|
|
|
|
|
Dakota_Ridge
Newbie
Posts: 2
Registered: 02-06-2003 Location: Denver, CO
|
|
posted on 02-06-2003 at 15:36 |
|
|
| |
With Love from Voronezh
I thought I'd post something on my experiences with this agency. I'm doing this reluctantly, but I've had a consistent enough experience over a period of about 9 or 10 weeks, and I want to make others aware of what I went through. I would not go so far as accusing this agency of being an outright "scam agency," although anything is possible. To make a long story short, there are very eccentric people in the world who have an axe to grind and this anger will sometimes prompt them to do the strangest things in order to vent itself. What's going on with this agency may or may not be in line with that - it isn't my place to decide that; I only know that the things I've experienced have been very consistent with it. But that doesn't automatically make it true. It may or may not be the case. I have never had any financial problems with WLFV, and I've never had any reason to question that the women I was writing to were real or that their replies were fabricated. Again, anything is possible - I've never had any proof that the women I was writing to were real either. Anyway the problem I've had has been very consistent: I can't keep communications going steadily, and things have formed a very consistent pattern. They have a policy of "free first contact," which is always a huge plus. This is email, not snail mail, and in both cases it took ten full days to receive a reply to my two first contacts. The reason given was "we were moving the office from England to Voronezh." Okay, I can live with that, now things are stable, no more problem, right? Wrong. Things are set up to where all letters for all clients have to go through the owner. And he's out more than he's in. After the move, it was more than a week visiting the UK to where availability was slim to none. A week or so after that it was "5 days out of commission to go to whatever city to renew the visa." Now for the fourth time contact is cut without notice. In the case of both women I was writing to, the letters went EXTREMELY well. They were responsive and as receptive to me as I could have asked for. There were plenty of questions, etc. Everything looked great. And in both cases, exactly when things reached the point where I was ready to fly out there and visit, contact was cut "by the women" with no explanation, no reason, no warning. If this happens once, I'd figure I just picked a woman with issues to write to. But now it's happened twice, exactly the same way both times. No explanation is ever given; they just stop writing. Actually it's the third event; the second time it was claimed that my last reply to a woman was lost and after three weeks (during which time I found it strange that she never contacted the agency to find out what happened to me) it was only then figured out that this was the case. Now contact has been cut a third time and this time I was able to verify that my last reply did reach the woman. So we have a totally consistent pattern here. With this agency, you just can't keep communications going, either with the women or with the agency. They keep disappearing and blowing you off, meanwhile you're out however many dollars you've spent and it's all wasted money. I'm completely convinced that if I were to write to ten other women through this agency, I would get the exact same outcome ten more times. It's a totally consistent pattern. So if you ever consider writing to one of their women, remember that this was my experience and look for the signs. On the surface they are very reputable and very responsible; their prices are very good and they appear to be extremely professional. But I ended up like a car trying to go uphill in a snowstorm - I keep spinning my wheels, go a few feet then slide backward. I just can't build up any momentum to get anywhere. In this case, $70 was put into getting nothing but a lot of anxiety and frustration and stress. During this latest disappearance I'm just letting them go; I'm not chasing them down anymore, I just have to realize what I'm dealing with and take the loss. Maybe the next person will have a different experience, but this was mine. Something to keep in mind.
|
|
|
|
SteveWilliams
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: 04-30-2003 Location:
|
|
posted on 04-30-2003 at 15:24 |
|
|
| |
Reply to accusations about With Love From Voronezh
Yet again I meet Chris on a 'scam site'. It seems that this particular gentleman loves to portray himself as a victim. If you know his life story, as unfortunately I do, then you might understand this need...he never felt shy to tell me all about his emotional scars from his childhood and how his ex-wife left him in such a state.
On the Russian Women Guide Chris attacked me in a similar manner. I was however able to defend myself using facts and his own words. Others jumped to my defence including guys that have actually been here to Voronezh with us.
In this forum he seems to have toned down his accusations to a basic....when I was ready to travel, the girls disappeared. This of course is a very serious accusation as it implies that the girls in our agency are not real. The facts are that Chris was not ready to travel, he was waiting for his fortune to roll in from a spam e-mail programme he was launching. The very simple truth is that when one women saw what he was writing, she decided that he was not the type of man that she wanted to meet.
All seemed to be going OK, then he wrote about issues such as the complexes that his abusive mother had left him with. He disclosed that he was once an alcoholic and lived out of his car...I believe you Americans would describe such a person as a 'bum'. Rather unsurprisingly one of these women decided that this was enough information to make her choice....no thanks.
