Edknovate review: Don't Pay Employees 17

I applied for a position with Smartkurve. I had no idea it was the same company as Edknovate. Based on dozens of bad reports about Edknovate, I told myself I would never work for them. But since I had arrived not aware it was the same, I thought I'd at least take a look. After 10 minutes of entering data into their application computer, Kirk wanted me to prepare a demo lesson on Photosynthesis based on a packet he gave me. I only had regular glasses, and the type was VERY small. I told him i didn't have my reading glasses with me. He said I could do the lesson from a PowerPoint. I told him cheerfully that I have a flash drive with me with such a presentation on it. hH got mad and said I'll use his version, not mine. I asked howe can I teach from a presentation I've never seen? I have the same info prepared already and use it many times. He started arguing more, so I got up, told the secretary to give me my stuff back. I said this is why I don't work for Edknovate and see why they have so many comlaints. As I left, i told the other 2 falang there that they better steer clear of this outfit. While explaining the types of complaints they get, Kirk started cussing at me, and eventually threw his stack of papers at my head. I spit in his face and the fight ensued. Eventually I left with him threatening to kill me. As I taxied away, he called and I hung up on him. Then he called again and left a threatening voicemail. I sent a text message saying that he made a big mistake threatening to hunt me down and kill me in my home because I could play it for the police. The following are the text messages that ensued: "Go ahead my dad is a senator you are about to be deported, " then he sent, "What's going to happen now is my dad will call the police and the immigration. My My people will be contact the necessary officials to chase you down." He finishes with, "Please go to the police so I can access your file easily since my people are also in the Royal police."

Everything people write about this guy are dead on. I'm not the first to receive death threats, and likely won't be the last. Sad that this very grown man is such a p*ssy that he needs to run to "daddy".

Other teachers have posted on this site about a language agency that needs to be made aware of for those who may be looking for a suitable English teaching job here in Bangkok Thailand.
I too have a little bit of input on this guy Kirk who runs this company and the need to for him to own up to his responsibilities and/or pledges.
I was contacted by Edknovate and asked if I'd like to join their company for a new semester. They (Edknovate), sent me a flurry of emails informing me that they would take hold of the school as the new agency for the second semester and that they'd like me to apply. So I agreed, was scheduled for an interview, processed at "E's" office, and was then told I'd have to wait a little bit until any new news.
Then about two and a half months later a second interview was scheduled and I returned to Edknovate for this second meeting/ interview only upon my arrival, the office was closed, a padlock was on the door, and I couldn't reach anyone at "E" by phone. This made me a little bit irritated as both of us (myself and E) had made an arranged appointment and the employerrr failed to meet that arrangement. I informed E upon return that no one showed up at the office and that I should have been contacted if there were any changes that apparently had to be made on the employer's part.
So, ..nonetheless a new interview/demonstration was arranged and met this time, and upon conclusion of that interview, (and here's the most important information) was informed that E had officially secured the contract at the school, and thus E was going to be able to implement their own shift of foreign teachers for the new semester (which included me).
So to recap upon this second interview I was assured that:
1. Edknovate had won the contract
and
2. I would be returning to the school and would still retain a position as a teacher.

So, ..after that last interview, I was not expected to be back at the school for another two weeks or so, so I left it at that.
So a little bit of time went by all the while I was aware of when the next semester started but had not received any communication from E nor got any confirmation message about when I was expected to show up at the school for the new term.
So, ...here it is:
I contact E the Friday before school starts to no response by phone
I then called Saturday and was reached by someone who didn't have any information about the apparent matter. Then I contacted Kirk through email on Monday to no reply.
So now finally what happens the VERY night before school starts?
Well, it was getting late but luckily I decided to check my emails before shutting down my computer for that anticipated "night's sleep before the first day of school".
I then look and notice a very "sneaky" and newly arrived email that is sitting in my inbox from Kirk informing me that I will not be given a position at the school I was promised to be at. (Again, regardless of my apparent attempts to contact E many days before thus so I at least knew I was in the loop, I get contacted at the last minute to basically now tell me that I don't have a job after all. (After I read the email I was thinking "Gee thanks for telling me right at the very inconvenient last minute").
So then, Kirk informs me to just sit tight and that another job arrangement will be made...

