This site once had a certain tefl course provider inducted into its “Hall of Shame” for misleading advertising, threatening legal action against teachers, withholding pay from teachers and making personal threats to the admin of the site. In October of this year…yes about 3 months ago, this stance was reaffirmed by the admin of the site and the tefl course provider swore he would never post or have anything to do with TEFLWatch.Â
Now, TEFLWatch has done a complete reversal. TEFLWatch has removed all of the posts relating to the incident with no explanation to the loyal members of that forum. It begs the question, why? Has TEFLWatch’s admin, Gregory Woods, sold out to the course provider?
It is been well established that lately that TEFLWatch has had very little traffic. The admin of TEFLWatch has many websites though and perhaps the thought of advertising for the course provider on his other websites has lured the admin in to striking a deal with the tefl course provider.
It also should be noted that TEFLWatch has removed ALL advertising from its website. Why? Is it because of the potential of advertising for other tefl course providers via Google’s Adsense? Why else remove what little chance of making some money to pay for the website?Â
This gets to the “heart” of TEFLWatch and what it stands for. As a former poster of many years I’m personally saddened by the message TEFLWatch is sending not only to the teachers that were bold enough to stand up to the course provider but to all of the members that supported these teachers. I’m even more saddened by the lack of spine shown by the moderation team. It seems that any advice provided to the admin, Gregory Woods, has been very poor and lacks the committment shown in the past to support teachers against organisations that take advantage of teachers.
Lets hope that TEFLWatch will get back to doing what it does best, providing information to teachers so they can decide for themselves what an organisation is like and what troubles they have given teachers in the past.Â
Filed under: TEFLWatch | Tagged: Add new tag, Bad Admin, Gregory Woods Lies, Lying Admin, TEFLWatch - When will the shame end?, TEFLWatch Lies
A post was made on TEFLwatch this morning asking the admin for some transparency on this matter. With his usual lack of aplomb he went for the hide my head in the sand solution of deleting the thread. Maybe he is hoping that if he deletes enough people will not notice, yes I know that does not make sense. but there again sdoes anything make sense with this admin.
It is sad that the admin chooses to hide from his posters and from the teachers that were wronged by the course provider.
12 peices of silver comes to mind.
From the guy who’s threads were deleted by T/W
A new site – wonderful.
Are you planning to open a Forum?
Happy New Year to you & yours.
Diaw,
I’ve toyed with the idea. Certainly anything would be better than TW. But instead I think I might invest my time into other forums such as Dave’s or even the ELT Forum that TW promotes.
The openness and candor shown by those sites as well as forums such as TeakDoor show there are concerned souls out there that are interested in honestly and committent to supporting teachers.
Thanks for your comment.
Here are some firm facts:
the decision to remove the threads was unilateral and made by the site owner.
The course provider had no input nor was there any discussion of advertising, etc.
First time to this board. Thnx for the link, Topper.
A VERY brief history.
1. Two years ago I had the misfortune of getting into business with a person I believe cheated me and publicly lied about me on numberous occasions. Maybe I am right or maybe I am wrong, but I decided that the matter should be taken up by the courts and not just argued publicly on internet forums.
2. As a small part of this fiasco, one teacher publicly claimed that I, personally, owed him money. He also claims a few others got cheated but none of them have ever come forward.
Now I have no idea why TEFL International got dragged into this (other than the feeble hope that dragging us through the mud would get him some money). TI had nothing to do with the company in question nor was the guy even trained by TI. TI had NOTHING at all to do with the dispute. EVER.
3. I, personally, have tried to resolve the dispute with the guy by seeking arbitration. He refuses.
The whole big mess is headed for court. When? thats for lawyers to decide.
4. TW got involved and I felt for months that the site was not fair or balanced. Eventually I was banned from the site and I never went back. That was October, I believe.
It should be mentioned that googleads for TI were often on TW, even when the pages were filled with attacks against TI (for not paying teachers that had nothing to do woth TI in the first place).
Then, a few days ago, completely out of the blue, I got an Email from the admin at TW saying all the attacks against me and TI were being UNILATERALLY removed and I was asked for a comment. I made the comment you see quoted by Nemesis.
THats it! No promises of cash. Nothing.
I still have never met Nemesis, nor even spoken to him on the phone.
I, personally, think it was ok to attack me on the site. There IS a question of payment for one individual. I do not think I owe him. He thinks I do. But, again, WHAT DOES ANY OF THIS HAVE TO DO WITH TI? That is why I think it was never fair to put TI in the hall of shame and why I think deleting the posts was the right thing to do.
U want to start up a thread JUST about me? Fair enough. But, remember I have offered, on many occasions, to send this dispute to binding arbitration and even pay the fees of the guy who says I owe him money.
Yes, I am pretty sure I am right. But if I am wrong I will admit it.
The “other guy” seems disinterested in resolving the dispute. Instead he seems determined to continue his allegations without even attemtping to come to a conclusion. Does this seem odd to anyone else but me?
I have now said everything I have to say. Good luck with the ondoing discussion. I doubt I will join you.
Have you contacted the admin of TEFL Watch?
It seems that you have many theories about what’s going on and that this would be the easiest way to find out.
David,
Yes, I’ve been in contact with the admin of TEFLWatch for quite some time now both publicly AND privately. In fact we had a conversation regarding TEFLWatch just last night via MSN.
