Nova Apartments

[Examination_Hell]

NOva charges between 50,000 to ~60,000 per teacher in each apartment. Number of teachers per apartment ranges from 1-3.

At worst NOva breaks even, at best looks like they hit the jackpot. Everything to gain and nothing to loose.

EH

[GaijinPooka]

heh, my NOVA apartment had 3 people paying 72,500 a month each

[Ojii]

I think this one fact tells you part of the reason they TARGET newbies from ABROAD.

Why does NOva 'recruit' GAIJIN from abroad? Well, those are the people who can't read or speak Japanese, can't get around and see things/know things that every LOCAL GAIJIN knows.

I can understand if some DUMB GAIJIN without a clue WALKS INTO THE NOva TRAP and takes it up the ASS. I just can't understand the STUPID GAIJIN that were WARNED about NOva and continue to come over and BEND OVER anyway.

If you knew it, got screwed, don't scream and complaint about it. You were warned about the BIG NOva DILDO coming at you and you just bent over and took it.

[Ziggy]

Is it true that Nova almost always puts two teachers together and charges them 50,000 yen apiece? In Hirosaki, a few years back that was the deal for all the Nova teachers I knew in town.

Yes, Nova rips people off.

[angryboy]

heh, my NOVA apartment had 3 people paying 72,500 a month each

You are serious right?Where does the cash go?Into the coffers or straight into someones greasy little palm?And how the hell can they get away with it?Surely there must be some law against it,like a subletting law or something.
I`d heard they do this but on such a scale.Man its hard to be amazed these days but that amazes me.

[Ziggy]

heh, my NOVA apartment had 3 people paying 72,500 a month each

You are serious right?Where does the cash go?Into the coffers or straight into someones greasy little palm?And how the hell can they get away with it?Surely there must be some law against it,like a subletting law or something.
I`d heard they do this but on such a scale.Man its hard to be amazed these days but that amazes me.

Welcome to Nova. Ethics be damned, money be worshipped.

[Jet_Mech]

Is it true that Nova almost always puts two teachers together and charges them 50,000 yen apiece? In Hirosaki, a few years back that was the deal for all the Nova teachers I knew in town.

Yes, Nova rips people off.

So true! I think that in accordance with immigration laws, Nova still has to pay its teachers a minimum of 250,000 yen/month. They get some of that back by overcharging on rent, JMA, cell phones and, most likely, any other "service that they have to offer."

Another thing that gets me is that they incur very little, if any expense at all, from start to finish, in getting you over here. All new hires have to cover all travel expenses themselves. When recruiting from abroad, most reputable companies (do not misunderstand me; IMO Nova is anythig but reputable) would at least pay your damn airfare. That alone ought to alert even the most naive person immaginable as to what Nova is "all about."

Hell ... I hear the Nova cheapskates even did away with the free bento at orientation.

"Hey Nova ... "

[Ziggy]

Hell ... I hear the Nova cheapskates even did away with the free bento at orientation.

"Hey Nova ... "

Wouldn't suprise me. I've been told that Nova dosen't open up bank accounts for new drones anymore.

[Jet_Mech]

I've been told that Nova dosen't open up bank accounts for new drones anymore.

I've heard this too. What are the newbies to do, venture out on their own to find a place to have their paychecks deposited to? I'm not one for "holding their hands," but can some of you remember what your first couple of weeks in country were like? They were pretty damn intimidating, weren't they? I smell a rat here ... on Nova's part that is. If this is true, being the money mongers that they are, they must have some ulterior motive for doing this.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and Nova was also behind the Kennedy assassination.

[Ziggy]

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and Nova was also behind the Kennedy assassination.

Only if Nova could make money from it.

[Jet_Mech]

Nova will do most ANYTHING if they think that they can profit from it.

"Hey Nova ... !"

[Examination_Hell]

They get some of that back by overcharging on rent, JMA, cell phones and, most likely, any other "service that they have to offer."

Don't forget the late "deductions" too.

Hell ... I hear the Nova cheapskates even did away with the free bento at orientation.

Haven't heard this one! Though it wouldn't surprise me. At my orientation we all had free bentos.

Think about it though. Years ago the turn over rate was lower at NOva, so therefore they needed less new teachers. Less new teachers equals less free bentos at orientation.
Now the turn over rate is something obscene, it means a lot more new teachers and a lot more free bentos. More bentos means a greater cost to NOva. Solution. Stop the free bentos. Never mind getting to the problem of why the turn over rate is so high. duh!

