newbie alert! =O

[Zan]

I just want to say hello and ask if there is any advice someone that has been around the block would want to impart upon the naïve. Currently I'm trolling this message board trying to glean a few nuggets of wisdom.

 

I found many web site & haven't a clue where the best place to look would be. I was thinking about AnastasiaWeb.com

 

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you
Zan

[Rvrwind]

Gawd, I wish someone else would post to these kind of inquiries because I think when I do it makes me look bad & I am trying to avoid that.

It is hard for me to answer because being in the buisness it looks as though I am just trashing the competition, even when what I impart is the truth & the facts.

That being said I will not comment directly but instead impart some links where you can surmise for yourself if the agency you are thinking of using is legit or not. If they are on a Blacklist or Scam Site & you still choose to use them, you do so at your own risk. However an intelligent person would tend to avoid any company with a penchant for less than above board activity.

[align=left]www.kersongirls.com
www.jimslists.com
www.agencyscams.com[/align]
[align=left]These are just a couple of places you can check, there are many more. Another method is to Google the company name: ex: Anastasia, scams & whatever is on the web you will find rather quickly.[/align]
[align=left]Hope you find that helpful.[/align]
[align=left]RVR-Canadian Cowboy/Agency Owner[/align]

[anono]

thanks richard..i read this about ten minutes ago and wanted to say something but i thought..not my war...lol

i was going to say stay away fron anastasia but you did it for me. i even considered it being bait (the post).

if i was going the profile/letter writing route, i'd look at the ladies on angelika

[Bruno]

I found many web site & haven't a clue where the best place to look would be. I was thinking about AnastasiaWeb.com 

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome Zan,

I can maybe give you some interesting link... over agency and site, you have two type : these where you spend money and these who are free ( real free without hidden expense )...

With these where you need pay, you are more secure if the agency are honest, so use the advice of Richard... of read experience from some other members here...

For the free one, it can be more interesting for your wallet in the beging but expensive at long term due to scammer... if you feel yourself ready to use free site, make it but real all you can over scammer, gold digger, visa whore, trade up, ... some of the creature that you can find on free site... a little list of free site :

* http://www.foreignbrides.ru/ ( direct contact to the lady )

* http://freepersonals.ru/index.php ( need a free registration for initiate contact... letter via site server but nothing stop you for ask contact information )

* http://www.freerussiansingles.com/ ( maximum 3 contact information by day )

* http://www.eecl.org/en/album/index.shtml ( direct contact... first page of the 18-25 yo list lead to a marriage agency, the rest is OK )

* http://dating-russian-girls.info/ ( recently find, not yet used it, so no comment )

* http://www.love-from-russia.be/ ( my own site, so no comment )

Other big difference between free and pay agency... the service... If you need translator, airport transfer, visa help ( invitation ), hotel/appartment reservation, driver, guide, ... you need use agency... if you can take care of all, you can use free site...

Some agency work with full package ( a range of service for a big fixed price ) and other agency work with individual service ( can use one service and not the other one )... the main scam in some pay agency are scam letter... since you pay for read letter, they send you false letter... they can be easy to detect... since several allow to post a free profile, make it.... take a e-mail at hotmail, post a profile where you are like a monster ( jerk, ugly photo ( can use the picture of a monkey by example ), where you are 1m high and 150 kg )... if you begin receive a lot of letter from woman who show interest in you... a lot of chance that the agency is a scam agency...

In case of pay agency, i recommend little local agency... they are able to meet woman and check them... with  big agency, all is online without real check... and little one need to keep good reputation for survive... big one don't take care to loose some client, they have enough...

If you have other question, they are welcome...

[Turboguy]

I must be a bit hopeless because I have been hunting for a Russian wife forever.   (1994 is my idea of forever).   I know a lot of people who have tried a lot of ways to meet Russian women.   I think the one you mentioned is one I hear the fewest good comments about.   The two I would not touch with a 10 foot pole are anastasia's and the e-mail parts of EC such as global ladies and E-700.   There is a town in Ukraine, someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe it is Lugansk.   Stay away from any agency from there.    

Bruno's suggested sites are excellent including his site.  If you decide to do a tour check out some of the guys who post here.  They are excellent.  There are a lot of good guys who are sincere about helping people find a good woman.   The sites the Canadian Cowboy suggested are also good and he is a good guy who is just starting a new agency and might be a good place to check out as well.    Good luck.  

[Preston]

Good advice!!!!!!!! All of yeah!!!!!

[catzenmouse]

I used the first two during my search. Fiance.com partners with a lot of smaller agencies around the FSU so when I had picked the city I was going to I got the info for the local agency as a backup plan and wrote to a couple of the girls listed there as an introduction.

 I really liked dealing with Cindy Agency. I was within a hair of going to Ukraine and had good communications with several of the girls there.

