TravelBud

Do not pay their ridiculous $2799 120 Hour In-Class TEFL that is currently being advertised For Thailand! They Are Misrepresenting the Need for TEFL/TESOL Certification To Over Charge Victims. If you really think you need an agency, there are many others, and better ones such as SINE, who destroys their entire business model. TravelBud/XploreAsia claims: • A TESOL is essential for placement • Their TESOL gives access to vetted schools • Their fees create special job opportunities • Schools require TESOL for legal employment But SINE, a large Thai government-school agency, proves otherwise: • Does not require a TESOL • Accepts non-native speakers • Offers equal or higher salaries to what Travel Bud advertises. • Charges zero upfront fees • Places teachers year-round • Provides community and support networks just like XploreAsia markets. Also, I personally worked with: • Myanmar teachers • Filipino teachers • Russian Teacher And many more nationalities…. None of whom had: • TESOL • TEFL • Native proficiency Yet: • They taught English • They were legally allowed to work and were paid the same • They were hired with no agency middleman. Travelbud will of course promise you the world at first, but they will hand you over to their partner agent “XploreAsia” who will stall on placements for ridiculous periods of time, and if you ask any questions about it they will stall even longer until you become desperate enough to accept any school under any terms they offer you, including ones that do not pay their teachers, do not pay teachers on time, take a large portions of your salary, are unsafe, or weren’t the location you wanted or asked for, as their partner agency will want to move you around to other schools or another city, and if you don’t move to their location, their partner agency drops you like a hot potato and leaves you after you paid for all the moving costs and after you sign a housing contract and paid a rental deposit because they tell you that the job is guaranteed. And if you ask them for a refund to cover the damages, good luck, because they won’t give you your money back and they will give you a scripted corporate apology with no refund or placement guarantee, because they consider that a valid placement; and you will be waiting indefinitely for the next one as long as 9 months without any placement to find another job. And do not even get me started on how I wasn’t paid on time by the supposedly vetted school, or not at all according to the contract, as well as being taken through a human trafficking ring. Their partner agent XploreAsia then minimized it, and basically said that being taken through a human trafficking special economic zone with scammers trying to steal your money to get your visa because they couldn’t get me a work permit in time “is just part of Thai culture and living in Thailand” even though there are official government warnings on Thai websites warning about this zone and is internationally sanctioned and they know their customers are westerners. This means they do not vet schools nor give proper support during dangerous visa zones, and they do not give you warnings when bringing you to such areas. Not to mention, you can apply independently to schools without them and save yourself thousands and accomplish exactly the same thing. But if you need an agency, do not pay travelbud or XploreAsia. Save your money and watch out!

TravelBud has poor customer support once the full payment has been made; they are misleading and their policies are not transparent. I thought I’d be dealing with them directly, but they passed me along to two partnering agencies. I went with TravelBud for South Korea after speaking with Grace, the enrollments manager.  Soon after I paid the full cost to TravelBud and expected everything to go smoothly, they handed me over to their partner, XploreAsia.  My interaction with TravelBud became very minimal and the rest of my interaction was with XploreAsia. It became as if I enrolled with XploreAsia instead of TravelBud.  XploreAsia assisted with providing checklists of what I need for documentation for the program and visa purposes — from that experience, XploreAsia lacked a lot of organization and made the process far more difficult than it had to be. Now we are in an international Coronavirus epidemic and I asked about my options for the program including postponing my program date to a later date, XploreAsia responded about a different question and did not answer my question about postponing my course. I then decided I will not continue with the program due to the Coronavirus, and asked TravelBud for my refund.  Saskia, TravelBud’s supporting manager, said “I’ve been in touch with Enzo and the team with regards to your request…This isn't cause for panic and our team…I believe the media is hyping this up at the moment…For my own health, I have been washing my hands…If any applicants develop symptoms they can go to the hospital and be taken care of, as the health care system in South Korea is excellent.” They also said there aren’t any travel advisories on South Korea about the Coronavirus, and they will continue with their program, so I won’t be getting any refund.   After telling them twice that I need my refund, Saskia then mention I can be moved to a later course date (which I asked about this option 10 days ago), except I would need to pay their switch fee as arrangements and deposits has been made. To reiterate how XploreAsia lacks organization, they haven’t confirmed my accommodation arrangement with me like they said they would even though we’re one and a half weeks away from the course start date.  On top of that, XploreAsia has introduced me with another partnering agency, HandSKorea who helps with placement.  I mailed my visa documents to them as instructed.  Since I’m not going through their program anymore, I asked for my documents (which has SENSITIVE INFORMATION such as passport photocopy, official citizenship documents, etc) to be mailed back to me. I haven’t  gotten a response from them ever since I told HandSKorea I will not proceed with the program. Another point to make, going on a visa run also seems like a difficult task as South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare has put up travel advisories for their citizens on traveling to the following countries: Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore.  None of these countries have travel advisories on the coronavirus according to the CDC website, yet both XploreAsia and TravelBud says they are going by the CDC and WHO website advisories so they will continue their course.   At this point, I will not proceed with TravelBud’s or XploreAsia’s program now or in the future.  Saskia refuses to let me speak to her supervisor as she claims she is “at the top level at TravelBud,” yet the website shows the staffs include Director, CEO, and Founder. The way they have been handling this matter has been very disappointing, especially with their responses about the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The experiences with TravelBud and XploreAsia as well as HandSKorea unresponsiveness regarding my documents containing sensitive information has made me and others question if they are legit organizations.