Reviews of Match.com

An excerpt from an email I sent someone about POF.com. It applies to Match.com, too, though:

I’ve been trying the online dating thing for a long time… back when it was on AOL and I was about 19, very naïve and very, very fat to the point where even if I built a rapport with someone there’s no way I’d entertain meeting them “IRL” because of my low self-esteem. It was a way to achieve sexual satisfaction of a limited type with no real commitment.

Hm. LOL, 10-12 years later, “IRL” is the desirable trait and “cyber” or “online” has become passé, a waste of time, and not what I’m looking for. I’d give anything to trade one time-frame for another. Seems like when I was 19 and 450lbs every guy I met wanted to meet me, date me, take care of me. Now yes, 95% of that parley was probably BS. I mean, I was 19 and apt to believe a lot more things told to me. However, at least those guys wanted to actually meet. True, they’d have gotten a shock when the pic I sent wasn’t even me. I admit, I did that bait and switch because in my mind it was never going to come to anything anyway. Those men weren't "real" in the sense that at a self-absorbed 19 I couldn't see the forest for the trees or realize that real people and real feelings were involved.

Now flash forward, I’m 33, single, 220lbs lighter and my pics are real, recent and accurate. To prove that end I’ll turn on the stupid webcam which perpetually makes me look way fat and way pale but I’ll do it just to prove the pics on my profile are me. And what do I get? Offers for phone sex or cyber or worse offers for NSA/FWB. NSA/FWB means ONE. NIGHT. STAND. Even calling it FWB is insulting. You’re not my friend. You’re never going to call or see me again. At least NSA is a little less misleading.

I don’t want to come off as another of the embittered, lonely, psycho women the reviews talked about. I don’t find myself to be any of those things except maybe a shred of the first particular. Bitter? Yeah, a little. It’s just proven to me time and again that the online thing DOES NOT work. If you want a hookup, fine, it works as one man said, “for easy ass” on the go. But for a real relationship? Something lasting and with value? Nah, I don’t think so.

So I’m left with the same conclusion you are. Why should I lower myself to responding to men I’m truly not interested in? Physically I think I am attractive. I’ll boldly put “thick” or “BBW” in my profile and let the masses decide if I’m their type of girl. I'm allowed to want a man over 5'9, guys. I'm 5'10 myself. :P Since I use full body shots in my profile AND I put up front that I'm a big girl I don't think I can be counted as a scammer or a liar (heh, not anymore anyway).

Realistically, if I’m saying I prefer fit, white, attractive, my age or around it and employed up front then I can’t be insulted when I’m not everyone’s cup of tea since I’ve outlined clearly what mine is. But surely there has to be one guy out there who fits my bill and I fit his?

It’s seemingly impossible with a population as vast and varied as Florida’s there isn’t one man out there who’s as curious as me, put up a profile on match or eHarmony or pick-your-site and is, again like me, just patiently waiting for me to find him or vice-versa.

Anyhow, my two cents, I dunno how different my viewpoint is but I appreciate the brief forum to answer it. Since I do enjoy free, open dialog, feel free to email me with yours (propstopenguins@cox.net).

After not even a week - I am through with match.com. They will still bill me for 85 more days but I am through.

My friend Mike told me I ought to try it.

I'm commuting back and forth between Orlando and D.C. for my new job and I don't really know anyone up here in D.C. and I've never had a lot of luck trying to get girls phone numbers in the first place.

I'm average looking, 5'-11", 43 years old, a degreed engineer with a good job who is successful professionally but not really so much with women.

Anyways so last week I decided to take Mike's advice and sign up.

Big mistake.

It didn't show any promise at all and it is rather obvious as someone who has 1400 friends on FB and has seen a lot of fake FB profiles that a lot of the female profiles I saw on Match.com just can't be real - the language is extremely boilerplate and says little (e.g. I'm fun, funny, fun loving, like sports, things a guy might want to hear, blah blah blah) and they have a lot of very incomplete profiles - nothing about education, income, occupation, kids, previous marriage, etc.

There are just way too many highly similar "about me's" in these girls' profiles that use the same catch phrases over and over - I have to believe this is because they are written by the same person and that most of these profiles are fake and designed to lure men into thinking that there were some actually desirable women in their system. (Salting the mine as it were.)

Based on my criteria (age 28-40, 5'3" to 5'11", college educated, non smoker, social drinker, no kids, never married, makes 50,000 a year or better, and thin, athletic or about average) there were only 3 matches in Orlando and those didn't change at all and while there were about 40 in D.C. those didn't change either.

Didn't get any replies (assuming they were even real profiles) to the ones I did try.

I believe that this has to be because there are a lot of either fake profiles or abandoned profiles which never get removed on this site and that Match.com is happy to leave the female profiles up there to make the male/female ratio seem close to parity so that the guys think that it is worth their time when it apparently isn't.

