Way to Russia Talk Lounge

hunter001 · Just Starting Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 8

Hi Everyone

Does anyone know if connectrussia is still trading? i have booked tickets with them and i was told they would be with me the beginning of october and i have had nothing no replies to my emails and i'm unable to contact them via the phone i just get an answerphone message and then an egaged tone. any help would be grateful.

danbrew · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:58 am Post subject:

I can't tell you for sure whether they are still in business, but I can tell you that I booked 2 tickets with Alexander back in April (and paid for them in full at that time) for Moscow to Beijing on the 004Z train on 14 August.

I was supposed to have received the tickets in July but did not receive them. I also ran into HUGE communication problems with Alexander and sent numerous emails and tried to call many times. I became quite frustrated and sent Alexander an email that said that I absolutely had to make a go/no-go decision by 6 August as I had planned to depart the US on 9 August. I did not want to arrive in Moscow and not have tickets as my plan was Moscow/Beijing/Hanoi - all on trains (yeah, I like trains).

Alexander finally replied to my email and said that he had been unable to obtain the tickets because "they were not yet on sale." Quite frankly I don't know what to believe - did he overpromise and was then unable to deliver? Or did the Russian Train Service really not put the tickets up for sale? Who knows? I do know that I logged onto the RZD.ru site in July and was able to navigate through the site enough to determine that all of the tickets for the 004Z train on 14 August had already been sold. Hmmm. Bummer. I can't say for sure what happened on Alexander's end, but I can say for certain that I did not receive my tickets. Alexander suggested that I fly into Moscow as planned and that he was "pretty sure" he could obtain tickets for me on a different train a few days later. I just couldn't risk it.

So... you might be wondering why I continued to give him the benefit of the doubt? I actually bought tickets from Alexander back in December of 2006 for the same trip in January of 2007. I received the tickets as promised and showed up in Russia and became ill (food poisoning) the day before I was to get on the train... damn! I was unable to take the trip as planned - but Alexander did deliver the tickets at that time.

So... I'm not ready to say that Alexander did any of this on purpose. I doubt he is malicious, but he absolutely sucks as a businessman and his communication style is terrible. I believe that he simply refuses to reply to email unless he has good news. He doesn't seem to understand that he needs to be especially timely if there are problems so that his customers don't freak.

I wasn't willing to risk flying to Moscow and then figuring out how to get to Beijing at the last minute if I couldn't get train tickets, so I asked Alexander to refund the money I paid back in April of 2007. He agreed to do so and said he would begin the refund process. Weeks went by and I visited China & Vietnam and returned to the US and still had not received a refund. The dollar amount was not small - it was $1100 USD (two first class tickets). I finally gave up communicating with Alexander and disputed the charge with my bank and they gladly offered a chargeback and refunded the money. It's been six weeks since the bank reversed the charges and I haven't heard from either the bank or from Alexander - I assume that the issue is closed, but will be sure to let everyone know if I run into issues with this.

This experience cost me almost $2300 – money I would probably sue somebody for if this had been a travel agent in the US. I know, I know, everybody in America wants to sue somebody. I’m really not like that, but this has been a pretty sad experience. Here’s a quick summary of what this cost me:

• $145 – unused Russia Visa & service fee from visa processing company
• $1200 – unused non-refundable ticket from Chicago to Moscow
• $931 – ticket purchased at last minute to fly from Chicago to Beijing

I'd sue more because I'm pissed off than I am about the money - but it's still not a small amount.

I’m very sorry to hear of your troubles and am sad to say that I have heard from others that they are having the same type of problems with Alexander & Connect Russia. Even worse than not receiving the tickets, there are others like me who are having refund problems as well.

I really want to say that I don’t think Alexander is a crook – sure, a lousy businessman, but a crook? I’d rather not think that about somebody – especially somebody who has delivered for me in the past. I just can’t say what’s going on with the money situation and it makes me very uncomfortable. I really can’t speculate as to what might be happening, but I do know that it was unfortunate that I had to wait six+ weeks for Alexander to do the right thing – and that he didn’t do the right thing in the end. I can forgive the ticket issue as I know that traveling in the summer is in high-demand. I can be upset about the communication issues, but am willing to agree that Alexander’s poor communication style might be a cultural (or maybe even a maturity) issue. I can’t get my mind around his inability or unwillingness to refund the money I paid.

