Menu
For Business Write a review File a complaint
Key Visa Thailand

Key Visa Thailand review: Scam 16

A
Author of the review
11:05 pm EST
Review updated:
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Replied
The company left an official comment on this complaint.
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

just been to this key visa service shop LK metro Pattaya
what a joke asked for information on UK child passport
was spoken to by some fat arrogant Thai woman with noodles hanging from her mouth
i asked for a list of documents need she started spouting in broken English
so asked her to write them down
she was not happy missing her noodles ?
asked for a price no answer
then asked again and here is the joke 20, 000 yes 20, 000 Thai baht over £400
what a scam give it a miss
a simple straight forward process of an application where you provide all the documents
hate to see what they charge for a spouse visa
scam rude unprofessional jokers

View 0 more photos
Jul 25, 2014 9:01 am EDT
Key Visa Thailand customer support contacts
Address

565/88, Moo10, (next to BIG C South Pattaya), Chonburi, 20150, TH

File a complaint Write a review
With regards to the above why is the owners name mentioned and the company but not the complainers name, or amounts he has scammed or why it seems to be the same style of visa, if you look at www.facebook.com/keyvisathailand you will see daily posts of clients receiving visas daily, you will see Key Visa Thailand has been established for 14 years with a credible name, if the true complainers have a gripe and are constructive people why do they use words like low life? and why are the visa applications based on the same style of visa application when Key Visa Thailand does tourist visas, settlement visas, fiancée visas this is their business so please give your names and amounts scammed if you are true to your word or as in the past sad jealous competitors have used the Internet to slander reputable companies, hiding behind a login name is not a valid complaint and submit proof.
Jun 09, 2015 8:39 am EDT
Key Visa Thailand customer support contacts
Address

565/88, Moo10, (next to BIG C South Pattaya), Chonburi, 20150, TH

File a complaint Write a review
I am Darren McGarry the owner of Key Visa Thailand we have been trading in Pattaya, Thailand for 14 years with thousands of clients mainly expats and we have helped many clients obtain visas to travel to the UK and Australia, whilst I sit in my office and observe another mindless comment I ask myself why none of these have put their actual names? proof? dates? why they would also state that we take money up front when we clearly do not and we have 1000's of clients to prove this fact, I doubt that posting daily photos of clients with visas would be fabricated and most of the posted photographs have the clients photograph on the visa. Trading in Thailand for such a long length of time and being the visa adviser to the Pattaya Expats club for 10 years makes us a target for cowardly and unproven claims which leads me to believe it is the act of a jealous rival as business gets harder in Thailand they have to use the Internet to attack. I will reiterate my previous comments if you are legitimate then prove it, don't hide behind a made up name. You know my name now tell me yours and prove the facts.
Jun 09, 2015 8:42 am EDT
Key Visa Thailand customer support contacts
Address

565/88, Moo10, (next to BIG C South Pattaya), Chonburi, 20150, TH

File a complaint Write a review
As a matter of fact No Visa Dave I see you are based in the USA, that's unusual if you require a UK visa?
Nov 25, 2016 7:35 am EST
Key Visa Thailand customer support contacts
Address

565/88, Moo10, (next to BIG C South Pattaya), Chonburi, 20150, TH

File a complaint Write a review
June 2015 there was complaints issued, nobody come forward with their name, one year later June 2016 there was 3 complaints in 2 weeks, can the readers see a trend, As stated many times to the posters of the complaints please come forward with your names and real details of the complaint so the readers can see substance in your claims and not just nasty comments about the owner so you should consider rather than just hiding behind a made up user name to grow up and get a pair of balls, we are the Pattaya expat visa advisers and have been for 12 years, we do public talks on visa issues, which begs the question would we pull stunts and get away with the above? answer is no, these fictitious bloggers wish only to keep the forum alive, any reader who understands how the Internet works will see the trends in the writing and dates, I truly feel they are not fooling anybody and certainly not affecting a 14 year long company,
Mar 31, 2017 11:24 pm EDT
Key Visa Thailand customer support contacts
Address

565/88, Moo10, (next to BIG C South Pattaya), Chonburi, 20150, TH

File a complaint Write a review
Mr D Jones, firstly stop wasting peoples time, you are from America, I have never done visas to America and known for UK and Australia.

If you have a true complaint you can contact Key Visa at info@keyvisathailand.com and give real details not spurious rubbish Its boring
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.

16 comments
Add a comment
K
K
Key Visa is a Scam
Springwood, AU
Jun 22, 2014 7:59 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I amazed there is only one complaint, never do a partnership Visa this company as they do not submit it because the owner "Darren" will not pay the Embassy fee, I have heard that they sometimes will wait as long as 8 months to submit the Visa, he is only after the fast turn around with Tourist Visa's.
His staff lied about the submitting the Visa on 5 different occasions, my advise is if you are in the progress of of waiting on such a Visa with this company and you have been told it's been submitted call the Embassy NOW.

