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woman spent 1300 on agency that had no men

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knuckles
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woman spent 1300 on agency that had no men

Postby knuckles » Mon Mar 30, 2015 5:13 pm

I spent £1,300 on a dating agency that had 'run out of men'
TelegraphBy Katie Morley | Telegraph – Fri, Mar 27, 2015 11:38 GMT



Aileen Edwards, 61, paid through the nose to be introduced to gentlemen she'd already found on Plentyoffish.com, a free dating website

For singletons who crave the company of a loving partner, dating websites and services can offer a welcome ray of hope.

But for some, this world sometimes proves to be more of an ordeal than a fun-filled hunt for love.

Trading Standards, a body set up to protect consumers, has recently experienced a sharp rise in the number of complaints it has received about dating websites.

It says issues relating to dating rip-offs are “seriously under-reported”, mainly because people feel too embarrassed to talk about them.

One woman who is no stranger to the various pitfalls of dating services is Aileen Edwards, a 61-year-old health worker who cares for dementia sufferers. She has been single for seven years.

In her spare time she enjoys theatre, swimming and the great outdoors. She says she “isn’t looking for a major spark” but is searching for a man with a good sense of humour to share her life with.

Her pursuit to find love has ravaged her finances. The first blow was when she fell victim to a scammer on an online dating site.

He claimed to be a high flier in a major American toy firm, but then managed to convince her to give him £200 for medical treatment, encouraging her to take out credit cards.

“Getting sucked into this made me feel really stupid,” Aileen said. “My daughters said online dating wasn’t good for me anymore, so I started looking for alternatives.”

Aileen then came across Searchmate, a bespoke dating service which featured on the first series of Channel 4's The Undateables. It claims to offer a “safer and more credible alternative” to dating websites. So in May last year Aileen stumped up £1,295 for membership.

It offered her “unlimited personal introductions” to men serious about finding a relationship. Aileen was promised support from Searchmate’s highly experienced team of matchmakers, and a guaranteed minimum of 15 recommendations.

>> Online dating scams: new tricks that fleece victims of an average '£9,589'

But in November last year, Aileen felt a growing sense of disappointment as five months had passed and she had yet to meet any men. Searchmate had so far suggested four two of whom she’d already seen on rival site Plentyoffish.com, a free site, and who had both already declined to date her.

In November she received a letter from a Searchmate adviser saying that her membership was “not progressing as expected”. The site explained that this was down to most of the gentlemen who were active within her area “going on hold”, meaning they could no longer be contacted.

Searchmate offered to upgrade Aileen to its “Platinum” membership, a service via which customers are assigned their very own matchmaker who will proactively look for potential matches outside Searchmate’s client base.

When Telegraph Money spoke to one of Searchmate’s agents, we were told matchmakers would go to “great lengths” to find matches for singles, for example putting up posters in local sailing clubs (if the client listed sailing as a hobby), or even posting advertisements in newspapers.

But Aileen never received any of these services. She said she sent several emails to Searchmate’s agents since November but did not hear back.

In the meantime, she contacted the Citizens Advice Bureau, which provided some information on her consumer rights.

Searchmate has disputed Aileen’s claims and said it had not received any correspondence from her after the letter was sent in November. It said it made a number of attempts to call her since, but that it had not been able to reach her. Because of this it had suspended her account, even though she had not asked for this to happen. Searchmate has now offered Aileen a full refund of £1,295.

Last year, 7.1 million single Britons looked for a partner online, 800,000 more than in 2011, when, according to Leadingdatingsites.co.uk, there were 6.3 million.

But despite the significant increase in the number of daters, total revenue for the UK dating industry is falling, meaning firms are making less money per head. In the two years between 2011 and 2013 alone, revenue dropped by £9m from £168m to £159m.

