However, Hu Ge should be lucky that he did not renew his endorsement contract with EF, otherwise he would be in big trouble now. How to get a refund has become the most hotly discussed issue among EF students. Solitaire messages in the group keep flashing one after another.

Every reporter: Ding Zhouyang, Du Wei

[Hu Ge When he first endorsed EF Education , EF's career was at its peak. However, Hu Ge should be lucky that he did not renew his endorsement contract with EF, otherwise he would be in big trouble now. 】

How to get a refund has become the most heated discussion among EF students. The solitaire messages in the group keep flashing one after another.

Recently, EF Education First (hereinafter referred to as "EF") will close its offline adult campuses in Xi'an, Wuhan, Suzhou , Xuzhou , Chengdu, Wuxi and other places except the first-tier cities of "Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen" The news spread. On the eve of the closure of the EF campus, Liu Siming, who still had a indwelling needle on the back of his hand, stopped infusion for a day and rushed to the campus in a hurry.

"I have a loan of more than 30,000 yuan and I don't dare to tell my parents." Liu Siming told the Daily Economic News reporter (hereinafter referred to as "Economic Reporter").

For students like Liu Siming who are "paying in installments", although offline stores are about to close and refunds cannot be made smoothly, they still have to continue to repay on time every month, otherwise they will have to pay late fees and their personal credit will also be affected. . The so-called "instalment payment" that EF staff initially persuaded them to use was not actually a monthly installment payment of tuition fees to the school, but a loan signed with a third-party financial institution.

When a student, Lu Yue, revealed that she was single in an exchange with an EF salesperson, the other person immediately said that her fiancé was introduced through a student, "Maybe you can also find a boyfriend here."

In the past, EF after-school tutors said that whether they were elderly people who wanted to relieve their loneliness, young people who wanted to go on a blind date, or students who wanted to pass the college English test and obtain a degree certificate, EF could satisfy them. "A good place to meet high-net-worth individuals" "Maybe you can find a boyfriend here" "Don't you want to be a 'single'? Your blind date class is here"... Through these words of the after-school tutor, it seems that An institution focusing on high-end adult English suddenly transformed into a dating club.

Reporters visited

Photo source: Photographed by reporter Du Wei

With its core geographical location and high-end property buildings, opening the door of the EF campus, the hardware facilities are all the same as before, with "2022Beijing Winter Olympics" displayed at the front desk and in the tea room. " language training service provider" brand, and Liu Siming's goodwill in Liu Siming's heart for this education and training institution, which has the aura of being the leader in the industry, has fallen to the bottom.

Every reporter found out that this large education and training group, which has been in China for more than 20 years and can be said to be the originator of "adult English education", has fallen into operating difficulties. In addition to EF, why are adult English teaching and training institutions including Web, Wall Street English, etc. so popular? What are the internal worries hiding behind the English gold rush?

training turns into a blind date?

After-school tutor recommended blind date class

Lili couldn’t believe it when she heard that EF’s offline campus was about to close. After strong lobbying from the EF PM (after-school tutoring) teacher, she continued to pay the offline course fee for another school year. At that time, the EF teacher did not mention the news that her campus would be permanently closed in a week.

Faced with Lili, who had a low initial academic qualification and a monthly salary of less than 3,000 yuan, Teacher PM once outlined a beautiful blueprint for her "I am excellent in English and have a high salary". For 6 hours, Teacher PM kept making a cheering gesture with her right hand clenching her fist to give Lili a boost: "We want to learn English well, so let's learn and do it! Sign up now and act now!"

"I was really confused in the middle. I got tired of being forced and wanted to go out for a breather, so their team leader went out with me and stood outside to continue chatting with me, for fear that I would leave," Lili recalled. During the communication between

and Lu Yue, an EF PM teacher keenly caught the information that Lu Yue revealed that she was single and wanted to make friends, so the conversation changed and the salesperson said that this high-end adult English training place immediately became A great place to meet high net worth individuals. “The salesperson said that her fiancé was introduced through a student, and maybe I can find a boyfriend here too."