EH

[Examination_Hell]

Wouldn't suprise me. I've been told that Nova dosen't open up bank accounts for new drones anymore.

That's true. Towards the ned of my time at NOva, all new instructors who came to the branch were all telling the same tale of having to find a bank and opening an account themselves.
Caused most, if not all of them, no end of stress.

During my orientation session all instructors had a bank account opened for them. That was appreciated by all of us there at the time.

If I had to find a bank and struggle with trying to open an account there, I probably would've pulled up stumps there and then.

EH

[ex_sensei]

Wouldn't suprise me. I've been told that Nova dosen't open up bank accounts for new drones anymore.

Actually, they still do! There was a change in the laws concerning the opening of bank accounts last year: It couldn't be done by a third party (i.e. NOVA). It took them a while to get around this, but once again NOVA is opening bank accounts for the newbies.

The free bento at orientation however, is gone!

ES

[naranjita]

I joined a few months ago and I got a bank account. And my own two bedroom private accomodation (Nova arranged it though) for 50,000 Yen a month. So i guess they do have their decent moments.
I moved cities though and am now paying 60,000 yen for a tiny room in a three bedroom flat to live with a flatmate who resembles a smelly gorilla and a completely paranoid woman (convinced all our lessons are recorded through ceiling microphones, videos in the list)

[Laurenville]

How can you escape the option of moving into NOVA accomodation when you don't even know what branch you will be working for until after you've arrived?

[Ziggy]

How can you escape the option of moving into NOVA accomodation when you don't even know what branch you will be working for until after you've arrived?

Just take the Nova slum for now and look for something else once you arrive.

[Ziggy]

Actually, they still do! There was a change in the laws concerning the opening of bank accounts last year: It couldn't be done by a third party (i.e. NOVA). It took them a while to get around this, but once again NOVA is opening bank accounts for the newbies.

The free bento at orientation however, is gone!

ES

That makes sense. To not help a new drone with a bank account would just be lazyness on Nova's part. But what cheap fuckers they are with the bento thing. Another warm welcome to Japan from Nova.

[Examination_Hell]

That makes sense. To not help a new drone with a bank account would just be lazyness on Nova's part. But what cheap fuckers they are with the bento thing. Another warm welcome to Japan from Nova.

How long will it be before they stop meeting people at the airport in an effort to cut down on costs??

EH

[ex_osaka]

I had a NOVA apt, 2 people sharing. We were both paying 64000 per month (in Osaka) which included all utilities. Others were always telling me that I was getting ripped off but two of my colleagues went from NOVA apt to private and then decided to go back to NOVA. It can't have been that much of a scam for them to do that. I only stayed in my NOVA place for a short while but it wasn't the price that instigated my move.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no NOVA lover but I just thought I'd relate my experiences on that topic.

But to highlight a real NOVA scam, don't take their 'special price' flights from your home country. Not sure if they still offer this wonderful service but when I first came to Japan (2001) the price of the NOVA flight was waaaay excessive of a regular flight. I was fed some bullshit about instructors having to travel together so we would all arrive together. I just got the address of my NOVA apt and told them I'd meet the NOVA rep there. It was a little daunting getting out of the airport alone but not impossible....

[nigerian_nampa]

I had a NOVA apt, 2 people sharing. We were both paying 64000 per month (in Osaka) which included all utilities. Others were always telling me that I was getting ripped off but two of my colleagues went from NOVA apt to private and then decided to go back to NOVA. It can't have been that much of a scam for them to do that. I only stayed in my NOVA place for a short while but it wasn't the price that instigated my move.

Well, I think you were getting ripped off, but with Nova the degree of rip-off-ed-ness (my own word, there) varies. People in the city tend to get moderately shafted while people out in the countryside get royally fucked.

When it comes to city apartments, they charge something that can pass for market price, but the apartment they offer for that price is below the market standard. For example, they'll charge you 68,000 yen for an old 1-room place, a 10 minute walk from a local (not express) station out in the suburbs. Other (non-Nova) 1-room places are advertised for that same price, but they're right beside a major subway station, downtown, and they're brand new. If you don't look closely at the details, you may not think you're getting buggered.

People out in the country, though, are getting blatantly screwed and would have to be permanently infused with drugs not to realize it.

