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Russian marriage/dating agencies
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Posted by: carlonthemov

I am currently using two agencies. I have been with one for about six months, the other only a little while. During this time I have formed some opinions about them. (I will keep them to myself because I do no want to ask a leading question). The agencies are - yeva4u.net and charmingbrides.com. Do any members (or administrators) have any expericences or information (good or bad) with/about these agencies? Any and all input will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Carl

Posted by: GoingToRussia

Never heard of them.

I've only used the following sites and only had good luck.

www.freepersonals.ru
www.allsinglerussiangirls.com
www.elenasmodels.com

Welcome to the RMP and good luck with your adventure!

Posted by: AkMike

Welcome to RMP.
Give us your opinion of their 'selection' and services.

Posted by: dagpop

Carl, I found my wife on Elenas Models. Believe or not, the day after I joined that site, I met my wife. I never would of believed it would be that quick. We hit it off, right off the bat. I don't know anything about the two sites you said. Elenas Models is a good way to start it off.

Posted by: looktorussia

I too haven't heard about the two agencies you mentioned. In general, EM is average. However, recently, I had some negative experience with EM.

This is my story.

I am corresponding with a girl from EM and we have known each other for almost 2 years now. I visited her twice in Russia and she spent 2 weeks here with me in my home country. Recently, something highly unusual happened. She was due to make a trip to Moscow for some personal matter and we fixed a time/day to talk on the phone. Now, almost 3 weeks later, I still heard nothing from her. Last week, I managed to find out that her mum was also very worried about her safety, as she hadn't called home for 2 weeks. This is unusual as she always tells me where she goes, so that we can fix a time to talk over the phone. Our relationship has been great all along, even though she has been under some stress for the past 6 months, looking after her ailing grandmother. Before she went to Moscow, she even mentioned about getting her papers translated so that she could come join me here in 2008.

The problem I face in this situation is that I cannot speak Russian and her mum does not speak English. So, I wrote to EM and asked for help to contact her mum and perhaps convey what we each know about my girl's trip to each other, as a mean of mutual support. EM turned down my request, saying that this is out of their 'boundary' and that the girl might have changed her mind and wanted to break up with me. Very judgemental! I reflected to them the strangeness of this incident and EM still holds on to their 'policy' - that this is your personal matter and you should take care of it yourself.

I feel that in this business, a company sometime should go that little extra mile. There seems to be an instinctive distrust to such a genuine request for help. Perhaps it is the holiday season that is slowing everyone down. But all I asked for was just a phone call to find out what happen on their side, and maybe provide some mutual support. This incident left me rather disappointed with the agency, I have to say. The treatment was cold.

Anyway, FYI, I still have NO news from my girl and even her mother. A friend of mine from here contacted his friend who in turn has a friend in Moscow to help contact the family. She is still trying....I hope everything is fine. My 2008 certainly didn't start off too well for me.

Posted by: JamesB

Never heard of them.I met liuda on Bride.ru and its free to put a profile and answer mails.

Posted by: blucatz

Quote:

Originally Posted by looktorussia

I too haven't heard about the two agencies you mentioned. In general, EM is average. However, recently, I had some negative experience with EM.

This is my story.

I am corresponding with a girl from EM and we have known each other for almost 2 years now. I visited her twice in Russia and she spent 2 weeks here with me in my home country. Recently, something highly unusual happened. She was due to make a trip to Moscow for some personal matter and we fixed a time/day to talk on the phone. Now, almost 3 weeks later, I still heard nothing from her. Last week, I managed to find out that her mum was also very worried about her safety, as she hadn't called home for 2 weeks. This is unusual as she always tells me where she goes, so that we can fix a time to talk over the phone. Our relationship has been great all along, even though she has been under some stress for the past 6 months, looking after her ailing grandmother. Before she went to Moscow, she even mentioned about getting her papers translated so that she could come join me here in 2008.