The other one continued with him for a while, but I was becoming concerned about her attitude (I live here in Voronezh now and could see with my own eyes the way she was behaving) It all came to a head when Chris wanted to buy her a present for her birthday, but I advised him against it as I was becoming convinced that her motives were suspect. I removed her from my site for this reason, she was by the way my most popular female client. Mr Malcheski thanked me for this by the way, for looking out for his interests instead of letting things go unchecked.
Mr Malcheski is fond of quoting enormous delays in letters. The first letters he wrote were delayed.... I was driving from the UK to Voronezh and moving my family lock stock to Russia. We are a very small and personal agency, the disadvantage of this is that when I make a life changing move, for a few days things were put on hold. Chris also doesn't seem to recognise that we do not work 7 days a week as he would like and a letter sent on a Friday night from the States cannot be counted as being received on a Friday in Russia... a little thing called a time difference exists Mr Malcheski.
My trip to Latvia to renew my visa in no way limited the reply as Mr Malcheski would have you believe....yes, I did not answer his inane e-mails about his grief at losing his pet, I did not answer his e-mail about his plans for world domination of the spamming market with his new programmes...but letters were sent from women and from men too..... Mr Malcheski seems to think that he should have my undivided attention for his personal problems... sorry but I have a life thank you !!
I would encourage anyone seeing this post to go to the Russian Women Guide where the in depth discussion and a number of posts are available. The moderators, after seeing all the accusations and my defence, took the post out of the scam section as even they realise it was not so.
Mr Malcheski had his money refunded as it was me that took off the client he was writing to, he was not out of pocket. We did out translation work as we were paid for, but I felt bad that it had ended in such a way and I gave him back his money, for which he said he was grateful.
Its very frustrating for me to see this AGAIN. He does not mention the problems he had with another agency, Anastasiweb, that I helped him with. I tracked down the real telephone number and address of a women he was writing to from Voronezh...at my own expense despite his assurances that he would cover the costs…which he never did. The constant letters to me personally about complete drivel and nonsense were distracting and a complete waste of my time... but I answered him as he seemed like a lonely guy with some major issues.
But because one guy is a fruitcake, he can accuse me of running a scam when I try the best I can to run an honest and reputable agency....isn't that what you guys want? If not you can all go to Anastasiaweb and deal with their attitude towards clients. One guy with an axe to grind can accuse me and who do you all believe?
What type of man is my accuser? In his last communication with me he told me that he would bring a girl from Russia to the US on a K-1 eventually, but keep a number of other relationships going as a 'back-up' right up until his wedding day. What a charming person !!!!
I am just glad that me clients saw this before they became the woman that was being lied to.
I am sorry that Mr Malcheski feels aggrieved, but he would feel this way with anything that does not go as he wants. He is not the perfect man as he sees himself, but he cannot understand that a woman may just decide that he is not for her, and is too polite to say....'your a head-case go away !!!!' instead she lets him down gently.... what a terrible thing !!!!!!!!!!
Anyone who wants to contact me directly can do so at wlfvoronezh@vsnab.ru and I will discuss their concerns in detail. I can provide recommendations from men that have actually been here themselves if anyone wishes. But just because one guy screams SCAM !!!, don't automatically believe it, there are two sides to every story.
Steve Williams
With Love From Voronezh
|
|
|
|
tbochene
Junior Member
Posts: 15
Registered: 06-06-2003 Location:
|
|
posted on 07-13-2003 at 19:48 |
|
|
| |
CURIOUS?
Hello Steve- Thanks for taking the time to answer the accusation. I'd like to give you an opportunity to tell us about your agency. What do you do, how long in business, are the girls in your agency allowed to have direct contact with the men, do you charge for e-mail, how much? do you sell addresses? Do you do tours?
Tell us about yourself and your company. I like to see the interaction and am at the moment very impressed with a company owner who would take the time.
And of course I would invite anyone else to make HONEST objective un-emotional comments about this company. All of us involved in this industry know that when emotions are envolved the truth is not always evident. Men get hurt they want to strike back at someone.
With all the fraud it's more and more difficult to find good marriage agencies, so lets talk and see what the guys have to say.
Sincerely
Tony B.
webmaster
Sincerely
|
|
|
|
RogerT
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: 12-19-2003 Location:
|
|
posted on 12-19-2003 at 07:28 |
|
|
| |
WLFV Steve
I think I'm pretty well known on most RW forums over the last two years and I do happen to know a little about WLFV.
