An Open Letter About James Yellowlees

One of the main reasons why I stopped blogging/podcasting/YouTubbing was because James was pressuring me to use Herro Flom Japan to market his companies. I couldn’t say no and I didn’t want to say yes, nor could I be truthful about it, so I quit. This is a big part of why I’m finding it hard to get started again. I don’t want to talk about it, but I can’t avoid it either.

My former employer, James Yellowlees, owner of Global daigaku.com, Pacifica Consultants and the Canadian Education Alliance, J-Sports hockey announcer and university lecturer, is trying his best not to pay my back salary.

I’ve discovered that I’m far from being the only one who James has bilked.

http://bit.ly/JamesYellowlees01

http://bit.ly/JamesYellowlees02

http://bit.ly/JamesYellowlees03

He’s a really nice guy. He was a very kind boss and I enjoyed working for him apart from going many months without being paid.

He always promised to pay. When he realized how frustrated I was when the money started seriously piling up, his exact words to me were, “I PROMISE to pay your salary. I PLEDGE to pay your salary.” I took him for his word.

By the end of March 2011 I was perpetually in a bad mood. I hadn’t been paid since December of the year before. James laid me off. In the same email where he explained how he was forced to let me go because he had lost so many clients in the earthquake, he promised to pay me what he owed.

He paid nothing, but continuously promised to pay next week, next month, etc. I took him to court in August 2011.

He told the judge this was all a waste of time because he had already promised the labor bureau he would pay my back salary.

After that, he still paid nothing, but repeatedly promised to pay.

In March 2013 I hired a lawyer to have the government seize his assets, but they left his office empty-handed.

My only option left was to go public. In June 2013 I posted messages to a few LinkedIn groups he’s subscribed to. At the time I hadn’t heard from him for ages but I got an email soon after. He promised to pay me provided I delete the messages and never discuss the issue in public ever again. I agreed only to taking down the messages.

James made some payments, but a few weeks later he was back to his same old excuses and asked me to be patient. There were no payments.

I offered to accept smaller monthly payments. He agreed. Yet again he made a few payments that turned into excuses, then with no contact from him at all except for an occasional email promising to pay soon.

In March 2014 I noticed the GlobalDaigaku.com website had been redesigned. I wrote to him saying if he has money to spend on the site, then he must have money to pay down my 0% interest loan to him. He sent ¥50,000, a very small sum compared to what he still owes.

I offered him some advice to improve the site because from an SEO standpoint it’s quite bad. My friends, when they heard about this, told me I was an idiot. I wrote to him again saying he needs to pay me the full amount. My final email said I wanted him to pay both me and my friend who he never paid for a web design job she did for him. I told him I’d go public again, and this time I wouldn’t delete any posts until he fully paid. No reply.

I posted a message in a LinkedIn group on May 24, 2014. I’ve told James repeatedly I would do this. After not hearing from him for over a month, I received an email from him very quickly:

Rich,

You will have your next payment next week.

You agreed not to post anything negative online while these payments are being completed.

The group you referred to is trying to extort money from us and is being dealt with through legal channels.

It will be best if you stay out of it and stay offline with negative comments.

James

“Extortion” is an interesting way to describe clients who paid James to study in Canada but found the fees weren’t paid to the schools.

He’s been promising to pay me “next week” or “next month” for over three years. He pays a little, then stops. Going public is the only way to get him to pay at all.

I don’t like having to do this. I’m not angry; I just want my money.

 

Rich Pav

Richard has been living in Japan since 1990 with his wife and two teenage sons, Tony and Andy.

4 thoughts to “An Open Letter About James Yellowlees”

  1. OMG! I can’t believe I have found this letter.
    James Yellowless owes me the money that I payed him for the exchange in Canada.
    He just disappeared and I couldn’t have my money back as well.

  2. James Yellowless is a liar. He cheated me for money and many other people. His behavior worth 10 years in prison. Why Japanese Tokyo Univ. produced such rubbish?

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