The problem I face in this situation is that I cannot speak Russian and her mum does not speak English. So, I wrote to EM and asked for help to contact her mum and perhaps convey what we each know about my girl's trip to each other, as a mean of mutual support. EM turned down my request, saying that this is out of their 'boundary' and that the girl might have changed her mind and wanted to break up with me. Very judgemental! I reflected to them the strangeness of this incident and EM still holds on to their 'policy' - that this is your personal matter and you should take care of it yourself.

I feel that in this business, a company sometime should go that little extra mile. There seems to be an instinctive distrust to such a genuine request for help. Perhaps it is the holiday season that is slowing everyone down. But all I asked for was just a phone call to find out what happen on their side, and maybe provide some mutual support. This incident left me rather disappointed with the agency, I have to say. The treatment was cold.

Anyway, FYI, I still have NO news from my girl and even her mother. A friend of mine from here contacted his friend who in turn has a friend in Moscow to help contact the family. She is still trying....I hope everything is fine. My 2008 certainly didn't start off too well for me.

This might be a stupid question, but do you know anyone in your community that speaks Russian? Maybe get ahold of the local college language department to see if they have any Russian speaking students that could translate your phone call for you. Just a thought.

Posted by: JamesB

Thats actually good advice.Or maybe enquire at your local Eastern European shop.

Posted by: looktorussia

Quote:

Originally Posted by blucatz

Not at all, blucatz. Thanks to you and JamesB for your concern. I did just that after EM gave me the cold shoulder. When my girl and her mother were here last June, they made friends with local Eastern Europe community and one of them helped me contact their friends in Moscow/St Peterburg to make local calls t her mum. Why local calls, you may wonder? The reason is that I believe they have caller-ID service and the mother may not pick up international calls (since she does not speak English). The problem with asking friends of friends to help is that they don't quite understand this international dating matter; that was why I turned to EM administrators in the first place.

I am now coping one day at a time. I totally abhor this kind of suspense.

Posted by: GentleGiant

I totally understand the feelings you are having, "T" went missing for a week in Dubai, and I was frantic.

From my experience though, i have bad news; assuming she hasn't had an accident or been murdered ( I know that thought has been going through your head), the chances are she has meet someone else or has lost interest in you; that is what happened with "T", when I finally managed to pin her down to the phone I could hear something was different; and when I flew out to see her a few weeks later, she totally blanked me.
�3,000 getting out there for 8 days and I saw her for only a few minutes on the 4th night; NOT a pleasant Christmas.

A heads up for Svetlana's Brides though, Svetlana contacted her family and got them phoning friends in Dubai when they realised she hadn't contacted anybody.

Posted by: looktorussia

GentleGiant,

I thought of that too. In fact, anything can happen, including she meeting someone else etc. But at least I want to know what happens. If she really met someone else, then I would move on with my own life. BTW she asked for a sum of money from me for this trip. If she used that money to meet someone else, that made her a liar and I would proceed with the necessary actions.

Posted by: JamesB

I met liuda first in Egypt and when i arrived she had paid for the hotel and excursions by card.She never asked for a penny, though im helping to pay off the card.lol

Posted by: Pin Boy

i could see the point of EM not wanting to get into situations like this. it could be very time consuming and not profitable for many such situations where a girl decides she is no longer interested in a man and just drops out of sight - which is NOT unusual in east-west relationships. a company could waste (for lack of a better word) much time trying to put the parties in contact. they may realize the situation from the woman's viewpoint, whereas the western man is just figuring out this is often the way it sadly goes.

lena, the wife of this site's owner, does some letter translating. she may do telephone calls too. i don't know. but trying sending her a PM under the member name lena.

good luck to you.

pin boy

Posted by: GentleGiant

No genuine woman asks for money, if she did then you've fallen for a scam I suspect.

Put it down to experience and move on; I have written to two women this year that I have given money to; neither asked for anything but the agency owner told me they were struggling to pay her for sending/receiving letters, so I sent them a hundred dollars to help out.
I broke up with one before it arrived though.

