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Butler standards Newsletter SABA South African Butler Academy

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, September 2021, SABA Update

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The South African Butler Academy

At the end of July, 21 consumers/former students filed another complaint against the South African Butler Academy (SABA) and its recruitment arm, Guild Recruitment (GR) for violating the Protection of Personal Information Act by long-term publishing their images despite their objections, online trolling, defamation, and abuse. Among the 21 consumers/former students are Ms. Lin Yang and Mr. Paul Raicus, who seek damages of 100,000 Rand each from SABA and GR.

It is the nature of legal proceedings the world over that they take months and years before making their rulings.

This unfortunately, in the absence of the defendants accepting that they may have erred and therefore changing their ways voluntarily, means that any future clients and customers continue to risk suffering the same indignities until the court finally rules.

I was reminded of this when reading sworn affidavits and feel that it is only fair for prospective students to be aware of what past students claim to have been common practice at SABA. The below is taken from just one graduate, Mr. Paul Raicus, his statements being fairly typical of the rest:

  1. Taking well-remunerated job postings from other placement companies’ web sites and posting them on their own so as to make prospective students think well-paid jobs await their completion of the training required at SABA to apply for these positions; reinforcing this with congratulatory messages to claimed but always anonymous “graduates” who had allegedly obtained these positions;
  2. Inflating pricing for SABA courses by up to 400% according to the nationality of the candidate;
  3. Falsely claiming to be members of FEDHASA and the European Butler Association and to being certified by FEDHASA and that their certificates were accepted internationally;
  4. Accepting students who could speak little or no English when the classes were conducted in English;
  5. Regularly hiring out SABA students to SABA’s clients or using them to host their own parties—all on the pretext that it was “practical training,” yet the work required no skills needed for their training and was only occasionally supervised. SABA and GR pocketed all the money paid by clients (22,000 Rand for 16 hours x 7 days in one case) because “the work was part of the training and therefore would not be subject to payment to the students.” The student in question missed a week of the beginning of the course he had paid for and was threatened into not speaking to anyone else about it;
  6. False claims by the principal (Mr. Newton Cross) about working as a butler for certain dignitaries and celebrities, and being a butler on the Queen Mary II when he was actually a waiter.
  7. As noted by the complainant, the principal neither knows nor demonstrates in his own behavior the core values of service, and has limited skills and educational background, making it difficult to see how he could legitimately train others;
  8. Forcing students while standing over them every other day to spend an hour promoting SABA on social media; the principal and tutor coached them on what to write—and particularly for those who could not speak English, dictated what to write;
  9. At the same time, SABA personnel constantly threatened to sue any students who spoke badly of SABA;
  10. When graduates were more free to provide information on how they actually felt about the training on the Facebook page of SABA, their comments were removed immediately and they were blocked from its Facebook page;
  11. The complainant stated that, based on his existing knowledge from 15 years in hospitality, that he knew more than the principal and teachers, and that he learned absolutely nothing new from SABA’s training; but he did experience bullying, lies, greed, incompetency; and furthermore observed the less-experienced students who had sacrificed everything to do the course for the promised jobs, experience submission to the bullying, fear, broken spirits, and shattered dignity;
  12. SABA staff tried not to allow the complainant to see their written works because, he states, they were afraid he would see through their plagiarized and inferior works;
  13. The training consisted of no practical assignments or practicing, which was covered in SABA’s eyes by the work-without-pay jobs they were obliged to perform;
  14. The promised meals consisted of hotdogs that students were required to prepare themselves because it was “part of butler training.”
  15. Despite the constant cleaning students were obliged to do as part of their training, the school was overrun with cockroaches;
  16. Accommodations were bedrooms shared by several students per room and shared bathrooms for which students were charged 10,000 Rand each.
  17. A key member of the staff was an alcoholic, as observed by the complainant;
  18. False information on the application form included a non-existent library, ironing center, and high-tech center, and a building entrance on the cover that was not the SABA training venue at all but a completely dis-related building.

I would advise any future students to consider the possibility that the problems highlighted in this list may have some merit, and to compare them to the glitzy marketing materials and social media put out by SABA that otherwise might encourage them to follow in the footsteps of the many complaining ex-students/graduates.

Whether or not the court case finds SABA and GR guilty is beside the point here, because as with any product or service being offered by anyone, feedback is part of the expected landscape for prospective purchasers to make up their own mind whether or not they feel a vendor is honest and offering the kind of service or product they seek.

