Reviews of Lavalife

this is without doubt the best dating site on the internet.. and trust me, i am a member on alot of sites (not desperate lol, looking for friends in my new location haha). unike most payed (which is the only way to go) sites like these, it does not charge a monthly fee, but uses a credit system.. which is good, because on sites like these you may not see anyone you like for a month, at least with lavalife you are not paying for the "chance" but only for contacts you initiate. so you could go 2 months before you find someone you could click with without any charge until you initiate that 1st contact.

I have seen negative reviews submitted about this site, and every one of them mentions that it is because they are not getting messages or replies.. WELCOME TO THE INTERNET lol.. it is a fact that not everyone like everyone, and if you sign up to any dating site, thinking that you are going to be guarunteed a match, you are facing a losing battle.. it does happen, but not for everyone. I have made a large number of friends via this website, i have also wasted many credits contacting some people (that even winked at me 1st) to find they were not actually interested, or were passive clickers, who smiled at everyone in the hope of finding someone.. but then being picky after that lol.

the only downside to this site, and it is in no way a lavalife problem from the business/website side.. is that the majority (especially women) of people sign up for free without any intention to pay. they will smile at people they actually like, but wont spend money to contact them (i can see a good future with these people lol) so you may find that you are buying yourself with the credits for them lol. on that note lol... If you are a member, and someone smiles at you, smile back.. if they are truly interested, they will buy credits and get back to you, if they are not prepared to buy credits and contact you.. let them go back onto their hunting spree..who needs freeloaders haha... on the other hand.. if you smile and they smile back.. you initiated an interest, buy and or use credits and contact them.

this is the only downside to this site.. otherwise it is well maintained, have great customer service, ha sa good database of active members (and a good one of non active also lol, but you will find that everywhere).

10 out of 10 for Lavalife for service and experience.. good luck to other companies who try to compete (sure match.com makes more money, but they also lose more members).. i rather lavalife which retains members longer while still attracting new ones.

Hey folks,

I'm fairly new to the online dating thing. I am currently only registered with Lavalife and don't plan on going with any of the other sites (mostly because I like the credit system). I am a graduate student in a fairly male dominated program and I am not from the area where I am currently studying. I have found this site to be really useful in getting to know girls in other departments across campus that I wouldn't have otherwise come into contact with. I also found it useful in quickly getting into and building social circles that would normally have taken 2-3 times as long to form. Which is a lot harder to do as a graduate student than as an undergrad.

I've read every single review of Lavalife on this site and was quite amused. More than half of these reviews are of disgruntled guys that rejected this medium of meeting people. Here are some words of wisdom for you guys:

- Lavalife is not the end all and be all to finding someone, its only just something else that you do in your spare time to have a little fun on the side with every thing else in your life.

- When a girl sends you a smile and you are interested, send them a SHORT email back (3-5 lines). It should reflect something of you where two of you share common interests and maybe one burning question you have of them which should reflect why you are interested. Don't reveal anything to them you don't have to (i.e. don't give out your email on first contact because the sport of it on her side is lost - sounds stupid but its' TRUE). If they were interested enough to cue you then if you reveal one aspect of yourself (i.e value, likes, places you like to hang out ... etc.) and perhaps a question or two then they should be interested enough to get back to you. Don't throw your heart out on the line, be patient and let things unfold naturally just like you would any where else.

- If after a few emails if doesn't work either you were TOO eager or the two of you just didn't simply connect which is good cause it just saves the two of you time and effort in the long run.

Overall I give Lavalife a good rating, sensibly speaking: treat it for what it is.

I just love love love it when a man says 'Yes I'm in Intimate Encounters but I'm only in there to meet new people...not seeking one-night stands.' Yeah right!!! Guys, it's pointless to say you are in that section for honorable reasons!

Anyways, I am strictly in the Dating section and I've had no problems with anyone I have chosen to meet there. They were all nice and pleasant and I have made some new friendships from them too. I do recommend it.

There are jerks in there too but I often find out when I'm getting to know them through email and chat before I decide to not meet them. Dont be afraid to say 'no thanks' if someone makes you feel uneasy or if you are simply not interested.

My first impressions were fine, it wasn't too expensive, there seemed to be more women from my area than I first expected since I come from a smaller town. Unfortunately it wasn't long before I got my first few smiles sent to me, thinking that this meant they were interested (what a concept) I of course sent replies using credits. Well needless to say, no response, this happened several times and finally I mentioned in my profiles not to send a smile if you aren't interested. Well that didn't work (should have known). Next I put it in upper case letters so as to be unmitakable in my opening line, my first opening line rejection email was the reply. Had one person send me a smile so that I would message her as it turns out she wanted to tell me how much she hated my opening line.

Lava changed it's payment policy, instead of charging more, they increased the needed credits, so anyone that had credits got screwed frankly. We had 30 days to use them up. This is why lava now has a credit system that doesn't match messages. Like so many others I am still with 2 credits and will never buy more.

I have profiles in Dating and intimate encounters, seems some here think that shouldn't be. But hey, I use the same name in both and point out I have 2 profiles, if the woman is too lazy to read the other, that isn't my problem.