I have had several women go off with someone else and not say a thing; they seem to work on the basis you will figure it out eventually, without them having to actually say anything; which in my books makes them cowardly *****es.
If they say its not working, I will try to stay friends, but when they just up and leave........

Posted by: GoingToRussia

So you sent her money and now you don't hear from her? Not a good sign. The 1st rule of international dating is never send money unless you don't mind losing it. I sent money but it was only $300 and I didn't mind losing it.

If you sent her money and now you don't hear from her ... I would say you were "scammed"!

Posted by: Ade

Quote:

Originally Posted by looktorussia

They are a dating agency, not a detective agency or a social work bureau. It isn't at all in their remit to go and contact her mother on your behalf.

It may be a scam by this person, or their could be a genuine reason why she hasn't been in contact. However, it isn't down to a dating agency to go searching for lost sheep, regardless of how you may wish otherwise. I can appreciate your frustration, but unless you have some sort of evidence that she has been playing you and the agency knew about it, it really isn't a matter for them. Do you think they should (a) find her and (b) insist she contacts you?

That wouldn't be any normal agency work, I'd think.

Ade

Posted by: looktorussia

Thank you all for your sharing. It is good to have this conversation at this time. I have known her for almost 2 years now and she never asked me for money until recently (after we met 3 times in person). I had developed a trust in her. Could this be a scam? Possible. Anything at this stage is possible. A scammer may not mind waiting for a long time before acting, especially if she has a long string of potential victims. I have made a police/Interpol report and they are treating this as a possible scam or missing person case. As GTR said, I don't mind losing that money. But I will still go on with the normal procedure of getting her listed as a scam/gold-digger based on what evidence I have, so that she won't be able to scam again.

As for EM, I am just disappointed at the quick conclusion they jumped to. Going strictly by the book, they don't have to help me of course; but the extra mile will mean alot to those affected.

Posted by: royalpalace774

I think your girl is avoiding you to possibly let you know that she is done with the relationship. Of course, I could be wrong. But the same thing happened to me only 5 weeks ago with my girl. She went out of site for 8 days & the sent me an email telling me I didn't deserve the silent treatment and I was a very good person and I should meet a better women than her. My relationship went on for 1 year and we had a K1 approval & she would have arrived to be with me within the next 8-12 weeks.

In other words, she broke up with me. I tried calling her after I got that email but of course she won't answer the phone.

No one will ever know what the reasons are when the Russian women is done with a relationship. from my experience, when they are done they consider you dead and gone! Sad but true.

Maybe you will hear from your girl & everything will be OK. But it really doesn't look good. I agree that to leave you hanging without any explanation is pretty low in my book.

Hopefully you will hear something within the next week or 2. And if you never hear from her again you know that she was done with the relationship & she really doesn't care what you think.

The anxiety of wondering what is going on is the toughest part.

You just have to figure out when you have had enough & be done also.

Posted by: AkMike

I doubt that this woman is a scammer. They work with volume, get as much as you can as quick as you can. She's spent 2 years with you. How much did she ask for?
When did you last see her? And how much time have you actually been with her in these 3 trips? Could she have lost interest in you or were things all rosey?
I'd hesitate to name her as a scammer right now from what you've said. Other times I've called them scammers very early.
See what you learn from your contacts and be patient for a bit. Something may have happened that she's working on.

Posted by: GentleGiant

It doesnt really matter if she is a professional scammer or not, she took the money almost certainly knowing she was finishing with him; I despise "T" for accepting gifts when she had already made her mind up about me, why should taking some-ones money be any different.

