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The Russian Meeting Place: A place to meet people and talk about all things Russian...
International Discussions about Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Travel, Music, Russian News, Ukrainian culture, Belarusian Dating, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kiev and other intelligent topics about life in the former Soviet Union. |
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(In fact I had to get another e-mail address to handle the flood of spam!) Of course reading or replying to EACH letter would set you back 5 - 6 Euros (Not $!) so I did not end up communicating with any of them. The profiles they had of the women was very basic, not really enough to decide if I wished further communication.
I heard about this on the RMP and decided to try them out. I put up a profile, and started to get letters coming in, at first just 2 or 3 in the first month, then I put a picture on my profile and got 2 - 3 new letters per week. I felt that this was more realistic, as the other free sites I would be getting several per day, on a profile of mine that had minimal info about me and NO picture! I noticed, (like ChrisMC, GG & others) that the first letter could be a copy of another girls letter, but I didn't take this to be a sign of a scam, I think the girl would copy & paste a simple letter, or a whimsical one, and the basic idea was that she is saying "Hey, I'm interested - write me". So if I decided to write back, (I did twice - I'll call them 1 & 2) I would expect the SECOND letter of hers to be more focused, and answer my questions. I also ended up writing to 2 other girls on the site (3 & 4) and they both wrote back to me.
There are several things that must match if it is to be a successful relationship. Of course expectations regarding # of kids, money, residence (city vs. country) are all very important. Also if she prefers in her spare time nature, 
watching TV & movies, 
or going out dancing & partying 
One thing missing from Cindy's was listing if the girl was a smoker. 
For me, if she is, it's a dealbreaker! Also I wasn't looking just for a "homemaker" type, just my preference. And one that wouldn't mind living out in my shack in the swamp. J/K!!! 
So I didn't write back if she couldn't answer my questions. The second girl wrote a very nice 2nd letter in reply to mine, but I decided after reflection that it would not be a match. She was very young, and wanted to stay in college for 2 more years. If she did not speak much english (many girls on Cindy do not) how would she do that here? Or did she want me to wait until she finished to come here? *** Now comes the first problems!
) letters are not free. My only other option was to send a Western Union money order, as suggested by the site. Unfortunatly, I found that while using your credits to send a letter is very fast & easy, dealing with their office IS NOT. It was like PULLING TEETH to get anything done. After purchasing the money order I e-mailed & called the office (the MO can be picked up immediatly at their nearest office with the transaction # which I sent them.) It took almost 2 weeks (more than a week after they cashed the MO) for them to credit my account. Phone calls to the office would get the office girl, but "Manager is in a different location, I will call her" Several times I had e-mailed them, only to get a COMPLETELY BLANK e-mail in reply.
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Originally Posted by GentleGiant2
I am still getting several letters, and occasional "you have not replied yet" letters from Cindy's; I am still very ambivalent about this site, on the one hand I cannot prove anything, on the other hand EVERY woman I have told I would ask for her address and planned to fly out to Ukraine soon, ditched me the next letter.
Does that sound suspicious to you ?? You would think they would be happy that someone was serious enough to pay out for their details. I still have 12 very expensive "credits" on this site, but even though I have received over 20 letters in the last 6 weeks I have not bothered to answer any. |
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Originally Posted by freebird
HOWEVER, they will not realease her phone #, e-mail or address unless she gives the OK. So it could be the case where you have exchanged a few letters, (dictated by phone to her) THEN after she comes to the office to see your pics & bio she decides she is not interested!
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Originally Posted by French_Misha
If the men are paying for credits to correspond to women by e-mail, does the company have any incentive to ask the woman for ther "OK" to release her phone number and e-mail? It seems to me that they have much to gain by "forgetting" to ask :-)
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), I am around 40, no ex-wives or kids, and not totally hideously repulsive. 
{in my humble opinion, of course!} So I am not sure why the low response rate, I think this site is like a middle-man operation, they buy profiles fron the local agencies, so some of the profile may be a year (or years!) out of date.
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Originally Posted by freebird
CINDY AGENCY - the positive things.
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Originally Posted by French_Misha
Does the agency still exist? I can't find it.
