Disheartening News!

[Rvrwind]

Well it seems I find myself writing something I thought I would never have to write & have tried desperately to find a solution to but at this point have no other road to take.
After 4 years of living with my lovely wife & working in Russia I find I am forced, due to circumstances, to return to Canada. I honestly am not looking forward to it. I built a life here & because of one Russian a$$hole, my previous employer, I have had it all snatched away from me. :burnedup:
This guy is the lowest of the low. A snake that should be avoided at all cost & if there was any law here to turn to I’d have his a$$ in jail. He is a disgrace to all Russian people & should be ostracized with extreme prejudice!!! If he should offer you a job run far & run fast because you will get screwed & then he will blame you for him screwing you. :seething: I have no hesitation in printing his name here because I don’t care anymore; he has totally ruined what I have built because of his own selfish ignorance & lack of compassion for those who work for him. His name is Mikhail Stazayev & he hires translators & English editors. Run away, run away fast!!
He still owes me a considerable sum of money, which I will never see & unfortunately I have been unable to replace & find that the financial hardship has put me in a very bad situation. As well as he cancelled my Visa on me & if I don’t leave I will be picked up & shipped out, but because he didn’t pay me what he owes me I cannot afford to get a new Visa. I was even partway through the process of doing so as I got my new passport paid for & waiting & we already paid for the home visit invitation, unfortunately I cannot afford to go to Helsinki to pick them up & pay for the new Visa & so both will be forfeit.
It’s a long story & I won’t go into all the details but suffice to say my best option to secure decent employment is to return to Canada.
This in itself presents a whole new set of problems. I will have to return without my wife, which is devastating for both of us, as well as I have had to borrow the money to pay for my ticket from my family. The business at this point in time just isn’t making enough to be profitable to the point where it can support the principles. So I have to bite the bullet, swallow my pride, tuck tail & return to Canada. Not what I was hoping to have to do or really want to do but find my options limited at this point.
I’m not whining or crying out for help. I made my bed & I’ll sleep in it, I always do.
Leaving my wife behind is the hardest part & will not be easy for either of us & I don’t know when I will be able to return or how long it will take to get the paperwork filed for her to immigrate. That will all depend on what kind of employment I can secure & how much it pays. I gave up everything when I left Canada so will have to start all over when I return, at my age that is not an easy thing to do. I’ve been gone a long time & going back was not something I had planned on & don’t know what I am going back to.
As it stands now I will be flying out on April 8th. on Lufthansa through Frankfurt, Germany and will be back in Calgary the same day at 4PM.
I regret I won’t be here for the guys who have already told us they are coming this spring & summer, some who have already booked their trips, as I really like to be here when they come. I regret having trusted an ignorant a$$ that I mistook for a real man & took his word at face value & got screwed for it. My biggest regret is that I must leave my wife for an unknown time, even though she says not to worry all will work out, I can’t help myself.
It has been a definite learning experience & a hell of a ride but has also definitely left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
I wonder if I should write a trip report?

[catzenmouse]

Richard,

 Very, very sorry to hear this news. There is nothing that I can say that will make a difference except for you to trust that it will work out and the time apart for you and your wonderful and talented love will be kept to a minimum.

 Keep the faith!

Ken

[Stirlitz]

Oh, that’s too bad… Why can’t you take her with you?

Don’t give up. Hardship is required for a victory. When it’s all over you’ll be glad it turned out this way.

[ScottinCrimea]

Richard,
     My heart aches for you, man!  My visa is a 5 year business visa that was ''arranged" for a fee.  Fortunately this company has backed me up when needed a few times.  I could have been in the same position as you if they had chosen to be jerks about it.  My personal plan is to change my visa to a private one and ultimately seek permanent resident status.  That way I'm at no one's mercy.
     I hope you can get all of this fixed as quickly as possible.  I spent 6 months away from my wife and even knowing that I could return anytime I wanted was bad enough.  To have such uncertainty would be hell.

[William3rd]

Any other options available in country or are you getting the boot quickly?

[Bruce]

Richard, there has to be someone in Tver you can turn to.  Ask your wife about friends she may have that may be able to help you.  How fast until you have to go.  Maybe Yaroslav from Behappy knows some people who can help you.  Turn to everyone you or your wife knows.  There has to be someone who knows what you can do to stay.  How much time do you have?  I'll speak with my wife.  Maybe there is someone she knows in Tver that can help you.  Ah, I see, until April 8.

[Jack]

You think Richard's upset now, wait until he see's the approx. time it's going to take his married wife to get to Canada once he has filed the proper paperwork. 

