When getting turned down is a good sign

[frank_92]

I recently signed up for two sites, anastasia international and Elena's models.  The two experiences might be worth something to someone and might save some other people money.

My profiles on both sites noted that I was seeking a woman 22-32, and a fluent speaker of English, or at least "advanced."  On the Anastasia site, I was hit with about 40 e-mails in 4 days.  About half of these were from 18-20 year olds who had "limited beginner" English ability.  Oh yeah, almost all of them were absolutely gorgeous.  A-Web requires you to pay anywhere from $7.00 to about $4.00 (depending on member plan), to open these e-mails, and another cost to reply.  That means that reading and replying to one girl could cost you as much as $14.00.  What was also strange was that two girls I wrote back to claimed to have "advanced beginner" English ability and yet said they couldn't provide their mailing address because they couldn't read my letters anyway and they preferred to use the agency.  Uh huh.  I'm told I'm a good looking enough 37 year old, but I'm not the kind of guy who draws  19 y/o 5' 11" blond bombshells.  All in all, I spent $200 at A-web before I did enough research to realize that most of these women, if not the entire agency, are a big scam.

My experience on Elena's website was completely different.  So far I've only received 6 unsolicited e-mails, and none of them are overly attractive.  I've also been turned down on my "expression of interest" e-mails that I've sent out to about a dozen women.  While it sucks not to have the "supermodels" falling all over me, at least I realize that reality and I realize that Elena seems to have a pretty above board site.  If she was looking to scam me, she would have replied in the affirmative to all my EOIs so I would be inclined to pay her to get the women's addresses. 

Just my personal experience, your mileage may vary.  Now, for the 5' 11" Russian blondes, please feel free to drop me a line.  I'm still waiting.   

[SANDRO43]

Welcome to RWD, Frank.

Your post pretty much confirms the experience of other members here, so it's a pity you joined only AFTER it (you could have saved those $200 ).

[frank_92]

Yeah, you live and learn.  I should have researched them better before dropping a couple of C notes.  I consider myself lucky, it sounds like some guys have lost a lot more money than that.

[alantodd]

Regarding anastiaweb.  My fiance was listed there and I know two girls who work at one of the Kiev offices.  The girls on the site most of the time never see your letters.  You are having a conversation with one of the office girls.  I used Anastiaweb after meeting my fiance and we used it for translating letters only.  Fiance hates computer and agency would read her my letter to her over phone.  Pretty reasonably for $5 each letter and 1500 plus words - fiance limited English.  Got to know agency girls well and they say a lot of good girls get bad reputation but these girls really never saw letters.  Also mentioned how a lot of the pretty young girls will reject meetings at last second because not comfortable with big age discrepancy or what guy looks like.  My fiance before me would look at a guy from a distance and cancel (not show up) if she did not like from first impression.  Maybe rude but no reason to waste anyones time.  Agency girls if they like you will sometimes tell you who are really good girls.  They will only tell you after you have spent enough money and you have formed a friend type relationship with them.

If you use anasitaweb you can call the girls and ask for there phone number within first minute.  Than call them in future without agency or with help of your own interpreter.  Girls who show interest will sms you and send recent photos. Get on plane and meet them.  Women in all countries  like talking on phone but most sincere woman want you face to face.

[2tallbill]

Actually the $200 was a fairly cheap education. You could have spent several months writing to several of them (hundreds of dollars) then flown to Moscow or Siberia (thousands) only to learn that none of the ladies even knew your name.

Udachi

Good luck

Bill

[I/O]

Frank: Firstly welcome. It is nice to see someone open enough to admit a minor mistake and see the reality AND learn...!! Kudos.

You have it pretty much nailed. A-web can't be blanket called a scamm so to say because it is simply a department store of sub agencies, nevertheless the net result is pretty much that.

Elena's is very straight forward in structure. Sure there is the odd scammer creeps in there but the agency itself, although a cleverly marketed system is straight. She and her husband live not too far from my city and her story is a genuine one. Sure, she knows how to make money but the business is not in the business of shafting people. You could do worse than stick with Elenas as far as web sites go.

Yeah doesn't it suck when all the 5'11" models fail to fall at your feet. Bugger to live on reality street. Nevertheless, what you are really looking for may not come in a 5'11" package. Mine ultimately came in a 5'9" blonde package  through no skill or smart play on my part, just dumb luck and maybe poor judgement on her part. Who said these Russian girls were smart? Hope she doesn't wake up 

Point is, forget the pics and look for the quality. A quality lady is NEVER bad looking. Proceed with caution and please avail yourself of the information and friendships available here. We can get a bit rough and tumble at times, but it is all driven by a sense of concern for others. If you haven't already, I suggest a read of the FAQ section.

All the best

I/O 

[frank_92]

Yeah, I don't think it's a complete scam, per se.  Out of the 40+ blind responses I got, there were two girls who actually replied to specific things on my profile, being especially interested in the fact that I had been to Russia and wanting to know what I had seen, etc.  I imagine these two were likely genuine, but 2 out of 40 isn't exactly good odds when you're paying $7.00 to open an e-mail.

[F007Ru]

I would be inclined to pay her to get the women's addresses. 
Does it mean that you can buy any address? Do all those women know that you are going to buy it? and one more question, do you consider those women (whose addresses you have bought/will buy ) to be genuine and real women?

Thanks


After reading the forum it seems to me that being gorgous is a crime and posting a good picture is a crime as well. This reminds me the middle ages when beautiful women were accused of witchcraft  ???
We have a song in Russia, with such words -  b/c you can't be so beautiful....
The best is the enemy of good!

[pk-uk]

I would be inclined to pay her to get the women's addresses. 
Does it mean that you can buy any address? Do all those women know that you are going to buy it? and one more question, do you consider those women (whose addresses you have bought/will buy ) to be genuine and real women?

I bought addresses where I could and assumed the woman did know.  On the other hand, it didn't mean she'd necessarily be genuine or real.  Or that the address was real.

PK