300,000 Rubles Lost: Travel Agency Nightmare
Editors of 63.RU received complaints from dissatisfied clients of Samara travel agencies Tour-ne and P-Sam. People say that because of these firms (which initially looked reliable) they ended up without international vacations and without money. Our Samara colleagues investigated the situation.
The Illusion of Success
The first to tell her story was Samara resident Yelena Dayneko. She became one of the clients unsatisfied with the services of the local agency Tour-ne.
In fall 2025, the woman planned a vacation in Vietnam with her family and turned to the specialists of the travel agency, whose work she had been following on social media for years. Yelena left a request on the website, and a manager of the travel firm who introduced himself as Daniil contacted her. The young man clarified the details of the future trip and sent a draft contract.
«He said that if the contract was satisfactory and we decided on the trip, date and amount, then I needed to pay for the tour, 100% of it. And then come to pick up the signed contract at any convenient time,» the dissatisfied client recounts.
The woman without hesitation transferred 313,000 rubles (about $3,100 at current rates). The next day she received a message that everything was ready for the upcoming trip. Daniil assured that the Dayneko family would fly to Vietnam via Kazan, tickets and hotel were booked with the help of their colleagues from another company. The flight was scheduled for October 17.
«I decided to ask when I could pick up the tickets and documents. Daniil assured me it would be 2-3 days before the trip. That«s normal practice — I»ve flown more than once, and the answer didn«t bother me,» says Yelena.
During preparations for the trip, the client had a few more questions for the manager. She asked them to Daniil in Telegram. However, according to Yelena, the young man was in no hurry to answer. The Tour-ne manager got in touch a week later and immediately apologized for the long silence — he admitted that he got wrapped up and simply did not see the messages.
«Two days before the trip, I see a message from him that I need to prepare a deposit for the hotel — 16,000 rubles (about $160). I know that such practice exists. But I was bothered that they warned me only now, not before booking. We had a minor conflict. I just said that such things need to be warned about in advance. Daniil answered in a rude manner, almost snapped — said, «Is the whole trip just about these 16,000 rubles for you?»» continues Yelena.
«A system glitch»
The day before the trip, our interlocutor«s husband decided to contact Daniil himself and also pick up all the documents. But the manager said he wasn»t there.
The situation escalated a few hours later. Around midnight, Yelena received a message about some «system glitch» at the tour operator. This meant only one thing — she and her family were not flying anywhere.
«Even though two weeks before, when we transferred the money, we were assured that Daniil was in touch with colleagues, everything was fine, we had nothing to worry about. And then this. They apologize to us, offer a coupon for 10,000 rubles (about $100),» says Yelena.
The client«s husband started calling Tour-ne. It turned out that the agency had only two employees — Oksana and Daniil Chernov, mother and son.
«Oksana immediately said that she couldn«t help us in any way. My husband asks, »What should we do? We can«t reschedule our vacation dates anymore. Maybe you can offer some alternative or return the money?» According to Oksana, somewhere «there» everything is frozen and she is not going to offer us anything at all. Allegedly, we even didn«t conclude a contract with them. My husband says that»s not humane — they got the money,» Yelena described her version of events.
The dissatisfied clients decided to talk to Tour-ne employees in person. They arrived at the office center located on Moskovskoye Shosse, but there they were met by closed doors. Yelena«s husband began calling Daniil to find out when he would be there (the call recording is available to the editorial office).
«We decided to ask when we could pick up our copy of the contract. Daniil hesitated, said he wasn«t there, didn»t know when he would be, started to wriggle. And then a message comes that no one would sign a contract retroactively,» assures Yelena.
During the conversation, the dissatisfied clients began to clarify and find out whether there really was some kind of error.
«We ask for confirmation from the tour operator that there was a system failure, a booking number. Already at this stage we suspect something is wrong. They don«t answer our questions. They only offered to write a refund request. And wait,» says Yelena.
At first, the waiting period was 10 days. Then, according to the dissatisfied client, it increased to two weeks. Then it became 21 days altogether.
