FALSE SELF INTRODUCTION
Firstly when you speak to Rus Education to inquire they will tell you they are not agents but they are from Russian Embassy. They will tell you all other consultants in the market are just agents but they are NOT. This is how the beginning of the lies and traps begin. Believe me they are just like any other consultants in the market and just have an office in Russian culture center( Mandi House Delhi) which is not even embassy(which is at Chankyapuri Delhi). They purely work as consultants, agents or even sub agents depending upon their chain of linkage to the Russian universities.
DEMANDING ADDITIONAL MONEY – Again and Again
After this self-created and self-claimed introduction -They will tell you 100 more lies.
When they will tell you their consultancy fees of 99 K( in installments)+ GST( 18%) i.e 1.36 Lakh – Ask them to give in written on a paper, with their authority sign and stamp, detailing what all will be included in this fees, else you will be cheated at every other stage of admission . They will be asking you to pay additional money as follows –( remember these additional demands will come only when you had already paid at least 2 of their fee installments so that you have no other choice but keep paying to them as you are in midway of your admission process)
1) Additional Rs.7000+ GST for doing documents Apostle.
2) Additional Rs. 3000+ GST for doing MCI registration( apart from 2100 fees of MCI that also you need to pay from your pocket)
3) Additional Rs. 6000+ GST for doing Translation / equivalence of your education documents in Russian language.
4) Upfront payment of additional$ 1500 USD for contract sign and transport from airport to university once you arrived in Russia.
5) Additional charges for Booking Air tickets. They will NOT give you an opportunity to think and act much, they will inform you about your departure date just 5-6 days before so you will be heavily dependent on them. So in case if the actual flight price is aroun 15 K – they will suddenly call you informing that flight ticket is right now 25 K and it is increasing every hour so shall they book or not as already other students travelling along already booked( just a lie trap to hijack your thinking), Straight away cheating of Rs 10 k, and still if you get a chance to check price online and question them back they will reduce 3-4K directly but still cheat you for 5-6K.
So in total they will charge your additional around 1.5 Lakhs EXTRA and you will just wonder what actually they have provided you in initial 1.36 Lakhs is nothing as above charges are additional for all each services. They will tell you that initial payment of Rs 99 K covers your admission letter, invitation letter and visa( which technically just cost more than Rs 2000 ONLY. yes just Two thousand only) So you should either do all 5 of above yourself or insist them to include them in entire 99 K only.
WRONG PAYMENT RECIPTS
Always demand payment receipts in name of Rus. Education else they will give you only one fee receipt(of first installment) in name of Rus. Education and rest all will in name of Rus. Tourism( their sister concern company). They are playing so safe that you have nothing to prove later in case of any dispute that you actually paid money to them.
INRESPONSIVE BEHAVIOUR
They will hardly reply to your sms or calls once you paid the installments/fees. You may expect one reply after 20 sms and 1 response after calling 10 times.
They will prefer whatsapp for communication as it is neither a formal nor a legal mode of communication. Even to be on safer side you will get whatsapp voice based messages so that you cannot claim anything out of that.
They will never give any formal replies on email because that will become legal and documented responses.
NO CHANNEL OF INTERNAL ESCALATION
There is no channel or process of Escalation, your so called counsellor will be your only point of contact. So even if you are sitting in their office in front of 10 other so called counsellors no one will reply to your queries as you are linked to one counsellor only.
FALSE PROMISES
No exact and correct timelines will be given regarding your admission letter or invitation letter – you will just need to follow up, follow up and follow up.
If you go to them during early months of admission process like May and June they might tell you that they will send you in September when the studies actually begin. However as mentioned above- in order to make more money out of you they will intentionally delay you informing about receiving your admission letter or invitation letter. This will be evident from the dates mentioned on your admission letter and invitation letters. Classes start their at 1st September but you will be sent their in October or even in November. You will be losing your studies for sure due to delayed admission. Mind it there are no cover-up classes as they will might tell you such things.
They will tell you so many things regarding the college, faculty, facilities, hostel – trust me 60% of that is lies. They are playing with your assumptions and our internal thinking process of accepting all good things.
• Hostels are far far away from college / university . Putting additional financial burden on students for everyday travel.
• Food facility has additional cost apart from your hostel fees. Meaning more expenditure.
• Forex travel card will be in the name of Green channel agency so you will be paying to them for loading your forex card and you will not have any track of charges being deducted – transaction charges, currency conversion charges, mark up charges etc. for an example for a n Rs 14 K load you will hardly get 9k or 10 K and more importantly without knowing how and where remaining 4K-5K gone.
• Mobile connection will be offered to you on day one of arriving not because they are worried of you but because you will not have an opportunity to check actual price of a sim card and they will charge of as high as 600 Rubels( Russian currency).
So think before 10 times before you find yourself landing in a big trap.