Not refundable

Commission paid to agents are sometimes not refundable.  Did you know that?

I have worked with a few agents who are very honest, like TutorKami and HometuitionMalaysia.  But some like TutorGroup (watsapp) are crooks.  Not only are they very arrogant (they always tell you they are millionaires, as if we care), they are downright crooks who are always suspicious of teachers like you and me.  They are always afraid you will cheat them.

You must bank in their commission for them first before they give you the contact for the student.  That's fine because they are afraid you may take up the job and not pay them their commission later.  But, here again, we don't know much about the student who may just study for only one or two sessions.  If they stop studying because they don't like our teaching, it's fair.  But if they stop studying due to the work commitments (especially for working adults), or due to financial problems which is also quite common, then it's not fair.  With the current GST problems in the country there are actually some students (or parents) really can't afford home tuition.  And, sometimes the students will keep postponing their first class, for months on end.

And we have paid our commission for the students.  Honest agents like the ones mentioned above, would be quick to refund our commissions to us.  No questions asked.  We feel great because they trust us.  After all, we are teachers and we like to be trusted and treated with respect, don't we?

Con agents like TutorGroup will give every excuse not to refund your commission.  After asking for many times, it's just too much hassle and we just say Ah, forget it!  They say they will check with the student first, etc.  They are just afraid that you may later contact the student and get the job without paying them back their commission.  BUT, the student has not started their class for 3 months!

Don't be cheated.  Work only with honest agents.

Double Commission

This is a very dishonest action by tutor agents such as Tutor Group.

They will ask the tutors not to tell the students that they are receiving commission.  Mr Yap will always remind you, "Don't tell the student anything about commission. Just say you are my friend."

Why does he do that?  It's because he is getting commission from the students also.  He is afraid you will find out about his cheating con job.  He's also afraid the students will find out.  It's very dishonest.  It's criminal.  We are already paying him commission and he is asking for more commission from students for finding tutors for them.

No wonder students give up studying within a month or two. Because they have to pay commission to study!

If you are a victim of this scam I suggest you lodge a police report on the agent.  Mr Yap is not the only culprit.  I understand there are also others like him who cheat on every opportunity.

Only 2 months

The first scam mentioned to me by my tutor buddy came from none other than the famour Tutor Group (Mr Mickson Yek or Mr Yap).

My friend Guna teaches primary subjects and got a student from Mr Yap.  He paid his commission of 40% to the agent Mr Yap, of RM400 and expected to earn about RM1,000 tuition fees from the student.

Unfortunately the student only wanted to study for 2 months.  Guna then asked the student why only 2 months and the student told him that he informed Mr Yap that he only wanted to study for 2 months.  After that he has many school activities and does not have enough time for tuition.

Guna was mad.  He expected students to study for a year or at least 6 months.  When he asked Mr Yap for a part refund he got a scolding from him instead.  Yap said he didn't know the student wanted to study for only 2 months.  Obviously he lied because the student told Guna that he mentioned to Mr Yap.

What a conman!  Then Guna went to lodge a police report, giving the account no. for the commission he banked in for Mr Yap.  But till today he does not know whether the police took any action.

If you are a home tutor, always enquire from the agent, and the double-confirm with the student, how long he wish to study.  But by that time it is actually too late because Mr Yap is not going to give you back any refund.

So, it is advisable to look for other more honest agents and forget about conman Mr Yap.

Home Tuition Agents - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Some of the home tuition agents I have used before:-

Good ones
Home Tuition Malaysia.com (Eric)
HomeTuition88.com (|Eric)
TutorKami.com (En Hamdal)

The are very helpful and honest.  They charge us tutors a referral fee of only 40% of the monthly tuition fees (one time only).  If the deal doesn't go through I get a refund immediately. Students are genuine and ready to study hard.

Bad ones:-
CCNT Tuition Centre Kepong (Taman Pusat Kepong, Ms Chin)
Tuition Provider.com

They operate tution centre and act as agents too.  They are not honest even though they don't purposely cheat.  They don't tell you things like trial classes where you don't get paid anything at all if you are not recruited.  My fellow teacher friend fell into this trap, although I myself didn't deal with them.

Ugly ones:-
Tutor Group (Mr Mickson Yek, or Mr Yap)

Fortunately there is only one ugly one, that is this one.  They use so many ways to cheat both students and tutors like us.  I will do a few posts to expose exactly how this agent is a con job.  Many of my friends have been cheated by this agent who mostly uses the watsapp to do his deals.