Reviews of The Right Stuff

I was a member for two years and noticed that the same people showed up on the lists, month in and month out, with almost no turn over and few new members. The website is so underpowered compared with others, it is no suprirse that RightStuff attracts few members. It is annoying that you have to pay beyond the flat fee for each person you contact. I found a lot of mixed up, unhappy people and did a lot better on match.com and eharmony. Match.com has the best search engine and flexibility. But you have to work to find good matches.

Dawne is not very professional. When she started losing members she began to send the same lists out over and over, stating incorrectly that these were "new members" Not true! I suspect that many of the five star reviews were written by Dawne as they are not realistic and sound quite similar to each other. Few reviewers give five stars to any dating service and you would expect to see some 3's and 4's sprinkled amongst the 5's.

I've subscribed to this service for a little over a year, and forgot about it until I got a few emails. I never knew until recently how to search or respond to profiles, since, as others have pointed out, the interface isn't that intuitive.

In some ways, I think that's not to bad a thing. I think good UI's found on online personal sites like match.com, nerve.com (which uses the same backend system, Spring Street Personals, I think it's called, as many others like Salon.com, SFGate.com, theonine.com, bust.com), make shopping too easy (which I think is a larger problem of online dating as whole). So actually there's a sense of greater value in the profiles that you do read about.

Pros:

--I like the kinds of categories you have and that you use your own words to describe what you're looking for, or what's important to you. I think Match.com's check boxes and lists are inane, and that those in Salon.com/Nerve.com ("Celebrity I resemble the most") are so hip and edgy they can too easily detract from being earnest.

--I like how "Dawne" tries to inspire a higher standard of civility in the space ("At the minimum, reply with a 'No thank you,'"), altho' this hasn't been my experience consistently.

--I've never been able to view another male's posting, which is actually kind of good. One isn't able to write a profile informed by the 'competition.'

--If you make a change to your profile, it's done realtime.

--B/c it appeals to people with advanced degrees and high falutin' educations, it's easy to be bookish and highbrow, which might be the most comfortable way in which its typical member likes to interact.

Cons:

--It's pricey (v. other reviews).

--Not easy to use, but see above note about 'shopping.'

--The idea of being Ivy League only is a little ridiculous to me- I'm frankly a little embarassed to tell my friends I'm using such an elitist service (but that's its niche)

--Seems not to have many participants.

In summary:

I think it has its niche- it's elitist in educational level; this lends itself to a kind of elitist air which might make for initial communication that's more civil. I liked the way I was able to make use of it to describe myself, unlike Match.

Ultimately, I think how good an online dating service is depends on how comfortable you are with the way you're able to describe yourself- and for this, in my opinion, TRS does a really good job. It also depends on the selection of people you can meet, and ultimately, how successful you are in finding what you're looking for. That's a little more difficult to pin on the service. What are people really looking for online? Why would they try to find it in an Ivy League only site?

This hasn't been my best way to meet new women. I have a wife that has her own girlfriends and boyfriends, so I have a few girlfriends here and there myself. My social position demands that I associate with a class of female that maintains discretion and keeps my private life from interfering with my public life. While in the past I could get certain public officials to find girlfriends of the quality that I desired, their lack of wisdom in choosing the ones with the proper respect for my privacy and public life left a bit to be desired. Women that I met at work were also sometimes given to making public nuisances of themselves when things didn't go their way. Not that it messed up my life with my other girlfriends, but it added to my already hectic schedule. Now that I am in semi-retirement and living in another state where my good ole boy contacts are not as well developed, I decided to try the internet as a way of dating women on the side. Even if you are dating ivy league women, do not fall for any woman who refuses to post a photo no matter how she swears it is only for reasons of privacy. I have dated some real bimbos in my day before moving to New York, but I was not quite prepared for what I found online. If you are a hot ivy league college educated chick and ever in any of the best home cooking restaurants in New York City, ask when Bubba has his next reservation there and maybe you can wait for me under the table.

