Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

Has anyone booked any travel arrangements with GOTORUSSIA.COM. If so, any
feedback would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

"punk" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Has anyone booked any travel arrangements with GOTORUSSIA.COM. If so, any
    > feedback would greatly be appreciated.
    >
    > Thanks in advance.

Yes, I have used them several times but had real problems the last
time. I ordered a 12 month business visa letter of invitation for
Russia and paid $275. Upon their suggestion I was to pick it up from
an office in Saint Petersburg( I was going to be there on a 30 day
tourist visa when it was to be ready). My 30 day visa was running out
and repeated and ever increasingly frantic emails asking where my visa
invitation was went unanswered. Their "office" was a visa
registration office that claimed they never get any visa invitations
from them and had no idea what I was talking about. They were to
register my tourist visa slso because I had prepaid that with
GotoRussia.com but the office said they had no record of my prepayment
so I had to pay another $20 to get it registered. As the time for my
visa to expire, I was in a real bind, GoToRussia, after getting my
$275 never responded to my pleas for help in tracking down my
document. Finally, with only 2 days left before I would have to leave
to country and loose my substantial investment in visas, hotels,
apartment deposits and completely screwing up my plans I started
searching for the answers in Russia. I found out that GoToRussia does
not even have authorization to issue visas in Russia so they use a
Moscow based visa service called IntelService Center to subcontract
doing all the official work. Calling them I found my visa invitation
was there and they agreed to send it by next day courier to my
apartment. It came just as promised and I immediately headed to the
bus station to go to Helsinki to get my 12 month visa, I crossed the
border with only 2 hours to spare in my visa fiasco and had to spend
more $450 for expidited service to the consulate. If I had not had
friends who knew a lot about travel in Russia and speaking a bit of
Russian I would have been looking at losing thousands of $$$ due to
their lack of attention. Several days after I returned to Russia with
my 12 month visa in my passport, I got my first return email from
GoToRussia.com. They said they were going to check into it but the
office that was to have sent it would not get back to them so it was
not their problem. The next email from them consisted of a jpg scan
of my invitation. That was a real joke, NO Russian consulate in the
world will accept a copy of the invitation, at least not in recent
years and GoToRussia apparently did not know that. I was lucky I did
not have to depend on them completely as most tourist would have.
This would have ruined anyone's vacation and budget. Be cautious.
Since that time last year I found much cheaper altneratives.
If you need any advice or info about travel or living in Russia let me
know.
Good luck
Stan

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

Stan,

How did you pay for any of you bookings? The reason I ask is because last
July a booked a flight with them that was not even related to Russia. This
was simply a roundtrip fare to Europe and since they seemed to offer the
cheapest rate at that time, I went on ahead. After I tried to book it
online, they sent me email saying that to complete the transaction, I would
have to fax them a copy of the front and back of my credit card and a copy
of my ID like a driver's license. I proceeded to do that and the tickets
were booked. I had no problem with the flight. However, lo and behold, when
I came back from the trip, that same credit card I had used with GOTORUSSIA
had been fraudulently used to book a 2 nights stay somewhere in Spain. Now,
this could just be coincidence but they knew exactly when I would be on a
trip and that is when the fraudulent use of the credit card happened. I did
not even use the card on the trip and so the last activity was the booking
with GOTORUSSIA. When I tried contacted them about the fraud, they said that
credit cards companies usually have to absorb these losses and I should just
contest the charge. They did not even bother to try to ascertain if someone
had picked up the card number because I had faxed it to them. I have a bad
feeling about this organization and you experience simply confirms it.

