this company cannot even market in an ethical fashion, much less capable of telling the truth. Here are the complaint's you can read for yourself:

Angelina

Re: Angelina's ESL Cafe is a good Agency//No, it is crap!!!!

Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Angelina's ESL Cafe (recruiter)

Warning Foreign Teachers & Schools: Angelina ESL Cafe (anesl.com) is a shady scam operator and here is why... - ESLwatch - Information, News and School Reviews

Thread Beware of fake white list at Angelina's ESL Cafe - Scam! | Job Discussion Forums :: View Forum - China (Job-related Posts Only) | Omgili

ESL Jobs Forum - View topic - Warning About Angelina's ESL Cafe Scam Operation...

Angelina's ESL Cafe is also blacklisted by the CTA, CFTU, and a host of others at your favorite blacklist.

Although CHINAL ESL (Rebecca Tang) and CHINA-TESOL (Geoff) get all the awards for being the worst ESL pirate agents in China, Angelina offers the lowest salaries of all the agents I looked at online. So not only will you get screwed, but you will earn the least money too! If I am wrong Angelina, come online and defend yourself here please.

Anyone who is even thinking about working in China as a teacher needs to avoid Angelina's and these other two wolves and read the warnings at www.ChinaScamBusters.com and check these blacklists before sending a resume or passport scan to anyone:

Home - ESLwatch - Information, News and School Reviews

http://chinaforeignteachersunion.org

Wolf Watch | Keeping The Sheep Safe 24/7

http://globalblacklist.org

http://firetrust.org

BTW... Take a look at how Angelina gets a foreign teacher to stand next to an office building sign trying to implicate that they are "endorsed" by SAFEA. Pure unadulterated horse manure!

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Here are the names you need to beware of:

Tom Tang

Mary Zhang

David Sun

Isabelle Ji

Yuki Liao

Rita Liu

Kelly Wang

Louise Liang

Monico Lee

Isabelle Cui

Happy Gong

Maggie Gao

Vivilin Yang

Lynn Deng

Frank Ao

Most, but not all the complaints about Angelina center around three major issues:

1) Bait and switch schools on teachers

2) Huge haircuts on salaries

3) Encourage teachers to work illegally on an L or F visa

Here is where they operate if you are invited for an interview:
Post Address:Department of International Liaison, Angelina's ESL Cafe
Room 503, Aoyu Building, 2# Jinyuan Road, Beijing City,P.R.China
Post Code: 102628

Angelina's is old news Seattle. They were a pioneer in expat exploitation before you ever set foot in China! They are also one of the first to hire Chinese hackers to follow behind them and clean up all their complaints on line. There was about 20 complaints about them at fraudwatchers.org. But you are right about how they play the "government affiliation game". Here below is yet another photo where they march their staff in front of the entrance to SAFEA and snap a Kodak Moment and PRESTO CHANGO - they are now automatically "endorsed by SAFEA" We laugh, but the newbie teachers abroad buy into this rubbish and fly all the way here with high hopes of non-existent high salaries, to work on an illegal visa - all based on lies. Wannabe China foreign teachers should read this article and enlighten themselves...

China Scam Recruiters Lure Foreign Teachers With Hype & Lies - China Business Central - Open Salon

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I'm going send a copy of this thread to the SAFEA Director and the Minister of Education because this is a classic case of impersonating the government by private companies who have not even a molecule of honor. Hopefully our brothers and sisters abroad see this warning and think twice about Angelina's ESL Cafe at anesl.com