1st international subsite

[cadguy]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to internet dating in any shape or form so I'm likely to make rookie mistakes 
Anyway, for a couple of weeks I've been exchanging messages with a woman at one of the 1st international sites. So far she's never asked for money and we've talked about me going over there which I suppose are good signs but then again, it might be that I'm continuing to read her letters that is the entire scam.

My question is if anyone here has had a positive experience with 1st international? A quick search here gives overwhelmingly negative responses.

Thanks

[GoodOlBoy]

Hello and  to RWD Cadguy.
 
Please make sure to read the RWD 10 Commandments:
 
http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?action=ezportal;sa=page;p=34

It is really important.
 
GOB

[I/O]

If you're paying for letters (sending, receiving or reading), you're probably having your arse handed to you.

[LAman]

Which 1st international site are you talking about...there are many. Maybe natasha???
 
Start with monthly plans..people like EM here, I find all to be similar...that way you can gauge better a girls intentions from your experience.
 
Write short...visit soon!!!!
By the way, who brought up the visit?

[cadguy]

Thanks

Which situation is commandment #2 refering to?

Hehe, I probably am having my arse handed to me. It raises the question if it's better to date fictional women on the internet than no one at all though

The site in question is single baltic lady but from what I can tell they're all exactly the same. Same women with the same price to open a letter. After reading around here I did have a quick look at EM yesterday and saw a couple of familiar profiles so either they're not all bad at SBL or there are scammers at EM too.

It was me who brought up the visit. She told me earlier that she has no internet at home (which for all I know can be normal in Ukraine) and that she doesn't speak english which also could be normal for a 30-year old there. When I asked how that would work when I came to visit she suggested using an interpreter.  No internet or english made me a little suspicious but then again, life isn't always convenient so I decided to play along. Coming here and reading what everyone else has to say about 1st has made me a lot more suspicious though. 

[I/O]

either they're not all bad at SBL or there are scammers at EM too.

Pretty fair chance you're correct on both counts.

No internet or english made me a little suspicious

No internet is usually BS and the no English can be true but is usually a "leader" to "we'll need a terp" and of course that would be a terp of her [cough, the agents, hic] choosing.

Probably the only way to fully sus it out is to put the dear {sp intended} in the headlights. Most likely it'll run but you never know........................   

[cadguy]

Thanks

Guess that's what I have to do, just need to figure out a way to do it gently enough to not scare her off if's she's genuine 

[Muzh]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to internet dating in any shape or form so I'm likely to make rookie mistakes 
Anyway, for a couple of weeks I've been exchanging messages with a woman at one of the 1st international sites. So far she's never asked for money and we've talked about me going over there which I suppose are good signs but then again, it might be that I'm continuing to read her letters that is the entire scam.

My question is if anyone here has had a positive experience with 1st international? A quick search here gives overwhelmingly negative responses.

Thanks

Dump her. Go to the next.
 
Repeat as needed.

[GQBlues]

....Hehe, I probably am having my arse handed to me. It raises the question if it's better to date fictional women on the internet than no one at all though ....

LOL!...that's probably the funniest line ever written on these boards.
 
....and I was second-guessed for even using the word 'wanton'? I suppose for some, it really does raise the question. 

[Faux Pas]

Thanks

Guess that's what I have to do, just need to figure out a way to do it gently enough to not scare her off if's she's genuine 

Trust me on this one, scare her off. 

[JohnDearGreen]

...It raises the question if it's better to date fictional women on the internet than no one at all though
The site in question is single baltic lady but from what I can tell they're all exactly the same. Same women with the same price to open a letter... Coming here and reading what everyone else has to say about 1st has made me a lot more suspicious though.

Cad:
1st-international.com is hosted in Romeoville IL.   single-baltic-lady.com is hosted in UK.  It is very common for same lady to be on many web sites.  Suggest you do a google search on your lady - use keywords like name, city, occupation, and birth date.  See how many sites you find her on.  Pick one that looks most honest and reasonable (you should have done this before starting to email her).  Contact her there and see if you get the same answers.


I took a quick look at s-b-l and saw one lady I met years ago (not good) and one lady from a RW forum I read (good).  If you want to find a lady where you can be 100% sure she is real and serious, read the RW forums.  Find a lady there, read all her message posts.  You will learn a lot about her.

[Jumper]

I each good lie is normally more than a grain of truth..?



The FSU reality is this could just as easily be either:

a scam agency 
or
 a woman truly interested in marriage and a relationship, with little to no english,  and no internet , signed up with the agency.
(that is not uncommon at all for a 30yo in Ukraine?particularly  a provincial city.
I know at least 5 off the top of my head personally that would fit that description exactly)


So if you aren't paying ,no big deal, let it ride out and things will become clear.

if you are paying-
its just up to you to decide , how much is *ok* and if the  value  is something you are willing to risk,  for simply entertainment and *curiosity killed the cat*,
or
 if you feel lucky?
so, did the agency shoot 5 or 6 shots?

 


Main thing if you do decide to keep going forward a bit, is to try to get direct communication quickly.

[SANDRO43]

1st-international.com is hosted in Romeoville IL. Single-baltic-lady.com is hosted in UK.

And notices of letters received at Single-baltic-lady are sent via Natasha Club   .

