arcadia-marriage-agency.com/

[hunter70]

Has anybody heard good things about these people?

[BillyB]

a quick Googlecheck didn't show me anything but you could try again yourself.

Did you read how the site operates here?

http://www.arcadia-marriage-agency.com/en_rules.htm

If it's for you then call them and make sure you talk to somebody. You can't use their instant messaging service with the possibility of getting contact info with the ladies until you join at $300 Euros so think about that. Once you join, you are commited to using that agency to meet women or you're out of your money.

Lot's of good looking ladies there but don't fall in love with photos. Make sure you use a service you're comfortable with and that won't put up resistance to your goals.

[daveyj]

Hi All,

First time poster here.

I'm also interested if anyone has any experiences with Arcadia.  Their website says they've been in operation since 1997, and a quick look shows more than 1000 ladies registered.  They are a St.Petersburg agency only, and they claim to personally register their ladies, and that they don't buy profiles from other agencies.

Their business model seems pretty legit. They charge simply 400 euros for a introductions duing a week visit in Petersburg.  Beyond that there are minimal other bells and whistles. 

And they have some videos (a few of which are free to view) and which seem genuine.

But I can't seem to find ANY reviews of anyone having used them?  After 10 years of business that seems odd.

I'm willing to TOFTT (Take One for the Team), but I'd like to avoid dropping 400 euros if others know better.

regards

[SANDRO43]

Welcome to RWD, Davey.

I'm also interested if anyone has any experiences with Arcadia.  Their website says they've been in operation since 1977, and a quick look shows more than 1000 ladies registered.  They are a St.Petersburg agency only, and they claim to personally register their ladies, and that they don't buy profiles from other agencies.

Their business model seems pretty legit. They charge simply 400 euros for a introductions duing a week visit in Petersburg.  Beyond that there are minimal other bells and whistles.

Their 'business model' is rather unusual, sounds more like a marriage agency of old.

One way to test how well they know the women in their 'collection' would be to ask about Oxana, their no. 5268. Besides being a VERY prolific profile poster (some 30 over the past 5 years or so), she also has a little-known, er, lucrative 'hobby' (see here http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=1598.msg122702#msg122702 for more details) .

[daveyj]

Sandro,

Thanks for the note on Oxana.

But in fairness, with 1000 ladies listed I reckon they are entitled to have a certain proportion of bad apples.  (Presuming that Oxana's multiple site approach is insincere.)  Similarly, I certainly wouldn't expect that a women who works in the adult industry would list that on a dating/marriage site as her occupation.

Don't get me wrong, I welcome the input! :-). 

But if that's the worst that anyone can come up with, I'd take that as an endorsement of the overall sincerity of the agency.
regards
d

[Kuna]

Geeez I'm glad I'm not "searching" anymore...

[daveyj]

Geeez I'm glad I'm not "searching" anymore...

??

Is that because of something I wrote, or just a general stream of consciousness comment?
thx
d

[SANDRO43]

But if that's the worst that anyone can come up with, I'd take that as an endorsement of the overall sincerity of the agency.

Not really: it appears that few here, if any, ever had dealings with them, and therefore we can offer neither endorsements nor indictments. No news can be good news, but also not-so-good ones .

However, it's your call and, if you're going to TOFTT, we'll look forward to hearing your experiences, and maybe discover a hitherto-unknown gem among agencies .

[Kuna]

??

Is that because of something I wrote, or just a general stream of consciousness comment?
thx
d

Yeah... naah... sorry Davey.  It was just a moment of unexpected empathy as I can appreciate the "mystery" of choosing an agency/web site/method.

Unexpected empathy as some might say I'm incapable of those emotions...   

The thing is...  even though you've found RWD (IMHO - the greatest assistance you'll find in the whole caper) you still need to detox the advice you get.

I just empathise with you while in search mode...  but let me promise you that if you negotiate the obstacles and manage the risks the rewards are phenominal!

Good luck in your search.  btw...  freepersonals.ru worked for me...  but you MUST be vigilant in spotting the scammers!

[AW5724]

I can highly recommend them. I used there services in August 2006. I keep meaning to write up my experiences of agencies I have used but just never find the time but will do one day.

The reasons why I recommend them are;

1. I met both Sergey & Lena directly and are very approachable, efficient and easy to deal with.

2. There business model is very simple and direct. It does not involve any fake letters or fake introductions. You basically pay them a fee upfront, talk to them about what you are looking for and they will then show you who is available and might be interested in meeting you. They then arrange meetings and the rest is up to you (as they recommend make sure you have a mobile phone). Also no big overheads as they do not have an office so they run a very nice business which allows them to lead a fairly relaxed lifestyle.

3. I met a number of really nice women through them, one of whom I dated for a year before realising that it was not going to work out. I did not write to any of them in advance and to some extent took pot luck on who I met as it was a relatively last minute decision to go to St Petersburg but it worked out. I think I met about 8-10 women (I could have met more but that was enough for me) in about a week of whom two I really liked. They all seemed to know Sergey & Lena reasonably well.

4. They are based in St Petersburg which is one of my favourite cities in the world so even if you strike out you will enjoy your time there as there is so much to see and do.