«We wrote a refund statement at home addressed to the director of Tour-ne. My husband went and gave one copy to the Chernovs. At the same time, we consulted a lawyer. He explained that after 10 days we have the right to file a civil lawsuit in court. But nobody can guarantee a refund. They are an individual entrepreneur and may have neither money nor property. Accordingly, the lawsuit may not be satisfied because the defendant has nothing. And the trial itself will last from 6 to 9 months,» says Yelena.
The woman was also offered to file a police report. At first, Yelena didn«t want to, thinking that her family was the only dissatisfied client of Tour-ne and law enforcement might not give her situation much importance.
«I wrote about my problem on [banned social network], made videos. And new victims started appearing. Someone wrote a negative review on 2GIS, Yandex, or Google. Although before that the agency had a simply excellent reputation — only positive reviews. And then bad ones appeared. I found their authors on social media, contacted them. It turned out they had a similar situation,» explained Yelena.
So the Dayneko family found several more Samara residents dissatisfied with Tour-ne«s actions. Together they filed police reports. Over time, as Yelena assures, residents of St. Petersburg and Murmansk joined them.
«We had correspondence with both the director and Daniil. The young man doesn«t answer questions about the tour operator or booking number. Then he just blocks, or creates a common chat with his mother, and she too says »Wait for the money,«» assures Yelena.
Continuing to draw attention to her problem, the dissatisfied clients kept writing negative reviews about Tour-ne on various platforms.
And here they faced strange and even brazen resistance from the travel firm«s employees.
«Some aggregators simply didn«t post such reviews. On other platforms, Tour-ne representatives answered us demanding the review be removed as false, defaming their business reputation. Moreover, Daniil sent me threats that he would sue me for slander. He demanded an apology and removal of the review,» says the dissatisfied client.
According to Yelena, not only new but also regular clients of Tour-ne were in a difficult situation. Some had turned to the Chernov family many times before and apparently had established trusting relationships.
«When all this story started, Oksana Chernova opened another legal entity at the same address, and there one of the activities is tourism,» says Yelena.
She and other dissatisfied clients of the travel agency also found the behavior of police officers strange. Allegedly, they were in no hurry to investigate the details of Tour-ne«s activities.
«We have nine reports filed and they haven«t been combined into one. One district officer had two complaints lying around for two weeks. I contacted the investigator on my complaint. I started finding out why the agency is still working, why the victims haven»t been interviewed. I was told bluntly: «I»m not going to run around offices looking for statements,«» Yelena described her version.
The Dayneko family and other dissatisfied clients suspect that the Chernovs have a well-established scheme and connections with law enforcement.
«We are knocking on every door. I already wrote a complaint to the General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take control. I also contacted local bloggers and journalists. They contacted Tour-ne asking to comment on the situation. The travel firm«s employees believe they have been slandered, that we are interfering with their work and they have an impeccable reputation,» assures Yelena.
«Don«t delete the review — we»ll file a police report»
The editorial office of 63.RU obtained screenshots of correspondence with, presumably, Tour-ne employees.
«No need for fantasies. We have been working for a long time and never had such incidents. We had a massive glitch that we are now dealing with. This has consequences for us in the form of losing clients. We are not shirking responsibility, even despite the absence of a contract. Just be patient, the money will be returned. It«s only a matter of time. Are you kidding me? Let»s end the dialogue. This is kindergarten.»
«Any demands? Please go to court. And wait for the funds to arrive. I will not tell you the booking number or the tour operator. I already received a call from a well-known tourist from the tour operator with stupid questions, because of which our ability to book with the tour operator was suspended.»
«I«ll block you now! Nobody scammed anyone, don»t be rude. Keep your familiarity to yourself. You will deal with the manager! With me — that«s it. This is nonsense, this kind of communication.»
«In any case, our payments do not match the amounts in the contract. And are not personalized by booking or last names.»
We were also sent a video of a visit by one of the dissatisfied clients to the Tour-ne office. At first, Daniil Chernov tries to explain how and why the tour could not be booked. But at some point, the young man calls security for what he calls an «inadequate» visitor.
According to the Kontur.Focus system, in 2024 in the village of Stara Binaradka, Krasnoyarsky District (Samara Oblast), Oksana Chernova registered an individual entrepreneur in her name. This legal entity specializes in providing tourism services. The same niche is occupied by her LLC Gradel, created on October 29, 2025. It is located in the Regional Business Center on Moskovskoye Shosse.