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Originally Posted by freebird
Of the 2 girls that wrote me, 1 wrote back another very vague letter, did not answer any of my questions, just wrote stuff like "I am dreaming of my second half, I long for a man to come across the ocean" & stuff like that. I might be a little too businesslike, but there are certain requirements that I have & area's of compatability. If the girl cannot answer my questions, only talking about true love and eternal happiness, I got the impression that she was just a dreamer.
There are several things that must match if it is to be a successful relationship. |
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Originally Posted by French_Misha
If the men are paying for credits to correspond to women by e-mail, does the company have any incentive to ask the woman for ther "OK" to release her phone number and e-mail? It seems to me that they have much to gain by "forgetting" to ask :-)
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Originally Posted by Raspberry
I happened to check my contacts at Elena's. What is interesting is about 80% of the girls I wrote have not even received my correspondence.
You will get a response of "Sent" or "Sent and Received" but most only say "sent". |
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Originally Posted by freebird
I would not exchange more than a few letters before getting the girl's phone # & e-mail. If she does not have her own e-mail then she should sign up for the free one. If she does not want to do this then she is not serious. (girl #4 got her own mail after I asked her, then we wrote each other for free with web translator) This also means that you know that she is writing to you, not the agency's rosy letters. When you request the contact info, KEEP calling them until you get it, otherwise you will wait for ages.
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Originally Posted by goforit
I usually get this after my second long letter. They know I'm serious. They know I won't be showing up at their doorstep tomorrow. So if they are unwilling to give me their contact info it raises a huge red flag in my mind. I have already given them mine by this point to further legitimize my request.
By the way, is it possible for a girl in the FSU not to have a phone at all? If a girl in the US didn't have a phone that would be very suspicious. Does the same apply with the FSU? |
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Originally Posted by freebird
About 80 % AT LEAST have a mobile phone. If not they have a home phone that can be reachd in the evenings, however, many do not initially give out the phone # for various reasons. (eg - on Elena's maybe only 20% will LIST their mobile # - but most HAVE them)
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Originally Posted by vic2012
This type of info has been in short supply on RMP recently. It's really helpful for people to see see the pitfalls that members helpfully post here, because these sites will only ever advertise the positives. And for many of them, it's purely a money making business.
I found my wife on 1st-international dot com. So I'm always happy to give them a plug. They claim to have the worlds largest database of available Russian women. And believe me there are thousands of beautiful women on their site. And I'm pretty certain that, its all genuine. When I started looking two years ago this company simply sold addresses and phone numbers (and my wife was in the first batch that, I bought). But, now they've moved into the more lucrative activity of hosting correspondence. Keep it up Freebird. |
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Originally Posted by EasyTarget
Anastasia�s website is just a network of small, medium, and large agencies. In essence they are just middle men.
One thing they do which can be annoying is send introductory letters on the woman's behalf, and make it look as though the woman initiated contact. However if you read the fine print on the web site they do tell you about this practice. Second thing is that some agencies are legitimate and some are not. Anastasia doesn't verify the information one way or another. So of course some agencies abuse the system. I am not defending them one way or another. It is just my observation of their business practices. |
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Originally Posted by French_Misha
Hmmm.... So agencies send out large volumes of unrequested letters in the hopes of luring customers to buy their product. They call in "matchmaking" but when I get it in my mailbox I would call it SPAM. Are the business practices really different?
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Originally Posted by vic2012
Reading the comments earlier, Saying that you are going to fly over to meet up, may well sort out the chaff from the wheat. But if she’s genuine, you still have the dilemma of either admitting that, you were testing her out. Or you have to go and make the trip!
Wasting money on false correspondence is definitely a problem. For the later arrivals to RMP, I’ll tell again the shocking story of my surprise trip to Kiev in 2005 to meet a girl who had said she wanted to meet up. ************************************************** * The postscript to this was that, she was equally shocked at Anastesias tactics and closed her membership with them. There’s no easy way of knowing who’s genuine and who’s not. So it’s down to finding the agencies where it’s not just money, but where they offer a good, reliable service too. Ps sorry to members who’ve already read this story (and bits of it in various postings, in the last two years), but when it comes to Russian dating, this is my claim to Fame guys! |
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Originally Posted by EasyTarget
One thing they do which can be annoying is send introductory letters on the woman's behalf, and make it look as though the woman initiated contact. However if you read the fine print on the web site they do tell you about this practice.
