Do the one check that protects you
The single most useful thing you can do — before any deposit — is confirm the agency is licensed by the Department of Labour (JTKSM) and that the legal entity on that licence is the same one quoting you. It costs nothing and takes minutes. Most disputes trace back to skipping it: a friendly conversation with an unlicensed middleman feels reassuring right up until something goes wrong and there is no licensed party to hold responsible.
Ask directly for the licensed legal name and check it against the quotation, the bank account you are asked to pay, and the messages you receive. When those don’t line up, treat it as a stop sign, not a detail.
- Confirm a valid JTKSM recruitment licence.
- Match the legal name across licence, quotation and payment details.
- Keep a written record of who you spoke to and what was promised.
Read the quotation like a contract
A trustworthy agency gives you an itemised quotation: what each charge is for, when it is due, and what is and isn’t included. That lets you compare two agencies fairly, because you are comparing the same lines rather than two headline totals that hide different work. If a quotation is a single number with no breakdown, the useful response is to ask for the detail — not to assume the lower number is the better deal.
Pay against named, written items and milestones. Vague “processing” charges with no description are exactly where costs quietly expand.
Know the red flags before you commit
A few patterns should make you slow down: pressure to pay a large deposit quickly, reluctance to put terms in writing, a trading name that doesn’t match any licence, and promises that sound too clean — fixed timelines, replacements promised without conditions, a “perfect” fit every time. None of these on its own proves bad faith, but together they are the profile of an arrangement you can’t hold anyone to.
When you’re ready to talk to an agency, arrive with your household brief and these checks in mind. If you’d like a hand comparing what you’ve been quoted, send it over on WhatsApp and talk it through.