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AUSLANDS FINANCE
We get it - managing your money can be a real headache. That's why we're here to help. At AUSLANDS FINANCE, we've got all your financial needs in one place, so you can focus on what really matters. Whether you're saving for a big purchase, paying off debt, or just trying to stay on top of things, we've got the tools and expertise to make it easier. Our secure and user-friendly platform is designed to give you peace of mind, so you can live your best life.
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A Cautionary Tale: How I Wasted a Small Fortune and Gained a Few Gray Hairs
summarizeEditor's Summary
I'm still trying to process the whole ordeal, but I'll try to give you the short version. I bought this product thinking it was a great value for money, but boy was I wrong. The moment I started using it, I realized it wasn't as easy to use as I thought it'd be. The build quality was subpar, and the customer support was basically non-existent. I tried to return it, but the process was a nightmare. I wasted a small fortune on this thing, and I'm still dealing with the aftermath. I've gained a few gray hairs, and I'm not even kidding. I'm just glad I can share my cautionary tale with you so you don't make the same mistake.
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Dönem8/10
Kalite2/10
HizmetKalitesi2/10
We signed up with OOO "AUSLANDSFINANZAMT" in 2022, a company based in Novosibirsk, to help us get German citizenship (repatration). After signing the contract and going through the whole process from the initial paperwork to receiving the call-up, I wanted to leave a review about this company.
I strongly advise against signing a contract with OOO "AUSLANDSFINANZAMT".
Right off the bat, I'll say that we did receive the call-up, but not thanks to our collaboration with this company. To get a positive decision from BVA in our favor, we did a lot on our own, which is weird considering the contract price of 240,000 rubles. You'd expect a different approach from the company.
This review will be lengthy, but if you're currently unsure whether to sign a contract with "AUSLANDSFINANZAMT", please read it to the end.
So, what are my complaints about this company?
Lack of competence
1. Due to the incompetence of the company's staff, we received an additional request from BVA.
From the documents, it was clear that my mom was born out of wedlock, and the difference in the dates of issuance of her SOB and her parents' SOB was almost 1.5 years. This is a common situation, and a company that works with late settlers and claims to have a lot of experience should have noticed this immediately and reacted accordingly. We could have submitted additional requests for documents to the ZAGS and archives to confirm my mom's relationship with her German grandfather while submitting the application. However, the company conveniently overlooked this and, of course, BVA had a valid reason to doubt the relationship.
2. We received a birth certificate with different information about my mom because her SOB was reissued. We wrote a standard application form 4, and the ZAGS issued a certificate, but the 'other information' field was blank. For us 'newbies' who encountered this document for the first time, everything was fine. We got the certificate. But people who work with these documents regularly, why can't they say that the document doesn't fit, what needs to be done to request a new certificate from the ZAGS?
In the certificate, the 'other information' field will either be blank or contain additional information. To get a 'correct' certificate, you need to clearly indicate the list of other information you're interested in on the application form, as this is a requirement of the legislation. And since the legislation has changed since 1917, the options for other information for each period differ. We figured all these nuances out ourselves, and the company OOO "AUSLANDSFINANZAMT" doesn't explain them, doesn't help you fill out the application form correctly, they just send an example of how the certificate should look.
3. The lawyer from the company incorrectly drafted the application to the court. Again, we wasted time (sending the first application by mail, the court's consideration of the application, the court's response, drafting a new application, and sending it).
We had to go to court to change my mom's nationality in my birth certificate because the ZAGS refused to do it. The company drafted an application to establish a fact of legal significance, the court ruled to leave the application without consideration, citing that this is not a special proceeding, and the application should be an actionable lawsuit.
But here's the kicker: the company's response was a total surprise. They told me I'd need to file a new statement, following the court's requirements, since they considered it a dispute between me and the zoning board.
“Since your contract is for two adults, you won't need to pay extra for the new statement. It's all covered in the contract cost. However, the lawyer will need time to prepare, pay the new fee, and send it off.”
I was relieved to find out that I wouldn't have to pay extra for the company's mistake, but that's not the end of the story.
Lack of responsiveness and uncooperative customer service
1. It seemed like we were constantly waiting for the company to get back to us. Be prepared for them to miss their deadlines on document preparation and translations.
We even offered to hire external translators to speed up the process, but the company refused to cooperate.
Timeline of BVA responses:
5 December 2022 - the company assigned a case number, 9 December 2022 - they informed us about it
28 December 2022 - BVA sent an additional request to our representative, 24 January 2023 - we were informed about it (a whole month had passed!)
8 September 2023 - we received a summons, 13 September 2023 - we were informed about it
The company claims to process BVA rejections on a daily basis. Thankfully, we didn't have to verify that claim. However, I wouldn't count on it.
Timeline of the court proceedings:
11 April - we submitted materials to the lawyer for the initial statement. We were told it would take two weeks, but they missed the deadline.
28 April - the lawyer finished drafting the statement. I reviewed it the same day and found errors in the surname, region, and ID number.
5 May - we sent the statement back to the lawyer for corrections
6 May - the revised statement was sent to the court
25 May - we received the court's response. The company started working on a second statement
10 June - the court statement was ready
14 June - the second statement was sent to the court
26 June - we received the court's response, and a hearing was scheduled
4 August - the hearing took place
The company estimates 4-6 months for court proceedings. They consider our time a success story, but a significant portion of our time was spent on the company's lawyer working on the case and correcting their own mistakes.
2. When the manager takes a leave, your case is put on hold. This results in lost time and a high chance of missing important requests.
3. The company sends documents to Germany only once a month. If your documents are ready early in the month, they'll sit idle until the end of the month. We paid for expedited shipping through DHL twice (cost: 9,160 and 11,571 rubles) to avoid delays.