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Originally Posted by vic2012
If they were honest and above board, they would advise you which letters were matchmaking letters. Come-on, these letters are just circulars. And whats more, the cheeky buggers make you pay to open them!!! That is just not on.
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Originally Posted by freebird
FIANCE*COM
I did like the fact that all the letters seemed genuine, the 2 who wrote back in the negative sent me a nice letter (one had already found someone, the other thought we wern't compatible). I would recommend that anyone using this site to have a list f the girls you are interested in and an introduction letter done BEFORE you sign up, then send all the letters to the girls, and see who replies. If you use the service for only 1 or 2 months, you should have at least a couple of contacts and exchanged a few letters. (I asked the two who wrote back positively to give me their private e-mail, one did and the other could not) The site also does not censor you contact info, the girls can give you their phone or e-mail, no extra charge. You can also upload pics back & forth, something that cannot be done on some sites. I only used this site for one month ($50) and got one good contact, not very profitable, but then if I had kept trying others it might have been different. As this was the 3rd of the 4 sites that I used, I had already gotten some good results on the others, so I did not keep trying. |
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Originally Posted by Raspberry
One of my friends tried Fiance, and said he really didn´t get much out of his $50, either....
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. Felt bad writing her a letter back saying not interested. MAybe she never got it ,will never know.
Was this really the same girl that wrote me she couldn't wait to hear my voice?!? 
I figured that this one was not going to be a good match. (Attitude!!!) I'm glad I found this out on the phone quickly, not wasting months of writing & maybe a trip to find this out!
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Originally Posted by Jerico
Wow I guess agencys really have changed how you pay.
I payed Elenas models 90 dollars for 10 to 50 addresses and I got 50 addresses , LOL Only wrote to about 22 women. I guess that was a deal!!! later i did join another agency in TVER for like 24 bucks for the month ( paid for one month), unlimited emails and replys. Talked to many woman. The one I really wanted wasn`t interested in me but she did send me a nice letter explaining this. Met some nice women from this place but now i guess this agency is like the rest ( All about the money) I also paid again 90 bucks for 3 months in the EM catalog and couldn`t believe how many women wrote to me. Sure some were scammers but many were real. I recieved quite a few snail mail letters from these women!! Russia, Ukriane, even Sweden a Russian woman mailed me a letter. Most letters were hand written in Russian or Ukrianian, couldn`t read them but they all sent pictures. Had an 18 year old girl send me a letter in broken English. I could tell she spent some time writing it. At the bottom of the second page she drew a heart that had inside the words: ( your Ukrianian Girl) Simply to young and she sent me some nice photos too . Felt bad writing her a letter back saying not interested. MAybe she never got it ,will never know.I will say that it was cool to get home from work and see a few letters there from the Ukriane!! Wish i could of read them. Jerry |
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Originally Posted by freebird
I would recommend that anyone thinking about writing and getting e-mail replies should sign up for a free RUSSIAN lang. e-mail from mail.ru or hotmail.ru, as you can get the russian language mails, and avoid the problem I had. some computers can use the Russian alphabet, but some do not, especially different fonts, like italics etc. It is also easier to write and edit in Russian.
Next review ELENA's! |
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So, I learnt a lesson. Some dating agencies, make up letters for a few extra bucks. Of course Anastesia had no idea that, I had acquired her address. And, I am sure that, if I had emailed through them to ask for her address as I was about to depart, then 100% the person impersonating her would have quickly sent the dear John letter. The postscript to this was that, she was equally shocked at Anastesias tactics and closed her membership with them. There’s no easy way of knowing who’s genuine and who’s not. So it’s down to finding the agencies where it’s not just money, but where they offer a good, reliable service too. |
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Originally Posted by freebird
I would recommend that anyone thinking about writing and getting e-mail replies should sign up for a free RUSSIAN lang. e-mail from mail.ru or hotmail.ru, as you can get the russian language mails, and avoid the problem I had. some computers can use the Russian alphabet, but some do not, especially different fonts, like italics etc. It is also easier to write and edit in Russian.
Next review ELENA's! |
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Originally Posted by azamuner
I finally upgraded my membership at Elena's to gold. I figure I'll give it a whirl and she what comes out of it. I'll let ya know how it goes.
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| When that didn't work she started accusing the other woman of being a drunk, so I ended it. |
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Originally Posted by AJROOK
Cindy's...so far so good...just am not crazy of paying for every email I send. Major downside....lol.
