Introduction agencies.... Don't bother (Sports Miscellaneous)

Name: IanM73

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Product:	Sports Miscellaneous
Date:	22/06/07 (283 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You might get to see somebody for one date

Disadvantages: Everything to do with these rip off merchants

The following review I wrote when I was living in Milton keynes but all of it still applies. All of these below are my own personel experiences from these agencies..

Introduction agencies, where do I start ?

Well, I don't think anybody has actually reviewed these, probably because everybody has had better luck than me, but I thought I should warn you all of these truly awful agencies that are only after your money and have no interest at all in their clients. Bearing in mind this is just some of them and there is probably a whole load more out there…

First of all I decided to try one of these three years ago as I thought I might actually find somebody out of it, how wrong was I….

After the break up of my then girlfriend in 2003 I decided that I wanted somebody in my life and tried all the conventional ways of trying to get a partner, clubs, pubs, work. Nothing became of it. I saw some adverts in the paper and though I might as well give it a go this is a great solution.
All of these agencies had made an effort with what they promised in these adverts, saying things like "You will meet the person of your dreams with us" or "Leave it all to us, you don't have to worry any more"
These were just a few of the lines they were trotting out with. The thing none of them mentioned on the adverts was the price of joining though

I shall now take you through the ones I very much regret joining…




The very first one was Avenues, I got a card through the door one day which told me about themselves, the card said that they were a top introduction service and had 90% success rate with all of their clients. Also they offered a one to one basis meeting so you can go through all the details with them making sure it is what you want to do and to tell tem what type of person you are looking for.
I gave them a call and sure enough they asked me to go down to my nearest office in St.Albans to have a chat with somebody.
Cutting a long story short I went along to the meeting and had a chat with an older man about what I was looking for in a lady, he asked a few questions about myself and he didn't think I needed more than a couple of introductions. Great I though, I am on the right path.
There were different memberships to join with them, Bronze, Silver and Gold. They were all quite pricey with the top package being around £1000. needless to say I chose the bottom one. This entitled me to six introductions from an extensive search from their team.
I went away with high hopes hearing that I would be contacted in a few days with my first introduction.
This is where all the trouble starts….

About two days later I did get my welcome pack with a contact number of the nearest office if I had any trouble or needed any help. Fair enough I thought, sounds quite handy.

About a week later a letter came through the post, it was my first introduction Hooray ! I opened it up to read a little about the lady, and she was described with what I was after in a partner. Her number was there for me to contact her and to have a chat about meeting up.
I called later that evening. No response. I tried later, it was engaged. Later no response. I left a message and would leave it a few more days in case she was busy.
Days went by, still had no response from her. In the end I contacted the office to see what was happening. It turned out that the lady had rang them and said she didn't want this introduction as she had no time !!
They told me this and said they would get another out as quickly as possible.
Weeks went by, no introduction. I called them and they said that they couldn't find anybody matching what I wanted. All I did want was somebody living nearby, I didn't mind a bit of travelling. Even the lady that I wanted was slim to average with good interests. Not hard is it !
Another month went by, nothing.

About two months later I did get one through the post. I did get in contact with her so we arranged to meet up in Bedford.
When I read her profile it sounded as though she had a lot of interests, but when we met it was a different story. It was a total mismatch! All the lady wanted to do was talk about Lord Of the Rings all the time. She admitted she did not have any other interests and this was one of the most boring dates I had ever been on.

This stayed like it throughout my time with Avenues, constantly chasing them for an introduction. Every time it was a mismatch.
There were a few occasions where the person just couldn't be bothered to meet and the rest didn't want to meet anybody for a relationship. My thoughts were Why the bloody hell sign up for it then!!

Every time I called the office for help the staff couldn't be bothered as they had their money. All I got was "We are looking for you"
I even explained the problems that I was having with the service but they couldn't have cared less.

They charge from £395 - £1000


After this awful time with them getting absolutely nowhere I say an ad in the paper for this next one…




RSVP

Again like Avenues this agency provides a one to one service and wants to meet up with you, have a chat etc about your profile and the lady you would like to meet.
Their head office is in Burton lattimer and was quite easy to find.
After a chat I thought maybe this would be the one as it sounded more promising than the others. Wrong.
After joining I did get a introduction within a few days, I phoned up and she actually met. It wasn't a bad date and I did want to meet her again but the usual, no response from messages, after promising she would go out again and even suggesting a day !!
This went on for a few months, I was getting introductions but they were again mismatched with absolutely nothing in common and they were not even interested in going out.

Then….
I had seven straight people who never met. Excuses were :
I can't be bothered.
Met somebody.
Not a member with the agency anymore (obvious lie)
Don't have time.
Having a tooth out and will have to go to hospital for it.
Can't meet for a month as going away for a weekend !
The real icing on the cake was Hamster has died. (not kidding you !)