Daniil Chernov was presumably associated with two legal entities in Samara Oblast. The first is LLC Pronto. It was registered in Samara in 2019 and ceased operations in October 2025. According to Kontur.Focus, it was excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities due to unreliable information. This company specialized in the manufacture and sale of textiles. But among 13 lines of activity was the provision of tourism services.
The second legal entity, whose founder and director Daniil Chernov presumably was, is LLC Pronto-M. It was registered in summer 2022, but the Federal Tax Service already has reason to doubt the reliability of the information. This company«s main profile is the activities of travel agencies. It has only one employee.
Without Hope for Justice
The second company that was complained about is P-Sam. It is associated with the Yermolayev family — Irina and Pavel. As in the case of Tour-ne, they are presumably mother and son.
According to Kontur.Focus, Irina Yermolayeva, a 72-year-old native of Tambov Oblast, is both the founder and general director of P-Sam. The legal entity was registered in the Promyshlenny District of Samara in fall 2023. The company«s main profile is travel agency activities. In summer 2025, Irina Yermolayeva declared herself bankrupt. In September 2025, the Arbitration Court of Samara Oblast agreed with her arguments and began selling off assets.
As for Pavel Yermolayev, he is officially not connected to P-Sam. But according to Kontur.Focus, he has a trail of «dead» legal entities that in one way or another include the word Pangea and whose activities were also related to tourism.
A Samara resident Anastasia Mikhaylova complained about the businessman. She also works in the tourism sector.
«We work as a travel agency — we sell tours, book through tour operators. With some we have direct contracts, with others we work through intermediaries. One of such firms was Pangea (in fact, we are talking about P-Sam. — Editor«s note) of the Yermolayev family,» assures Anastasia.
According to her, cooperation with this company began about a year ago, and Pangea itself has been on the market for many years. The work pattern was established.
«Clients paid for the tour, we transferred the money and sent the data so that [partners] could book. There were a couple of normal requests, clients flew. But the other two requests were simply canceled. That is, we paid for the tour, cards were created. But 2-3 weeks passed — and we see in the personal account that the request was canceled and the money was withdrawn,» Anastasia described her version of events.
The girl tried to contact Pangea representatives, but at first they didn«t answer the phone. Then the business partners suggested that the money was withdrawn by someone else, but should be returned.
Anastasia filed a police report and then filed a lawsuit in the Promyshlenny District Court. From there, the materials were forwarded to the Novokuybyshevsk City Court (at Pavel Yermolayev«s place of registration). However, Anastasia no longer hopes for a fair decision.
«He didn«t explain the reason for the trip cancellation»
In addition to Anastasia, Samara residents Vladimir Ukhandeyev and Yelizaveta Denisova voiced their claims against Pavel Yermolayev. Their complaints are registered on the website of the Novokuybyshevsk City Court.
Vladimir Ukhandeyev filed a lawsuit for consumer protection and demanded recovery of unjust enrichment from Pavel Yermolayev. The amount of claims exceeded 400,000 rubles (about $4,000 at current rates).
According to documents published on the court«s website, at the end of April 2025, Vladimir Ukhandeyev turned to the travel agent for help in obtaining a tour and transferred 385,000 rubles (about $3,900) in two tranches.
«A factual contractual trusting relationship developed between the plaintiff and the defendant, since previously the plaintiff had also turned to the defendant <...>. Interaction took place online. Previously, the parties had already concluded similar contracts, so the plaintiff had no doubt about the defendant«s fulfillment of obligations,» the case materials state.
As a result, Vladimir Ukhandeyev never received either airline tickets or hotel vouchers. He believes that «the tour was derailed through the fault of Pavel Yermolayev.»
«Yermolayev P. Yu. did not explain the specific reason for the disruption and cancellation of the tour, did not specify when and where the funds in the amount of 385,385.00 rubles were transferred,» follows from the documents on the court website.
On June 6, Pavel Yermolayev contacted the dissatisfied client via Telegram. He said he would submit a refund request and transfer the money to Vladimir Ukhandeyev. However, as of the time of publication of the court decision (September 17, 2025. — Editor«s note), the plaintiff had received nothing.
