Language Teachers - do you feel respected in Poland?

I am a private English teacher in Krakow and have a nice studio of private students - most of which are punctual, hard-working, and respectful towards me and of my time. However, a few bad apples show up every now and then. Today, I experienced a lack of respect from one such student that is probably the worst experience of my 6-year stint in Poland.

Due to the upcoming holiday, this student asked if he could meet this week on Tuesday instead of our normal time on Thursday. I told him that I could squeeze him in at 12:00, but it would be a tight fit since I had morning errands - he agreed. Well, he buzzed me from downstairs at 11:53 - I ignored it as I was taking a shower at the time. Then he buzzed a second time - I ignored it again (still in the shower). A couple of minutes later, he was at the door to my flat (having gained access to my building). I got out of the shower, wrapped myself in a towel, and told him that we were scheduled to meet at 12:00 and to wait until I was finished drying off, etc.

A few minutes later, he sent me an SMS which read, "I refuse to wait at your door - I resign our lessons." An absolute lack of respect for me AND my time -especally considering I accommodated his change-of-meeting request. Any similar stories? Do you teachers sometimes feel that Polish students have little to no respect for your time or your schedule? I'm interested in hearing your stories...

He arrived seven minutes early. That's showing respect. What were you doing in the shower seven minutes before a class? Sorry but I would also have "resigned".

I told him that I had morning errands and rescheduling our meeting would be tight. My other students send me an SMS to ask if they can come early if they are early - THIS is respectful, IMO.

so, first "buzz" was 11:53. How close to 12:00 was the second "buzz" you disregarded?
If it was me, once I realized you were inside ignoring me, I would drop you too.

You mean the second buzz when I was still in the shower? About 30 seconds after the first one.

So let me get this straight - you would drop me without asking why I didn't answer the buzz? That seems entirely reactionary and a bit childish to me - thankfully, my other 18 students are NOTHING like you!

I would drop you also man,unless you would have explained your situation that you were in the shower and couldnt answer.I after hearing your side of the story which is legitimate that you cant answer would not drop yop you.BTW did you asnwer his sms?

I have to agree...taking a shower seven minutes before class is completely unprofessional on your part, and it sounds like you reacted a bit too aggressively, making the guy wait outside of your apartment/school.

I'd have buzzed him in and if there was a lesson scheduled at 12, been ready before that.

One new woman didn't turn up - called her. She had "forgotten." Strike One and Two.

Not a big deal. If she is a joker the I'm happy with the real learners. Give and take. And the dog was glad to get out to the forest for an hour. Always have a plan B :)

Sorry BLS, but you were at fault. Just as pretty much everyone else has said, you should have been ready. Nevermind, you'll know for next time. BTW I salute you and all teachers 'cause it's not a job I could do week in week out, it would drive me nuts starting all over again with new students, listening to the same mistakes and so on. On that score, you all have my huge, mega huge in fact, admiration.

You're obviously not aware that respect is supposed to be mutual. I take it you charge for your services therefore your students are also your paying customers. Even if you don't charge you still made an agreement to meet; it doesn't matter if you qualified it. Your ex-student who rightfully dropped you took the time to travel to you. Arriving 7 minutes early is not unreasonable at all. You should appreciate that he wasn't late. If you were running behind on your errands and needed more time to prepare yourself then you should have had the courtesy to contact your student and tell him this was the case. Deliberately ignoring him each time he buzzed you was very rude of you. He had no way of knowing what you were doing or even if you were at home yet. Again, you agreed to meet at 12. Answering the door in only a towel and telling him to wait longer was even ruder quite frankly and unprofessional.

With fickle clients and a lot of competition. As well as having a professional relationship you have to get on with them as well, and the key is to be very well prepared.

Bad form BLS, I would have to agree with the other posters, you were well in the wrong.
Very disrespectful towards a person paying you for a service.

I don't think you opened the door even when the student was upstairs at the door of your flat... did you? Why would he still be sms'ing you?

That very rude and disrespectful, you should be ready for the situation when the student arrives a few minutes early. What did you expect him to do? Stand there, stare at your door and wait till you finish drying your balls?

I think you were in the right. You had told him it would be very tight because you had errands to run. In my opinion, he should have understood that you might not be ready until the actual time - 12 - if not even a few minutes late since you had to squeeze him into an already busy day. Of course you couldn't buzz him in in the shower and it made sense that you asked him to wait until you finished drying off and getting dressed to let him in! Sorry that it turned out this way :/

And when they cancel, suddenly no money if working as a private tutor. It sounds very unappealing to me, and glancing at the ads on Gumtree the pay is getting worse.


No, 'fraid you weren't.

Thank you. The rest of the contributors don't seem to have grasped that concept. I did this kid a favor by allowing him to reschedule to a busy day, and I'm glad somebody on this forum understands that.