That was the last time I ever heard from this guy and apparently he felt the need to unleash a bold faced lie to lift my already somewhat shattered expectations with promises of a new position, but was never assisted in getting locked into another job.
Case in point? I went more than halfway with this guy for months in regards to getting set up for what I thought was going to be "a fresh start with a fresh agency". In the end how was I rewarded? Nothing.
In addition to my case, there was another teacher that was promised a German teaching job and who was also dealt the same card that I was in regards to what he received (which again was nothing).
I also have further testimony to back up what Ben has stated and know someone who's been privy to some of the events that have unfolded in the new semester at this school.

According to this person(s) Kirk has:

1. apparently cheated people out of appropriate earnings that the teachers worked hard for (or just did not pay them at all in some cases)
2. sent obscene texts through his phone to the other foreign teachers (as I guess he sees this method as an appropriate response and/or solution to solving certain problems among the workers that have arisen in the new semester
3. HAS in fact made some threats towards certain employees ( a most inappropriate course of action to take by a so called "employer" I might add)
4. failed to assist a teacher in renewing their work permit in a timely manner and by the time Kirk decided to go to immigration to renew for the teacher, it was too late and thus the work permit was rendered void and is now no longer valid to use. (a substantial loss)
5. Finally (and in a most unfair motion I might add), inducted a family member to evaluate the foreign staff on their teaching performance.
Tell me, could this last one be any more bias? Employing one's own family member to conduct teacher evaluations? Now let's see, who is Kirk going to undoubtedly believe in the end? Someone he holds kinship to or someone without? Wouldn't the evaluation be a little one sided as far as final confirmation after reviewing an evaluation that was just completed by someone you were related to?
What's even more shocking is the double standard theory that Kirk followed. Before the beginning of the term, he stated that quote "I don't take a confrontational stance on things and listen to people's problems so I can solve them effectively".
(Some of this past supporting evidence proves otherwise buddy).

Anyways, alls bad ends bad and I hear that virtually every teacher that is currently there now at this particular school is most likely set to resign after the completion of this semester (which is very soon).
I also pledge (as Ben Finkelstein did on another forum post about Edknovate), and officially affirm to the viewers reading this:

"Guys, I cautiously urge all possibly desired/soon to be hired Edknovate teachers to strongly rethink your ambitions about working for this company. After everything I've seen and heard, this is one misfit "organization" (or lack thereof) to avoid at all costs."

Yep...this is the guy...take a good look...

I understand your pain! This guy's ONLY about lies and telling you exactly what you want to hear. nothing more though. He's dipped virtually everyone that's ever been employed under him and then when they leave, he repeats the same tactics all over again with the next victim. Don't worry and feel like you're the only one that the salary problem has happened to. He's done that to almost EVERYONE!
* Beware all, there was just an ad posted by him in the recent weeks on ajarn.com but he is also desperately (and continuously) posting ads on teachingthailand.com. No joke, sometimes I browse on there just to see what's going on and seriously...there are ads posted by him almost EVERY OTHER DAY! Could it be sufficient to say that he's having a little trouble recruiting people after the catastrophic environment that he's created?

Kirk hasn't stop with the empty promises and lies. And he stole my entire monthly salary.

Another new development guys!

Since all the heat that SmartKurve has been taking from all of the complaints, the owner has now taken to hiding under a new name for his company. It's now called "Axiom Recruitment - Thailand".
BEWARE! If you look at the job description on an ad that was recently posted, and then compare with an ad from the SmartKurve ad, you will find that the descriptions are basically the same.
Do not be fooled though, this is still the same wolf in sheep's clothing.
This is still the same company that's created lots of problems for many teachers over the past number of months.
It's just now we can call it "Axiom Recruitment - Thailand/SmartKurve/Edknovate"
Do NOT apply with this fake company. They will make you VERY dissatisfied to say the least.

CALLING ALL TEACHERS CURRENTLY SEEKING A JOB!
SmarkKurve (or TwistedKurve as I like to call it), has been furiously posting ads for their company over the past few days as well as today (the 17th) on a variety of websites.
Please please please teachers; Heed my warning as well as all the others who have stated on this website:
Do NOT APPLY with SmartKurve!
You will regret it the moment you walk through the door.
Another one of the reasons you will see the ads is because of the incredibly poor reputation that exists for this company now.
From what I hear, teachers are quitting left and right because of the bad conditions and lies that commence once they start working for SmartKurve. You do anything the ### owner does not like, and he will threaten your life, threaten to have you deported, kill you etc.
He will also NOT pay you for your work and in fact, owes lots of $ to many po'd teachers right now.
He's probably one of the MOST out of control psychotic individuals I've EVER met in this country.
** Also, as you will see on many of these complaints, he also used to operate under the name Edknovate. However, as one could imagine, because of the hard hit to the reputation of that first name, the ###ed owner is now masquerading ONLY under SmartKurve so as perhaps new applicants won't know about "the other side of him", the many many complaints that have been lodged against him, and the other company name that's already taken a nose dive into the ground.