"Stan Jacox" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] om...
    > "punk" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > > Has anyone booked any travel arrangements with GOTORUSSIA.COM. If so,
any
    > > feedback would greatly be appreciated.
    > >
    > > Thanks in advance.
    > Yes, I have used them several times but had real problems the last
    > time. I ordered a 12 month business visa letter of invitation for
    > Russia and paid $275. Upon their suggestion I was to pick it up from
    > an office in Saint Petersburg( I was going to be there on a 30 day
    > tourist visa when it was to be ready). My 30 day visa was running out
    > and repeated and ever increasingly frantic emails asking where my visa
    > invitation was went unanswered. Their "office" was a visa
    > registration office that claimed they never get any visa invitations
    > from them and had no idea what I was talking about. They were to
    > register my tourist visa slso because I had prepaid that with
    > GotoRussia.com but the office said they had no record of my prepayment
    > so I had to pay another $20 to get it registered. As the time for my
    > visa to expire, I was in a real bind, GoToRussia, after getting my
    > $275 never responded to my pleas for help in tracking down my
    > document. Finally, with only 2 days left before I would have to leave
    > to country and loose my substantial investment in visas, hotels,
    > apartment deposits and completely screwing up my plans I started
    > searching for the answers in Russia. I found out that GoToRussia does
    > not even have authorization to issue visas in Russia so they use a
    > Moscow based visa service called IntelService Center to subcontract
    > doing all the official work. Calling them I found my visa invitation
    > was there and they agreed to send it by next day courier to my
    > apartment. It came just as promised and I immediately headed to the
    > bus station to go to Helsinki to get my 12 month visa, I crossed the
    > border with only 2 hours to spare in my visa fiasco and had to spend
    > more $450 for expidited service to the consulate. If I had not had
    > friends who knew a lot about travel in Russia and speaking a bit of
    > Russian I would have been looking at losing thousands of $$$ due to
    > their lack of attention. Several days after I returned to Russia with
    > my 12 month visa in my passport, I got my first return email from
    > GoToRussia.com. They said they were going to check into it but the
    > office that was to have sent it would not get back to them so it was
    > not their problem. The next email from them consisted of a jpg scan
    > of my invitation. That was a real joke, NO Russian consulate in the
    > world will accept a copy of the invitation, at least not in recent
    > years and GoToRussia apparently did not know that. I was lucky I did
    > not have to depend on them completely as most tourist would have.
    > This would have ruined anyone's vacation and budget. Be cautious.
    > Since that time last year I found much cheaper altneratives.
    > If you need any advice or info about travel or living in Russia let me
    > know.
    > Good luck
    > Stan

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

"Stan Jacox" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] om...
    > "punk" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:<[email protected]>...
    >> Has anyone booked any travel arrangements with GOTORUSSIA.COM. If so, any
    >> feedback would greatly be appreciated.
    >> Thanks in advance.

Run by the Russian Mafia - do not touch them with the proverbial bargepole.

Regards
Gerry

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

"punk" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Has anyone booked any travel arrangements with GOTORUSSIA.COM. If so, any
    > feedback would greatly be appreciated.

Nope, but I have booked with Academservice, and they were allrighty.

http://www.tourintel.ru/

Bjorn

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

[email protected] (Stan Jacox) wrote in message news:<[email protected]. com>...
    > "punk" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > > Has anyone booked any travel arrangements with GOTORUSSIA.COM. If so, any
    > > feedback would greatly be appreciated.
    > >
    > > Thanks in advance.
    >
    > Yes, I have used them several times but had real problems the last
    > time. I ordered a 12 month business visa letter of invitation for
    > Russia and paid $275. Upon their suggestion I was to pick it up from
    > an office in Saint Petersburg( I was going to be there on a 30 day
    > tourist visa when it was to be ready). My 30 day visa was running out
    > and repeated and ever increasingly frantic emails asking where my visa
    > invitation was went unanswered. Their "office" was a visa
    > registration office that claimed they never get any visa invitations
    > from them and had no idea what I was talking about. They were to
    > register my tourist visa slso because I had prepaid that with
    > GotoRussia.com but the office said they had no record of my prepayment
    > so I had to pay another $20 to get it registered. As the time for my
    > visa to expire, I was in a real bind, GoToRussia, after getting my
    > $275 never responded to my pleas for help in tracking down my
    > document. Finally, with only 2 days left before I would have to leave
    > to country and loose my substantial investment in visas, hotels,
    > apartment deposits and completely screwing up my plans I started
    > searching for the answers in Russia. I found out that GoToRussia does
    > not even have authorization to issue visas in Russia so they use a
    > Moscow based visa service called IntelService Center to subcontract