Out of hundreds if not thousands of agencies, I would rate WLFV as one of the finest examples of RW agencies around.
I've chatted regularly with Steve and received help from him and I'm not even a paying client!
Steve's business ethics are beyond reproach. His ladies are probably the most genuine collection of real RW's looking for genuine real men.
You can draw many accurate conclusions from peoples writing and the complainant, if I can call him that,
aka Dakota Ridge, aka Chris whatever...
It is an unfortunate fact that RW forums attract some of the most disturbed, unbalanced antisocial arsholes around.
I really feel sorry for the good agencies that have to put these creeps who if allowed would give any intelligent lady the creeps.
The problem is, many of those same ladies are extremely diplomatic and don't wish to hurt anyone's feelings include those of a rather very obvious arshole who runs by the name of Dakota Ridge aka Chris.
The WLFV really deserves to be congratulated on setting the standard to which most if not all other agencies fail to meet.
Read Steve's comments, very intelligent well thought out wonderful descriptions that are invaluable for any man seriously looking to meet his soulmate.
There are hundreds of scammers out there, all very obvious, generally you can spot them in a flash and if you can't recognize in your first 30 seconds of viewing that WLFV is a truely great agency then you are probably a born looser lacking social awareness and doomed to repeated marriage failure.
See you in Russia.
Congratulations Steve on the great work.
Roger Townsend
Sudbury Ontario
http://www.RogerTownsend.com
|
|
|
|
SteveWilliams
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: 04-30-2003 Location:
|
|
posted on 12-19-2003 at 09:15 |
|
|
| |
When I wrote my defence to the accusations of Mr Malcheski I was pretty annoyed as at that time he was posting his comments on every message board that he could find and I was being alerted by clients to this and that post all over the place. Therefore, as I dont keep an eye on these boards, I did not see the post a few months later from the moderator inviting me to talk about my agency. Sorry about that, I didn't mean to be rude in ignoring the invitation.
I started this agency, With Love from Voronezh, together with my Russian wife Nadya, we were at the time living in England, but travelling regularly to Voronezh so my wife could see her family...13 hours door to door wasn't such an horrific trip. While we were there I was usually bombarded with requests from Nadyas friends to help them try and find such a nice husband as me !! I put some details on various free sites, but the results were not too good, and it led me to think that maybe we should do something ourselves so we could help these women. So I looked at the whole 'marriage agency business' and decided to try. I travelled a number of time to Voronezh, found offices, did all the legal stuff and trained my staff.....friends of Nadyas initially, actually who I was glad to give a decent paying job to, and I found my translators. So thats how we started. I insist on interviewing all of the girls myself, so that meant trips every 3 months and interview after interview after interview. I dont take just anyone as a client, she must show me thtat she is serious and her motives are genuine....now I am no policeman, and yes, I have been mislead, but when I find out, the girl is history, no matter how pretty..thats never an issue. I was you guys once, i was trawling the agencies and I run WLFV based on my experience as a client...what would I have wanted when I was searching. So as of today, 19th December, we have been open for 2 years seven months. What a roller coaster that has been. In November 2002, my wife, our daughter and I emigrated to Russia, lock, stock and barrell. She did not like England, missed her family and so off we went.... and our agency that was run from England/Russia became the centre of my attention and I have worked here in Voronezh full time since then. being on the ground has given me a different insight than when I was in the UK and I try and pass that on to anyone that asks, client or not. Actually I spend a lot of time advising men on general issues even if they are not my clients.
The way we work is this.....we invite men to write an introduction letter to any of our clients, this letter is free, the lady can reply if she wants...NEVER have we pressued anyone to write... and that letter is translated into English and sent to the man for free. So, he knows if she is interested in him or not before any money has changed hands. At that point he can purchase our e-mail service with is provided on a monthly basis. This gives him unlimited letters in that month to his girl, and her replies. Now the facts of life here are such that in effect that means a turnaround in about 3 working days....women do not have a computer at home and its not as easy for them as it is for the man. Thats our prefered option. Recently however we have started to allow the men to buy the address if they want to. I can't say that I am a big fan of this idea, and actually it was my wife who wanted to try it, but it is something we offer at the moment. The way I see it is that both the men and the women need someone to keep an eye on things. thats not being nosey or interfering, but there have been occassions when we can see that the lady is not telling the truth in her letters or the man as well. and we advise our clients accordingly. that has caught out married men messing about, women with a string of men aiming at getting them to send money, and just women that appeared to be angelic who were actually ... rather the opposite... But I do not play God so each man has his options. We charge $50 per month for our e-mail forwarding/translation service and I think thats real value for money. My staff are fantastic...I have worked with them during the time I have been here and there English skills are the best in the city...of that I am sure, having interviewed almost every English speaking translator here.