[JohnDearGreen]

And notices of letters received at Single-baltic-lady are sent via Natasha Club .

Surprisingly they have an A- BBB rating.  7 complaints in 3 years and all were resolved in an acceptable manner:
http://www.bbb.org/chicago/business-reviews/marriage-brokers/1st-international-marriage-network-in-romeoville-il-25000700

Website: www.1st-international.com
www.russianwoman.ca
www.brides-from.ru
www.victoriasagency.com.ua
www.aliceagency.com
www.russian-women-personals.com
www.russian-brides-club.com
www.russianbridesmatch.com
www.online-dating-ukraine.com
www.allianceinter.com
www.inloveagain.com


Additional DBA Names:   
Alena Marriage Agency
Alice Agency
Hot Imports
Online Dating Ukraine
Natasha Club
Russian Women Personals
RussianWoman.ca
Inloveagain.com

[cadguy]

John,
Wow, that's a lot of subsites and single baltic lady isn't even listed lol
I tried a search on her name and home city and as far as I can tell she's only active on sites belonging to 1st international but I'll do some more digging this weekend. I was on a kick-off for a new project yesterday so I didn't have a lot of time (not to mention I was a bit tipsy when I got home  )

What RW forums are there? If she doesn't speak english I'll have to use google translator but atleast it should give me an idea if I can find her.
On a sidenote, would be interesting to know how many of the women on any given RW site that has had some contact with anyone here 

AJ,
she's from Kiev so good guess about Ukraine
I am paying but for now it's ok. Between "I might not be completely screwed" and entertainment it's good value.
Her profile says Basic english but I can kinda see why instead of putting None. Easier to reveal that later when you're already talking 

Thanks
 

[Ronnie]

Another subsite is Lovessa. 


Two things in my experience with this organization:


First, the correspondence is often not being received by, read to or answered by, the actual lady, but instead by one of the professional letter-writers/interpreters.  The parties (including the lady) feel it is more efficient to operate this way until the man actually gets on the plane, then the lady will be informed that a man is coming to meet her.  This gives the keyboard Romeos what they want without wasting the lady's time.


The second, when you come to realize what is going on, you can ask for, and actually receive, a refund of the money you paid for the fake correspondence.


Ron

[cadguy]

Hmm, I guess that's one more way they could do it that I didn't think of 
Even if it's fairly close it'll be a little while until I can get over there (birthdays and my youngest brother is getting married, I would not be popular around here if I skipped that ) but if/when the time comes it'll be interesting to see what happens.

[Ronnie]

One more point that has arisen with Natasha Club/1st International is that once you have paid for the contact info you may or may not get real contact info.  Often there is no phone or physical address, just an email address that the local office has set up in her name but again, the local agency will receive and answer that supposed private correspondence.  You will notice that the tone, length and frequency of the letters, though written by the same interpreter, changes dramatically, to discourage you, as there is no more incentive to keep the correspondence going.

[cadguy]

Not at all related to 1st int. but is there something I'm missing about receiving and reading emails at EM?
I can understand that a very first contact with someone is no more than "Hello!" but when I send an EOI, she replies back that she's interested and I send a little longer email I was expecting something longer back than "Hi xxx, nice to meet you".
Either there's more to the message hidden among the translation buttons that I can't find or I just got dumped something fierce     

[Faux Pas]

Not at all related to 1st int. but is there something I'm missing about receiving and reading emails at EM?
I can understand that a very first contact with someone is no more than "Hello!" but when I send an EOI, she replies back that she's interested and I send a little longer email I was expecting something longer back than "Hi xxx, nice to meet you".
Either there's more to the message hidden among the translation buttons that I can't find or I just got dumped something fierce 

Not necessarily. More often at EM you are in direct contact to the woman. Chances are her english is lacking in a big way or she might be cautious. Send her another email and ask for her phone number and personal email along with questions about her?

[Rubicon]

Not at all related to 1st int. but is there something I'm missing about receiving and reading emails at EM?
I can understand that a very first contact with someone is no more than "Hello!" but when I send an EOI, she replies back that she's interested and I send a little longer email I was expecting something longer back than "Hi xxx, nice to meet you".
Either there's more to the message hidden among the translation buttons that I can't find or I just got dumped something fierce 

A lot of women like to proceed at a slow leisurely pace.  Nothing wrong with that.  Some women do not like guys who are lazy and send an EOI instead of writing first.  You have one there who I think really is interested.  Give her a chance.  Remember English is not her first language.  Can you type in Cyrillic?

[cadguy]

Yeah, I was just a little surprised by the short answer. In my email I told her a few things about myself not in the profile and asked her a question or 2 based on her profile, all very mundane stuff and nothing controversial.
I'll try another email tomorrow, this time with focus on questions for her.

I don't know any russian so I'd have to use google translator for cyrillic. Based on what happens when I let GT translate between english and swedish that's a little bit scary  (although it's better now than what it used to be)

Level of english knowledge is almost hopeless to judge. I call my english 'good' but that's very much depending on what I compare it to. In FSU (this particular case one of the baltic states) it might be 'awesome' but in england no more than 'fair' and everyone makes the same call on their skills. I'm helped a lot by the fact that I've found swedish movies and tv shows absolutely horrid for as long as I can remember and I've only watched american movies/tv shows