I spend more time fighting with lava over the wording of my opening line than anything else. I don't know where they get thier sceeners from, but they are incredible prudes.

Pros: I like the credit system, it means you are permitted to only pay for actual communications on their system, not for the time you spend being a member on their site. Also that you can write back free to another person's email. I like the category sytem-very good idea to place one's self in the relationship that they're looking for. Too bad that some people place themselves misguidedly in Relationship and then Intimate which is not analagous.

Cons: Where the heck is the Georgia memberbase around here ? I get zip responses and it seems like only Canadian natives are patronizing them. I live in the Atlanta suburbs, have profiles up in "Relationship" and "Dating" and don't hear from a soul IMO the problem is not mine. If I put myself in "Intimates" and still hear nothing, I'll know that I should just bury the hatchet.

It's been a good experience. I enjoy it but I hate the instant messaging system. Lavalife has enabled me to expand my circle, meet new people and try new experiences (like eating smoked salmon pizza, mmmmmmm). It's an efficient way to meet people, definitely.

There was one particular person I've exchanged smiles and emails with. At the beginning, he posted photos of himself openly showing his balding head. A few months later, his profile photo was stil there but with the top of his head cropped off. I saw him in a different section and you see only his face (the top and sides of his head cropped off). The irony is that he was open in his profile write up about his having herpes as well but he's not so open about his hairloss. Why try to even hide his baldness? It will come out sooner or later!

Ultimately, I never got around to meeting him because he had an Intimate Encounters profile. Shame on him...maybe that is how he caught it!

I did not really try Lava Life because I don't want to waste any money. I have tried Match.com during free trials and Eharmony for 3 months paid. Basically, I had zero luck with all of these sites. I know I'm not bad looking. Also, I own my own home and make enough money to hold my own. Other than that, It's "Don't ask and don't tell" as far as incomes goes. Basically, for a man to succeed on these sites, he has to either lie or make very good income in addition to having alot of time on his hands. Most working men never will meet someone via these sites.

Vonetta: some people have reasons for NOT posting pictures (mine is posted but that's MY choice) - it's too much of an invitation to certain unnamed ppl to post pictures out of People Weekly - um, like any of us should be that dumb right, but men and women will do it anyways.

Tammy's Dill-do - lol - like that one - yup, I think Major = Minor Tom is obsessed with this Tammy, but does posting on here over and over again about one person count as stalking??? Maybe someone will be kind enough to point her here and she can judge for herself. Who knows what else has been going on with regards to harassing this seemingly hopeless woman (at least according to the so called experts here she is lol). I agree, she should be left ALONE. Teaching "lessons" to someone who will not get the message isn't for THEIR benefit, it's for YOURS (because they won't understand anyways). BTW - you should NOT put yourself down, there is nothing wrong with being a craftsman, as long as you are gainfully employed. If you do that, then others will be less likely to see it in a good light too. Actually, I've never thought of it as good or bad, it's just another occupation like firefighter or bus driver. I don't know what kind of craftsman you are, but I understand most trades take years of training, skills and a lot of work.

My 2 cents worth - or worthless, that's the beauty of the internet, is the NEXT button:).

I like it. It's definitely an advantage to have an attractive photo of yourself on display because I do get alot of messages (I'm in the Dating category).

My gripe: Lavalife should not allow people with no pictures available to put up profiles.

Hey people, I put a profile on Intimate Encounters and I found a lover within 1 week. She sent a smile to me. Then I had to purchase 50 points for $15 from Lavalife. I sent her an email, we talked on the phone a couple of times, last night we hooked up with eachother. She's a very considerate lady and we shared a very special night of romance.

For the spin, I've always had good luck on Sexual personals sites. I know how to attract the attention of women, who want just good sex or to make love with a fun guy. Being a good-looking guy helps attract the attention of women but good looks don't please women.

I've never had a lot of luck on relationship based websites. This is because the (most of these) women who use these websites are more obsessed with material possessions and the guy's job. I'm employed as a craftsman and I make 50k a year, which is more than the national average. Still, this is not someones soulmate's line of work. Another fact is most of these women have never been loved the way they would like to be loved. So they don't really understand their romantic needs. The must gut-wretching fact is women don't come to fully understand their romantic need untill they're married but I'll save this factoid for another time.

I think the reason they don't like me on relationship sites is because I remind these women of a player. The fact is, I'll stick it out with whatever woman I meet untill I or She knows it won't work out between us.

Has anyone read Major Tom's articles about Tammy. Well, I was curious about Tammy so I did a search on Kelowna. (People, keep in mind that Kelowna is pretty small, roughly the same size as Yakima, Wa, Allentown, Pa, or Redding, Ca.) Tammy screen-name is TAMMY341 and she's about 36yo. Tammy is pretty but she's no supermodel and you can tell she is in her 30's. In my opinion, I think Tom is obsessed with Tammy. Romantic obsessions is unhealthy because the obsessionist ignores his/hers own needs. Hopefully Tom doesn't start stalking Tammy.

Tom my message to you is: leave Tammy alone. She's a burnt out Spinster and she wouldn't ever make a good lover for any self-respecting guy. She could be into Strap-ons and that's why she's single. Basically, there is a reason someone is 36yo and still single.