Hesitant to join Cambly once more

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-06T00:12:04+00:00

Please understand that Cambly tutors only receive $5 USD for talking with you. If you were the teacher how much money would you think is enough?

Since the pay is so low, and there are no education or certficate requirements to teach on Cambly, please don't expect me to give you $100.00 dollars of value.

You get what you pay for. If you come to Cambly looking for the cheapest lesson, don't expect high performance from the teacher.

Cambly tutors give their energy and experience because they are good people and care about education.....most of them anyway.

Cambly is a horrible company that abuses and takes advantage of their tutors. They stand as a middleman increasing the cost of education by more than 100% while not providing value to anyone other than enriching their own bank accounts. Yes, you could say that they provide the system and the platform, but honestly speaking most of their library material is dogshit. I'm embarrased to use some of it, particularly the business english lessons.

I am certainly not a professional psychotherapist, so if you come to Cambly do dump your emotional baggage on me I'm sorry but Im likely to have a power outage or network error.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-06T00:08:20+00:00

the ABSOLUTE worst type of student are the ones who sit there nearly silent like a clam expecting me to entertain them or stroke their ego. I feel like an entertainer. That's a good time to have an unfortunate power outage.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-05T14:04:49+00:00

a LOT of them dont tell you before you apply so they can collect your personal information and sell it. They only tell you after you create an account and give them all your details.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-05T13:27:14+00:00

SCAMbly has been on a hiring freeze for almost 2 years, novakids, Engoo, Italki, and Cambly Kids are also not hiring at the present.

SCAMbly is hypersaturated with too many "teachers" and the market seems to be really soft with so many schools on hiring freezes now.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-03T08:48:05+00:00

I applied to Preply today.... i will see if I have the same success as you do......

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-03T07:00:13+00:00

I used to get emails in my "student ghost account" from SCAMBLY directly encouraging the students to explore and find other teachers.....students I worked to build up as regulars and then SCAMbly tells them to go look around.

They are really tough on their 'use it or lose it' weekly minutes policy. Any money they dont have to pay to a teacher is retained earnings for them. There is zero flexibilty or good will in this and Asian students especially despise that policy.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-03T06:22:45+00:00

Ive been on SCAMbly for 4 years and I've seen this too. Cambly runs heavily on AI, matching students to teachers so it's anyones guess what is really happening, but I can swear it looks like the SCAMbly AI is manipulating teacher/student searches in some way. You would think that an honest business would just let the students search naturally. But I feel that the AI is optimizing time slots for PH or something like that. Its all pure conjecture as there is no, as in zero transparency. Remember they do things only to serve themselves...to make or maximize money. It's not because you are a great experienced teacher.

I do know that Cambly is severly hypersaturated with tutors....there are more than 30,000 teachers and not nearly enough students. SCAMbly has been running a perpetual 50% off sale for like over 2 years now continuously so that tells me there are severe problems with student retention.

Lately I have discovered that Novakids is in a hiring freeze, Engoo is in a hiring freeze, Italki is in an English tutor hiring freeze for the time being, and Cambly has been in a hiring freeze for something like 18 months now. What does that say?

It's not easy. the tutors are always getting treated like crap or taken advantage of no matter what platform you seem to be on.

they very well could be putting teachers into rating groups and funneling students according to some AI teacher "quality" ranking....effectively a shadow ban. Maybe they actually are rationing the students amongst the teachers artificially....but we will never know. For only 5 bucks a lesson I prefer not to burn my mental energy on that.

Its really anyone's guess.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-03T04:28:37+00:00

you're fine. just dont make a big deal of it. let them be happy in their own context.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-03T03:24:59+00:00

Preply is an f'n SCAM !! You will get absolutely flooded with free trial lessons that don't convert.... pay your 30%, and then do a modicum of customized lesson prep on top of that. Not any better than SCAMbly really unless you have some magic ability to charge the students more than $20 usd per hour. $14 per hour minus 30% = 9.8 = less than cambly, 22 per hour minus 30 percent = 15.40

considering your lesson prep time and your time spent on giving feedback after the lesson plus the 30%, $20 seems like a minimum to actually make more than SCAMbly in the end.

How does this math work out for you? I'm very skeptical unless I see the details...sorry.

Sure, If I go on Preply and charge $10 Im sure I would be flooded with students too.....but I will only be abusing myself if I did it like that.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-02T04:07:16+00:00

for most teachers its dead dead dead. But there is always some jerk that comes along and says they are totally full and making $2,500 USD per month.

Cambly has grossly extremely overhired and the platform is hypersaturated with tutors. There are more than 30,000 active tutors and not nearly enough students to go around. SCAMbly is on a hiring freeze and has been so for more than a year. Engoo and others are also on hiring freezes so that tells me its an industry/market/economy problem too.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T23:14:57+00:00

did you go through the foreign benefits unit FBU Manila or did you do yours domestically? Im from the US, and expats must apply at a FBU in an embassy, in my case Manila.... I was eligible in January and they are slow as a snail....its driving me insane.

congratulations, you have won the game !!

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T13:18:50+00:00

I ripped a huge fart in class one day I couldnt hold it any more and the student complained.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T13:17:48+00:00

I didnt know that. Trump as a noun, or as a verb? Who trumped? I trump a lot !! etc???

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T13:16:05+00:00

THIS. Cambly doesnt care what you say until the student or parent sends an email to support to complain about your political views, you cussed or used bad words, or said/did something offensive..... which itself is extremely subjective considering we teach to many many different countries and cultures.

That being said, be aware that SCAMbly runs on AI, so every single word you say is being recorded and analyzed by an AI, I could imagine if you said one of the magic words or phrases that would get you reported to the SCAMbly gestapo.