Andy |
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Originally Posted by freebird
ELENA'S MODEL'S
I used this agency last from all of the 4, so I did not get as much from it as I could have. I bought the Gold package for $150, but I didn't get the extention ($20 extra, for 12 months instead of 6) which I would recommend. If you buy the package you can get her e-book for $25 instead of $50, a more reasonable price. ($50 seemed like way too much for a book!) I thought the book was pretty good, it had a lot of useful tips about letter writing, dating, customs etc. Does anyone else have an opinion on Elena's book? |
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Originally Posted by GentleGiant2
There is a thread about it somewhere, the "book" is fairly out of date now especially when dealing with women from the big cities; if you queried most RW's about something from the book they would look at you in astonishment, I suspect Elena was from a very small conservative community.
Also, I do not think she is that good looking, her pictures would not induce me to write to her. To be honest, the best tips about writing etc are valid for any country, not just FSU. |
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Originally Posted by goforit
In her book Elena sounds like she was living the high life in the big city. At any rate some of her advice probably no longer applies (like the compliment thing, etc.) but a good chunk of her book is quite helpful, the moreso since it is useful even for woman outside of the FSU.
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Originally Posted by freebird
ELENA'S
I used the "EOI" function (expressions of interest) to write to about 10 different girls, getting 8 replies. I got back about 4 replies within a week, and 2 more within 2 weeks. The last 2 took about a month, but 2 I never heard from. Of the 8 replies 6 were positive. As it turned out, I had been doing so well with a girl at the other agency that I never did have time to write the full letters. I got about 50 or 60 other letters over the course of my 6 month membership, and 2 of these I ended up writing back to. |
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Originally Posted by AJROOK
Man....writing a good intro letter is tough. I used alot of information gathered here, then sat down and tried to include what would describe me and include some specific questions while keeping it light. Alot harder than I thought.
This evening I come home to two replies. Both the Cindy's girls I wrote had written back and both letters were great. My questions were answered. They asked more in the areas I had been vague...all in all, I did not close either letter and think...trouble. Cindy's...so far so good...just am not crazy of paying for every email I send. Major downside....lol. Andy |
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Originally Posted by Raspberry
At least you don't have to pay when you get an incoming letter, like some agencies. And there is no extra cost for the translation at Cindy's, either, unlike a few of them.
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Originally Posted by AJROOK
Okay..so I found an older thread in which Raspberry actually went into the Cindy's office. Very cool. I personally would like to hear more of the set up.
I just finished reading a nice third letter from E at Cindy's. She is very nice and her letters are not over the top, nor do they seem to be of a 'Form' style. I went back to O and sent her letter 2 in which at the end I wrote "I think it is proper for me to ask you O for your address and phone number." I went on to explain how it is nice to build on the communication process by using more avenues than just letters. I did also state that I know Cindy's requires me to go through them but it is your address and phone number so I am asking you. Guess we shall see how that flies.. Andy |
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Originally Posted by Chrismc
Andy
You might want to read the first 5 or 6 pages of this thread, there is quite a bit about my experiences with Cindy's Chris |
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Originally Posted by AJROOK
Okay..so I found an older thread in which Raspberry actually went into the Cindy's office. Very cool. I personally would like to hear more of the set up.
I just finished reading a nice third letter from E at Cindy's. She is very nice and her letters are not over the top, nor do they seem to be of a 'Form' style. I went back to O and sent her letter 2 in which at the end I wrote "I think it is proper for me to ask you O for your address and phone number." I went on to explain how it is nice to build on the communication process by using more avenues than just letters. I did also state that I know Cindy's requires me to go through them but it is your address and phone number so I am asking you. Guess we shall see how that flies.. Andy |
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Originally Posted by freebird
As I mentioned earlier, the one problem with Cindy's was the service, trying to get the phone #. She should be able to give you her address no problem. Remember that all letters are translated by the office staff, so there is no chance of her "slipping in" the phone #. There is a phone # listed for Cindy's office, I ended up calling them quite a few times. After requesting the phone # (and paying the $25!) it took them 10 - 12 days to send it to me. I was thinking later, if I had not been so impatient, I could have got her home address, sent a letter with my e-mail and ask her to reply. That way I find out if she is real, and if she is serious.
