A Big Disappointment with Elantu - They Don't Honor Their Contract or Refund My Money

I'm writing this review because I think it's essential to share my experience with this company. I'm hoping someone will read this and avoid going through what I did.

The Backstory

I fell for a VK ad in October 2018 about a program for English teachers to work in China. I had some idea about it, as I knew friends who did it part-time, but I couldn't get any recommendations from them. I thought all agencies worked similarly and charged roughly the same, so I chose Elantu, which, by the way, is a company called Utych LLC (more on that later). On the same day, I got a call from the agent, who went on and on about the benefits of working in China, the pay level, and all the conditions they offered, including bonuses and so on. Everything sounded great, and they sent me a contract to sign, asking me to pay $290.

(After talking to many people who 'had the pleasure' of working with this organization, some paid more, some paid less, and some didn't pay at all. It all depended on how much the director of Elantu wanted to squeeze out of you and how desperate you were for a job. Many people were also sold on a supposedly amazing insurance plan)

The Contract Details, by the way, were just the general manager's personal bank account details, not the company's. And, funnily enough, I only found out that the agent I was talking to was the general manager after signing the contract. I've attached some screenshots of the contract for you to take a look.

Since I wasn't planning on working with agencies, I told them I could pay and sign the contract later, and they kindly allowed me to split the payment into two parts. So, in October, I paid around 9,000, and in November, I paid the second half. There was no receipt or invoice for the payment. But at the time, I was more focused on getting my visa, which I thought was the next step. They were processing a business visa for six months, which cost 22,500. When I received my passport from the tourist agency, I had to pay this amount. The visa agent sent me the general manager's personal bank account details again, so they were taking the money directly from me. I guess taxes are not their thing. I got my visa, so I wasn't too concerned anymore.

Why You Shouldn't Trust Utych LLC \Elantu

Looking back, I'm still trying to figure out how Elantu thought they could get away with their services. They claim to provide accommodation for the entire duration of your job placement, compensate for flight and visa costs, and so on. However, they don't actually pay for any of this. The bonuses, additional payments, and expenses are all determined by the school or training center where you'll be working. They're the ones who get to decide whether or not to compensate you for things like visa costs, food, accommodation, and so on. They also get to decide your schedule and days off. So, Elantu can't make any promises about these things.

I do want to mention the way the CEO of Elantu communicates. I was the one who initiated most of our conversations, and 90% of my questions were ignored.

As for the agreements, we had a deal that they would find me a job in January. I did everything they asked for - I submitted my resume, information about my salary, and a video about myself. So, when I got my visa, I was ready for the next step, which I thought would be interviews or something similar. I sent a message to the manager, aka the CEO of Elantu, to let them know I was ready. However, they just sent me a contact number with the message "This is the agent's chat, you need to add it." I knew my questions would be ignored, so I just sent a message. It turned out that the agent was working for one of the Chinese agencies that Elantu is actively sending teachers from the CIS to. This was in December 10, 2018.From that point on, they started looking for a job for me. In January, the agent told me that I would have to pay her a certain amount for her services, and the salary she offered was lower than what was specified in the contract with Elantu, of course. I didn't like this, so I started writing to Elantu about it, explaining that the contract didn't mention any additional payments, and that the offered salary was lower than what was specified. The CEO of Elantu ignored me, as usual, but the manager of the Moscow branch sent me similar messages.

It's clear that any verbal agreements are invalid, and everything needs to be confirmed in writing.

I decided that I didn't want to work with Elantu anymore, so I wrote a statement to terminate the contract unilaterally (due to non-performance). It looked something like this:

1. I was really disappointed with the job placement in China, and the agency didn't provide the necessary information to the receiving party in China, including the physical address, phone numbers, email, and website. They also didn't give me any details about the route I'd be taking and where I'd be staying in China.

2. The agency didn't inform me about the start and end dates of the program, its duration, or any additional payments that came up during the job search process in China.

3. The agency didn't provide me with addresses and phone numbers of diplomatic institutions in China or local services that I could contact in case of any issues during my trip. They also didn't give me any information about the local environment, weather, sanitation, or epidemiological situation in China.

4. The agency didn't provide me with receipts for their services, which they conveniently ignored.

Next, I sent a complaint to their address with a lawyer, which I sent to the address listed in the contract. At the same time, I reached out to a few people who had 'collaborated' with YUTICH (ELANTU), and I found out that some people had paid them a lot more money for their unfulfilled services. Many of them had switched to working with other agencies because the employees of Elantu would simply ignore them or block them. But Elantu never returned the money. As for me, I'll be contacting my lawyer again soon and probably filing a police report. I'd already written to the director of the Moscow branch of Elantu about filing a police report, and he just ignored me.

The Verdict

1. I wouldn't recommend working with this company, as I personally corresponded with 5 people who paid them money and now don't know how to get it back. They, in turn, talk about other people who didn't get their money back, who were taken on demo lessons in Beijing, and who lived in poor conditions in a hostel that they had to pay for themselves, although the contract stated that the agency would provide accommodation.

2. The company, although officially registered, avoids paying taxes, and payment is made ONLY on the director's card.

3. There was no proper informational support, and I had to ask for information multiple times, hoping for a response. However, most of their responses remained unanswered.

4. By using paid reviews, the company tries to appear more legitimate, and they've even used photos and reviews from other teachers in China who went with completely different companies. So, I'd say there are no real reviews there.

5. All the negative reviews written by my friends who had worked with them were deleted, and the people were blocked. I hope they'll leave their reviews on other platforms.

As I update this, I'll add more information. I hope this review was helpful to someone.

UPDATE 03.02.2019 - they still haven't returned my money, continue to ignore me, and it seems like they've changed their name to Walley English. That's how they work and develop, huh?

Finally, after the 16.02.2019 update, I've got some time to write a police report, and we'll see what comes of it.