[Rvrwind]

My Visa was cancelled as of February 15th. I was given 15 days to exit the country. My wife manged a 45 day extesion through the OVIR to allow me some time to get my affairs in order before I leave. I must be out by the 15 of April or get a new Visa.
The only thing that will fix it is cash.
I've already renewed my passport & paid for it. It is sitting in Helsinki waiting for me to show up. We already applied & paid for the homestay invitation, which will be ready in about 2 weeks. My bggest problem is I don't have the cash on hand to make the trip to Helsinki & back when the invitation is ready. What we had saved we had to use to live on & I didn't maage to find another job till two weeks ago.
The only job I could secure is in Moscow, a 5 hour train ride each day I go in with very few hours at this time. If I could stay I could increase the hours but still that train ride is killer as well as the cost bites into what I make. But I do make fairly good money if I get the hours in.
Its just a whole lot of little things adding up to make one big mess.
My family already bought the plane ticket & if I cancel it now they will be miffed, however I could pay them back what the airline deducts for cancelling it. They wouldn't pay for me to go to Helsinki because at the time I didn't have a job & couldn't pay my way here anyway. But now that I have, if I could somehow come up with the extra to make the Helsinki turnaround I'd be able to stay.
Just a big mess because of one dirtball.
I guess I should explain why I find myself in this position.
As some of you know already I was having problems with this idiot paying me for quite some time. One time I went 3 months without being paid but still continued to work. This happened constantly over the 3 years I worked for him for varying periods of time & sometimes when I did get paid it wasn't the amount that was agreed to but much less. Sometimes it was more to make up what was not paid earlier but always in deficit.
Last summer I sent him an email & told hm I was no longer going to tolerate it & warned him that I would take action but being a foreigner I had no legal recourse & little chance to find other employment in Tver so I continued to put up with it.
A week before this past Chrismas I hadn't been paid in 2 months & was just plain pissed. We hadn't paid our rent for two months & the landlord was somewhat unhappy, Christmas was coming & we couldn't afford to buy presents for each other or family & my wifes birhday was pretty skimpy! We had taken from our savings to keep food in the cupboards & finally had to use it to pay the rent. He owed me over 50,000 rouble which ain't much to most of you but when you live here as a Russian lives, thats a hell of a lot of money. Finally 5 days before Christmas he insults me by paying me a lousy 8,000 rouble. That pays the rent for one month, the phone & the electric & we are broke again.
I have never been so angry in my life, If he had been within' arms length & I'm glad he wasn't, I'd be in jail, no need to elaborate!
So my next working day, I didn't work. The translations were made but I didn't edit them, just let them sit. I never heard a word from anybody. Then after Christmas I go to the site just to check things out & I'm locked out, passwords changed. So I call one of the translators & ask him whats up. He tells me he got a lettter from Mikhail saying I don't work there anymore. Real nice, SOB didn't even have the guts to tell me himself.
So I write him an email requesting my money & he writes me back a nasty email telling me the company incured damages because of my actions & I will not get any money. Well I went balistic, MY ACTIONS!!!! What about the harm my famiy & iincured because of your actions??? I was just furious. He still won't admit that he was at fault, biusness as usual & I am to blame for everything. Thats the kind of attitude you get from profesional buisnessmen in Russia!!
So here I am stuck with the results of his ignorance & stupidity & not a damn thing I can do about it. I even tried to explain the cause & effect theory to him: Action -You don't pay me; Cause - I refuse to work; Effect - Company feels the pain - How does that make it my fault?
In the 3 years I worked there I never took holidays or asked for them. I was never given medicare, or pension, when I was in hospital in 2005 I paid my own way & I never even got a card or anythng from him or the company & I even left the hospital & returned to work a week earlier against my doctors orders & not so much as howdy doody from him. All I ever asked of him in 3 years was my pay on time in the agreed amount, nothing more nothing less & he couldn't even do that.
Now he has some other poor sap working there that will get the same crap until he/she finds they have a job no more. He has done the same thing to Russian translatorsin the past as well, there are several here that I am sure will kill him if he ever had guts enough to come to Tver, But he won't, he lives in sunny California!!!

[William3rd]

California, eh? What company is this? And how many disaffected employees are there? PM if you like. . . . .

[Rvrwind]

Bruce - I doubt very much Yaroslav would be willing to help me. I'm not on the top of his Christmas list!

Jack - I am well aware of how long it normally takes but I also know that we are not the normal case. We have been together , married for over three years. I think that might fastrack it a little but I still figure it will be dang close to at least  10 - 12 months.

William - as I outlined in my last reply - my only option is to come up with some cash to get my new Visa in Helsinki & tide me over till I can get more hours at my new place of employment, Oh, & pay back my family so they don't kill me!!!

Stirlitz - I can't take her with me because she is not a Canadian citizen, she has never even been to Canada. We have to file the paperwork just like anybody else who marries a Russian woman even though we have lived in Russia married for 3+ years.

I'm in a pickle no doubt about it. But as they say or I say "Sh!T Happens!"
There or here either way you look at it my tag line says it all!!!
"Dyin' is easy, Its livin' thats hard!"