As SABA, per the above, forces students to write glowing comments on SABA and threatens any who say anything that is unflattering, and then removes any that are contrary to SABA’s glittery self-projected image, there is every reason for future students to be given a more balanced picture when deciding whether or not to attend a SABA course.

Feel free to copy and paste or link to this article in any platform where prospective students may be visiting.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

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Butler standards Newsletter SABA South African Butler Academy

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, May 2021, Update on SABA Court Case

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Update on SABA Court Case

  1. On 4 Aug 2020, student Ms. Lin Yang instituted a Combined Summons at the Cape Town High Court against South African Butler Academy Close Corporation, Butler Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Butler Training (Pty) Ltd, Guild Recruitment Close Corporation, Mr. Newton Hilton Cross, Mr. Willem Adriaan Coetzer.
  2. Instead of entering a plea, the defendants launched an interlocutory application requesting Ms. Lin Yang to put half a million rand security deposit, arguing that she is not a South African citizen, she does not live in Cape Town, etc.
  3. Ms. Lin Yang successfully provided evidence that she does not need to pay a security deposit.
  4. In March 2021, defendants withdrew the interlocutory application and a court order gave them 20 working days to plea.
  5. Defendants failed to plea by the deadline.
  6. On 7th April 2021, Ms. Lin Yang’s attorney served a Notice of Bar demanding defendants deliver their plea within 5 days.
  7. On 12 April 2021, defendants finally delivered their plea, where they admitted making certain representations to Ms. Lin Yang.
  8. Now enters the discovery process where Ms. Lin Yang and all six defendants will exchange evidence, after which, a pre-trial date will be applied.

Another name for the company

Note: The South African Butler Academy, SABA, has now added another name to its list of identities: Beverley Hills Virtual Butler Training Academy.

Intimidation

True to SABA’s usual response to complainants, their lawyers sent a letter to all those joining the case against them threatening to subpoena them unless they changed their story. Hardly ethical, maybe not even legal, but typical bluster: Lawyers normally subpoena their own witnesses, not those of the opposing side! But being subpoena’d assuredly sounds like something to be avoided for an individual fighting a lonely battle—however, the litigants are too many now to be fooled by, and cave in to such tactics.

One more sad story

While the Institute continues to receive letters about their experiences, one of which was published in the “letters to the editor” section this month, one of the ex-SABA graduates sent a copy of a very long letter of complaint to SABA’s lawyers—too long to include here, but her ending should be of interest to any student contemplating entering the profession through this company.

“Your clients, their employees and relatives may continue to post 5 stars in its Google review to glorify themselves. But the truth has already come out. Thanks to students’ words and media exposure.   

“Three years ago when I did the course, I would not have had the courage to express my views. Like my classmates, I was trying to please SABA, Newton Cross, Adriaan Coetzer, and Guild Recruitment in the hope of getting a job after graduation. Now that I have lost to them every Navy pension I had and see other fellow students’ suffering, I am not afraid anymore. Your clients recorded a casual conversation between me and another fellow student when I did the course, and used the recording to intimidate me. I am not afraid anymore. 

“Please advise your clients to stop harming students and robbing them of hard-earned savings without teaching them anything. What goes around comes around.” Melissa-Jane Quinn

While the Institute awaits the final verdict from the judiciary on the court case in order to confirm innocence or guilt of the defendants (assuming it is not derailed by SABA), we are always willing to hear and publish any honest effort by SABA to provide verifiable facts that contradict those presented by their ex-students, as opposed to efforts to malign them and anyone else questioning their narrative. We are still waiting. And in the meantime, we are committed to providing a voice to those students whom SABA failed to satisfy and then failed to handle once they made their difficulties and issues known.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

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Butler standards Newsletter SABA South African Butler Academy

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, March 2021, Special Notice, SABA

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An unseemly public spectacle is unfolding between the South African Butler Academy (SABA) and many of its graduates and ex-students which, as more information keeps appearing, is sufficiently egregious that the butler training community is sitting up in alarm, as letters to this editor continue to make plain.

It is worth pointing out that SABA is confusing the issue by lashing out at third parties who dare question their actions, statements, or status: This editor for instance, was the target recently of vitriolic opinions that said more about SABA than he himself had, as well as a four-page legal threat full of inconsistencies; and the two agencies that were immediately attacked after deciding not to do business with SABA.

The simplicity of the matter is that SABA has done a very poor job of training and placing its graduates, judging by the continued and numerous complaints. By not taking ownership of the unripened fruits of its labors, SABA is not only embarrassing itself but all butler schools.

