It’s bad enough when a potential suitor breaks your heart. Now, dating services are causing grief for consumers.
The Better Business Bureau said complaints in northern Illinois about matchmaking services have more than doubled to 137 in the last year, up from 66 for the previous 12-month period.
The BBB told of a 70-year-old McHenry woman who paid $1,695 for an 18-month period, and didn’t realize it was an extra $20 a month to be able to go online and see potential matches after the first six months.
Pickings were slim in the 65- to 75-year-old demographic, she said.
“Many of them want to go out with women 15 years younger,” she told the BBB. “I joined in June 2009 and have only met three people.”
Common complaints included few arranged dates, subpar prospects and poor service.
Matchmaking services often say they have a database of thousands of singles in the area and promise a minimum number of dates, the BBB said. But one consumer “reported to only have received three referrals over a 12-month period, significantly less than what was promised.”
Often consumers complained about being paired with people who didn’t match their criteria, including smokers or people who lived too far away.
Others were told by matchmaking companies to quit being so picky about whom they dated.
The BBB encourages consumers to check its Web site for complaints, to avoid high-pressure sales tactics and to realize that they might not stop being billed once the contract runs out.
“Some dating services automatically renew memberships and there are steps that must be taken, such as calling the company, to keep from being billed again,” the BBB said.