U
U
Unhappy1011
GB
Jul 02, 2014 12:14 pm EDT

Ironic there is another complaint ref this company during the same time i have had an issue with Keyvisa, i can also confirm 'Darren' is a rather rude little man, he likes to lie and tell his customers the visa is going through etc and never submits the visa. In our case he got rather angry and sent the documents back, why ? because he didn't have the money or knowledge to submit the settlement visa. Having taken our documents to a second agent it transpires a number of documents were missing and he wasn't even aware a child needed a letter from the IOM for the TB test.
As above this guy is a clown he was charging 280, 000 bht for a settlement visa and gets angry when he has to pay the embassy fee. Speaking to his staff they get a whole host of unhappy customers every day, he is only after a quick bht and do not do business with this guy.

W
W
willow033
Vietarni, LA
Jul 22, 2014 1:12 am EDT

After digging deep into the Internet and finding this page, I realised that I was a victim of this scamming business. I unfortunately have wasted 10 months waiting for a prospective-spouse visa for my fiancé but only to find out (from the embassy) that there has been no application lodged at all. I then sent a question to the owner of the company Darren to ask what the status of the visa was, he had the nerve to say that the embassy (who has not had any dealings with him in regards to my fiancé's visa) requested that I send some more documents.
As stated above this guy is a low life and a parasite on humanity. DO NOT use his/their services! unless you like handing money out for nothing.

T
T
Terry pattaya
Clacton-on-Sea, GB
May 14, 2015 1:37 am EDT

This is absolute rubbish concerning darren, he is a excellent agent and i have had dealings with him for a number of years now with no complaints, keep up the valuable services you offer darren.
Terry.

N
N
NoVisaDave
US
May 16, 2015 7:46 am EDT

Just had interactions with Keyvisa, total waste of time, waited over 3 months for my girlfriends visit visa to the UK and i have just found out it hasn't even been submitted.
Darren is a very rude person, very little knowledge about the visa process when anything goes wrong, very slow at getting back to us and asked for payment upfront which we now can't get back.
It wouldn't surprise me if Terry Pattaya and Darren are the same person, we haven't met a person with a nice word to say about him or Keyvisa even the Facebook page is fabricated. Plenty of Visa Agents out there avoid this one if you actually want a visa...

N
N
Noel Reeve
TH
Jul 08, 2015 11:09 am EDT

Hardly a complaint, more a simple observation regarding the UK Retired Expats proof of income letter service. Key Visa, on their website make great play on the fact that they can obtain the income letter without the applicant having to travel to Bangkok. They certainly can- but so can the applicant and at a lot less cost than the fees charged by Key Visa. The current cost of the letter, according to the latest update on the Embassy website, is B2, 475 plus B100 for the return postage. The applicant can go to any major Post Office and obtain a money order for that amount (B2, 575) and have it sent together with a copy of their main passport page, proof of income and the form downloaded from the Embassy website for B2, 625 . A very considerable saving on the agency fee.
If anyone from Key Visa would care to challenge this I would be interested to hear from them.

M
M
Malcolm Brown
GB
Nov 26, 2015 5:45 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have successfully used Key Visa twice. My partner was rejected on 2 other occasions once when she tried to go it alone and another when we used a different agent.
I was never asked for any up front money except the 5, 000.00 BHT deposit fee. I told Darren the dates when my partner wished to travel and the Visa was processed and issued in time for each occasions. I had no issues and would recommend his services.
Malc from Norwich UK

D
D
davidlagreca
AU
Feb 25, 2016 3:14 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

After reading the above text regarding Key visa i totally disagree my name is David Lagreca and my wife is Supavadee Lagreca. Darren and his team obtained our Australian prospective marriage visa with no problems, no increases of fees, and certainly with a professional manner, I have dealt with Key Visa on three occasions two holiday visas and also our new Australian marriage visa, Thanks to Darren and his team we are married legally in Australia and to confirm why I am writing this post Key visa paid all the fees a year ago and waited until the visa came through to be paid. i have had very little stress and recommend their services, I am surprised with other comments posted.

View 0 more photos
J
J
JohnnieK
GB
Jun 03, 2016 5:28 pm EDT

After 3 months of waiting we have been charged over 20k bht and received nothing... Whole service is a joke the owner doesn't respond to texts, emails or calls and it wouldn't surprise me if the above comments and photos are posted by the owner. Avoid at all costs waste of money unless its a simple visit visa (which he may still screw up), If you want to throw your money away go with this guy / company, where there is no smoke (etc)

A
A
Angryman!
TH
Jun 06, 2016 1:47 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Darren McGarry is forging your signatures and documents. I got all the paperwork from the embassy through the Freedom of information act. All our signatures were forged by Darren McGarry and Key Visa. He is NOT a registered agent and legally can't do the visa. What he does is he sets up a false email account so that the embassy believes they are conversing with the applicant when in fact its Darren. Do not use this guy. I am warning you. If he does your first holiday visa you will be bound to go back to him to ensure the lies he spins the embassy are consistent with the next visa. This guy is a complete grub. I am in the process of complaining through all the necessary channels. My mission is to have this guy banned from doing visas forever.

