I have been contacted (by phone) by a consultant from Pakistan who wants me to give his daughter some violin lessons during the holidays. He has been recommended by the father (also a doctor) of a girl I have been teaching for around 4 years.

I have to phone him back, but I'm just wondering: is it worth it? I know it's work, but I find it difficult enough to handle new pupils at first, because it takes a while to (a) get to know them, (b) find out how they learn best), ? work out how to help them most effectively, and (d) begin to build a relationship so that I feel comfortable with them. They are only here until the end of August, so I wouldn't have time to do any of those things. I'm assuming she has a teacher at home, but wonder what that teacher would feel if he / she knew they were going to someone else. I understand she's between Grades 1 and 2.

Any thoughts?

Sounds harmless enough and it may turn into something more permanent, or get you other pupils by recommendation. Just as long as it isn't blocking a slot which could be used for a permanent pupil - I'd do it.

Have you asked if the regular teacher is ok with this?
A this level there is probably relatively little you can do as conflicting information which could easily result from different teaching styles would not be good.
Having said that I once gave a few weeks clarinet lessons to my daughter's nieces.
I didn't use any of the material they'd been using in lessons but similar things at the same level.
I kept any technical advice to good posture, fingerwork and tone production.

I would ask them to email me with some more info. What she's currently working on and whether they'd like you to continue with that, or just ask if there's anything specific that they'd like you to cover, what kind of music the child likes, what books she might have? you could suggest working on some repertoire, rather than syllabus music, or improvisation.

I think sometimes people find it easier to put the information into an email rather than answer off the cuff on the phone.

If you feel you might be treading on another teacher's toes you could ask them to send notes from the current teacher as to what s/he would like the student to concentrate on with you.
If you don't normally continue through school holidays it might be a nice little bit extra through August. Check they don't just want a 'practice buddy' or someone to nail the poor kid down to extra study in their holiday though

Oh yes sorry - I didn't read the bit about there possibly being a regular teacher - is the regular teacher in Pakistan? If one of my pupils were off to a distant land to live for a few months, I wouldn't take offence (in fact I would be pleased) if they had lessons with another teacher to keep their skills going until they returned. I would think it weird however if they went to a teacher down the road for extra lessons in the holidays.

It's a scam...a common one.

Avoid!!!

What happens is - they send you money for the lessons via bank transfer or something - but send a ridiculously large amount...and then ask you to refund them some...what really happens is you lose your money cos their initial payment is then cancelled

Something along those lines anyway...

Sorry...missed the bit about it being a recommendation - just sounds scarily like the common scam!!

not sure what I'd do in that case...but would want to discuss it via phone.

I must admit the same thought occurred to me.
It might be ok if there has been a genuine recommendation, but all the rest sounds spookily similar to the scam you describe.
Proceed with caution!

It is almost identical to the scam and was my 1st thought, but you say you already teach his friends daughter so that's different.
All the same, maybe do it all by cash at the door..

It certainly does sound like the scam - although thinking about it, I haven't had any of those for quite a while.

Still - I would proceed with caution. I would want, if possible, to meet them before making a definite booking.

Definitely sounds like a scam but you said there was a recommendation so I am not sure. Who is the parent that recommended them to you? Did they give the name of the parent? If so, it's less likely to be a scam.
Just don't hand over any bank details or accept a cheque for an overpayment of lessons. I would seal the deal with cash payment only at the door as miff says if it's a scam!

On another note, I have a new G5 student from another teacher just for a couple of extra Summer lessons. I did a trial lesson to hear where she is at with her exam work. I listened to her pieces and I would personally teach them very differently but I don't want to tread on her teacher's toes, so I suggested to the mum that we just concentrate on scales, sight-reading and aural in our extra lessons. I don't know if she has told her teacher she is coming here for extra lessons, I am guessing not...

Maybe Daddy just wants some Supervised Practice?
Lots of parents throw money at ice skating coaches as they don't want their child on the ice on their own, so they pay a coach to "teach" their child.

Maybe it's also a "normalisation" thing?
The culture etc is different but she can still have music lessons so it feels more normal to the child and gives the child more of her normal routine?