Posted by: goforit

Quote:

Originally Posted by looktorussia

Thank you all for your sharing. It is good to have this conversation at this time. I have known her for almost 2 years now and she never asked me for money until recently (after we met 3 times in person). I had developed a trust in her. Could this be a scam? Possible. Anything at this stage is possible. A scammer may not mind waiting for a long time before acting, especially if she has a long string of potential victims. I have made a police/Interpol report and they are treating this as a possible scam or missing person case. As GTR said, I don't mind losing that money. But I will still go on with the normal procedure of getting her listed as a scam/gold-digger based on what evidence I have, so that she won't be able to scam again.

Police/Interpol report??? And what if it turns out she just doesn't like you anymore?

The scam lists make me very nervous as they can and do cut both ways, often hurting people who really aren't guilty of anything other than not wanting to be in a particular relationship anymore, even if they handle such breakup poorly. Do people react like this when they date women from their own country who act the same way? Most likely not. Not to diminish the very real pain these situations can cause, but short of demonstrable evidence that fraud was involved, personally I would just walk away.

Posted by: GoingToRussia

If she took the money and never contacted him again, that's fraud to me.

If I dated her in our country I would take her to small claims court and get my money back and I think many men would.

Posted by: GentleGiant

Talk to Jim at Jim's Lists.

Posted by: Manchester

Quote:

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Talk to Jim at Jim's Lists.

Why? He charges Agencies to be listed on his gold list.

Posted by: GentleGiant

Because he is a good source of info on scams, so he asks the best sites for a retainer to recommend them, we all have to pay the bills.
He also has a good link selection to other sites giving info on scams and scammer blacklists.

i am not touting for his site, but he has helped me out in the past when I was nearly scammed.

Posted by: Manchester

I used Jims site a few years ago when I started my quest. Yes he has some accurate info, but he also has good agencies on his blacklist. Look at Volga Girl; they were on the gold list when Craig owned it, but now an amateur has bought it and wouldnt pay Jim they are now on the black list. Is that fair?

Jim also proclaimed RWD and Dan the owner to be a scam and even published Dans personal address and contact info. How can a forum similar to this one be a scam?

Jim is in it for the money only. It is Internet extortion; pay us or be on our blacklist.

Jim is not contactable other than by annonymous e mail, few know he is Jim McDonald from Samara who has numerous US lawsuits allegedly chasing him.

I used to hold Jims site in the highest regard like you seem to do until I read the facts on other forums. Jims site is not impartial, it is an internet extortion machine only and not to be trusted.

Posted by: GentleGiant

I try to keep an open mind, I have read about the issues with Dan, and still do not know which story is correct.
All i do know is that the info Jim has given me has been proven correct.
I will use him and ask his advice until such time I see him miss-using his position.

if someone does not want to pay him, then fine, they go on the White list; if someone is on the blacklist, I suspect there is a reason beyond not wanting to pay for the Gold list.
Sure he gets sued, there are lots of people who will use the threat of legal action to stop the truth about them; but the fact he is still here means that none of those lawsuits was successful; which means he was telling the truth.
I speak from experience, I have had lawsuits thrown at me, but I stood my ground and THEY backed down; they knew they had no case but were counting on the fact that 80% of people are not willing to go to court even when they are in the right.

As for "facts" on other websites, the internet is like a giant version of the wikipedia, 99% of the information is complete bollox; maybe they are true, maybe not.

Posted by: looktorussia

Thanks all. The reason behind engaging the police/Interpol is that I originally treated this as a missing-person case. But after gathering details, they are keeping their minds open about this being a possible scam. They are looking into it. We are physically together for 6 weeks and her body language tells me that she is genuine. Usually we speak once or twice per week. My friends and I trust her. What is happening now is confusing, but I am willing to wait for a few more weeks before coming to conclusion about any dishonesty. She has been through alot of stress lately...

No, this is not about any prejudice against international dating. We are looking at the facts as they are. IF ever there is dishonesty involved, I don't think we can tolerate local girls either.

Posted by: too_tall

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoingToRussia

So you sent her money and now you don't hear from her? Not a good sign. The 1st rule of international dating is never send money unless you don't mind losing it. I sent money but it was only $300 and I didn't mind losing it.