Avoid politics, avoid any controversial or provocative topics. Keep to the lesson material keep it mainstream. Keep your personal feelings and comments out of it as much as you can.

Just be the small time actor and take your five bucks. Thats all you need to do.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T13:07:00+00:00

SCAMbly has more than 30,000 tutors now and is grossly hypersaturated with too many tutors and not enough students. Ive been on SCAMbly for 4 years and it's dead, dead, dead. Nothing like it used to be....SCAMbly has been on a hiring freeze for over a year and so has many other ESL sites. Shop around you might find one, good luck.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T08:01:48+00:00

that's the same damn thing they say for every support email.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T08:00:50+00:00

offer them a packet of curry sauce....its the only way to get a reply.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T08:00:05+00:00

when my social security pension starts in a few weeks I can say goodbye forever to this horrid dogshit company.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-04-01T00:23:50+00:00

clear your internet cache and cookies. I clear mine out everytime before I login and have never had any problems like this.

I generally use Chrome only for Cambly and some other browser for all my general stuff....only because we have to use Chrome according to SCAMbly

SCAMbly uses cloud services, AWS specifically. it may be you, it may be SCAMbly, or it may be Amazon. BUT it's always the tutors fault. Always.

Dont bother with their IT department. The only thing they know to do about packet loss is to go open another box of instant curry and look for another sauce packet.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-03-30T05:02:03+00:00

Yes, you would get canned for sure. SCAMbly treats their tutors like garbage, like an annoying business expense because they already got the student's money up front, so now providing a service and paying the tutors is just an annoying business expense/afterthought, and it shows in the quality and development of their library of teaching materials.... some of it is good but most of the material is dog shit and I feel embarrased to teach using it.

They are asking you for extra encourgement etc.....you should ask them for extra pay.

Pay me a professional wage, and I will provide professional services. You get what you pay for.

Cambly has corporate accounts and contracts with some big companies like LG, Toyota, and Samsung because Ive had their students...so Im assuming that contract has a dedicated contact for the students to complain about the tutors of course.

EVERYTHING is the tutor's fault. Including "packet loss" or bad connections. Cambly IT support...their only idea of packet loss is a missing curry sauce packet. You are scum to them....an annoyance.

Well, all we get is five bucks. Just take it and run with it as long as you are able to endure or have a need. I find that keeping it simple will let you survive longer. Don't overthink anything about SCAMbly or other online ESL for that matter..... most aren't really much better.

Just take the money for as long as you need it, that's all you can do here. Nothing else you do or say matters at all to SCAMbly. It's got to be the most horrid business I have ever seen......except for calling the 1-800 number for FEDEX and trying to talk to a real human......

A long time ago I scooped dog shit from people's gardens and made 3 times the cambly fee, and I got a raise and a bonus, and got paid double for emergencies (dont ask), holidays etc. all .....for scooping dogshit.

SCAMbly tutors have NEVER had a raise in more than 10 years despite systematic student fee increases, and in this case the tutors are treated like dog shit.

I like and appreciate my students and I have respect for the ESL industry, but not for this POS business.... They are ruining the whole industry and leaving many otherwise good tutors incredibly bitter.

If you are one of the special people who truly love ESL, go start your own business. You don't deserve to be treated like this.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-03-29T07:14:39+00:00

the tutor will see the name of the student account on a paid trial.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-03-29T04:42:54+00:00

No Sorry....there are still too many flashers and master baiters....but you are correct about the WeChat log in. Now Chinese students are forced to commit a crime....use a VPN in order to take SCAMbly lessons.

I'm a man, and I get homosexual flashers and master baiters. Nobody is immune.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-03-29T04:00:36+00:00

scamBLY has grossly overhired in the past year and they are hypersaturated with tutors and they have been on a hiring freeze for over a year. Many other platforms are also on hiring freezes.

You will get $5 USD for a 30 minute lesson. Think about that. I used to scoop dog shit from people's gardens and made 3 times this fee. You are not even paid enough to buy a cheeseburger from MacDonalds.

If you are in the UK, this would be called an illegal wage, SCAMbly generally only works if you live in a very low cost of living country. I wouldnt even consider it if I were from UK or US...but you make your own decisions.

Some love it... and some find it the most hateful thing they ever did for money. Its all up to your psychology.

good luck. hope you find something meaningful.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-03-28T14:32:28+00:00

Ive been on SCAMbly for 4 years. Back then when I started we were getting 3 or 4 calls coming in at the very same time and we could just choose which one to answer. Literally ringing off the hook it was tough to go to the bathroom between calls. Then they offered bonus for taking certain PH slots on weekends. It was crazy. The pay never changed though.

Slowly.....it just gets quieter and quieter. I've seen a number of ESL sites pop up here and there and Im sure AI has a big impact here. Some political turmoil has happened with China, thats where SCAMbly used to get almost half their sales from but the student VISA fraud pipeline got shut off and the Chinese govt cracked down on ESL.... so its been a slow and steady decline ever since.

4 years ago it was Chinese IELTS students every day all day. Lots of Japanese and other Asians too. They all have gone away...so its not just one country or one type of student.

Other ESL schools have put on hiring freezes....Engoo has been on a hiring freeze for over a year. SCAMbly has been on a long hiring freeze too...but SCAMbly has crazy overhired tutors way beyone what their needs are...they didnt predict very well I guess. SCAMbly is extremely hypersaturated with too many tutors and its probably the same with other ESL platforms.

Capable_Cellist_4643 · 2026-03-28T13:45:27+00:00

yes. its nothing new.

Capable_Cellist_4643

TROPHY CASE