Ho fissato per due volte la lezione di prova, in entrambi i casi i docenti o tutor che dir si voglia non si sono presentati. Se si offre un plus rispetto alla concorrenza, questo non è certo un bel modo di presentarsi. Sono passata ad un altro servizio.
CR
CR
Is this the beginning of the end for Cambly?
⁸My experience with Cambly has significantly deteriorated over time.
The pay has always been unacceptably low — in many cases falling below minimum wage standards in numerous countries (around 10 USD per hour) This raises serious concerns about fair compensation, and whether Cambly are actually even operating legally.
Cambly also operate a late cancellations/no show policy that definitely does not work in favour of the tutors, only paying us around 1.70-2 USD in the event of this happening, with teachers typically losing 30 minutes of their time every time this occurs (and it's frequent). Students should pay the full lesson amount if they no show/late cancel, no question.
That being said students are generally pleasant and low-maintenance, and the work itself primarily involves casual conversation. However, this alone does not justify the poor pay structure.
In recent months, my once buoyant advance bookings from students have virtually disappeared, and the availability of priority hours (when teachers make themselves available to answer live calls from students) has declined sharply. This has made it far more difficult to secure consistent work.
Additionally, my own rating has dropped to 96% approval — still objectively high, yet noticeably lower than my previous consistent 99–100%. This decline has occurred without any change in my teaching method or approach.
Approximately a year ago, Cambly was a reasonable option for earning extra income despite its low pay. At present, however, it has become an unreliable and increasingly frustrating platform to work for, suggesting potential issues behind the scenes.
RE
Relbot
They pay their tutors too little money
They pay their tutors too little money. It was the case before Covid, and after a minimum 30% inflation in real cost of living in the majority of western countries - and 50%+ increase in other countries where their tutors live - they still haven't increased tutor pay.
TD
Thomas D.
Needs to comply with workers rights
The company is taking massive cut of student fees.
They pay per second of active tuition in front of a camera which records all the data at sub minimum wage levels.
They offer "priority hours" during busy times but require you to be available for a whole hour while only "guaranteeing 15 minutes", which is often filled by regular students who choose to book in that time - so it's the same as teaching your own regulars.
They also mis-sell their conversational tutors to students as professional tuition leading to upset students if you don't give top-tier tuition while being paid less than any other school out there.
That said, if you desperately need quick income, it is a relatively easy way to get started with earnings topping out at about $400 per 50 hours of work
CJ
C J.
Exploitative
As a qualified TEFL teacher, I found myself in a difficult position due to the pandemic and, like many others, turned to Cambly as a temporary solution. There are some positives—the flexibility and immediate availability of work were a lifeline when I needed it most. However, the reality of working for Cambly is deeply concerning.
The pay rates are appalling—$10 per hour is disgraceful for qualified educators who invest time and effort into their students. Worse still, Cambly offers little to no support for its teachers. I was verbally abused by a student and, upon reporting the incident, was met with a threat of termination if I took the same course of action again. Instead of protecting its teachers, Cambly prioritizes its bottom line, disregarding the well-being of the people who keep the platform running.
Many of the teachers on Cambly are in vulnerable positions, relying on this income to survive, and yet they are subjected to working conditions that could be described as exploitative. While everything appears fine from their headquarters in California, the reality for their global workforce is vastly different—bordering on what can only be described as modern-day slave labor.
Something must be done to hold Cambly accountable. Teachers deserve fair pay, protection, and respect.
CO
Consumer
Il costo non vale la qualità per un bambino…
Abbiamo Fatto un corso per un bambino lo scorso anno, nulla di eccezionale ma lui si divertiva…torno quest’anno e ci sono i prezzi raddoppiati!!! 90 euro per 4 lezioni di 30 minuti. Più di 20 euro per mezz’ora! Una truffa, davvero ladri.
JA
Jack
Decline in working conditions
The recent updates have made our working conditions worse. We have an attendance percentage on our profiles now, so in the event of an emergency, we are punished. We can now receive reservations during priority hours, meaning that if a student reserves from 3:45 to 4:00, we get an unpaid gap between 3:30 and 3:45.
RO
Rob
Crap company for both tutors and students
The two positives that made me give two stars (and not one):
-A plethora of students and teachers around the world
-Flexibility for both students and teachers to study/teach whenever.
Now for just a few of the negatives:
-Pay is horrible for tutors--it's below minimum wage in a number of US states, bonuses are scarce and not based on giving quality lessons but on quantity. No-shows result in only $1.70 and late cancellations $2. Plus, it's getting rather expensive for students. I've had a couple regulars stop their subscription because they wouldn't be able to afford the new rate.
-It drives me nuts that Cambly advertises "high-quality" tutors (which is a lie because they hire anyone) but they also don't reward those tutors who actually are high-quality. I'm egotistical enough to say that I am high-quality. I've been an ESL teacher for nearly a decade, I've never fallen below a 4.95/5 stars in nearly 3 years on the platform, and I have 100% attendance, but I see no benefits to my hard work, other than consistent bookings. Here's the problem with consistent bookings: I literally have to reject students because I have no time in the day to teach because I need to work two other jobs to survive since Cambly pay is so low. If Cambly paid me even $15/hour I'd work more than my current 6 hours a week because I'd cut back on my other jobs. And, I know so many other tutors are crap because I hear my students complain about how difficult it is to find a good tutor. Cambly literally changed their rating system to accommodate those crappy tutors.
-Cambly can't handly it's own traffic and has constant connection issues. I know it's not my computer/internet because I work remotely all day and never have problems with pages loading, but Cambly crashes, takes too long to load, and the newest thing for me is that it can't handle when I share my screen (my video starts to lag).
Stay away from Cambly until they start to take themselves seriously as an ESL platform. How can they do that? Find quality teachers, pay those teachers appropriately so they want to work for you, and fix your tech problems.