The Novokuybyshevsk City Court ordered Pavel Yermolayev to return not only 385,000 rubles (about $3,900) but also interest for the use of others« money.
Another Samara resident, Yelizaveta Denisova, has claims against Yermolayev not related to tourism. According to documents published on the court«s website, Pavel asked Yelizaveta Denisova to help him sell real estate and entered into an agency contract with her for 585,000 rubles (about $5,900).
Denisova brought potential buyers several times. With one of them, she even managed to conclude a preliminary purchase and sale agreement. Yelizaveta Denisova prepared for the closing of the deal, made an appointment at the bank and informed both the seller and the buyer. But Pavel Yermolayev said he had changed his mind about selling the property. Although soon he did so bypassing the agent, thus violating the contract terms.
The court ultimately again sided with the plaintiff — Yelizaveta Denisova was awarded 585,000 rubles (about $5,900).
«I don«t want to waste time talking to you»
The editorial office of 63.RU sent official requests to representatives of P-Sam and Tour-ne asking them to comment on the situations. Similar letters were sent to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Samara Oblast.
While awaiting responses, a 63.RU correspondent decided to visit the offices of both travel firms. Tour-ne rents space in the Regional Business Center on Moskovskoye Shosse.
The presence of an office here can only be guessed at — there are no signs on either the first or fourth floor. There were no agency employees at their workplace — we were met by closed doors.
But on the sign near the door, a phone number was indicated. The 63.RU correspondent called it. Daniil Chernov answered.
«Well, comments have already been posted online, I have nothing more to add. In general, as I assume, for you as well. I«ll ask you then to turn to the Internet, there is a lot of information that Ms. Dayneko is posting very actively, very actively trying to promote. And we have already responded to that. I have no desire to repeat myself on this situation. Naturally, all necessary measures will be taken to resolve the situation. I don»t want to waste time talking to you,» said Daniil Chernov.
The Tour-ne community on the social network VKontakte turned out to be closed. And the firm«s card on 2GIS was deleted.
We also tried to talk to representatives of P-Sam. But it turned out to be registered in a residential house located in a private sector behind a high fence. It is physically impossible to enter legally.
The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Samara Oblast said that a criminal case has been opened regarding P-Sam. However, they cannot yet report on the progress of the investigation.
As for Tour-ne, their activities are currently being checked by representatives of the department for detecting and solving crimes of the Oktyabrsky District of the Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Samara.
«Travel agencies don«t have their own planes»
Tourism market expert and founder of the Samara Academy of Visa Specialists Natalya Osipova commented on the stories related to the two travel agencies:
«I«ve been in tourism for over 10 years, and in my memory, there have been all sorts of stories. Tour operators went bankrupt, disappeared, and so on. For example, Zhemchuzhnaya Reka. They sold very cheap tours to China. And after the second or third flight from Russia, they went bankrupt. Then, too, nobody got anything back. Therefore, to avoid such situations, I recommend always buying tours from well-known tour operators who have already proven themselves in the market. And even with them, bankruptcy can happen. Nobody is immune. So when planning a vacation, tourists still have risks. But a proven operator is at least some guarantee that you will fly or get compensation if something happens,» explained Natalya Osipova.
The companies Tour-ne and P-Sam are not familiar to our expert. And Natalya Osipova explained how travel agencies differ from tour operators.
«It«s worth distinguishing between the concepts of »travel agent« and »tour operator«. Travel agencies don»t have their own planes and hotels. Therefore, a travel agency books them from a tour operator. But it all depends on the head of the travel agency itself — whether you trust them or not. It«s still better to contact those from whom you or your acquaintances and friends have already bought tours, flown, gone, and everything was fine with them,» added the expert.
At the same time, according to our interlocutor, online reviews are not a guarantee of a company«s reputation.
«From my own experience, I can say that Yandex.Maps did not publish comments from my clients. Allegedly they were «too good,» they suspected that I had bought them. So not all reviews get through. Reviews are good. They are status, rating. But you shouldn«t trust them 100%,» summarized Natalya Osipova.
