| Author |
Message |
regttd
Just Starting
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:48 am Post subject: Quality of WAY to RUSSIA services |
 |
|
Passage from Expat.ru forum: (http://www.expat.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=45785)
I rented an apartment through waytorussia.net for a weekend in St. Petersburg a couple of weeks ago. I chose waytorussia partially because their information said that they personally checked out every apartment and landlord.
So I reserved the apartment a month in advance, but when I got to St. P, I was informed that the apartment I rented was not available and the one I was presented with as an alternative was not only awful but had been sublet from an agent who looked like he was connected with the mafia. I won't go into all the horrible details of trying to find another place to stay, trying to get my money back from this scary guy, etc. Let it suffice to say that I was the victim of a bait-and-switch scam. (if you are interested in the details, you can PM me).
The whole time I was in Petersburg I tried to get in touch with the agents to get my money back, and I did recover a small portion of it. When I got back to Moscow, I contacted WaytoRussia to inform them about the situation. Their local agent was ok, but then he forwarded my case to the owner, who lives in the UK.
This man first refused to believe my story, then he accused me of asking for special treatment, then didn't respond to any inquiries for about 10 days. Yesterday I got an email from him saying that he was unable to get in touch with the landlord in St. Petersburg and that he had never met him. I don't believe this guy ever tried to get in touch with the landlord, although I provided the names and phone numbers (including mobiles) of everyone involved in the situation.
I asked if it was possible for them to reimburse me some of the money, and he wrote back saying that I would never ask for money from bad advice given in a Lonely Planet guide and that I should think of them in the same way.
I'm not going to go into all the reasons why that is not a fair comparison. What I want to say is that I used to work in the hospitality industry and one of my jobs was to respond to complaint letters. We tried to do everything possible to help our clients -up to and including reimbursement - so that even if they had one bad experience, they would still have a positive feeling about our organization. One of the statistics my supervisor quoted to me was that a person who has a bad experience tells 9 people about it on average while I person who has a good experience tells only 1.
This message is my attempt to tell more than 9 people about this bad experience so that maybe waytorussia will feel more responsibility to its clients in the future. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
GuideSpb
Frequent Guest
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 36
Location: St.Petersburg, Russia
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| My Condolences in occasion of unfortunate holiday |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
vitalsigns
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 2784
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It was said many a time, that waytorussia is a guide to Russia not an apartment rental business. Just because google promotes various businesses through advertisement doesn't mean they take personal responsibility whether or not the businesses are fulfilling their end of agreement to the clients.
Dmitry was right in his response to the person: "Sorry to hear about your trouble dude, but we are just like lonelyplanet, we can't control our advertisers."
This person posts his message twice here, then it is also on the expat.com, why put such a smack down on WTR without a reason? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lmr
Just Starting
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 2
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The reason for the post is that I had a bad experience with services advertised on WTR and wanted to inform others about it.
Those who read and trust information on this site should know that even though WTR claims to closely monitor its landlords, sometimes they are crooks. My first message to WTR following this incident only asked for additional ways to contact the people who scammed me and to ask that their apartment be removed from the site. From email exchanges, I am certain that the site administrators also feel that this particularly landlord is at least untrustworthy, yet his apartment remains on the site. I believe that a site that is truly committed to maintaining its quality and relationship with its readers would have done a better job following up on this, even if they are not legally responsible. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
surfguy
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 6979
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I received my visa invitation through WTR and they delivered as promised. I have considered renting an apartment via WTR but this post scares me as I would hate to go through the same troubles. One thing I learned about Russia is that everyone is on the take. Guides bring tourists into gift shops and get money for doing it. If I was WTR I would not deal with or offer services that are taking advantage of individuals. The fact of the matter is that when something is advertised on your site or at your store-you are responsible for the product. If it's a bad product then replace it with a better one. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mediashark
Moderator
Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 1599
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Well yes, vitalsigns that is true--buyer beware!
However, if a customer is blatantly cheated by the service provider, and WTR should investigate and take this advertiser off the site! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
waytorussia
Frequent Guest
Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 14
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Lara,
Some things you are saying are not exactly true. Would you mind me posting the full history of our correspondence here, so that the others see what really is going on?
As I told you already, Way to Russia is a travel guide. We do not provide any services ourselves. You asked me in a few of your e-mails if we could give you the money back, but it's as if you asked The Rough Guides pay you back because one of their advertisers didn't provide the service that you were expecting.
I also wrote to you that I tried getting Alex to pay you the money back, but he said it's not possible. I tried making him pay you several times, and now we decided to take his flat off the site.
I should tell you that there were quite a few reservations before (nobody ever complained!) so taking his flat off the site means losing a lot of money for us. Especially that it's not really his flat that is the problem.
However, because we are committed to listing only the best providers, his flat is out of the site unless he manages to resolve the situation with you.
Now, if you would like your money back, the only possiblity is to use legal routes and sue him for example. That's all I can offer because I tried all other possibilities and they didn't work. So, I'm doing the most we can do: that is blacklisting the provider and taking his flat off the site. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
waytorussia
Frequent Guest
Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 14
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:21 pm Post subject: By the way... |
|
|
| By the way, Lara, if it makes you feel better because Alex has mysteriously disappeared since I'm trying to get $300 for you from him, he also didn't pay me $300 US in advertising charges that he owes us. So we also lost some money here. So you can feel good that your mission was accomplished: we lost $300, and our readers lost an opportunity to book inexpensive flat in St. Petersburg. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lmr
Just Starting
Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 2
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
waytorussia
Frequent Guest
Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 14
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Lara,
I would be fine with your reply, but this sentence makes me surprised:
| Quote: | | their interests do not primarily lie with their customers |
and this one -- even more:
| Quote: | | I was unhappy with the treatment I received from the site administrator when I asked for their help. |
I will not argue with you, all my comments can be seen above.
One thing I can say is that if you have a fight with your husband over the $300 which you wasted because you didn't like a flat, then maybe you should divorce.
The Way to Russia "Crook" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
surfguy
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 6979
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 5:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | I also wrote to you that I tried getting Alex to pay you the money back, but he said it's not possible. I tried making him pay you several times, and now we decided to take his flat off the site.
I should tell you that there were quite a few reservations before (nobody ever complained!) so taking his flat off the site means losing a lot of money for us. Especially that it's not really his flat that is the problem. |
So yes WTR makes $$ off the advertisement and referal. And there for should want to offer the best product/services. And owe it to the consumer to get rid of the product(s) that are falsely advertised. Which in this case it sounds like WTR has done everything they canto rectify the situation. And we are only taikng about $300.00. It's unfortunate that these things happen-but they do. On another note if you had traveler's insurance would they cover this loss? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