For now, all I’ve gotten is “God told him to do it.” It makes you wonder what teacher he’s going to betray next in God’s name.
Additionally, I’m banned on TEFLWatch, so I can’t express my opinion on that site. You know, the site that promotes free speech for teachers? The admin there doesn’t allow allow posters to question him on his site.
Ask me why I was banned on TW….simply for disagreeing with the admin’s position on this. I informed him of my differences in opinion but publicly (in the mods lounge on TW) and privately via MSN. The admin will come up with a score of different reasons, but at end of the day my moderator position ended as soon as I made this site.
I’ve asked him many times to have a discussion on his home turf. He won’t allow it. I’ve asked him why and it goes back to me not blindly agreeing with him like most of the other mods.
While I’ve offered speculation, I’ve also asked my readers to DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES….I’ve never said I had the answers, only that the answers that the admin has given need further explanation. He’s opted not to continue his defense on a public forum.
Lastly, I’ve noticed http://eltworld.net/forums/index.php promoted on the TW forum. That’s one thing the admin got right, promoting a site where teachers really can share information that may differ from the admins opinion. I would suggest that all TW members move to it as their source of information…as long as the admin of TW isn’t involved in any way.
Thanks for you post David!
Recently I had dinner with one of The Confab managers who told me that Nemesis is accusing them of hiring people to attack TEFLWatch! Are you one of them? : )
Thank you for this page.
The people who have been screwed over by Bruce don’t need to be convinced he’s dirty. Most of his defenders are one way or the other owned by him.
For more than 2 years I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t find people with my same point of view. Now I understand, Bruce is skilled in blocking anything negative about his operation.
The big problem is the all the complaints come much too late.
Bruce makes his money from the new students. They do not look for the kind of information you provide. At least not until it’s too late.
I believe the key to bringing down Bruce is two fold.
1. Reach his would be customers before they sign up.
a. Contact as many Colleges where he’s recruiting.
Let them know how misleading the Information about taking the TEFL course.
2.Monitor his activities and notify appropriate government agencies every time he breaks the law.
Example: Have you seen his emails inviting people to “work and vacation in Thailand…” while taking the TEFL course?
It’s an invitation to Break Thai law since no work permit is provided.
The government of Thailand may not care but United States does. Enough letters will sooner or later get some action.
Trust me, I’m doing my part.
My suggestion to the rest: Stop debating the bastard. Organize with the explicit purpose of closing Telf International.
Let me remind everyone the purpose of this site:
Its to point out the truth in whats going on with TEFLWatch. It probably will evolve into something more later, but lets first focus on TEFLWatch and its administrator.
Also, let me set the record straight about one thing that the teachers on TW and Bruce did agree on…there was no more point in rehashing past problems when they all decided litigation was the only way out. Thats something I agreed with then and still agree with.
Dog of War, while I appreciate your comments and have posted them, perhaps in the near future I’ll be able to provide you a place to air your grievences.
I have been complemented by both Bruce and the teachers I tried to help mediate their concerns, and perhaps in the near future I’ll be in a position to provide a bit more …. balanced approach than what TEFLWatch has done (by the admin’s own admission) in the past.
Thanks for your post and hopefully your concerns will be addressed in the near future!
Topper/CSFFan
SodsLaw,
Let me say this first, just so to clear the air.
I have never been contacted, paid, asked as a favor or in any way had any contact with any member of the management team of PAIS in regard to comments made on TEFLWatch or any other forum.
I have never MADE contact with any member of the management team of PAIS in any way in regards to comments, allegations or anything else to do with teachers, TEFLWatch or any other forum.
After saying that, I will say this,
I believe in one thing at the end of the day, the truth. Since TEFLWatch has publicly stated that PAIS and I have been engaged in corrupt activities, I think its only fair that I assist PAIS in EVERY way to deny that PAIS and I have conspired in ANY way.
And just to set the record straight once again, I’m not taking either side in the teachers problems at PAIS. I’m assisting a business that has been unfairly accused of paying me to assist them in harming TW or the teachers posting there.
To answer the initial question, it looks fairly clear that TW sold out. For money? Maybe. Who knows, but they surely sold out.
TW did so much to oust a corrupt man then took a complete u-turn. Why? Don’t tell us God told you to we have brains rattling around inside our heads, even a four year old can see that for the ridiculous reason it is. (I can just picture the admin sitting at their desk thinking ‘how can I back out of this without losing face?… I know, I’ll say God told me to do it!)
The only positive thing I can say about TW now is that the poor teacher who originally posted was able to make TI pay dearly for cheating him out of his salary. It’s a pity that there is nowhere for swindled teachers to speak out now that TW has failed. Who will defend teachers now? Who will warn future teachers about corrupt companies?
enjoyed the read. keep it up.
[...] …The openness and candor shown by those sites as well as forums such as TeakDoor show (we have our own show now!) there are concerned souls out there that are interested in honestly and committent to supporting teachers… Has the once renowned website know as TEFLWatch sold its soul to the devil? You decide! « The Truth … [...]
The trouble with teflwatch is that it’s overloaded with grudge cases.
I worked at one of the schools on there and didn’t have a problem.
I’m more interested in hearing about schools rip people off financially.
I made one post about one such language centre that I worked at, English Club. They have 6 or 7 branches across Isaan. They don’t pay the last months salary if you make the mistake of giving them a months notice. Not amusing in the slighest!