So… that’s my story. I wish I had something better to say.

danbrew
danbrew@hotmail.com

WayToRussia · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:23 pm Post subject:

We removed ConnectRussia from our listings until they make a refund for you. In the meanwhile we'll also try to ask them to apologize and get the money back.

danbrew · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:30 am Post subject:

The bank gave me my money back, so I'm good as far as the money I gave to Connect Russia. I don't expect them to refund the money lost due to circumstances - while I'm pissed about it, I really don't expect it from Alexander or Connect Russia. Like I said in my post, I don't think Alexander (he is the only guy at Connect Russia, right?) did it on purpose and wouldn't ask him to fork it over - despite my claim that I was so mad I'd sue somebody. If I thought he was partying in Minsk with my money I'd probably feel different - but I doubt he's doing that. He's got enough problems, I figure. You just know his credit card processing people have guys named Ivan and Boris who are hounding him for the return of their money.

I would suggest, though, that this thread be posted in the transport or trans-siberian forums instead of the WTR feedback - it's a lot less likely that a novice is going to look here for feedback on Connect Russia. I know you guys are not supporting him any longer, but I'd bet 'ya a buck he'd sell a ticket tomorrow if somebody emailed him and was willing to mail a check or paypal or something.

I'm not trying to beat him down - things have obviously changed for him - but I do think folks need to be aware of the situation.

danbrew

hunter001 · Just Starting Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 8

I'm glad to see that connectrussia has been removed from the 'way to russia' website for the time being anyhow. me and my wife have been trying to find out the status of our tickets for weeks now after alexander promised to send them out at the beginning of this month. we have emailed him and phoned him everyday and got nothing. today my wife took a day off work to try phoning all day and it was just engaged all the time. and then i came home to find her crying because she is so worried about this.
All we are asking alexander is, is our tickets going to be sent if not just let us know so we can arrange something out of this mess and maybe with a bit of luck get onto the trans-siberian railway if not we will have to book a flight to beijing and it money we have not budgeted for. i really hope no one else will be experiencing the same problems we are. if you are please let us know.

hunter001 · Just Starting Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 8

Hi
As it appears that i cannot contact connect russia by any means whatsoever i take it that he has done a runner with my cash along with
totally spoiling the holiday me and my wife had planned. please could you or anyone tell me if its worth reporting this to the local police or am i wasting my time. also will way to russia be taking action against him?
has anyone else been ripped off by this guy if so please post.

many thanks

krasatulya · VIP Joined: 29 May 2005 Posts: 568

siobhanpeeling · Just Starting Joined: 03 Dec 2007 Posts: 2

HI,

I am also having problems with Connect Russia. In April I booked four train tickets with them from Moscow to Beijing, to be picked up in Moscow, and I paid in full (about $3000). I contacted them in June to cancel the trip due to the death of my sister and was offered the choice to postpone the trip or to receive part of the money back. Every time I email to request the money back I receive no reply from them. A few weeks ago when I wrote a particularly threatening email someone called Alexander from Connect Russia contacted me and wrote that he had received no refund request and was still under the impression that I wanted to postpone the trip. I sent another email to confirm that actually I wanted the money and - surprise, surprise - have heard nothing back since.

I have been a bit lax at chasing this up as obviously I have been trying to cope with my sister's death but am annoyed at being ripped off and would like to take some action against them as well, though I'm pretty sure involving the local police would be a waste of time,

Sarah Peeling

danbrew · Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:53 pm Post subject:

hunter001 · Just Starting Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 8

To the way to russia guys.

why are you letting intergroup (aka connect russia) to advertise on your website again? i never received my trans siberian train tickets from them, and i'm not the only person who paid money and never heard from them again. i take it this guy has changed his name to get away from the bad reviews of connect russia. i therefore will carry on warning people on various forum about this dodgy so called company.

i lost $1500 for my holiday november 2007 and upto now i have not heard a single word off them.

natnin · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:47 pm Post subject: Intergroup - VS - Way to Russia

Hi!

I just posted another message (didn't knew this was already written) about intergroup, i just purchased tickets, not paid them yet (YESS!).

And already now, i have a lot of doubts with that company, they offer me to pay 1075 dollars instead of 723 as proposed by this website (even with the 15% credit card put up...)

My trip was planned from moscou to beijing with novosibirsk, irkutsk and ulan bator as stopovers, and here i get something like 628dollars, add the 15% you get 723... they say they add 5to10 dollars to each ticket, but even then, 1075dollars seems to much to me!!!

Another excuse was that the way to russia site gave rates from 2006, but i don't know this of course, no rate is known out of the russian railway stations...
Of course i know here is no vending site, so maybe it's not up to date, but some the tickets above were trippled in price!!!

So if you know where i can find less expensive tickets, please tell me!
If you have tried out other companies, please tell me as well.

Thanks to all of you!!

danbrew · Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:56 pm Post subject:

Nat, save yourself! Don't book with ConnectRussia, Intergroup, etc.

Visit http://www.waytorussia.net/Services/TrainTickets.html and select Svezhy Veter as your vendor. They'll get back to you via email with pricing. Many good stories have been posted about SV.