At no time do we insist that men only work through us, they have the choice, but no one has ever changed after using our service for a month.
A big part of our business is when men travel here to Voronezh to meet our girls. We provide a full Moscow airport arrival gate to Moscow airport departure gate service, taking care of every aspect of the trip. OR we dont, the man can decide on our help, but every trip is custom made....no two people are the same. Clients who are here get as much support as they want, we really are at their beck and call 24 hours a day.
Do we do 'tours'? No, not in the sense of some agencies that adopt a 'meat market' attitude. What we do do, and think there is nothing wrong in this approach, is help men meet a number of women on their trip. We arrange lunch and dinner dates so the man can meet the women and see if there is a connection. We dont charge for these meetings, its all part of doing the right thing, for the man and the women...we want him to meet someone, thats the purpose of our agency.
Another part of what I do is less pleasant. On average 3 or 4 times a month I get e-mails from men writing to women from Voronezh through another agency...a rather large one which has a less than flawless reputation... and I am asked to investigate these women. That has led me to a 17 yr old (just turned 17) who never sent any of the 15 or so e-mails the guy had supposedly got and had no idea why I was there with a bunch of flowers at her door. Women that dont exist, addresses that turn out to be false...all sorts of things. Naturally that has made me rather unpopular with those that operate these things, and I have been threatened and my family too, including my 12 year old daughter. There are a great many people that want to cheat you...thats life and here in Russia I have found that out first hand. I am not one of those people, I dont need to for a start, would never dream of it (I want to sleep at night thank you !!) and I see myself as a decent chap. Do I make mistakes? Of course, but I will always own up to them and make good as best I can. No one is perfect, but we do try our best to help you the men, and the ladies that we know, and some are now personal family friends, find each other. Thats why With Love From Voronezh exists.
Thats the end of this lengthly plug. www.withlovefromvoronezh.com is the address and thanks to Tony B for the chance to practise my typing...even if it is a little late.
Steve Williams
With Love From Voronezh
|
|
|
|
VernonP
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: 11-05-2004 Location:
|
|
posted on 11-06-2004 at 03:38 |
|
|
| |
WLFV is a fantastic agency
I just happened to bump in to this while doing a web search for Voronezh. So, as a previous and soon to be again client I felt that people should know what a great agency WLFV is and helpful they really are.
Steve and his staff are fantastic!! If you read the ladies profiles and need some advice on them, he is willing to give it and has never failed to reply the next day with not just helpful advice but honest advise. I was planning a trip to Voronezh to visit with one of the ladies and had no idea of where to begin. I wrote to Steve and ask for his assistance and he was willing to help out as much as would be needed. There was a little trouble at one time with a young lady I was comminicating with and Steve asked that I call him so that he could explain the situation. Now that is what I call "Customer Service"!!!!!
When I began my search for a Russian lady I had used a few other services and NONE were as helpful or informative as WLFV is. Steve has my full trust and I stand behind his agency 100% and would recommend to all my friends and family if they should ever think about looking at marriage to a Russian woman...!!!
Regards,
Vernon P.
|
|
|
|
lovethph
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: 07-28-2007 Location: dakar
|
|
posted on 07-28-2007 at 11:56 |
|
|
| |
love11_upeh@yahoo.com
love11_upeh@yahoo.com
Hello dear
My name is loveth upeh i saw your profile today and became intrested in you,i will also like to know you the more,and i want you to send an email to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom i am.
Here is my email address (love11_upeh@yahoo.com)I believe we can move from here!
I am waiting for your mail to my email address above.
I love you
Miss loveth
|
|
|
|
lovethph
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: 07-28-2007 Location: dakar
|
|
posted on 07-28-2007 at 11:57 |
|
|
| |
love11_upeh@yahoo.com
love11_upeh@yahoo.com
Hello dear
My name is loveth upeh i saw your profile today and became intrested in you,i will also like to know you the more,and i want you to send an email to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom i am.
Here is my email address (love11_upeh@yahoo.com)I believe we can move from here!
I am waiting for your mail to my email address above.
I love you
Miss loveth
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