Every time I called the agency their excuse was "have you talked to them about it ?" of course I had otherwise I would not be calling the agency up would I !!!
The only thing they could do was send out more introductions, but this time it was people I had seen already or ones that had not even been bothered to meet up.
I complained yet again but was told "No refund, sorry. We don't do that".
The staff were just as unhelpful as the others had been from the other agencies and every one was coming out with the same old story.

This company had events you could attend, but instead of putting them in local areas say once a month they put them everywhere in the country as they wanted to make people travel thus making more money. The only events I went to were a couple of pub and quiz nights that were very poor.
No effort had been made to get people talking to each other and it was such a waste of time going.

They charge around £295-£500 I think plus a monthly admin fee of £35 ! I cannot see how they can justify this.

Also I found out this year from a friend of a friend who works there that they are told not to put compatable people together as they do not want anybody to meet up and leave. All they want is the money rolling in every month.

This was the worst agency as far as meeting people as they just couldn't be bothered.





Datamate

This was a cheap and nasty agency that only run on a computer matchup! The membership I think was only £10 but this was another one of the worst ones.
When you sign up and complete your profile who you would like to meet etc they send you out up to seven matches when it is run through the computer. It gives you a name, phone number and a few lines about the person.
Every time I tried to contact somebody from any of the lists I was ever sent the ladies were with somebody, were not a member any more, Didn't want to know, had enough with the agency, and a few other excuses like moving to another area, just got married, or had just moved to another country !!
I can remember meeting one person from their list. I got on well when we were texting each other, bearing in mind we had not seen each other. When we met up though the computer had got the profiles mixed up as she was looking for a man a lot heavier than me and I was looking for somebody slimmer than her. I have nothing against size but when you specify requirements you expect the agency to at least bother to look into it. It was the exact same for her.
This company do not update their lists, do not answer the phone, do not respond to messages, and don't give a s**t about their members.
They have now changed their name because I think of a bad reputation.


They charge around £40 for a year



Dating Direct

This was another computer matched agency that had a good reputation. Not anymore..
Yet again this wasn't that much to join, but they offered you unlimited introductions in the Milton Keynes area. How many did I get you ask ? A big fat 0 that's what !
I was with them through a whole year, they had all my details but yet again another company who wants more money and does not deliver the goods. Apparently when I joined there were lots of women in my area !
I found it increasingly hard to believe that anybody was even looking, I doubt if they were.
Yet again when I tried to phone it just kept ringing and going to answerphone or another office who said it wasn't in their region anyway and couldn't help.


They charge around £40 for a year




I shall not list a lot more in great detail as any more as this review would run forever and a day, so that is what just a selection of the worst agencies out there and the pitfalls of joining them.
I would not recommend if you are a man or a lady as it probably has the same effect with both sexes.



Other bad agencies :

Mary Leigh Premier - introductions 0
Another one to one agency who promise the World, they have now ceased trading. Just shows you how good they were.


Dateline - introductions who met 1
Another cheap and nasty computer matching agency, zero prospect of meeting anybody with this one.




However there has been one agency I have had slight luck with, I have met a few good friends out of it. I was also seeing somebody for over a year but that ended in January.
This one is called Searchmate Milton Keynes. They have an introduction service as well as social gatherings.
The trouble is the age group is now a lot higher than my age range and they only seem to cater for people over 45 and upwards.
The events include quiz nights, speed dating, music nights, theatre, bowling and a few other things.




Overall:

After all of my bad experiences with all of these agencies I would strongly recommend not to go to any of these as all they want is your money.
They all provide a very bad service, rude inconsiderate staff, a total mismatch of introductions, and it can be very costly to come out of there in the end with absolutely nothing to show for it.
There are so many people they have on the books that are complete timewasters though, they should be kicked out of the agency if they are not going to bother to answer a phone call let alone meeting up.
Trying to meet somebody is the biggest hurdle in life and at the moment seems almost impossible. As much as I have tried with these agencies I have not met one lady with any common interest. So far I have met around 70, this mainly being from RSVP before the seven straight timewasters. This is the agencies fault and not the ladies who did actually bother to meet, it wasn't really their fault as they were probably looking for somebody very similar to them.
I really do feel for anybody else in my situation as there is not a lot of chance of meeting anyone else any other way.
If anybody has had any luck with any of these agencies I will be very surprised.
It is terrible the way single people are exploited now by these companies, but I did raise a smile when Avenues were taken to Watchdog on BBC1 for terrible services.
I certainly hope if any of you have tried these agencies that you have had a lot better luck than me, but for the future I will never join another one for as long as I live.



I have given up the search in Buckinghamshire but I shall be on my way back to my old hometown of Canvey Island in Essex as I am relocating back very soon……….


I shall be reviewing internet dating sites and speed dating very soon, so watch this space…


Thanks for reading,
Ian.

Summary: Time wasting agencies and time wasting people