If you sent her money and now you don't hear from her ... I would say you were "scammed"!

I agree with GTR, but I think Elena's models would be interested in the fact that you sent her money.

Just my two kopecks.

Bill

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlonthemov

I am currently using two agencies. I have been with one for about six months, the other only a little while. During this time I have formed some opinions about them. (I will keep them to myself because I do no want to ask a leading question). The agencies are - yeva4u.net and charmingbrides.com. Do any members (or administrators) have any expericences or information (good or bad) with/about these agencies? Any and all input will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Carl

You might try My Space. There are many nice women there, also.

Posted by: blucatz

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

You might try My Space. There are many nice women there, also.

Really? I didn't find any, I did find a nut case though, called me 14 times one day and got really pissed because I didn't pick up the phone after call number 5.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Yes, I did - three in Moscow and three in St. Petersburg (I didn't meet one because I was there on tour as part of my language study for only 48 hours and needed to put in appearances so my professor would not be suspicious of my independent research).

Posted by: freebird

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlonthemov

I signed up with yeva4u, I only put up a very basic profile, no picture, I got dozens of e-mails every week. It seemed to me to be a spam site, which is "free" but where you have to pay $5 - $8 per letter to read. I didn't continue with it because I got a bad impression. I hope you will post your thoughts too.

Check out this thread on some other agencies

http://russianmeetingplace.com/foru...ead.php?t=16850

Posted by: carlonthemov

Thanks for all your responses. I am reserving judgement at this point on both agencies. The support staff at charmingbrides has been very helpful and quick to respond to my questions. Of course, this does cost some money. While the best things in life may be free, finding someone with whom to share those things isn't .
I will be back with more follow-up later. In the meantime, I am still periodically checking for responses to my original question.

Posted by: GoingToRussia

So are you writing to anyone? As I mentioned before, this site is free and it is where I found my fiancee.

www.freepersonals.ru

Wouldn't hurt to check them out and I'm sure you will be happt with them.

Posted by: Buckeye5704

Quote:

Maybe get ahold of the local college language department to see if they have any Russian speaking students that could translate your phone call for you. Just a thought.

Hey! I thought I was brilliant for thinking of that on my own. I'll doing just that when the time comes. I'm thinking a modest fee and a meal or tow should do it. Beats the $3 per minute that the site wants. Don't mean to sound cheap. I just want to use that money for going to meet someone(s) when it's time.

Ok, there's 3 posts. Now I get to sit in detention for an hour.

Tim

Posted by: carlonthemov

I haven't been here for a while, but I have some information on one of the sites I originally asked about. I recently returned from a trip to Kharkov. I arranged the tour through charmingbrides.com. It was fantastic! It was, in my opinion, also very reasonably priced.
They are a small agency based in Kharkov. They have about 400 female members. (They just recently opened an office in Sumy, so I suspect that number will grow somewhat rapidly).
The bottom line is this - they work very hard to match people who are suitable for each other. They also assist the women with learning English, and evaluate their ability to adapt to the western culture. I highly recommend it!

Posted by: Raspberry

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlonthemov

I haven't been here for a while, but I have some information on one of the sites I originally asked about. I recently returned from a trip to Kharkov. I arranged the tour through charmingbrides.com. It was fantastic! It was, in my opinion, also very reasonably priced.
They are a small agency based in Kharkov. They have about 400 female members. (They just recently opened an office in Sumy, so I suspect that number will grow somewhat rapidly).
The bottom line is this - they work very hard to match people who are suitable for each other. They also assist the women with learning English, and evaluate their ability to adapt to the western culture. I highly recommend it!

Never heard of this one. But I am not all that keen about going to Kharkov again, after what happened to me last time there. But Sumy, that's another story altogether. Maybe too "sleepy" of a city for most people, but I found it quite pleasant.