Complaint Review: World TEFL Association (WTA)

Everything I wroted about WorldTEFL Association (WTA) TEFL Limited in my original post dated May 7, 2017, was true. I wrote an apology after I was informed by the company's acting counsel/attorney that, if I didn't write a retraction/apology, the company would not honor their binding agreement and in turn would create unlimited delays sending my refund. So, I fabricated the posted apology. When I wrote the apology I had not yet been paid my entire refund. It took another 6 months to settle the nighmarish ordeal. After nearly 2 years of contentious prodding and haggling, I did get my refund, but not the money lost from the customers my franchise generated prior to them terminating my licence agreement, which I intend to seek. Bottom line, AVOID THIS COMPANY!!! 

(((ROR REDACTED VIOLATION TOS)))

I absolutely agree with the comments from the unfortunate franchisee and would advise anyone to think very carefully before they do any business with iTEFL, eTEFL , Teach Abroad Thailand or any business associated with Jimmy (JC) Crangle or Jenny Hayward. I have also been unsuccessfully trying to deal with these seemingly unethical individuals since 2014 to recover  USD$18,000 in reimbursable franchise fees prior to the franchise being disbanded and taken off line.

 World TEFL Association (WTA). I purchased a TEFL franchise in January 2013. The contract stated that if I didn't receive target revenue within the first 12 months of $50,000, I would receive a full refund of my franchise fees. In my case in spite of forwarding regular obligatory monthly marketing fees of $1800 a month to support a Google Adwords campaign that I had no control of the results were abysmal and I received notice from the company later that year that they were closing down the franchise scheme due to very poor and changed market conditions in Thailand that had put a stop to the flow of students to their courses. They offered a full refund of my franchise fees as per their contractual obligation. Its very interesting that the complainant in the previous complaint was offered a franchise in early 2014 not long after we were informed that they were closing down the scheme. Of course the promised refund was not forthcoming. When I persisted in trying to get the refund I was eventually referred to a lawyer based in the US - one Brian McGovern. In due course he informed me that the company would repay the refund in payments of $454 per month until further notice. I was eventually paid 4 monthly payments of $454 in Dec 13, Jan 14, April 14 and May 14. This was only after many exchanges of emails to one Jenny Hayward. From then onwards she and anyone else ceased answering all my correspondence and that includes their lawyer in the US.

What has prompted my posting today is that I noticed with dismay through a face book ad that this group could be once again trying to recruit new franchisees this time under the name of International TEFL Association.  Be wary of this as it is exactly the same as the scheme offered to me and my fellow franchisees right down to the full refund of the franchise fee if the franchisee doesnt attract turnover of at least $50K in the first year. This time however they are asking for $30K franchise fee (29,995) instead of the $20K we were obliged to pay. Their contact numbers in the UK, Australia, South Africa and USA are exactly the same as in my original literature so these are seemingly the same people.

I urge all those considering this to consider this very carefully before committing any money or signing any contracts with people that obviously are not capable of honouring their contractual obligations.

 After nearly 3 years of negotiations with WorldTEFL Association (WTA) and TEFL limited , a settlement repayment agreement was reached in January 2017. On May 4, 2017, I hastily and prematurely posted a report indicating that I had not been refunded any funds stipulated in the above mentioned settlement agreement when in fact TEFL limited did honor their part of the agreement and deposited the first of two installment amounts. Unfortunately, due to the time zones, I had already submitted the aforementioned report to my regret. I want this message to serve as a sincere apology to TEFL limited, their affiliate's, as well as current and future clients and customers of the TEFL organization for my suggestion of impropieties. I want to also apologize and thank the staff members of the organization whom I truly believe worked diligently to bring these negotiations to an amicable conclusion. Respectfully submitted, Douglas Cotton

The customer (Douglas Cotton) who filed this report has already signed a settlement agreement with our holding company and has subsequently received one of the refund payments as promised, within 3-days of the agreed date. We find it incredulous that he waited until he received the payment before then posting this report. We will seek legal advice before posting the relevant documents as proof.