As a result of the information coming to light (facts, not only opinions as claimed by SABA*), those responsible for passing on the knowledge of butlers to those wanting to join the profession find their reputation being tarnished. Their good work is being undermined as SABA graduates enter the profession who are either incapable of performing as expected or are promised jobs and not placed. Being ethical entities, the principals of these schools have a natural horror of unethical business practices being engaged in that lower confidence in the butler training profession and the profession as a whole; if allowed to go unchecked, too many in the profession will not demonstrate competence and butlers, who have represented the highest level of service to the most discerning of guests for over a thousand years, will be replaced for failing to deliver on expectations.

That is why we would like to thank SABA and it’s staff for acting as the catalyst to do what nobody has achieved to date: Bring together those tasked with continuing the great traditions of the butler community to set standards for butler schools the world over. The idea is only to set the standards and help schools meet them for the good of all. These standards are being worked on right now and will confirm whether or not proper business practices are being employed, as well as the accurate relay of butler skillsets. Where public relations and marketing materials are not matched by the quality of training and ethical business practices, membership in the association will be denied until a program that will be provided to bring any school up to the required standards, has been completed.

Needless to say, in the constant quest to copy and mock serious efforts so as to make nothing of them, SABA is now unilaterally also setting up such an association which it is calling “the Butler Association”; they state they intend to send plaques to their clients—presumably marketing their own membership in their Association.

Of the principal of SABA, we meanwhile ask (without too great an expectation that he will listen, learn, and change) that you give your ear to the complaints of your multiple unhappy ex-students and even clients, and rectify their complaints, rather than intimidate, threaten, and insult them and anyone who dares question your results and methods. Your continued evasion of the salient points of their complaints by saying that the truth will come out in the court case, while doing whatever you can to make sure the case does not come to trial and the facts heard (through delays and demands that the litigant come up with half-a-million as a security deposit to continue with the case), is an easy ploy to see through. The fact that you have attacked all parties but never denied the charges of fraud, speaks volumes.

While you may have managed to intimidate a few witnesses from joining the case against SABA in the early days, the majority are now too numerous and too incensed to give you the satisfaction of the trial falling apart for lack of corroborating witnesses.

Any worthy business would be horrified to have so many complaints made against itself and would try to deal with them discreetly and quickly, not go into full-attack mode, privately and publicly, against those who felt the business had failed to live up to the promises made; doing so just shows up how weak are the fundamentals of that business.

I understand your wish to continue as you have been, but you are attracting the wrong kind of attention for any business to flourish in a small community such as ours. We all have our failings, nobody is perfect; we all have our different approaches to training butlers but you do not see a profession rising up to denounce one of its members unless something were seriously wrong—in this case, a legion of unhappy ex-students and clients and unethical business practices all hidden under a smokescreen of PR and marketing that puts the entire profession at risk.

My suggestion to you, therefore, is to have enough humility to consider that maybe there is something wrong with your grasp of the fundamentals of the profession and the business model you are using and try and salvage your business instead of throwing out showers of glitzy PR and trying to throw the attention off yourself by attacking everyone else. Empty phrases accusing others of your own shortcomings do not fool anyone and will not deal with the issue you face. If you need any assistance seeing what you appear not to be able to see, feel free to communicate privately—we are here ultimately to assist everyone in the profession, including you and your employees, just as we are assisting those who have fallen victim to your business practices and deficient understanding of ethics.

But before we can help you, you need to end the litigious mindset and this current court case, apologize to all those you have harmed and make up the damage caused by finding them jobs or refunding their monies, or otherwise dealing with whatever issues they have with you. And put an end to the knee-jerk attacks and self-defense, so you come into a frame of mind where you recognize things can be improved and can then accept guidance, including improving your understanding of the basics of the profession. This will, of necessity, include improving the view you have of your fellows, wanting to be of service to them, not regarding them essentially as sources of adulation and funding. For, in the final analysis, particularly when it comes to your clients, it is not all about you, but them.

A very well-written article on SABA by Mr. Vincent Vermeulen, Managing Director of the School for Butlers and Hospitality in Belgium, can be found here, with comments on same by Ms. von Ulmenstein in her own blog, here.

Any unhappy SABA students who would like their voice to be heard finally and to share their story, can contact Ms. Yang Lin, the chief litigant in the case against SABA, via the Institute.