 Lviv Brides is a new agency in Western Ukraine and I know the owner Bill and he is a decent honest guy. He just moved to Lviv a few months ago so that he and his wife Hellen could open this agency together. I only know Richard and Bruno a little now but would not hesitate to use either of these sites if I was back in the hunt.

http://www.fiance.com

http://www.cindyagency.com

http://www.lvivbrides.com/index.html

A couple I would not deal with are City of Brides, European Connections, and Get Married Now for a variety of reasons including price, scammers, and unethical practices (not all from each agency) that I witnessed first hand. 

My 2 roubles worth.

Ken

[Bruno]

haven't a clue where the best place to look would be

You have already find the best place without know it  it is here at RWD :cool:

The best place for be ready before start the quest... read a lot, forge your own meaning and only after, start the hunting...

 

[Rvrwind]

thanks richard..i read this about ten minutes ago and wanted to say something but i thought..not my war...lol

[/font]I don't really look at it as a war. You've met me & know me & know that my #1 goal is to put two people together, the money makes me able to accomplish that but if I was in it only for the money, sadly I am in the wrong buisness. My biggest problem being I am honest while all the scam agencies seem to make plenty of money.

I personally think it is the duty of those who came before to point out the bad guys & to steer newbies away from them. In the past I have blatantly attacked scam agencies & have been told that that is not acceptable behavior for an agency owner. Owner or not, if I was lying about them I could well understand the consternation & critisism, but when it is the truth it shouldn't matter who reveals it, as long as it is revealed. Unfortunately there are those amoung us that for some reason or other have a vested interest in the success of some of these scam agencies, even going so far as to recommend their services.

I chose to take the high road & not directly say what I think about the agency so mentioned above but instead to give this fellow the tools to discover on his own the opinions of others who have firsthand knowledge in that area. I refrained from posting my own website addy as I surely would have been called on that. I feel it is incumbent on all of us to keep the new guys on the straight & narrow & help them achieve their goal with as few bad things happening to them along the way as possible thereby making this adventure more enjoyable & rewarding for them as we possibly can. At the same time perhaps we can help the good agencies to prosper & perhaps the bad ones will fade away or at least change their tatics.

RVR - Canadian Cowboy/Agency Owner

[Zan]

thanks a lot guys ...... I dunno what I plan on.... I'd just like to not get shafted while I poke around.

 

Thanks for the links too

 

Zan

[KenC]

Zan,

Is that poking gonna happen before or while you are in the fsu?

KenC

[al-c]

There are zillions of them.  I use Elena's Models for a few reasons.

First, you get an address and phone number and e-mail right up front.  Some agencies keep these secret just so you can pay them every time you communicate with your lady.

Second, EM has ladies from all over Russia and other FSU countries, unlike many who limit themselves to one city.  In other words, more pickins'.

Third, Elena Petrova is herself a Russian lady who married a Western husband and moved to the West.  So her site has lots of good first-person perspective articles on what it is like for the lady to do this.

Ultimately, it is up to you what serves your needs best.

You may also want to check out www.amenint.com.  It a Novosibirsk based site run by Viktor and Olga Korelchuk, who I know personally and are really nice and helpful people.  The drawback is that this is one of those pay per letter deals, but Viktor and Olga are good and honest people who won't try to milk you for unnecessary letters.  They want you to get married and be happy.

 

[Noleman]

Any one have any information on Tver Romance in Tver?

[catzenmouse]

Any one have any information on Tver Romance in Tver?

PM RvrWind (upthread) as he is in Tver and would probably have first hand knowledge. Of course he might just recommend his agency too...

Ken

[KyivTrip]

I was in the same place as you a year ago. I went to Kiev and met 7 wonderful ladies and will be going back to see a couple of them again.

My 2 cents: When I started, I was all over the map. My first big decision was to decide where to go. I chose Ukraine as I was going in the Fall - warmer - and Ukraine's visa process was easier. I got a 5 year visa.

From there, I looked for agencies in Ukraine or women from Ukriane. I got a lot of practice for free with Bride.ru. I tried several agencies in Ukraine - a couple that I would avoid: Kherson Girls and Ukraine Loves. I got in a dispute with KG and the owner cut me off abruptly. Good news in the end because I saved a lot of money and time not going to Kherson. UL just flat stole my $$.

I have used several other agencies with good success. I have gotten several good addresses from AFA. I met a very nice lady in Kiev through Kiev Connections and another through Friends-in-Kiev. I never got a single response from Russian Ladies/ Global Ladies. Once you decide where you are going, you can find local agencies doing a web search or posting inquiries on a list like this.

I tend to go for the immediate address/ phone number now. I call and check their English level. I had been told by a couple of agency owners that English skills weren't important. I found that, for me, it is hard to discuss the serious business of a future partnership using dictionaries or interpreters. I spent hundreds of $$ on letter translations to learn this lesson. 

David