Aaah, Intelservice. I have had some dealings with them, and they are
actually quite professional, given the usual level of customer service
you can expect in Russia. I believe they are managed by an American
company. I booked with them through VisaToRussia.com, and the service
was very good, although I might have just been lucky. Of course that
didn't save me from the fact that the Russian consulate put the wrong
company number on my visa, resulting in huge hassles, delays, and more
money...

    > doing all the official work. Calling them I found my visa invitation
    > was there and they agreed to send it by next day courier to my
    > apartment. It came just as promised and I immediately headed to the
    > bus station to go to Helsinki to get my 12 month visa, I crossed the
    > border with only 2 hours to spare in my visa fiasco and had to spend
    > more $450 for expidited service to the consulate. If I had not had
    > friends who knew a lot about travel in Russia and speaking a bit of
    > Russian I would have been looking at losing thousands of $$$ due to
    > their lack of attention. Several days after I returned to Russia with
    > my 12 month visa in my passport, I got my first return email from
    > GoToRussia.com. They said they were going to check into it but the
    > office that was to have sent it would not get back to them so it was
    > not their problem. The next email from them consisted of a jpg scan
    > of my invitation. That was a real joke, NO Russian consulate in the
    > world will accept a copy of the invitation, at least not in recent
    > years and GoToRussia apparently did not know that. I was lucky I did
    > not have to depend on them completely as most tourist would have.

Imcompetent bastards. I have said it before, and I will say it again,
don't listen to anyone who tells you the visa process is
straightforward. You need to assume incompetence at every step of the
way, and Russians are not in the slightest bit understanding of your
situation either, probably because it's far more difficult for them to
visit your country than for you to visit theirs.

    > This would have ruined anyone's vacation and budget. Be cautious.
    > Since that time last year I found much cheaper altneratives.
    > If you need any advice or info about travel or living in Russia let me
    > know.
    > Good luck

And doesn't luck have a lot to do with it!!!

Your story has a very familiar ring to it. It may be easier to visit
Russia than at any time in the past, but they still make the whole
experience as difficult as they can. Why? I don't know. Must be a
Russian thing. Something about life having to be hard or something.
After leaving Russia a couple of months back, all I can think is that
the world is much better off without them as a superpower.
---
DFM

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

Deep Frayed Morgues wrote:

    > Your story has a very familiar ring to it. It may be easier to visit
    > Russia than at any time in the past, but they still make the whole
    > experience as difficult as they can. Why? I don't know. Must be a
    > Russian thing. Something about life having to be hard or something.


Russians seem to have a mania for suffering...in fact they *luxuriate* in
it.


    > After leaving Russia a couple of months back, all I can think is that
    > the world is much better off without them as a superpower.


*lol* Well said DFM. Except for some achievements in weapons and space
they are a bunch of hopelessly incompetetent clods at pretty much everything
they do. Visiting a relatively advanced eastern bloc country like
Czechoslovakia or East Germany in the bad old Cold War days was certainly
eye - opening, not least for observing the attitudes of the citizens of
those countries towards the Russians, e.g. "*What* the F-CK are these
violent and stupid hillbillies doing to us!?"...it was a very bad and long
nightmare and thank G*d it's over for those people.

--
Best
Greg

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

I just came back from a couple of weeks in Russia and had a great time. All
the people I met were great, except for the people in the hotels. And I do
not speak any Russian.

I used the Gotorussia office in the US for the visa and one hotel
reservation. I did not have any problems, but they booked the hotel via
another agency in Moscow, which meant I paid the full list price for the
room.

I had a lot of problems with not getting any answes to questions from other
Russian travel companies. Check out my 300 photos of Russia at

http://mel.home.texas.net/

Let me know if you need any help.