You've been warned girls and guys!
Steer clear and absolutely STAY AWAY from SmartKurve!

I worked for SmartKurve and it was the worst decision I ever made. Nothing but trouble from the beginning and how was I told off in the end? Threats about police and immigration action as well as lawyers and lawsuits. He needs to be put out of business.

I met this person and this little girl is the most stuck up, snotty jerk I've ever met before. Kirk is also a total fraud who will only tell lies and threaten you.

In all seriousness, this is absolutely spot on! SmartKurve / Edknovate etc etc are ridiculous. This Company will not pay you he owes me thousands as of 2 weeks ago and will not pay. Lets team up against this Company and FRAUD and take him down so as that no other poor students and or Thai Schools have the unfortune of signing a contract with this "Crazy" man. He will threaten to kill YOU, bash you as he already has done to one poor female teacher that we know of.
He will also threaten you with intimidation, ie: that immigration will kick you out of the Country and or suppossedly report you to the Ministry of Education.
In all of this, by law they are required to supply a work permit for you, which never happens, you get shuffled from one school to another due to the amount of teachers leaving etc etc. Seriously teachers, you work for this Company to your own peril...

I'm just wondering, why this agency needs 2 names to operate. Also, I've heard from teachers working for Eknovate that there were 'problems'.

I'm sure that the word will get out and I've kind of already said the same thing many times on here before, but just wanted to add one more small thing. After everything I've heard about him, (and even if I don't know through lots of personal experience) one of the biggest problems with Kirk seems to be that he is not clear on how to "play cards" (aka deal with problems in a orderly and professional manner). In turn, he only appears to understand three of those cards in the deckhand; The foreign card, the blame game card, (the biggest one), and the retribution card.
I've heard (only through my source now) how anything that went wrong in the previous semester, Kirk would automatically place any problems onto the foreign teachers. His pride but failure to admit fault is so thick you could choke. I heard one scenario how there was one time when the employees were not paid on the scheduled date as agreed upon. It apparently WAS Kirk's fault for not getting things in order but of course who did he blame for the mishap? The foreign head teacher, and also took to sending a very rude and blunt email to this teacher. This is an example of the blame game card in action.
"The next player up to the mound is the number 46! Mr. Retribution!"
Since this guy's pride is so big and again, no room to admit mistake, when cornered and nothing else to offer up to carefully composed individuals who bring concise and vivid testimony to the table, HE is the one who feels threatened and as jbellbloom wrote, quickly takes to deflection and throws any and all blame on the foreigners and of course starts making threats towards them without ever clarifying and defending the allegations that have been made against him.
Even for myself, just for posting on this website at the end of last month (February) he sent me a threatening email saying he would sue me and send his lawyers after me if I didn't remove my post! Here is the example of the retribution card taking a swing.

by the way - in the last 4/5 weeks i should be arrested by royal thai police and deported by immigration minimal 10 times according to the messages from kirk and his shareholders! 5555555 xxl!

one more! i know about 20 foreign teachers with same bad experience about kirk phatumanun - edknovate/smartkurve and lot of schools are knowing about him too!

absolute agree with this complaint - and this is i think only the top of the ice peak! kirk should change the name of his agency in "lies & co.ltd."

To jbellbloom, I also agree with your position. As a somewhat "outsider looking in" I too have a little bit of input on this guy Kirk and the need to for him to own up to his responsibilities and or pledges.
I was contacted by Edknovate while my own agency was holding rank at this school for the first semester in the spring of 2010. They (Edknovate), sent me a flurry of emails informing me that they would take hold of the school as the new agency for the second semester and that they'd like me to apply. So I agreed, was processed at "E's" office, and had to wait a little bit. Then I returned for a second meeting/slash interview only upon my arrival on the day of the interview, the office was closed and could not reach anyone at "E". This made me a little bit irritated as both of us (myself and E) had made an arranged appointment and the employerrr failed to meet that arrangement. I informed the office upon return that no one showed up at the office and that I should have been contacted if there were any changes that apparently had to be made on the employer's part.
So, ..nonetheless a new interview/demonstration was arranged and met this time, and upon conclusion of that interview, (and here's the most important information) was informed that E had officially secured the contract at the school, and thus E was going to be able to implement their own shift of foreign teachers for the new semester (which included me).
So to recap upon this second interview I was assured that:
1. Edknovate had won the contract
and
2. I would be returning to the school and would still retain a position as a teacher.

