Goodbye, sorry for wasting your time money?

Ok, so there is this eikaiwa located in Nagoya that came across my English teacher profile on a website I sometimes post on for private students. I don't take this site too seriously, so it came as a shock when an eikaiwa contacted me via email about a job offer that starts right away.

So, I after reading about the job description in the email, I was interested in talking with him more over the phone. While talking on the phone, he came off as a strange, nervous man. He also kept cutting me off while I was in the middle of a sentence. I couldn't even have a normal conversation with the guy.

So what I did was I googled the director of this establishment that is running these private English classes for her company and mentioned that I'm an English teacher that was contacted through the eikaiwa in Nagoya that she currently has a contract with.

She seemed really interested in meeting with me and hiring me right away. In fact, I mentioned that since we both live in Shizuoka and the eikaiwa is in Nagoya, I don't see the reason why we need to go through them. During our meeting, I explained that I would be able to offer her a reasonable charge that would still be a lot cheaper than through the eikaiwa. She fully agreed and although we didn't sign any contract that day (we met a couple days ago) she expressed great interest and we even set up a date for me to start, which would be soon.

So she text messaged me today saying that the school in Nagoya is in the process of hiring this teacher from the Philippines (offered a job after me) and they plan to bring to the director's school here later this week. I called her and asked her what is going on and that I thought she was serious about hiring me.

She explained that she still plans to talk with the owner of the eikaiwa about closing her classes and that she won't need teachers from them anymore starting from the end of July. She mentioned actually wanting to stop the classes with them a year ago, but that they are too aggressive and scary and that she wants to avoid ending the relationship on a bad note. So basically, this school is bullying her or manipulating her into keeping her contract going. I found it strange because she is still going to have this new teacher come teach classes for only 2 weeks and then stop the classes?

When I asked her if it would be difficult for her to suddenly tell this new teacher, that she will not be able to teach after 2 weeks, she claimed that she will talk directly with the school owner and not the teacher, which I hope is true.

The eikaiwa in Nagoya really wants to hire me desperately, but they are offering me a such a low hourly rate that it is laughable compared to what she is offering me directly. She also mentioned that the husband of the woman that runs this eikaiwa in Nagoya is really not a good guy and that 2 teachers have quit in the past because they got into huge arguments with him, which isn't surprising at all. She mentioned that when she signed the contract, it was with this man's wife whom is really nice unlike him. She mentioned that he lost his job and that he pretty much took over the operations at the eikaiwa that his wife started.

She also was saying sorry and that she would still be able to pay me a fee for the trouble. I put her on the spot and asked her if this is some sort of "goodbye and sorry for wasting your time" money and she claimed that it definitely isn't but I'm finding it really hard to believe anything she says as she flip flops.

Before we hung up the phone, she made a point that because I live nearby and not in another city like the other teachers, she considers that really important to her and that she wants to have me start at the beginning of August.

She also mentioned that she wants to meet with me at a cafe nearby later this week to talk more about the situation, so she might still be serious about hiring me in the near future, but then again she might just pay me a chunk of "I'm sorry about all this" type money and then I might never hear from her again...

Has anyone been in a situation like this before? Does it sound like I screwed myself out of a job by not signing a contract with the eikaiwa in Nagoya or that I might still have a good chance to teach for her?

Re-read what you wrote. It looks like you are going to get yourself into a messy situation (it is what you wrote). If you are fine with that and the potential that it all falls apart in a short time, then, go in eyes open. Make sure you have a good legal document and actually get it checked by a lawyer to make sure it protects you. There are too many tales on the forums of people with bad contracts.

As for does it sound legit or otherwise, not sure.

This is why I do not want to be an English teacher.

i think you should forget about that company and the woman .
if you had signed job contract with them ..you can get conpensation for tricking you to quiet your job .


meeting the woman is another waste of time . you should move on.

Hellowork staff warn me : make sure you sign contract before joining company and keep copy . there are so many bad or (black company) in japan.

This woman expressed that she is serious about hiring me directly and that she emailed the school in Nagoya about wanting to stop hrr contract with them at the end of this month.

She told me to meet her at a cafe tomorrow morning and that she will even pay me the full monthly fee in advance after I told her that I can't just wait a month not knowing what her decision is going to be.

So, things are looking better than before but I will know more tomorrow.

*her contact

*contract

Ffs...

Things worked out with this woman. I talked with her more and she is willing to pay me even more money in advance. She paid for one month, but I told her that I need at least a 3 month advance and she agreed.