An EF PM teacher posted an "EF Dating Class" WeChat Moment in March this year - "Don't you want to be a 'single dog'? Your blind date class is here! Single friends (both male and female) can meet potential partners at school! "

Screenshot of EF PM teacher's circle of friends

Picture source: obtained by reporter's investigation

In the group of EF refund students in different cities across the country, reporters found that the age span of the students ranged from "post-00s" to "post-60s" No matter. The adult English training run by EF is not exam-oriented training, but according to PM teacher, whether it is an elderly person who wants to relieve loneliness, a young person who wants to go on a blind date, or someone who wants to pass the college English exam and get a degree certificate. EF can satisfy all school students.

"It's hard to understand. "A "veteran" who has been in the education and training industry for 17 years fell silent after hearing the above-mentioned "routines" encountered by students when registering at EF.

was born in Sweden . The 57-year-old EF was in its heyday. It has opened 600 schools and offices in 120 countries around the world, employing more than 52,000 employees and teachers. It entered the Chinese market in 1994, but within a month, half of its stores were closed. "There are currently 16 offline centers. This time The business transformation involves 8 centers in 6 cities. "Relevant personnel from EF told this reporter. "EF has not introduced any external capital and has been controlled by the Holt family since its establishment. "

As for whether the remaining offline centers will be closed one after another, EF did not reply. When reporters asked for interviews with EF executives in China, EF said: "The relevant personnel structure is being adjusted. At present, Unable to arrange at the moment. "

Liu Siming, who has never passed the Level 3 exam, complained to the relevant local authorities. He believed that EF, which was not engaged in adult exam-oriented education, urged him to sign up even though it knew clearly that he wanted to take the degree English exam. This was false propaganda. . Later, the solution EF gave him was to "give away class hours".

In the common understanding of a large number of EF students, these PM teachers who claim to be students' course planning, tutoring, and problem solving are essentially all Sales staff, who use sales performance as their core indicator, have high staff turnover and varying levels of skills. “I advise you to call me good when you sign up, but ignore you after you sign up. "

Last year, an EF PM teacher in Beijing couldn't continue his job due to too much sales pressure. "We not only have to tutor students in learning, but also ask students to recommend new students for secondary sales. As a result, students are not even willing to come for tutoring. . Vicious cycle. "

Installment payment?

is actually a loan signed with a financial institution.

Offline stores are about to close. "Instalment payment" students who are unwilling to switch to online classes and cannot get a smooth refund found that no matter whether the negotiation with EF can be properly To solve the problem, they must continue to repay the loan on time every month, otherwise they will have to pay late fees, which will also affect their personal credit. The so-called "installment payment" that EF staff originally advised them to use was not paid to the school every month. Instead of the installment payment, it was a loan signed with a third-party financial institution.

“I carried a loan of more than 30,000 yuan and didn’t dare to tell my parents. Liu Siming told reporters that in 2019, Liu Siming, who had not yet graduated, signed up for EF without telling his family. When he expressed that the tuition fee of more than 30,000 yuan was too expensive, EF staff suggested that he could "pay in installments" and pay 5,000 yuan first. 1,000 yuan in cash and the rest using the financial APP "Du Xiaoman" to repay an "interest-free loan" of more than 1,000 yuan every month for 24 months.

Every reporter learned from two people familiar with the matter from a financial institution and an educational institution that EF The Du Xiaoman "tuition loan" used by students is not really interest-free, but the educational institution packages the interest in the total cost. Several students said that they did not learn about the installment "tuition fund" provided by EF until they bought a house or a car. "It's actually a small loan.

"There must be interest. EF has installment prices and one-time prices. For one-time payment, I will tell you the tuition is 30,999 yuan. If you pay in installments, I will quote 33,999 yuan. The 3,000 yuan in between is the interest. "An EF staff member revealed.

htmlLili, whose monthly income is less than 3,000 yuan, was persuaded by EF staff to pay her tuition twice using "installments", with a monthly repayment of 2,100 yuan."When I made it clear that my monthly income was only 2,700-2,800 yuan, and it was too much of a burden to pay off more than 2,000 yuan to repay the 'training loan,' the staff said that I should be willing to invest in myself when I was young. Investing in yourself is investing in the future." Lili told Every time a reporter told reporters, EF staff took her mobile phone to help her apply for a loan. What were the specific terms of these agreements? What are the risks of using microloans? Lili was confused.