BTW, my errands were related to a REQUIRED visit to the residency office to sort out my karta pobytu. And not that anyone asked, but the late shower was a result of the 25-minute delay I had to endure while the woman running the new fingerprint technology tried to figure out the computer interface. Of course, nobody bothered to ask before proclaiming that I acted unprofessionally - most only criticized without knowing the full story. All too common on this forum, I'm afraid.

The student arrived very slightly early to show respect for your busy schedule. If you were planning to take a shower so close to the actual lesson time, you should have sent him a short text before getting in the shower, something like "I won't be able to let you in until 12:00 sharp, sorry for the inconvenience". Problem solved, everyone happy, mutual respect maintained all around. I must say if I were the student, I would have been offended as well. There is nothing like leaving a paying customer waiting outside your door if you want to thoroughly humiliate them.

You say "Then he buzzed a second time - I ignored it again (still in the shower). A couple of minutes later, he was at the door to my flat (having gained access to my building). I got out of the shower"

...so it seems he showed up at your door almost exactly at 12:00 (as you said, a couple of minutes after he buzzed you the second time), and you were STILL in the shower?

I rest my case.

Sorry for the inconvenience of meeting you at the time in which we agreed? You must be joking.

No, I'm not. It's called good manners. Sometimes you apologise for something which is not completely your fault, because there is another person involved and they just might come in a bit early and be confused. I daresay your student was not offended until you told them to wait outside while you got dressed. What time was that? Almost 12:00 by then, you have to agree? You actually stayed in the shower for several more minutes after you knew your student had arrived - why? To "teach him a lesson"? To show him exactly how unimportant he was to you? That's all well and good, but then don't expect your student to humbly suck it up and stay for the lesson.

Magdalena - he had already let the student know that he had some important errands to run. If I was the student, I would even have thought maybe the teacher will be a few minutes late since he had scheduled me in last minute as a favour - and according to what BLS is saying, it wasn't yet 12 anyways and he was trying to be hygienic and not sweaty at the lesson haha. I really don't see why it would be a big deal to wait a few minutes outside...I've certainly had to do that sometimes in my life at a doctor's appointment or a piano lesson, and didn't think much of it at all. Life happens....now if it was a 30 min delay I would be mad. But a few minutes waiting is pretty normal in life...no need to get so angry about it.

Nobody asked about your errands because it doesn't really matter if you were sorting out your karta pobytu, looking for a new pair of shoes or buying cream for your athelete's foot. You should have either not scheduled the class or sent the student a message that you were running late. You seem a bit oblivious to proper form when it comes to interacting with clients.

And then you totally disrespected his time by making him stand outside your door.
Lad, he's paying you, not the other way around.


That's your problem and it has nothing to do with your client.


Again, your problem, not your client's.
Why couldn't you just be normal and have a shower after your scheduled lesson?
Do you stink so badly? Maybe you've never heard of an English shower? It also goes by the name of 'Lynx can' or 'Axe' in Poland, I think.


How very arrogant and distasteful. Unbelievably unprofessional, especially since the client went out of his way to fit BLS's schedule.

But you can see the arrogance, even in light of the reasonable posters telling him he's in the wrong, he's far too blinkered to see it let alone admit it.

Teachers like you give the real, hard-working ones a bad name.

Did you have to stand outside the door, in the corridor? I daresay you were sitting comfortably in some sort of a "waiting area". That's the whole difference here. Imaging having to spend several minutes standing at someone's closed door in the corridor of a residential building. Not what I would call a pleasant experience. I used to run a business from home (in Poland), including English lessons, for over 10 years, and if that had happened to me, I'd have rushed out of the shower at the first buzz and thrown on some clothes, let the student in, sat them down somewhere out of sight, and gotten on with making myself presentable. I can assure you the student would be totally apologetic for showing up too early in this scenario.

If you work from home, you have to be prepared for emergencies such as this.

BLS forgot who's selling and who's buying.

In terms of financial stability keeping customers satisfied ranks far above making them show you 'respect'.

I just came off my best month ever, both in terms of number of students and amount of income. I must be doing something right!

This thread has become rather tiring and monotonous - I'm out.

Of course it has - people are telling you a truth you do not want to face ;-)

Hopefully, you have learnt something from this thread and from the situation itself and you will be able to avoid similar problems in the future :-)

My wife did teach polish people for years, and she was more ****** at students arriving late or cancelling at the last minute than arriving 5 minutes earlier.

I think the lack of respect is arriving late, not a bit early.

BLS I don't like your attitude,


stop with this stupid entitlement like if you are member of royal family or someone of higher status just because you are English teacher. I think you are the one who is being disrespectful here