* NOTE: It may be that some of the facts presented in the MBJ regarding SABA are not entirely accurate, a claim made by SABA, but the task of cross checking them has been made difficult because the counter facts offered by SABA are proving to be incorrect, twisted, or even delusional. However, where facts can be corrected, they will be, as nobody benefits from operating upon incorrect information.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

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Butler standards Newsletter

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, February 2021, Special Notice, SABA

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As the two cases continue against the South African Butler Academy, many reports are starting to surface on social media from those who feel aggrieved by the training they have received, thus allowing potential students to find something other than the streams of self-aggrandizing promotion that SABA puts out about itself or reportedly compels students to post. Many letters came in to the editor this month about SABA, and one ex-student sent a copy of a letter (quoted in part at the bottom) she wrote to Mr. Cross that gives some idea of the unprofessional level of training being offered by SABA, which, by the way, consists of just 2 staff, not the 501-1000 claimed on their LinkedIn page, with multiple qualifications and endorsements claimed being figments of their imagination (i.e. being an alumni of the University of Cape Town and the Royal Butler/Valet School at Buckingham Place—there being no such school). They have actually made dozens of false claims, too numerous to list here, in order to fool potential students into paying for their services.

As one might expect from someone who knows how simple it is to create a perception and manipulate it in social media, SABA’s response to the true nature of its operations being made known has not been to correct its ways and seek to make up the damage done to its countless alumni and ex-students, but to change its name in the hope of avoiding potential clients connecting them with their registered name. Already, they have come up with four new names for their organization: SABA International Butler Academy, SABA International Butler Academy & Training School, Butler Academy Saba, and International Butler Jobs & Training. Whatever actions they take to avoid facing up to their excesses and their continued betrayal of the trust of their students, will be noted and shared.

Which brings us to some good that is coming out of this sad SABA saga—butler training schools around the world have finally been prompted by SABA’s excesses to join forces in an Association of butler schools, with the aim to set standards for effective training and ethical business practices so that our exclusive profession can never again be blindsided by those whose purposes are self-aggrandizement and -enrichment rather than sharing knowledge that empowers graduates and serves clients well. Other professions have long had associations to maintain standards, but while butlers are one of the oldest professions, butler training schools have existed for less than 40 years and can thus be forgiven for not organizing earlier. Stay tuned for more announcements.

SABA-court and related links: YouTube which is now running at over 30,000 views.

More information at this link and at link about an earlier case SABA lost.

If you would like to share information about the defendants, please contact the chief litigant, Ms. Lin Yang: ylin63 @ hotmail.com

One ex-SABA student writes to Mr. Newton Cross:

“This needs to be said for myself and for whomever else this may have happened to. You taught us in the time we spent with you about dignity, respect and most importantly mindfulness…. Mr. West constantly put me in situations no person learning or otherwise should have to endure, as he was constantly intoxicated, showing up for classes reeking of alcohol through his pores. When I shared a villa with him, he was constantly drunk, walking around in his underwear, and drank the entire stock of alcohol for the cocktail lessons we were to have. The last straw was him being taking to the infirmary as the staff thought he was sick that morning, but he was in fact hungover! Furthermore, driving around the city on a day off to look for boys and men for Mr. West was a trip I just want to forget ever happened.

The entire process of becoming a butler and paying all that money was belittled by the personal information that was disclosed, including about your personal life, Mr. Cross: I will not go into detail but these things were none of my business. I started to record all these ramblings with the intention of letting you know that when Mr. West travels perhaps he should not drink. However after you were so nasty to me I had a change of heart. 

How should I have behaved when everything you taught us was obviously not being displayed. All this put an awfully bad taste in my mouth, I never did use my certification, or the CV you so diligently informed me not to use. That is why I left so abruptly, because I had 10 days of hell and I wasn’t even being paid for it. You need to treat people better.”

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.

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Butler standards Newsletter SABA South African Butler Academy

The Modern Butlers’ Journal, October 2021, SABA Update

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The South African Butler Academy

At the end of July, 21 consumers/former students filed another complaint against the South African Butler Academy (SABA) and its recruitment arm, Guild Recruitment (GR) for violating the Protection of Personal Information Act by long-term publishing their images despite their objections, online trolling, defamation, and abuse. Among the 21 consumers/former students are Ms. Lin Yang and Mr. Paul Raicus, who seek damages of 100,000 Rand each from SABA and GR.

It is the nature of legal proceedings the world over that they take months and years before making their rulings.