In one week, I got "winks" from two clearly FAKE profiles (profiles had no pics and no info and just how many 30-something women are interested in men from age 35-80?) these were clearly just phishing for personal info / emails.

I replied to an IM request from one and clearly this person wasn't even in the U.S. based on their command of the English language. I suspect Russian or Nigerian phishing scammers looking for my personal information.

Anyways so I resigned tonight and they make you jump through a million hoops and at every step they try to convince you you are making a mistake in "quitting the gym" - they make you regret resigning by showing you the "magic couple" who found each other on match.com and tell you about all the "benefits" you'll lose by quitting.

Finally after I completed the process I checked my email and guess what?

Moments later.."Sweet_Luv3883" winked at me.. I'm sure this is just a programmed software response to people who quit to try to lure them back in again.

My initial impression of these sites is correct - they prey on the lonely and the desperate and I shouldn't have listened to Mike when he said I ought to sign up.

Oh well as Alanis Morrisette says "You live.. you learn"..Goodbye $60.00.

P.S. Get this: "Sweet_Luv3883" also has NO picture and "she's" a 32 year old woman living in Hardburly KY (a tiny tiny dot of a town 480 miles from D.C. and 811 miles from Orlando) and she's looking for men "aged 45-75".

Really?

500 to 800 miles from her own area?

A 32 year old woman is actually looking for a 75 year old man? or even a 60 year old man? So actively looking that she has even paid money for the privilege?

SCAM!

There is no way "Sweet_Luv3883" is real.

FYI: I actually deleted all the elements of my profile manually before I resigned and hid my profile so there isn't even any reason why someone would even be able to find my profile.

STAY AWAY from Match.com!

The Feds ought to investigate them for fraud. I'd love to see 60 Minutes go after Match.com.

The worst site in my books.

Why is it during the first three days, I received about 50 winks and emails from men who according to their profiles live in North America yet some have no command of the English language.

Match.com offers a three day free membership so the emails and winks all came in during this time and suddenly come to a halt after this (when you can no longer cancel your membership).

The funny thing is that they all started again just before my one month membership expired.

I did find it a bit fishy, and when I responded to these so called emails most of these profiles were no longer active. I called match.com and their response was that maybe (all 20+men ) had changed their mind. Oh, yeah.

I was emailed "perfect matches" by match.com for men who are 4 inches shorter than me, live overseas (e.g living in Greenland looking for a woman in Australia), I live in North America or who as I have found out has not even paid for a membership.

The "art dealer" travelling through Europe was supposed to have lived in the same city as me. Turned out that he was an imposter and pulled his profile once he realized that he was caught.

I was also talking to someone in the US who also met this "art dealer" living in the next town from her.
They were planning on getting together when he returned home.

This site has more men with far fetched stories, they were either widowed, with their wife killed in an auto accident, married to royalty and was forced out of the home by the brother in law, had their wife leave them for another woman etc.

I think match.com should interview us all and then sell the rights to a movie deal, Would this not be fairer than charging us all to meet people who do not exist.

So my question is are these men real or being paid to email woman on match.com or am I just attracting the losers.?

Don't waste your money on this site you will have better luck on Plenty of Fish, the free dating site.

Ive read many of the reviews about Match on this site and they are all absolutely correct. Match has many pros and cons, but way more cons. It seems dating has become so commercialized by internet dating sites that it can easily leave one feeling disappointed, demoralized, disillusioned, and disenchanted.

Ive been on and off Match for years. I met a lot of girls, dated some, still friends with some, but overall it has been a lousy dating experience. Dont fall for the slick Match commercials showing people in blissful love, its a sham like most marketing media.

I expected to get on Match, meet some wonderful cute girl, fall in love, then get off. Im 41, nice looking, in great shape, good education, great personality, and have a lot to offer.

I still havent met that girl...

What Ive found instead is that Match has created a great business model which, like all businesses, is designed to retain and manipulate customers, and maximize company profit. Match wants to keep enticing people along, esp. the females, and create the mentality that theres someone better right around the corner, so people keep looking...and looking (and paying), for that fictitious romance novel "perfect match".

For the females, its a shopping mall of men (and women love shopping malls), as there are way more men on Match. The women get swamped with winks and emails which artificially inflates their sense of self worth. Thus they can sit there behind their computer (when they are alone on a Saturday nite wondering why they are single) and be ultra picky and indifferent.

Well sweetie, pull your head out of the clouds (or out of your a_s), and get back to reality and figure out what is going on, and that you will probably be on Match forever looking (and paying) for that unrealistic fantasy man of your dreams. It could happen yes, but in the meantime you would have been on Match for 10 years and spent a lot of money.

I miss old fashion romance, where you catch eyes with someone somewhere, and you feel that rush of attraction and excitement.

Now, dating it seems is a drudgery, commercialized by the internet. I fear that good old fashion romance may be forever gone...