This is mainly because cheaper competitor sites and smartphone apps, such as Tinder, have boomed in popularity, explaining why some of the UK’s pricier dating services are suffering and possibly going to greater lengths to keep singles signed up on their books,

Another site at the higher end of the dating market is Elite Singles, which is designed for people with a certain level of education. It promises “affluent, educated men and women between the ages of 30 and 55, who are all looking for a long-term commitment.” It charges £180 a year for membership.

Another Telegraph Money reader, who does not wish to be named, turned to online dating after his relationship came to an end in February. He said: “I wanted to get back on the dating scene but I felt fragile from the split. Most people on these dating websites are just looking for a bit of fun, but I find that all a bit seedy. I didn’t want to put myself through all that.”

The man, 54, from the North East, came across Elite Singles and thought it looked like a better bet for meeting someone more serious about finding a long-term partner. He was also impressed with the advertised fact that 18,000 new members were registering with the site every week giving the impression that he’d be spoilt for choice of potential dates.

After filling in the questionnaire, the man registered for the site and was delighted with the follow-up email he received. It contained several profiles of highly promising matches all “waiting to contact him”.

They were good-looking women in his local area with similar interests world travel, theatre and cooking. He didn’t hesitate to pay the £180 for 12 months’ membership as pretty much everyone he’d seen so far he would have gone on a date with, so there seemed to be a lot of potential for meeting someone special.

But when he paid the money and logged back on, he was crushed to discover that not a single one of the profiles he’d been shown could be contacted. This was because they were “registered” and not “paying” members. In total, the site offered the man four suitable profiles “in his area” none of which met his criteria. One of them lived hundreds of miles away in Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) and would be unreachable without an expensive ferry or plane journey.

When the man complained to Elite Singles, it refunded him without a fuss, as it has a 14-day refund policy. When contacted by Telegraph Money , Elite Singles admitted that disappointment over the number of paying members was a “very common” complaint.

Tim Sonmez, a senior brand manager, said: “We have both premium and basic members in our pool and there are more basic members than paying members. We are testing changing the way we do this, but we are finding that fewer people will sign up if we only include paying members. If they have no initial contact [from potential dates] then there is no incentive for new members to pay to sign up.”

COSTS AND CONDITIONS

Premium services

Elite Singles uses an algorithm that takes into account your interests and which aims to reduce the time you spend looking at unsuitable profiles. Fees range from £19.95 per month (if you sign up for 12 months) to £89.95 for a single month.

Searchmate is a bespoke dating service that builds personalised profiles for clients and selects potential matches for them. Its most basic level of membership costs £795 while its most expensive membership, which offers a wide range of extra services, costs £2,495.

Berkeley International is an international introduction agency which aims to offer a discreet introduction service. It is aimed at affluent professionals and charges £12,000 for membership.

Mainstream services

Tinder is a free service that lets you swipe through people in your area using your mobile phone. Once you have matches you can chat to them on an instant messaging service. It uses your Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) to create your profile. It has a reputation for being a casual dating site, rather than one to find serious relationships. Tinder is expanding its services in the UK and will soon charge users a £3.99 monthly fee for the service if they are aged 18-27, and £14.99 a month for over 28s.

Match.com is one of the most popular dating websites in the UK. Although you can join the site for free, this only allows you to set up your profile and browse existing members. If you want to send and read messages, you need to subscribe. Fees range from £29.99 if you are signing up for one month, to £12.99 per month if you sign up for six.

Mysinglefriend.com is a dating website with a twist your friends and family create your profile for you. You get to vet it first, though, and once you’re up and running it works in the same way as most dating sites. Membership is £21 for one month and £10.60 per month if you sign up for six months.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET RIPPED OFF

If you are unhappy with a dating service’s charges, David McKenzie, a leader for e-commerce at Trading Standards, says you should complain to the company first. Set a deadline for them to get back to you before threatening action. If you’ve paid using a credit card you have a better chance of a refund than if you paid by debit card. This is because with a credit card you have joint liability for the purchase with your bank. Just contact your bank and say you want to make a claim under “section 75 credit legislation”. If you used a debit card you can request a “charge back claim”.

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woman spent 1300 on agency that had no men

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