This unfortunately, in the absence of the defendants accepting that they may have erred and therefore changing their ways voluntarily, means that any future clients and customers continue to risk suffering the same indignities until the court finally rules.

I was reminded of this when reading sworn affidavits and feel that it is only fair for prospective students to be aware of what past students claim to have been common practice at SABA. The below is taken from just one graduate, Mr. Paul Raicus, his statements being fairly typical of the rest:

  1. Taking well-remunerated job postings from other placement companies’ web sites and posting them on their own so as to make prospective students think well-paid jobs await their completion of the training required at SABA to apply for these positions; reinforcing this with congratulatory messages to claimed but always anonymous “graduates” who had allegedly obtained these positions;
  2. Inflating pricing for SABA courses by up to 400% according to the nationality of the candidate;
  3. Falsely claiming to be members of FEDHASA and the European Butler Association and to being certified by FEDHASA and that their certificates were accepted internationally;
  4. Accepting students who could speak little or no English when the classes were conducted in English;
  5. Regularly hiring out SABA students to SABA’s clients or using them to host their own parties—all on the pretext that it was “practical training,” yet the work required no skills needed for their training and was only occasionally supervised. SABA and GR pocketed all the money paid by clients (22,000 Rand for 16 hours x 7 days in one case) because “the work was part of the training and therefore would not be subject to payment to the students.” The student in question missed a week of the beginning of the course he had paid for and was threatened into not speaking to anyone else about it;
  6. False claims by the principal (Mr. Newton Cross) about working as a butler for certain dignitaries and celebrities, and being a butler on the Queen Mary II when he was actually a waiter.
  7. As noted by the complainant, the principal neither knows nor demonstrates in his own behavior the core values of service, and has limited skills and educational background, making it difficult to see how he could legitimately train others;
  8. Forcing students while standing over them every other day to spend an hour promoting SABA on social media; the principal and tutor coached them on what to write—and particularly for those who could not speak English, dictated what to write;
  9. At the same time, SABA personnel constantly threatened to sue any students who spoke badly of SABA;
  10. When graduates were more free to provide information on how they actually felt about the training on the Facebook page of SABA, their comments were removed immediately and they were blocked from its Facebook page;
  11. The complainant stated that, based on his existing knowledge from 15 years in hospitality, that he knew more than the principal and teachers, and that he learned absolutely nothing new from SABA’s training; but he did experience bullying, lies, greed, incompetency; and furthermore observed the less-experienced students who had sacrificed everything to do the course for the promised jobs, experience submission to the bullying, fear, broken spirits, and shattered dignity;
  12. SABA staff tried not to allow the complainant to see their written works because, he states, they were afraid he would see through their plagiarized and inferior works;
  13. The training consisted of no practical assignments or practicing, which was covered in SABA’s eyes by the work-without-pay jobs they were obliged to perform;
  14. The promised meals consisted of hotdogs that students were required to prepare themselves because it was “part of butler training.”
  15. Despite the constant cleaning students were obliged to do as part of their training, the school was overrun with cockroaches;
  16. Accommodations were bedrooms shared by several students per room and shared bathrooms for which students were charged 10,000 Rand each.
  17. A key member of the staff was an alcoholic, as observed by the complainant;
  18. False information on the application form included a non-existent library, ironing center, and high-tech center, and a building entrance on the cover that was not the SABA training venue at all but a completely dis-related building.

I would advise any future students to consider the possibility that the problems highlighted in this list may have some merit, and to compare them to the glitzy marketing materials and social media put out by SABA that otherwise might encourage them to follow in the footsteps of the many complaining ex-students/graduates.

Whether or not the court case finds SABA and GR guilty is beside the point here, because as with any product or service being offered by anyone, feedback is part of the expected landscape for prospective purchasers to make up their own mind whether or not they feel a vendor is honest and offering the kind of service or product they seek.

As SABA, per the above, forces students to write glowing comments on SABA and threatens any who say anything that is unflattering, and then removes any that are contrary to SABA’s glittery self-projected image, there is every reason for future students to be given a more balanced picture when deciding whether or not to attend a SABA course.

Feel free to copy and paste or link to this article in any platform where prospective students may be visiting.

The Institute is dedicated to raising service standards by broadly disseminating the mindset and superior service expertise of that time-honored, quintessential service provider, the British Butler, updated with modern people skills, and adapted to the needs of modern employers and guests in staffed homes, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, retirement communities, jets, yachts & cruise ships around the world.