[Stirlitz]

Yes, it’s unfortunately typical for some Russian businessmen.

However, what surprises me is that it took you so long. You should have given it up long ago. It looks like living in Russia you adopted some of not-so-good traits of Russian people: working for no payment and putting up with it. Large backlogs in salaries are notorious there. But it’s not just the government or employers, it’s workers and employees who are to blame. Sorry to sound harsh but I just can’t understand it. I never work longer than a day being paid by promises. If I don’t get paid I stop very quick.

[Mir]

California

hmmm shouldn't be too hard getting him snuffed off there!

[Rvrwind]

William - Its A Russian Company, Registared in Russia, He just lives in the US. As for the number of affected, more than I care to count, I can personally attest to seven besides me that I am well aware of.

Stirlitz - I was of the same mind, but you are Russian, you speak Russian, finding work for you here is somewhat easier than for me. Jobs for native English speakers with little or no Russian are very few & far between, especially in a smaller city. Opportunities are far greater in Moscow & I have found one there but living in Moscow is also 5 times more Expensive than Tver & I really don't wish to live there anyway & my wife certainly won't. So if I do retain my employment there it requires 5 hours travel time everyday, which in reality would't be so bad if the seats on the train were a tad bit softer. I get to read alot more than I have been, which is a plus!!

I'm thinking of inventing a soft seat thing like I have seen people take to hockey games back home. Folds up nice & compact. Might be an idea that will fly & I can sell a few here as long as the price is right. :brightidea:

Well I'm off to bed, pretty late here & I have an 8:33am train to catch. I'll catch upon this thread tomorrow night when I get home. Later guys.

[LEGAL]

Rvrwind How much money do you need? maybe all of us here can help you.

HOW ABOUT IT GUYS

LEGAL

[Kuna]

Legal,

I was thinking the same thing.... If it's a reasonable sum and enough people chipped in I'd be happy to throw some in the hat too...

Furthermore... seeing Rvrwnd in RWD and knowing now he needed to lift revenue tells me he is a man of integrity.  We see some "vendors" in here clearly advertising themselves but I've never seen him do that.  Maybe he's silly... I'd like to think he has integrity.

Can I suggest that if this happens and we do get enough $'s together, Rvrwnd not repay the members, but instead when he can he donates the money to a local charity.. that way we're doing something good twice!

Kuna

[Patrick]

Legal and Kuna, Count me in too. Just let me know where to send the funds. I will be happy to help a brother in need..

[viking]

One of the best plans I have seen here in a long time. I'm in.

[Maxx2]

 I am in also. Richard should not be separated from his wife. Say about $100 to $200 each and more if we wish. Who should organize this?


Maxx

[Kuna]

Maxx... let's just see how many can commit and find out from Richard how much is needed. Then we can decide on payment processing, amounts etc.

I assume Richard has online payments attached to his site anyway so getting the money there wouldn't be a problem.

When we know how many can chip in and how much is needed we can confirm everything in this thread.

[LEGAL]

Kuna and everybody I agree when Richard awakens he can tell us what is the best way to help him. I for one don't want the money back.


LEGAL & Olga

[aikorob]

Count me in also---may not be able to chip in as much as some of you (N.'s interview is the 20th) but with enough of us, it wouldn't take that much

[LEGAL]

aikorob Yes and if we all can do something for a brother in need.

LEGAL

[Gator]

Richard,

I also will gladly help.

Richard, you are a true character.  You certainly can take a punch and you do seem to land on your feet.  So I have faith in your future, whatever you decide to do.

There are a couple questions that I think you should ask yourself.  Were you having fun in Russia vs. the life you knew in Canada?   Would things improve in Russia in the near future?  These and a couple of other questions are important for you and V to mull over in private.  Perhaps a change of scenery would do you some good; however, you will lose all the momentum you have built into your agency business, so that will hurt.

[viking]

I think it can be hard for some one to say "I need this amount". It can also be hard to ask. Call it pride. And I am also sure Richard is not expecting this  positive turnout to his situation. May I suggest that Richard just post his info so that we can individually send him, through Western Union  (keep the business out of this), that each of us can afford. We can PM him and let him know what to expect. I think that if enough of us send something it should be sufficient to assist him in the short term. Thoughts?

[catzenmouse]

I also agree that it is a fine testament to our members here to help out a brother! Be happy to do what I can as well.

Gator's question does have merit though. Would it be better to perhaps help out with the government fees involved in getting V to Canada? If things are dire in Tver and continue to be that way would we only be helping to prolong the inevitable?

Richard, forgive me for asking these questions but I think that you and V should seriously consider all the options that are available to you and how best to proceed for your future. I just want you to talk and think about what you both want and need.

Either way that you decide is fine by me (and I'm sure the others here who have spoken up) so don't let us sway your thinking in any way.

Do what is best for you and V!

Ken