The only downside is the expense of the Russian visa service and it is not the cheapest city in the world but you would have to be pretty miserable not to enjoy the visit.

I do not want to recommend any women (seems a bit sleazy) but as I said I did like the women I met, no obvious gold diggers but nobody can guarantee what people are really like but the women I dated was very genuine.

Let me know if you have any questions,

Andrew

[daveyj]

I visited St.Pete's recently, and used Arcadia (at 400 euros flat rate).  I must admit, I was not too impressed.

In my 10 days in St. Pete's, Arcadia introduced me to a total of only 3 ladies(?!).  They were each nice enough and clearly legitimate.  But I had provided a list of a dozen ladies from the Arcadia website, and only met one of them.  There was also a fourth lady I had exchanged emails with prior to arriving, but she went radio silence once I was in town.

My take is that Arcadia is genuine, but that Sergey considers himself some sort of master matchmaker and sort of slowly "releases" one lady at a time for a meeting, and only releases the next one when the previous doesn't create sparks.

Perhaps if the guy lives in St.Pete's this might work.  But when I've travelled halfway across the world into a foreign country and I'm only there for a short time, I think a more pragmatic approach is required.

I expressed my disappointment to Arcadia after my first few days (when I had met only one lady), and it didn't really seem to inspire any urgency or change in approach.

After that I just gave up on them as I had made some other plans in my trip, so I wasn't entirely dependent upon Arcadia, and thankfully those went a little better. (I'll write more later)

In summary, I think Arcadia is genuine, and maybe I just didn't get their A-game. Apart from that, I'm entirely perplexed at what they could possibly have been thinking?

One thought is that I'm a little younger than the typical WM seeking a RW, and maybe Arcadia just didn't have a very large roster of ladies in the right demographic (although from their website, it would appear otherwise).

[groovlstk]

My take is that Arcadia is genuine, but that Sergey considers himself some sort of master matchmaker and sort of slowly "releases" one lady at a time for a meeting, and only releases the next one when the previous doesn't create sparks.

Sounds to me like Arcadia and Sergey genuinely took you for a ride to the tune of 400 euros.

[kievstar]

daveyj, how young are you?  Did you get the agency to show your pictures and profile to the girls before you left and see if they liked you? 

[daveyj]

yes, told them my age, sent them my pictures and and a very descriptive profile several days before I arrived in town

[Kuna]

daveyj,

Sorry to hear it didn't go well with arcadia.  I'll look forward to reading about your plan B and hope it all turned out OK for you.

Kuna

[kievstar]

daevj, than it sounds like this agency is crap and has phony women.

[sleepycat]

Hi there,

I am going to St Petersburg in May this year to meet a RW that I first met online. In case things don't work out with this lady I would like to have a back-up plan while I am over there. Has anyone had any recent experience with this Arcadia agency, or know how updated their ladies profiles are? Their asking price of 400 Euros will sound very steep if I use their services and nothing comes out of it.

One thing that concerns me is in their ladies profiles Arcadia doesn't list the ladies requirements regarding race. I am of South-East Asian origin BTW. So will this severely narrows down the field for me?

Cheers
Sleepycat

[Hammer2722]

Yikes!!!! 400 Euros??? That sounds pretty damn steep to me. What services are they going to provide for that much????

[ML]

Yikes!!!! 400 Euros??? That sounds pretty damn steep to me. What services are they going to provide for that much????

They choose and present your fiance to you; put you up in a hotel for 3 days so you can get acquainted, perform test drives and fall in love; do the wedding ceremony; and give you a Warranty for 3 months.

This is for the basic package.  For additional money, they will let you be involved in choosing your fiance.  Long-term Warranties are also available, but are very, very expensive.

[mendeleyev]

give you a Warranty for 3 months.

ML, your warranty reminds me of an advertising client I had in Nebraska years ago, Weird Wally's Used Cars, He did his own commercials and bantered around slogans like "we guarantee every car we sell for either 30 minutes, or however long it takes to drive around the block."

My favourite was his tagline at the end of each commercial, "folks this is Weird Wally and our prices are so low that we lose money on every car sold, but thanks to our many customers we make it up in volume!"  Oddly enough, he was the largest used car dealer in the state at that time.

[JayH]

They choose and present your fiance to you; put you up in a hotel for 3 days so you can get acquainted, perform test drives and fall in love; do the wedding ceremony; and give you a Warranty for 3 months.

This is for the basic package.  For additional money, they will let you be involved in choosing your fiance.  Long-term Warranties are also available, but are very, very expensive.

The ultimate MOB !!       is it SOR?

[JayH]

ML, your warranty reminds me of an advertising client I had in Nebraska years ago, Weird Wally's Used Cars, He did his own commercials and bantered around slogans like "we guarantee every car we sell for either 30 minutes, or however long it takes to drive around the block."

My favourite was his tagline at the end of each commercial, "folks this is Weird Wally and our prices are so low that we lose money on every car sold, but thanks to our many customers we make it up in volume!"  Oddly enough, he was the largest used car dealer in the state at that time.

He sounds about as logical as the NRA !!

[CDW]

400 Euros!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the cost of returns air fares from London to St Petersburg