T
T
tajtom
TH
Jun 17, 2016 12:09 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Where theres smoke theres fire. I have never done any VUSA with anyone. I smart enough to do it on my own. Robbing Thai officials and KEY VSA. LOL. Yes that Darren I spoke to him 1 time. A rude little germ that needs a back hander.. Unfortunately I are a changed man :)

A
A
Ac.
US
Jul 04, 2016 11:12 pm EDT

I agree with all of the complaints above, my girlfriend just applied for a tourist visa which was refused. I sent all of the documents very quickly along with the 5000 baht deposit to Darren and he said it would take about 3 weeks, when it actually took over 2 months. I sent him many emails asking about the status of the application and he replied to the first 2 and them stopped replying. My girlfriend would phone the shop and they couldn't answer her questions at the time and said they would phone her back but never did. When the visa application us unsuccessful the key visa shop phoned my girlfriend to tell her, but they never contacted me to let me know and still to this day I don't know why the visa application was unsuccessful . Very disappointed with this service, no customer service. They just accept the money and then they don't care what happens after that. I know it's only 5000 baht deposit and there are no guarantees but they could at least have the common decency to reply to emails and let you know what's going on and what went wrong. Won't be using this place again and wouldn't recommend it.

M
M
Mr D Jones
US
Mar 31, 2017 7:09 pm EDT

What a joke and where to begin, if only Darren understood the concept of personal hygiene it would be a good start.
Started out well, handed all the paper work over etc no win no fee (so to speak) for our marriage visa.

We have never been to the UK before as a couple but considering i own considerable assets we imagined it wouldn’t be an issue and as such employed an agent (clown) to deal with this so we had no issues.

What a joke!

4 weeks passed and we were asked for a payment of £750 to cover various fees that involved pushing the process through... ok we thought and cash was passed over.

6 weeks passed and we were advised issues had been flagged in relation to financial irregularities as such we could (in Darren’s words) grease the wheels with a payment of £1500 to progress things and get the visa.

Begrudgingly we paid the money as we had plans in the UK and had nowhere else to turn

Come 9 weeks on and i phoned the embassy, shock horror no visa application had been lodged, they advised us of the official time scales and almost died laughing when i mentioned the financial irregularities comment!

A visa is an accept, a request for further information or a denial not what Darren put forward.

All in all, and i am sure as i have read in the above posts Key Visa will appear moaning about matters but they are a scam outfit.

if you want to lose money and more importantly time then pay this 5, 5 clown a visit and he will be as nice as pie (although a shower is in debate) until he gets your documents and then he can do whatever he likes.

Avoid

I
I
i hate shoes
US
Apr 24, 2017 9:27 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Darren is actually doing you all a favour by not getting your prostitutes a visa to the UK, when she settles in the UK and gets her British passport she will be gone, just stay in Pattaya and enjoy yourself and spend all of your hard earned cash on enjoying yourself, also don't forget ALL of these prostitutes have Thai boyfriends lurking in the background.

T
T
Tom and Phai
Bangkok, TH
Jan 22, 2023 4:58 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

To correct an error in previous statement concerning documents sent to Key Visa. The womans name was Gemma Purnell, not Purcell as previously mentioned.

S
S
sunny60
pattaya, TH
Oct 22, 2023 7:49 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

owner Darrens behaviour is so rude, arrogant and even insulting. the worst experence i er ever had in life. has no will to serve customers. please dont bother yourself to use his key visa service. thanks.

  1. Key Visa Thailand Contacts

  2. Key Visa Thailand phone numbers
    +66 38 422 131
    +66 38 422 131
    Click up if you have successfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +66 38 422 131 phone number 1 1 users reported that they have successfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +66 38 422 131 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +66 38 422 131 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +66 38 422 131 phone number
    100%
    Confidence score
    Head Office
    +44 207 097 1630
    +44 207 097 1630
    Click up if you have successfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +44 207 097 1630 phone number 1 1 users reported that they have successfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +44 207 097 1630 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +44 207 097 1630 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +44 207 097 1630 phone number
    100%
    Confidence score
    United Kingdom
    +61 280 062 707
    +61 280 062 707
    Click up if you have successfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +61 280 062 707 phone number 1 1 users reported that they have successfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +61 280 062 707 phone number Click down if you have unsuccessfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +61 280 062 707 phone number 0 0 users reported that they have UNsuccessfully reached Key Visa Thailand by calling +61 280 062 707 phone number
    100%
    Confidence score
    Australia
    More phone numbers
  3. Key Visa Thailand emails
  4. Key Visa Thailand address
    565/88, Moo10, (next to BIG C South Pattaya), Chonburi, 20150, Thailand
  5. Key Visa Thailand social media
  6. Rachel
    Checked and verified by Rachel This contact information is personally checked and verified by the ComplaintsBoard representative. Learn more
    Oct 31, 2024