Mel

"Gerald Oliver Swift" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Stan Jacox" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] om...
    >> "punk" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >> news:<[email protected]>...
    >>> Has anyone booked any travel arrangements with GOTORUSSIA.COM. If so,
    >>> any
    >>> feedback would greatly be appreciated.
    >>> Thanks in advance.
    > Run by the Russian Mafia - do not touch them with the proverbial
    > bargepole.
    > Regards
    > Gerry
    >

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

Sorry, I forgot a few more things

1. I made sure everything was 100 percent correct before I left. Gotorussia
listed the wrong hotel on the invitation letter, but they fixed this when I
called them. No one in Russia looked at this document. It was only used by
the Russian Embassy in the USA to give me a Visa.

2. A fellow traveler gave me some advice as to how to fill out the Russian
migration form. You get this on the airplane, they stamp it when you enter
the country and attach it to your passport. If you fill it out wrong there
is no one that speaks English that can help you. This is a very important
document!

3. I made copies of all my documents and posted them to my MSN account.
This way I could print a copy at any time. There are lots of horror stories
about people that lost their documents. I kept min around my neck at all
times.

4. Plans for the trip took about 8 months. I went to Russia to visit some
friends in Ekaterinburg.

5. I only ran into a few American tourist. One couple said they processed
all the paperwork themselves.

6. There were so many horror stories about the airport in Moscow that I paid
for an escort service to "solve all my problems" at the airport. The
service costs $140, but that also included the R/T taxi ride from the hotel
to the airport. The airport turned out to be just fine.

7. Some of the Taxi drivers will try and rip you off. They do not use any
meters, so the price of each ride need to be negotiated in advance. I used
a gypsy (private car) cab a couple of times and had no problem. The going
rate for a ride across Moscow is around 10 bucks for a tourist.

8. There is a very nice shopping center with a big food court and Internet
cafe next to the Kremlin. The rates at the Internet cafe are very cheap.

The Russian people are really wonderful. My Russian friends said Americans
smile too much, and that in Russia it is not polite to smile at someone
unless you know them.

I plan on going back in a few years.

I hope this helps.

Mel


"Mel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >I just came back from a couple of weeks in Russia and had a great time.
    >All the people I met were great, except for the people in the hotels. And
    >I do not speak any Russian.
    > I used the Gotorussia office in the US for the visa and one hotel
    > reservation. I did not have any problems, but they booked the hotel via
    > another agency in Moscow, which meant I paid the full list price for the
    > room.
    > I had a lot of problems with not getting any answes to questions from
    > other Russian travel companies. Check out my 300 photos of Russia at
    > http://mel.home.texas.net/
    > Let me know if you need any help.
    > Mel
    > "Gerald Oliver Swift" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> "Stan Jacox" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >> news:[email protected] om...
    >>> "punk" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >>> news:<[email protected]>...
    >>>> Has anyone booked any travel arrangements with GOTORUSSIA.COM. If so,
    >>>> any
    >>>> feedback would greatly be appreciated.
    >>>> Thanks in advance.
    >> Run by the Russian Mafia - do not touch them with the proverbial
    >> bargepole.
    >> Regards
    >> Gerry
    >

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

"Mel" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > I just came back from a couple of weeks in Russia and had a great time. All
    > the people I met were great, except for the people in the hotels. And I do
    > not speak any Russian.
    >
    > I used the Gotorussia office in the US for the visa and one hotel
    > reservation. I did not have any problems, but they booked the hotel via
    > another agency in Moscow, which meant I paid the full list price for the
    > room.
    >
    > I had a lot of problems with not getting any answes to questions from other
    > Russian travel companies. Check out my 300 photos of Russia at
    >
    > http://mel.home.texas.net/

Very nice Moscow photos, but the ones from Ekaterinburg can't be seen
(404 Not Found error).

Bjorn

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

I just checked and I can view the photos from Ekaterinburg.