Reporter visited the site

Picture source: Photo by Daily reporter Du Wei

"From the perspective of the case, this is an illegal sales method, and issues such as interest rates need to be clarified." Director of the Financial Technology Research Office of the Institute of Finance, Academy of Social Sciences Yin Zhentao said in an interview with every reporter that EF also has problems with marketing rhetoric and other aspects of internal management.

In response to the above payment method and service issues, EF responded to every reporter: "If students choose the loan method, they will independently apply to a third-party financial institution with corresponding qualifications."

"EF has always strictly adhered to the Local laws and regulations require course consultants to help students fully read and understand the terms and details of the contract before purchasing the course, and sign for confirmation. We adopt a 'zero tolerance' attitude towards any behavior that violates the company's principle of integrity and will deal with it seriously Irregularities that occurred during the specific implementation process," EF said.

Not only EF, Wall Street English, Web Education and other adult English training institutions have actively cooperated with financial institutions to expand their performance and provide "training loans" to students. When the capital chain of Web Education was broken, financial risks highlight. Yu Baicheng, president of

01 Research Institute, said in an interview with every reporter that as a new consumption field, education consumption has grown rapidly in recent years. Adult training is for career development, and repayment after skills education is The abilities are all good, and it also lowers the threshold for individuals to continue learning, so the whole scene is good. But the problem is that when an educational institution suffers from poor management or even closes down, the students have already signed a loan agreement with the financial company and have to continue to repay the money.

"When educational institutions recommend installment payment services, if they do not clearly inform students that this is a loan at the first time, there will be inducement. For example, the educational institutions need to clearly inform students of the interest rate, rather than generally saying that they will repay it in one month. "A few hundred yuan", Yu Baicheng believes that financial institutions also have the responsibility to monitor the loan process provided by partners.

Du Xiaoman and China Merchants Financial , which previously cooperated with EF, told reporters that they have terminated their cooperation with EF and other educational institutions.

Yin Zhentao believes that financial institutions should also assume the supervision responsibility when cooperative institutions promote loan products. "When choosing a partner agency, you must first be cautious and have certain constraints on the partner's qualification requirements, daily management, cooperation specifications, and the responsibilities and rights between the two parties."

is anxious about refunds!

Offline classes are forced to be transferred online?

If you don’t want to switch online, then refund the tuition fees, so that you can have a “tuition loan” to repay the money to a third-party financial platform. This is a common thought among many students, but the refund process is extremely difficult.

Nina, a veteran student of EF, told reporters that she proposed a refund on April 2, but as of May 18, she had not received any feedback from EF. Huang Yu, who has no offline classes since April, has been in a stalemate with EF for nearly a month over the issue of refunds.

When reporters checked Black Cat Complaints , they found that as of 16:00 on May 9, EF Education First had received nearly 13,000 valid complaints in 24 hours, with a total of more than 8.73 million valid complaints. Among the recent complaints, most of the refunds are due to "forcibly switching offline classes to online classes".

In response to students’ feedback on the difficulty of refunding fees, EF responded to reporters in mid-May, saying, “Students who do not want to switch to online can make appeals, and we will handle them according to the specific circumstances.”

Student refunds In the midst of anxiety, loopholes in EF's management were also exposed. Every reporter's investigation found that EF employees secretly operated the remaining courses of students and helped find "successors" to transfer courses privately.

"I have students who want to transfer courses, and I can arrange for you to negotiate the price." In late April, every time a reporter consulted EF employee Guo Jing as a registrant, in addition to the formal registration channels, Guo Jing took the initiative to offer a more "discount" plan, "Now is the time to harvest the wool. The 18-month course can be transferred from the hands of students for only 15,000 yuan. I will change everything to your information in front of you in the background, and can help you Transfer to Beijing, Shanghai and other campuses that currently have offline classes to study."

"If you are worried that if you transfer the money to him, he will block you, you can transfer it to me first." Every reporter learned that normally To sign up for EF's offline courses in Beijing and Shanghai, you need to pay nearly 34,000 yuan for 12 months, but private transfers are prohibited in the EF contract. What if EF discovers that I have transferred classes illegally and is suspended? Guo Jing said, "This is EF's default operation, and the company also wants to make money."

Other EF sales staff also informed applicants that they could operate private transfers between students under their cover. Is this the employee's personal behavior, or is it an unspoken rule tacitly accepted by the company?

