20,000 (or $607.40 US) training reimbursement BS fee

Here is a link to a post that gave me a lot of courage when I was quitting Hess(for some reason can't get it to light up as a link so copy and paste if you are interested). It is the fourth post on the page: http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=69755&start=20 Thank you, guy in Taiwan =)
Anyways, here's my story about the 20,000 fine. so far I know several other people who've quit Hess and none of them have had to pay it.

I told the HNST (western manager) that I was quitting, giving them over a months notice (in which time there was another kindergarten performance. If I really wanted to screw them over I would have left before the performance was completed) I asked my manager if they would be deducting the 20,000 nt training reimbursement fee from my paycheck. I told him that I would be happy to pay the percentage that felt I owed (1/6 of the fee, because I had completed 10 months of the 12 month contract) He said he'd have to check on it. A couple of days later he called me and said he was sorry, but even though nobody at the branch wanted to charge me the full fee, it was up to Taipei Main Office, so I would have to pay the full 20,000.
(other reports have stated that it is up to the branch managers to decide whether to collect the fee. Once again, the merry go round with who is really responsible for things and who you're really dealing with.)

I replied that it was illegal for them to take it from my paycheck, and I was pretty sure that the contract I had signed and scanned and emailed to them was not legally binding, so I told him I would be fight paying the fee, and bring whatever government officials into it that were necessary.

He said, "Don't tell me now what you're going to do in the future, just think about it a little bit."
I said "I already know what I'm going to do, and I'm going to fight it."

I knew hess didn't have a legal leg to stand on- I'd been teaching kindergarten illegally, there was the whole question of emailed contract legality, and the fact that I had very nearly completed the entire contract. I was just curious whether they would take it out of my last paycheck, because after working the minimum hours for hess for the previous months, I was a little low on cash, and would need that cash until the first paycheck of my new job.

A couple of days later the branch manager and I had a nice heart to heart. He really seems like a reasonable guy and I wish I had talked to him more instead of going through my HNST. He said that he felt that the problems I'd had were the branches fault as well as my own, so they would not be charging the fee. I said I would be happy to pay 3333 nt because I hadn't finished the last two months. He said that was nice.
And that was it.
So, current Hess employees who are scared to quit because of the training reimbursement fee---
The fact of the matter is that they can't legally take it out of your paycheck, and all they can do is harass you to give it to them. You can refuse, and if they pursue you bring in the appropriate authorities and they probably won't want to deal with it what with all the illegal kindy teaching going on. If you say you'll fight it, they'll probably leave you the heck alone.

Out of principle, I think it's fair to pay part of it, or the percentage that you owe if you are near the end of your contract. Training does take a lot of time and money on their part. I just wanted to pay that little bit so that I could have it settled in my own mind about whether I had done the right thing or not. And technically I hadn't even signed a 12 month contract because while in Taiwan I had only signed a six month kindy contract...but what the heck it was nice of them to put me up in a hotel for the training...

Anyways, don't be scared, do what you have to do. You may have signed a contract, but they don't own you.