So, ..after that interview, I was not expected to be back at the school for another two weeks or so so I left it at that.
So a little bit of time went by all the while I WAS aware of when the next semester started which was by now very soon. However, I had not received any communication from E nor got any confirmation message about when I was expected to show up at the school for the new term.
So, ...here it is:
I contact E the Friday before school starts - no response through their phone
I then called Saturday and was reached by someone who didn't have any information about my apparent matter. Then I contact Kirk on Monday to no reply.
So now finally what happens the VERY night before school starts?
Well, it was getting late but luckily I decided to check my emails before shutting down my computer for that anticipated "night's sleep before the first day of school".
I then look at my inbox and notice a very sneaky newly arrived email from Kirk informing me that I will not be given a position at the school I was promised to be at. (Again, regardless of my apparent attempts to contact E many days before thus so I at least knew I was in the loop, I get contacted at the last minute to basically now tell me that I don't have a job after all. (After I read the email I was like "Gee thanks for telling me right at the inconvenient last minute").
So then, Kirk promises me to just sit tight and another arrangement will be made...

That was the last time I ever heard from this guy and apparently he felt the need to unleash a bold faced lie to lift my already somewhat shattered expectations with promises of a new position, but was never assisted by him in getting locked into another job.
Case in point? I went more than halfway with this guy for months in regards to getting set up for what I thought was going to be "a fresh start with a fresh agency". In the end how was I rewarded? Nothing.
In addition to my case, there was another teacher that was promised a German teaching job and who was also dealt the same card that I was in regards to what he received (which again was nothing).
I also have further testimony to back up what Ben has stated in that according to a source, this guy Kirk has:

1. apparently cheated people out of their appropriate earnings that they the teachers worked hard for (or not paying them at all in some cases)
2. sent obscene texts through his phone to the other foreign teachers as I guess he sees as an appropriate response/solution to solving certain problems that have arisen in the new semester
3. HAS in fact made some threats towards certain employees ( a most inappropriate course of action to take by a so called "employer")
4. failed to assist a teacher in renewing their work permit in a timely manner and by the time Kirk decided to go to immigration to renew for the teacher, it was too late and thus the work permit was rendered void and is now no longer valid. (a substantial loss)
5. Finally (and in a most unfair motion I might add), inducted a family member to evaluate the foreign teaching staff at the school.
Tell me, could this last one be any more bias? Employing one's own family member to conduct teacher evaluations? Now let's see, who is Kirk going to undoubtedly believe in the end? Someone he holds kinship to or someone without? Wouldn't the evaluation be a little one sided as far as final confirmation after reviewing an evaluation that was just completed by someone you were close to?
* I also agree with you jbellbloom in that it is very unprofessional and incredibly inappropriate for Edknovate to be dishing out this guy's personal information. (I in theory could do the same to "E" but am far more professional and respectful than Kirk is).
What's even more shocking is the double standard theory that Kirk followed. Before the beginning of the term, he stated that quote "I don't take a confrontational stance on things and listen to people's problems ".
(Past supporting evidence proves otherwise buddy).

Anyways, alls bad ends bad and I hear that virtually every teacher that is currently there now at this particular school is most likely set to resign after the completion of this semester (which is very soon).
I also pledge (as Ben did), and officially affirm to the viewers reading this:

"Guys, I cautiously urge all possibly desired/soon to be hired Edknovate teachers to strongly rethink your ambitions about working for this company. After everything I've seen and heard, this is one misfit "organization" (or lack thereof) to avoid at all costs."

(I also genuinely hope that Edknovate loses their contract at the school because after all the damage they've done, they have not earned another go with this particular educational institution).

Even if, the employee can leave within their probationary time (just as the employer can fire them without notice too).
Why are you giving out his email and picture?
I have no dog in this fight, but you (Edknovate) have come across as the unprofessional one, even if the situation was different. Also why haven't you defended the claim that you threatned him, seems like casual deflection to me.

hmm...