"The company will never make such acquiescence, nor will it allow employees to do this." EF denied the above-mentioned "unspoken rules for private transfers" to reporters, and stated that this behavior is strictly prohibited in the company and will be Conduct an internal investigation into the situation reported by the reporter.

English craze:

once set off a gold rush for training

There was a whirlwind of "English craze" in China, and the faces in the storm are still vivid in my mind.

In the 1990s, the economy accelerated and the times surged. With the deepening of reform, a large number of foreign companies have sprouted in China. If you master English and join a foreign company, your salary will double instantly. The sudden release of "Beijingers in New York" also caused a sensation at the time. You can travel across the ocean and get rich on the spot. At that time, mastering English represented a new way of living, and it also meant that you would be able to leap over the dragon's gate from now on.

"Come is Come, go is Go, nod Yes, shake No..." Zhao Lirong used the Tangshan accent to read the English learning jingle in the 1999 CCTV Spring Festival Gala skit " Veteran Comes Out ", which made everyone understand While making my heart smile, it also marked the beginning of English's sudden development from a simple communication tool into a cultural phenomenon affecting hundreds of millions of people. China has truly entered the era of "National English Fever".

However, at this time, the Chinese people's English foundation was weak, and the listening and speaking skills that were difficult to learn from books became a stumbling block for Chinese people to learn English. Due to the strong demand, domestic and foreign English training institutions tapped into the Chinese market.

Before, there was Yu Minhong who resigned from Peking University and founded New Oriental ; later there was " Crazy English " Li Yang raised the microphone and shouted to the dark crowd, "Learn English well and you can make money"; a long-established foreign-funded educational institution EF, Web Education, and Wall Street English took advantage of the trend to enter China.

Yu Minhong, founder of New Oriental

Picture source Visual China-VCG111221239345

"In 1993, when EF first entered Shanghai, many universities purchased its courses." A teacher from a Shanghai university told the reporter, "At that time, domestically we saw foreign companies People find it strange that EF has obvious advantages in foreign teacher resources.”

68-year-old Yang is sitting in the back row of the New Oriental Children's English Training Classroom, reading banana and apple with his 5-year-old grandson. Taxi driver Meng Han turned on the radio to listen to "Taxi English" and practiced speaking while driving; in Quanjude, the hotel manager set up a whiteboard in the private room to teach the waiters to read "Here's the menu"... On the eve of the opening of the Beijing Olympics, Singapore director Parker's documentary "Crazy about English" captured the peak of the above-mentioned national English learning craze, and this was also the last English craze in China. [1]

The changing status of English in China is the epitome of New China’s transformation from poverty and setbacks to openness and prosperity. [2] New Oriental sweating profusely in the classroom during the summer vacation, and Jay Chou on the repeater, and the English teacher standing at the door of the classroom with a bulky tape recorder, all remain in the memory as those born in the 80s and 90s transitioned from youth to parenthood.

The rise of the country and the popularity of the Internet are changing people's mentality.The curiosity about the English-speaking world at that time has faded as China's national power has increased and the English proficiency of the new generation of young people has improved. Going abroad has become more and more common. Li Yang's voice is getting louder and louder, but his propaganda is already "poor foreigners can't speak Chinese." [3]

Crazy English founder Li Yang

Picture source: Visual China-VCG11469121519

Where to go?

"English Gold Rush" fades

Can the transformation of be successful?

“People no longer mythologize ‘learning English well’ as they did many years ago, or think it is so advanced.” In late May this year, a senior person in the English teaching and training industry analyzed to every reporter.

The "English gold rush" has faded. In the past 22 years, adult English has also turned from prosperity to decline, and the former giants have fallen one after another. Web English , which was founded in Shanghai in 1998 and had 154 training centers in more than 60 cities at its peak, ceased operations in October 2019 due to "broken capital chain"; it was established in 1972, headquartered in Italy, and entered the market in 2000 Wall Street English in the Chinese market declared bankruptcy in August 2021; at that time, EF also stated that it could accept Wall Street English students. But in just 8 months, EF also experienced a fatal "crisis".