Tks much

Mel

"Bjorn Olsson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] om...
    > "Mel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:<[email protected]>...
    >> I just came back from a couple of weeks in Russia and had a great time.
    >> All
    >> the people I met were great, except for the people in the hotels. And I
    >> do
    >> not speak any Russian.
    >> I used the Gotorussia office in the US for the visa and one hotel
    >> reservation. I did not have any problems, but they booked the hotel via
    >> another agency in Moscow, which meant I paid the full list price for the
    >> room.
    >> I had a lot of problems with not getting any answes to questions from
    >> other
    >> Russian travel companies. Check out my 300 photos of Russia at
    >> http://mel.home.texas.net/
    > Very nice Moscow photos, but the ones from Ekaterinburg can't be seen
    > (404 Not Found error).
    > Bjorn

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

"Mel" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > I just checked and I can view the photos from Ekaterinburg.

Maybe there is some problem with file permissions? I don't know if
other folks can, but I still can't see them.

Bjorn
Just trying to help

    > Tks much
    >
    > Mel
    >
    > "Bjorn Olsson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] om...
    > > "Mel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > > news:<[email protected]>...
    > >> I just came back from a couple of weeks in Russia and had a great time.
    > >> All
    > >> the people I met were great, except for the people in the hotels. And I
    > >> do
    > >> not speak any Russian.
    > >>
    > >> I used the Gotorussia office in the US for the visa and one hotel
    > >> reservation. I did not have any problems, but they booked the hotel via
    > >> another agency in Moscow, which meant I paid the full list price for the
    > >> room.
    > >>
    > >> I had a lot of problems with not getting any answes to questions from
    > >> other
    > >> Russian travel companies. Check out my 300 photos of Russia at
    > >>
    > >> http://mel.home.texas.net/
    > >
    > > Very nice Moscow photos, but the ones from Ekaterinburg can't be seen
    > > (404 Not Found error).
    > >
    > > Bjorn

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

On 9 Oct 2004 06:58:12 -0700, [email protected] (Bjorn Olsson) wrote:

    >"Mel" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    >> I just checked and I can view the photos from Ekaterinburg.
    >Maybe there is some problem with file permissions? I don't know if
    >other folks can, but I still can't see them.

I can see them, Bjorn

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

On 9 Oct 2004 06:58:12 -0700, [email protected] (Bjorn Olsson) wrote:

    >"Mel" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    >> I just checked and I can view the photos from Ekaterinburg.
    >Maybe there is some problem with file permissions? I don't know if
    >other folks can, but I still can't see them.

I can see a *few* of the thumb prints and that's it, viewing anything
else triggers an error

Re: Any Feedback on GOTORUSSIA.COM?
 

Thanks for the input.

I have a few thumbnails that point directly to specific areas. All the
other selections are based on JAVA buttons, which means you need to have
the JAVA engine on your PC. Microsoft used to provide this (automatically)
for free. Microsoft got into a legal war with Sun a few years ago and as a
result, you need to go to the Sun site to download the free JAVA engine.

I need to redesign the WEB page, but that will take a lot of time. I have
no interest in WEB programming, but I like to share travel photos.

Here are the direct links to the Russia photos.

http://mel.home.texas.net/russia_index.html

http://mel.home.texas.net/Ekaterinbu...ndex_temp.html

http://mel.home.texas.net/Moscow/index_Moscow.html

http://mel.home.texas.net/Ural%20Exp...monastery.html

http://mel.home.texas.net/Kremlin%20...%20Square.html

Enjoy the photos and let me know if you need any help. It took me almost a
year to plan the trip to Russia. If you do not plan you will either spend
too much money or not have a good time.

Mel


<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On 9 Oct 2004 06:58:12 -0700, [email protected] (Bjorn Olsson) wrote:
    >>"Mel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >>news:<[email protected]>...
    >>> I just checked and I can view the photos from Ekaterinburg.
    >>Maybe there is some problem with file permissions? I don't know if
    >>other folks can, but I still can't see them.
    > I can see a *few* of the thumb prints and that's it, viewing anything
    > else triggers an error