Wow! I thought I was uber-paranoid about scams, but reading the original post it never occurred to me that anything was amiss.

OP: have you confirmed with the pupil referred to that this really is a friend? It's SO like a common scam that this "referral" sounds dodgy

Dodgy came immediately to my mind. Even if it is a recommendation, it does not mean the person recommending knows everything about who s/he is recommending however long they may have known each other, especially if the recommended person is living abroad. Hope this makes sense.

Thanks for all the replies - although they have worried me a bit!!

I did actually think - at the beginning - that it might be a scam, but they gave the name of the people who had recommended me. Both fathers are doctors at the local hospital (the one who contacted me yesterday presumably doing some sort of temporary consultancy), so that sounds plausible enough. I phoned him back, and we made an arrangement for a lesson at the beginning of August. I then confirmed the arrangements by email, adding that payment would be cash or cheque at the lesson.

He seemed quite happy with that, but I WILL proceed with caution, because he seemed quite keen for me to take the girl for an hour (post Grade 1 standard). The daughter is 17, so it's likely that she would be okay with an hour, but I told him that it was probably better for a first lesson to do just half an hour. Assuming that they do turn up on the appointed day, I will push for cash, but if they pay by cheque I will bank it straight away, so if it all falls apart and the cheque bounces, it's only going to be a modest amount for a half-hour lesson. I can then cancel any other arrangements made, and I certainly won't accept bank transfer or a cheque made out in error for too large an amount.

I'm inclined to think it's genuine. He gave me his mobile number, and also the number of the local hospital where he is currently working. He also gave the name of his secretary there, so I suppose I could actually check this out. I had an email back from him this morning to say thanks and he hoped his daughter would enjoy her lessons, so for now will wait and see what happens next.

I hope I am not being too trusting.....but will keep you posted!

Also make sure it's a cheque drawn on a bank you have heard of and has a branch address in the UK written on the cheque, no PO boxes. International cheques can take months to clear and can be refused many months after you think you have the money, that's how the overpayment scam works, you wait until the cheque clears and you have the money in your account, issue a refund, then the bank removes the money from your account 6 months later. Even UK cheques can be refused many weeks after they appear to have cleared - clearing is just a process of ensuring the money is in the account and the signature is good, the process of checking for false accounts and fake cheques, fake balances, fraud, etc. takes much, much longer. A week between lessons is not long enough to be comfortable that cheques will definitely clear AND you will get to keep the money. Personally, I'd prefer a bank transfer so long as it comes UK bank to UK bank and is only ever for the correct amount, but maybe that is because I spent too much time in the banking industry doing anti-fraud work on cheques!

There is a common scam which, as pointed above, involves over-paying and getting you to re-imburse the overpayment.

It partly relies on a common misconception about what clearing is. Clearing only checks that there is enough in your customers account to pay the cheque. You do not get the money until the transaction is SETTLED, usually a couple of days later, and even then it can be clawed back in some circumstances.

One problem with the scam is that it makes it very difficult for any foreign visitor that genuinely wants to arrange music lessons during holidays!

This could still be a scam - but a very well prepared and researched scam!

As it could be genuine, I think you have done the right thing to treat it as such and schedule some lessons.

But I would insist on payment in cash.

Ah....I didn't know that; thanks, RoseRodent. I guess he may not have a UK bank account. Cash it will have to be, then.

Good advice.

The Clearing System is a way of handling 'collection' of funds as opposed to 'negotiating'. With "collection" you are paid (ledger balance updated) pending the bank sending the cheque off for payment (i.e. "collecting the money owed to them by the drawer). Once the the payment has been settled, then it's "cleared" and you have the value of the funds.

Most cheques drawn outside of the UK are "negotiated". The bank agrees a value (i.e. "negotiates") to pay you now whilst they send the cheque off for payment. The rate you get reflects the risk and the likely time to clear (often 6 weeks to the States for example). You can negotiate with and without recourse. "With" means that if it bounces, it gets debited back out of your account. "Without" means that once you've been credited - that's it - there is no recourse back to you if it bounces, but you get a worse rate to reflect the higher risk to the bank. This applies to non-UK bank drafts as well as personal/business cheques.