[ex_osaka]

I had a NOVA apt, 2 people sharing. We were both paying 64000 per month (in Osaka) which included all utilities. Others were always telling me that I was getting ripped off but two of my colleagues went from NOVA apt to private and then decided to go back to NOVA. It can't have been that much of a scam for them to do that. I only stayed in my NOVA place for a short while but it wasn't the price that instigated my move.

Well, I think you were getting ripped off, but with Nova the degree of rip-off-ed-ness (my own word, there) varies. People in the city tend to get moderately shafted while people out in the countryside get royally fucked.

When it comes to city apartments, they charge something that can pass for market price, but the apartment they offer for that price is below the market standard. For example, they'll charge you 68,000 yen for an old 1-room place, a 10 minute walk from a local (not express) station out in the suburbs. Other (non-Nova) 1-room places are advertised for that same price, but they're right beside a major subway station, downtown, and they're brand new. If you don't look closely at the details, you may not think you're getting buggered.

People out in the country, though, are getting blatantly screwed and would have to be permanently infused with drugs not to realize it.

I'll have to disagree with you NN (not about the countryside living, I've no experience of that). In the early days a few of my NOVA buddies in Osaka were trying to get me to go the private route. I went to see the 'bargains' that they had rented and admittedly they were cheaper but they were shitty one roomed shoe boxes in the same part of town that I was living in.

It was being so forcefully rammed down my throat that NOVA apts were shit and private were better that I started to doubt it. The more someone forces their opinion on me the less validity I attach to it. I kinda felt like they were trying to justify their own living situations to themselves rather than trying to convert me to private living.

Maybe I got lucky, but from my experience my NOVA place was fairly priced. Lest there be any confusion I am not an undercover NOVAphile...I hate the fuckers, especially for the way they exploit their 'students', but that's another story........

[Ziggy]

I'll have to disagree with you NN (not about the countryside living, I've no experience of that). In the early days a few of my NOVA buddies in Osaka were trying to get me to go the private route. I went to see the 'bargains' that they had rented and admittedly they were cheaper but they were shitty one roomed shoe boxes in the same part of town that I was living in.

It was being so forcefully rammed down my throat that NOVA apts were shit and private were better that I started to doubt it.

In general I feel that private apartments are a far better offer than your average Nova slum but there are a lot of factors to consider. For example how new is your Nova slum and where is it located? If you rent a private apartment who did you rent it from? There are some real sumlords out there who take advantage of gaijin.

[nigerian_nampa]

Ziggy's got a point, there are other landlords (in Osaka they're the most highly advertised...like Keith from Osami Kosan...half the ads in Kansai flea market are his, even though he doesn't put his name. Highly overpriced) who shaft gaijin just like Nova. But by shopping around I found some much better deals. The story above about the 68,000 place is my real experience.

It does depend on the apartment. I knew one guy in Nova who shared a place with his girlfriend in a prime city location and they were paying a fair price. The city prices are much more reasonable than the countryside prices. I guess Nova averages the prices amongst everybody so that they all pay close to the same. People out in Mie prefecture are paying almost the same as someone in Umeda.

[senseiman]

NOVA's accomodation system sound much worse than even those at other Eikaiwas. At AEON all teachers pay a flat 39,000 per month for a single room private apartment, regardless of location. Most of the apartments sucked big time (LEO palace), but at that price at least you knew the company wasn't ripping you off.

[nigerian_nampa]

I know some people in Aeon, and they are paying 39,000 for something identical in quality to the Nova place I paid 68,000 for. The place was livable, and I would've been happy with it for 39,000. But 68,000 was rediculous.

[MShades]

Other than the 15 minute walk to the station, I rather liked my NOVA apartment. Spacious, quiet, big kitchen and a bathroom that I could dry clothes in.... Yeah, 60,000 a month, but I was young and stupid then and making a salary that vastly outstripped anything I made in the States, so I didn't think about it. And one added bonus - the best little izakaya in the universe was a five minute walk away. Were it not for that place, I never would have made it the first year. But I doubt NOVA had anything to do with that.

But then the owner of the apartment cancelled the contract with NOVA and I had to find my own place which, while smaller in every respect, is in the middle of the city, convenient to everywhere.

With so many things NOVA, the apartment is just fine if you can adjust how much you care.

[valve-bouncer]

With so many things NOVA, the apartment is just fine if you can adjust how much you care.

Good line...I think that goes for everything though, not just Nova. Anyway, welcome to the board mate.

[MShades]

Many thanks... Good to be here....