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Originally Posted by goforit
Yeah the translation cost with Elena's was kicking my butt. If you translate both your letters and her letters it adds up pretty quickly, at least for the amount of correspondence I have been doing. Plus I didn't like when some of the letters took three days to come back. I need and want a 24 hour turnaround.
So I decided I need to go a different route so last night I signed up for a monthly translation account with Lena here at the Russian Meeting Place. I sent something in which I should be getting back before bedtime since she guarantees a 24 hour turnaround for the monthly accounts. However I am getting a little nervous since I have had no acknowledgement of what I sent even though my payment went through just fine. |
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Originally Posted by GentleGiant2
I am an eyes and smiles man myself, AND am turned off by the women who pose in their underwear ( or less!!), what type of man are they trying to attract??
Although Cindy's has changed its T&C's I have received the postal address from the one woman I am currently writing to in the last two weeks. I asked and she included it in her reply. I haven't bothered asking for, or paying for the extra photos, the two on the profile are enough to see she has the requisite number off arms, legs, eyes etc; and doesn't look as if she would scare the horses if she took the make-up off. |
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Originally Posted by AkMike
" I would definately get the 10 extra photos for $6 - you want to make sure that she is the right one for you!"
You can't judge a woman by looks alone! IMO after being with them a bit you start looking for more than looks. I've never looked for a model type. |
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Originally Posted by GoeastLJ
When I got the first letter from my now fiance, she said her English wasn't that good and so I said she could write in Russian and I would translate using a free online translator. That was the last letter written in English that I got from her. I also gave her the link to the translator
(http://translation.paralink.com/). It's free and very good and instantaneous, and I never felt I was losing out on some meaning. This is abviously not as good as manual translation, but it is very effective once you learn how to speak with a Russian speaker. The site now has reverse translation so that you can see what has been lost in translation. |
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Originally Posted by AJROOK
Hey GG,
I got a letter today from the one girl. She told me she would be very happy to give me her contact info, but would have to go through the manager of Cindy's to get it. As for the photo's...I agree. But if she was to voluntarily send some extra pic's...I am good with that. Andy |
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Originally Posted by freebird
Yes I was impressed with Elena's setup, they obviously put some thought into it. I would have used it more, except for the fact that I was doing so well with Anna Barmina (the first one I tried) that by the time I sent a few EOI's I was already in good contact with a couple of girls. A couple things that I did not like about Elena's was that I could not say I was "single" but I had to say I was "never married" (supposedly that has negative implications according to her book). The other thing that I did not like was that the site does not specify the girl's religion, but it does give the "zodiac sign".
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Originally Posted by azamuner
You're quite right Raspberry. I am going with the EOI route to see what kind of reponses I will get. No point in initiating contact with a woman who is not interested. And like you said, it's a heck of a lot cheaper.
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Originally Posted by Raspberry
The EOI's have saved me a lot of grief and money. You would take time to write a letter, and if it is a non-English speaking girl, you would also have to pay for translations......and ending up wasting your time and money, and getting a negative response.
So, I think over and over before I send a translated letter. At least Elena's offers this option. And although Anastasia Web gets slammed for a number of things, at least they also offer this option, but they call it a "kiss" or "wink" or something like that. In any event, still better than paying for a translation that gets wasted for a negative response. |
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Originally Posted by goforit
Some of the introductory sites which have expressions of interests similar to Elena's even send it to your mailbox with a photo and a direct link to her profile. Elena's notifies you with an ID# only.
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Originally Posted by freebird
Has anyone had experiences, either good/bad with the other agencies that use EOIs? (or winks or whatever)
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Originally Posted by goforit
I've only used one agency (Elena's) but I have used some of the introduction sites like RussionEuro and MyForeignBride. It works great there as a tool for finding ladies who are interested in you. You have to be more careful on these sites for scammers, sex chatters, etc. (especially MFB) because there is no pretense of prior screening, but still a great way to go in my opinion if you know how to spot obvious scammers.
The advantage of these sites is that you pay on a month to month basis for unlimited access, so you can send out as many expressions of interests you want and respond to ALL of them if you so desire without the worry of running out of credits. |
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Originally Posted by freebird
I guess my worry would be with less controls that you have more chance of meeting a GTG or GCG even if she's not a scammer. I like the idea of the smaller agencies that can personally interview every girl.
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