International Volunteer HQ [IVHQ]
reviews and complaints

IVHQ is untrustworthy and unethical (They seem willing to concoct their own truth.)

I explained my special circumstances to the IVHQ Program Director over and over: I had to have a special Visa because I had already spent all the visitor days Colombia allowed as a tourist in the calendar year. "Sure, " she casually responded, "no problem!"

I consulted a Colombian lawyer to be on the safe side. He told straight away the PIP 6 Visa IVHQ promised would not work. They had not taken into account my special circumstances.

I told that to the IVHQ Program Director. She implied IVHQ knew what it was doing and understood immigration law. Then she requested I send a $299+ deposit (US) so that IVHQ would hold my place. On a wing and a prayer I foolishly sent the deposit. It was out of desperation, Then, they asked the rest almost immediately. Fortunately, by that time I was wise enough not to jeopardize myself a second time.

Later, I tried to get a return on my $299+ ‘non-refundable, ' deposit on the grounds I had been falsely informed. I didn't really expect anything. However, that very same day they sent me a promise of reimbursement and a receipt with an authorization number and a deposit the $299+ back to my credit card, I was both dumbfounded and ecstatic. They said the money might take ten working days to appear in my account. It has now been much longer than that. Still no money.

It doesn't help much to speculate…did IVHQ behave as it did because it's on its last legs and was willing to drag me-or anyone dumb enough to trust-down with it? Is it just plain inefficient? In any case, anyone considering doing business with IVHQ be forewarned: These folks are a good deal more shady than they appear at first glance. Be careful.

Don’t volunteer with ivhq! We were taken in by their slick website and lists of testimonials but the truth is these people are only interested in your money. If you have a disruption in your plans or need to cancel for some reason you can kiss your cash good-bye. They informed us 2 weeks before we were scheduled to arrive conditions at the volunteer house where we would be accommodated might be "unhealthy". They told us we could upgrade the accommodation for an additional $220 us. This was after we had paid them the balance of the $550 us they requested we pay them to volunteer for a week. We had previously submitted health information (Requested by them) outlining special health requirements so they were well aware of that before we submitted our balance payment. The condition at the volunteer house forced my friend to cancel. My friend and I wanted to volunteer together. They also knew that. When we both asked for a full refund and they refused stating we were not within their 60 day guideline for cancellation despite the fact they gave us only a 2 week notice of the situation at the house. Ivhq could not justify a reason for withholding a refund (They said it was for “preparation for arrival” which is total bs). To add to that my friend wanted to teach spanish and they told her she couldn’t volunteer in that role unless she took 2 courses from them at a price of over $400 us. Her parents are from peru and she speaks fluent spanish. We have both volunteered around the world and are over qualified for this kind of service. Bottom line is: ivhq has no interest in your volunteer passion. They are business not a charity and they only want your money.

I just found out this page so sorry for such a late complaint. What I want to describe is my trip to cambodia with ivhq (International volunteer hq) back in 2012. I applied for childcare program (I had some experience) and happily went to phnom penh. It was there where we had so called "orientation day" and a sort of training. Sort of, because what we were told was where the great beaches are and whether there is a risk of dengue fever or not. Then we were told that most of us are going to teach english - I was surprised about that because I didn't apply for that and my experience in teaching english was zero. Nevertheless, being optimistic I thought “if this is what is needed, then I will do my best”. Then they informed us about our placements - some of us were to go to siem reap, some to the country side... And then it has begun. Some volunteers requested they wanted to change destination, because they preferred phnom penh or country side or - what's even more absurd - join other volunteer because (Quote) “we get on so well and already became friends". Imagine my surprise, when it turned out that there was absolutely no problem in changing the program just before departing to other city! The whole thing about sending cvs and matching organisation with volunteer's skills turned out to be a joke.
So there I was, teaching english in cofco orphanage in siem reap. Wonderful, fulfilling, rewarding experience. So great, that I decided to come back there 6 months later, this time on my own. It was then when I started noticing that there was something deeply wrong about this orphanage. Most of the children were gone, the furniture, books, everything was gone. Even children's clothes - for next few weeks the children wore the same clothes every single day. What is more, almost every day me and other volunteers (Ivhq) would come to the orphanage to see that the children were not there, because they were taken to the market to give performances - almost every day, during english classes. So we were there alone - 6 ivhq volunteers plus me and few toddlers, left without any assistance. I started investigating this orphanage and it easily (!) turned out that it was the worst orphanage in the whole region. Other organisations tried several times to shut it down, but due to the fact that the owner had friends in the ministry, it was impossible. Why ivhq kept sending there volunteers and claimed it had no idea about this case? I'm afraid that there is one answer: money.
I tried to talk to other ivhq volunteers about everything I found out and about changes I noticed since my return. They didn't even want to listen. They were so convinced that what they were doing was best, that they would even say things like"if this lady runs an orphanage she must be a good person".
My point is that organisations like ivhq fail to give their volunteers information about how the placements should look like and what should be reported immediately. Most of volunteers who choose organizations like ivhq trust, that they will be placed in a proper, recognized, well-run organizations - this is what they pay for, isn't it? Unfortunately it does not work this way. What's more, most of volunteers who are unaware of how these institutions should look like, are happy to send positive feedback. They just have no clue that what they are witnessing is deeply wrong. Please note that it was back in 2012 – before the unicef reports, al jazeera documentary and the whole interest in orphanages in cambodia. Anyway I still blame myself for being so naïve to choose such a bad volunteer trip and still blame ivhq for cooperation with such orphanage scams.
Some people who defend voluntourism claim that it has a great impact on volunteers because when they return home, they get involved in more campaigns or come up with their own. Well this is me. Congratulations ivhq – thanks to you I am running one of the first campaigns in my country against irresponsible voluntourism and projects like some of yours!

I am extremely disappointed in IVHQ. I paid $292 for a service that I cancelled within 48 hours. Their website said it's refundable with zero mention of restrictions, etc. Buried on a different webpage are the terms that state only refundable if service is more than 60 days out. I complained that at least a high-level general communication of restrictions should be mentioned next to "refundable". Their response was too bad as you already clicked "Accept." It is sleazy especially for an organization that is for a good cause to communicate so poorly and basically scam a college student. The manager, Chelsea Green said that what they did is legal in New Zealand, I live in the United States and this is an international program! I am very disappointed as this is unethical behavior.