In public memory, EF’s brand image was highly associated with Hu Ge, an entertainment star who loved learning and reading. Whenever reporters ask students why they choose EF, many blurt out: "Because Hu Ge endorses it."

According to EF Education First’s public information, Hu Ge is an “old friend” of EF. In 2016, Hu Ge became the adult English spokesperson of EF Education First. In EF’s promotional video, Hu Ge travels through different scenes such as the workplace, travel, and social life, exploring the world in English. In October 2020, EF announced that it would once again join hands with Hu Ge to serve as its brand spokesperson and "learning officer". As recently as February 2021, EF was still releasing a promotional video shot by Hu Ge.

Picture source: EF Education First’s official WeChat public account

“From a student of EF to an employee, I had the most glorious time in my life at EF.” In April this year, an EF employee described it affectionately in the circle of friends EF gave her "the feeling of victory for the first time." "But the sudden changes are really beyond our control." She said that EF was in a difficult moment. "She held back tears again and again to communicate patiently with each student."

According to an EF insider, EF closed offline The campus is to "stop losses in time". "The cost of teachers and venues is high. Students who buy a course worth 30,000 yuan will ultimately earn very little money from their boss. Our center's monthly (revenue) is only 2 million yuan."

In the opinion of the above-mentioned senior person EF's business model is essentially a "strong sales model". It is similar to the gyms of the past. It constantly encourages members to apply for annual passes and allows new users to continue to increase. This is the key to supporting it in rolling the snowball. At present, on the one hand, the demand side is calm, on the other hand, the supply side is rich and diversified, coupled with the impact of the epidemic on offline stores, the high adult English tuition fees that are not for exams are the first non-rigid needs to be cut off. Due to multiple factors, the impact on EF is huge.

Management loopholes such as "false propaganda," "inducing tuition loans," and "chaotic private transfers" that students generally reported were exposed when the company's growth slowed down. Regarding the above-mentioned issues reported by students, reporters sent detailed interview questions to EF. EF did not reply directly: "Since 2012, we have established a national unified customer service center to handle and resolve students' opinions and complaints." "Our commitment to the Chinese market has always remained unchanged. EF's adult English business will be through We will continue to upgrade our products and services through resource integration and technological innovation."

has reduced offline costs and switched to an online model. Can EF successfully transform? Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the China Academy of Educational Sciences, believes that many adult English training institutions have adopted online models, and there are many that are effective. However, offline and online are two different ways of playing, and the learning needs of adults are also very segmented. There is still uncertainty whether EF, which is strong in offline, has the genes to successfully switch to online.

(At the request of the interviewee, the following characters in the article are pseudonyms: students Liu Siming, Lili, Lu Yue, Nina, Huang Yu, and EF employee Guo Jing)

Journalist’s Notes | English fever, postgraduate entrance examination fever, fitness fever... Behind the trend is the desire to seek change.

The commercial success of Wenquxing, Repeater, and New Oriental are all the best footnotes of the English craze. Compared with these highly "utilitarian" English learning, the attitude of EF's "language and culture" communicators looks more "white-collar" and more advanced.

In 2017, former spokesperson Hu Ge gave a speech "Unbounded Dreamers" at an EF event. With shooting stars twinkling in the blue background, Hu Ge said in fluent English: "I will continue to work hard in my future journeys and studies. to explore different cultures."

Learn languages ​​with an open mind and face the world. There is no problem with what Hu Ge said. Even now that the environment at home and abroad has changed a lot, the demand for English learning still exists. Just like some gyms are struggling, it still does not affect many people who desire health and beauty to continue to resort to fitness. However, if the high-priced gyms they often go to have degraded services and have to close offline stores, why would they still Do you have to pay the same amount to take online fitness classes? There are so many fitness bloggers teaching classes online, wouldn’t it be great to practice with Liu Genghong? A similar phenomenon may be something that EF also needs to consider.

References References

[1] A Singaporean director filmed a documentary about Chinese people "crazy" learning English. China Youth Daily

[2] I am crazy about English: From struggle needs to national enthusiasm. Fan Tongdai Boss

[3] What are we learning when we learn English: English has been hot for thirty years. Southern Weekend

reporter | Ding Zhouyang Du Wei

editor | Yi Qijiang

vision | Liu Qingyan

video editor | Zhu Xingyun

typesetting | Yi Qijiang

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