4. On the company's website, you'll find this statement:
One of the biggest drawbacks was the cookie-cutter approach the company took. We didn't expect to have to do all the legwork ourselves, but that's exactly what happened.
We had to visit different institutions and wait for responses, which was a huge time-waster. The company seemed to be taking a backseat and letting us handle everything.
“You won't have to spend time visiting different institutions and waiting for responses – we'll take care of everything, from gathering documents to making copies and more.” or “Obtaining missing documents and working with archives.”
For almost every government agency, except the court, we had to write and submit everything ourselves, or ask our relatives to do it for us. The company was basically a spectator.
“You'll have a personal manager and lawyer assigned to your case, who will be happy to help and answer your questions at any time.”
First of all, it's not a lawyer, but a “document manager.” Second, they don't respond at any time – the response time can take up to two days. You'll find out about all this during your time working with this company.
For us, personally, our assigned manager's responses weren't always clear and complete. We had to pay for additional consultations with experts who deal with late migrants' documents.
Our assigned manager writes:
“My job is solely focused on working with documents and preparing them for submission to Germany/leading correspondence with the trusted representative and government agency.”
When we asked our manager to contact BVA and find out about our case, we received a rejection and the following response:
“...since the processing time is not regulated by the government agency. Their response is always the same: “We'll let you know as soon as we process it. We can't predict the processing time. Due to the heavy workload, please be prepared for a longer processing time. We ask you not to send any requests unless absolutely necessary, as our workload is already overflowing with more important tasks.” When we receive any information about your case, we'll let you know.”
Are you expecting the company to “fight” for your case and your interests? Think again!
Going through the motions.
Are you expecting a personal approach? Think again!
One of the biggest issues for late migrants is how to prove their German heritage. The company won't help you with that, won't offer any solutions or alternatives – you'll just get a generic text about sausages. That's it!
We had to find the information and ways to prove our German heritage ourselves, in addition to the biography that's always attached to the application. We had to find additional ways to prove our connection to our German grandfather.
After the company refused to contact BVA about our case, we did it ourselves. And after two and a half weeks, we received a summons.
Forgery of signatures.
We experienced two cases of the company forging my signature without notifying us.
The first time was when they submitted a statement to the Russian court. The second time was when they created a power of attorney for a representative in Germany.
The icing on the cake.
The company, OOO “AUSLANDSFINANZAMT”, lost our original summons.
This is another incredible story.
When we received the summons, the company representative wrote the following message:
“As the logistics chain from Germany to Russia doesn't work directly, and the BVA government agency may or may not send you the summons, if you want to receive it in Russia or another country (NOT GERMANY):
"One thing that really threw us off was the shipping process. According to our agreement, they're supposed to send us the original call via regular German mail with tracking. They provide the code, and we're supposed to follow up.
Unfortunately, the actual shipping time was around two months, which was a major issue for us. It all depends on the batch of documents and the employee's schedule, who personally delivers the documents.
But if you're not willing to wait that long, they offer an expedited shipping option to Russia and other countries for 500 euros via their courier.
When we asked them to send the documents via Deutsche Post, we got a response that really raised some red flags.
‘Katerina, I need an official response from Deutsche Post so I can show it to our legal department. From what we know, Deutsche Post sends the documents, but they don't guarantee delivery or safety - it's easy for them to get lost in transit.’
They also told us that since we have a scanned copy of the call with our phone number and BVA's postal address, we can request the original from them. They only send documents via Deutsche Post, and if it doesn't arrive, they'll send us another copy.
It's just two attempts to get the documents to us, after all.’
We have some photos showing the shipping process.
We paid 500 euros for expedited shipping, but the delivery times were consistently delayed. They promised us a two-month shipping window, but it took even longer. The documents were sent via SDEK from Novosibirsk to Moscow, but they were lost in transit. It turned out that all their promises about a smooth delivery process were just empty words.
The representative tried to shift the blame onto us, saying that we hadn't specified any other courier services.
‘But I told you that we'd be using SDEK, and I haven't heard from you about any other preferences.’
We had to find a new representative and send the documents via Deutsche Post. When we complained about the lack of service and asked for a refund, the company just ignored us. We had to file complaints with the prosecutor's office and Rospotrebnadzor before they finally returned our 500 euros.
The company's director responded to our complaint in the Telegram chat, but then deleted us from the chat. It's a perfect illustration of what it's like to deal with OOO ‘AUSLANDSFINANZAMT’.
Don't want to end up like us? Don't sign a contract with this company.’"
live_helpFeatured FAQ
Is this product worth the money?
Absolutely not. I'd say it's a total waste of cash.
Is the build quality good?
No way. It's subpar at best.
Is the customer support helpful?
Not even close. They're basically non-existent.
Is the return process easy?
Nope. It's a total nightmare.
Is the battery life good?
Not really. It's basically dead after a day or two.
Is the shipping fast?
Nope. It took forever to arrive.
Is the product easy to use?
Nope. It's basically impossible to figure out.
Is the product worth it?
Absolutely not. I'd say it's a total waste of cash.
check_circlePros
- •It looks nice, I'll give it that. The design is sleek, and it's a decent size. But that's about where the good stuff ends. It's got some features that are kinda cool, but they're not really worth the hassle. And don't even get me started on the shipping - it took forever to arrive. I'm not impressed, to say the least.
cancelCons
- •The ease of use is basically nonexistent. I mean, I've used more complicated things as a kid. The build quality is laughable - it feels like it's going to break apart at any moment. And the customer support? Forget about it. They're about as helpful as a chocolate teapot. I tried to return it, but the process was a disaster. The return policy is super vague, and they make it super hard to get a refund. And don't even get me started on the battery life - it's basically dead after a day or two.