Ive been reading a lot of the previous reviews posted, and they are all absolutely correct about online dating. Match has its pros and cons, but many more cons. It seems the old fashion way of meeting someone has gone away and has been replaced with hi tech (internet) methods/mediums that are indifferent, disillusioning, disappointing, and disenchanting.

Ive been on and off Match for years, met a lot of girls, dated some, still friends with some, but overall it has been a lousy experience. The ratio of money/effort spent to returns received is deplorable and leaves one feeling empty, used, and bitter about the dating scene.

Im 43, nice looking, in great shape, good education, great personality, and went on Match expecting to find a great girl, fall into blissful love, then get off internet dating.

It still hasnt happened...

Ive sent out countless winks and nice emails, only to get very little responses, or if an email conversation occurs, it seems to quickly fade away.

Match has created an excellent business model, which, like all companies, focuses on customer retention and manipulation, proliferation of the business, and profit. It seems everyone esp. the females on Match become conditioned to think that there is always someone better right around the corner, thus prolonging peoples desire to stay on Match and keeping paying and looking, in an unrealistic effort to find the "perfect match". Always looking for the Bigger Better Deal. What a joke.

I want to email the girls who say "looking for my perfect match" and say "listen sweetie, you have been brainwashed by Match, and with that mentality you will be single and on Match forever looking for your fantasy man who may never exist. So get back to reality and pull your head out of the clouds (or out of your a-s)". And yes girls get flooded with emails and winks which artificially boosts their ego, giving them this feeling of power and allowing them to hide behind their computer and be super picky.

I miss old fashion romance, where you catch eyes with someone somewhere and that spark ignites, and you feel that rush of excitement and attraction.

It seems modern technology is a double edged sword. It has connected the world, opened up massive opportunities, but also has commercialized the dating world to the point where it seems like good old fashion dating is forever gone...

I would like to thank Match.com for helping me find a wonderful man. I never believed this kind of dating would work until I tried. I met Joe in 2006. He was everything I ever wanted. We had a great time together. We were planning to get married and suddenly all our dreams came to an end. In Nov.2009 Joe died from a stroke. He was 51 years old. I am thankful for the time we had together. We would have never had those moments without Match.com.

Hey I have not even signed up because as I have read I have emails and winks already and I never completed my profile! What is this so called 5 matches daily stuff? Based on what is what I ask with an imcomplete profile who would want to contact me and the funny thing is I have seen some of these same faces before and not on this match.com. Yes they send to many emails and I might have to change my yahoo address due to this so do not even attempt to fill out the profil as many have mentioned. They do not have an email address to contact nor do they answer anything sent ot them but want "money" of course. Heck you might as well try out that bocus sight of Graigs List and get emails from those women who consider them selves attractive but are far from it as I soon did find out! Match.com is a scam if there is any one. Just today I have recieved over 6 emails from them and do not want to hear from them at all. I have heard from other "real" men as myself that once you sign up those that either winked at you or emailed you are no longer active and have not been for some time. BEWARE OF THIS BOCUS SIGHT and get out and find your self a real date because either for one, the women are not true, bocus or just not doing thier profile in a real context rather I do believe match.com makes up these profiles and sends them out as to collect money is all!!!!

SPAM MATCH.COM AS SOON AS THEY CONTACT YOU AND THERE AFTER AND PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOU KNOW. THEY ARE NOTHING BUT A SCAM AND WILL GET YOUR MONEY IF YOUR NOT CAREFULL READ ALL THE REVIEWS AND YOU WILL SEE FOR YOUR SELF. SPAM, SPAM, SPAM THEM AND REPORT THEM!!!!

I am going to tell you a true story. I have this girl friend immigrate to this country a few years ago. She can not even write her own profile. I helped her set up her match.com account on mother’s day 2010. I taught her how to use and how to search and do research on how to wear, what to say, and what to do at the first date. I read all men’s profiles she interested and reply emails for her and even chatting for her. The only thing she can do for herself is to change her pictures frequently. A typical gold digger. In about two weeks she met a doctor on match.com. They love each other at their first date. She is probably stays in the doctor’s 3 million mansion right now. Can you not say match.com is powerful? I give a 5 star.

Match.com what a joke!! I joined this site after prompting from my co-worker and a friend. Thank God I didn't waste lots of money. I think I only paid for one month.
I WAS SCAMMED on this site. The guy said he was from Maryland and after a few e-mail exchanges (and misspelled words, bad grammar and rambling love proclamations) claimed to be in Nigeria seeking his deceased father's fortune. My co-worker was also scammed on match.com and told me what to look for.
Match.com has made me cautious to try other dating sites for this reason.
I never went on one date using this site or even received a e-mail other than the scammer. I am not sure what men are looking for but I would have to disagree that Match.com caters to women. Men are just as picky. I did receive some winks and winked at a few guys but no results.
Also cannot get them stop sending info to my e-mail regarding matches in my areas, etc.