I have to negate the previous review from a fellow Texan because he doesn't seem to understand that a person that puts a lot of emphasisis on the whole Ivy League thing is better off staying in that world and out of mine. If I want to go to SPb and pick up drop dead beautiful gals with brains and a good personality like he states, I would rather that a lot of Ivy League dudes were not there to ruin my experience and let me know how unlucky I was not to have an Ivy League babe like they can get. I hear that this website is more expensive than most, and I think that is just great. It should be named The Right Place. That last Ivy League lawyer jerk I hired should be forced to hand over a bunch of the money I paid him to find somebody to put up with his personality. I think that TRS should SERIOUSLY consider raising their fees, and tack on some surchages for administrative fees and other expenses for taking care of any problems that might crop up. That would mark the user as a successful member and knock others out of his exclusive club. Please don't go to eastern Europe looking for women and also realize that it's all a Russian mafia scam to fleece non-Ivy League lowlife scum like me and keep us away from all those gorgeous and wonderfully balanced and totally family oriented American females that graduate from Ivy League universities by the tens of thousands every year. Yes, those Ivy League Universities produce the only kind of women that you Ivy League guys should ever consider dating. Tell all your Ivy League pals how eastern Europe is for nobody but lowlife scum losers that can't get an Ivy League gal. Preferably a Jewish Ivy League gal at that.

I joined this site because I am looking for someone who is intelligent, so I figured I would have at least this part of my "checklist" covered.

The only benefit of this site is that its members went to top-notch colleges. However that is more than outweighed by its numerous problems. Just getting membership is an ordeal, I received no response that I had been approved (even though I was) and I had to inquire with the President (Dawne) who is unresponsive and unprofessional in her behavior. After logging in and searching the site, I discovered their membership numbers are very low - in my area (Boston) I found a shockingly small number of men in my rather broad age range. On top of the hefty membership fee, it turns out you have to pay additional money just to contact someone, which is ridiculous and wasn't stated anywhere on the website before I joined. The site is incredibly poorly designed and is frustrating to use. The quantity of activity has been very low and I consider this to be a complete waste of my money.

Based on my experience with this site, and with other sites such as match.com, yahoo personals and boston.com personals, I strongly feel that you need a service with a very large number of members. My experience with match.com and boston.com has been much, much better.

I've been a member for six years, on and off, since I met two long term relationships through this site, as well as making some fine friendships out of potential romantic partners who did not click in that arena. The Right Stuff is conscientious about anonymity , site security, and personal attention to each member. They are scrupulous about member's privacy , as many are prominent professionals in their respective fields.

I trust their integrity more than other dating sites I have surveyed. They have been reliable in publishing only the information I provide for that purpose, and, when I update my information, they have been careful in editing these updates from my previous materials. Once they had a question about which info I wanted to delete, and they phoned me to review it rather than take their best guess. Much appreciated.

I am hereby warning all those unsuspecting hopefuls against this site. The staff is absolutely obnoxious when asked to adhere to the rules of privacy or fix technical issues. This one woman "Dawne" harassed me (sent me at least 8 vicious emails) when I canceled my membership because she had decided it would be "okay" to publish my real name and address on their printed edition. These people are plain sick. Beware that when you join their site, they will have your online information on a printed edition they wantonly distribute all over the globe. You will also have to pay just to "look" at other members' profiles in addition to the required subscription fee. My opinion on the site? scummy scam.

I have been a member of the Right Stuff on and off. I agree with the reviews posted that indicate the high quality of the participants. However, the Right Stuff has been lacking in my age group (early-mid 30s), particular in my geographic area.

The Right Stuff does respect individual's privacy. On the other hand, in addition to paying a yearly fee, you must pay for each individual contact you make. As a smart woman on a non-profit salary, I find that this discourages me from being adventurous about who I contact. As we who are single know, sometimes it happens when you least expect it! A flat-fee might make for more contacts and more matches via this service.

Overall, my review of The Right Stuff is mixed. Will I join again? I'm undecided, still pondering... and you might want to think on it a bit longer, too.

This service incorporates a well educated, serious group of people ranging from recent college graduates to people old enought to be their grandparents. I have found the members candid and in general thoughtful woman with a great range of backgrounds and interests. There is an unusual assortment of highly successful single women mixed in with people just working their way up the career and experience flag pole.

While the site requires a bit of extra effort, I believe this is because of its laudable emphasis on privacy. In my experience client requests are handled promptly and courteously.

The Right Stuff is discrete, safe, and enormously effective. It has the largest pool of any of the ivy league services, but it is still small enough to have the feeling of a club. There is more confidentiality than in other services, And there is a culture of real courtesy, in corresponding and in dating.

Everyone is smart and interesting. No telephone conversation or date is ever a complete dud. There is also a significant proportion of people who are very successful at what they do, whether they are artists, lawyers or philanthropists. I have found that I have made real friends among those who have not turned out to be love interets.

For me, the Right Stuff was the source of a serious long term relationship, but also for many lively, stimulating and enjoyable dates. Because of one's common education, you will always have something in common with Aa RS date. And that means, that, even if you dont find your dream right away, you can have an awful lot of fun looking.