Money Can't Buy You Love? (udate.com)

Member Name: JMin13

Product:	udate.com
Date:	15/03/01 (759 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Focused selection procedure; reassuringly glossy

Disadvantages: Rather 'bureaucratic'; costly; not always accurate

As this is my second review of internet dating, you may start to see me as: a) a specialist in the subject or b) a sad loser. Either way, I signed up with uDate, tempted by their promise of a free trial.
The lengthy enrolment procedure seemed to be impressively thorough. I had to answer questions about myself and my interests before describing the person I was looking for. It all seemed extremely thorough, albeit rather like civil service form filling.
However there's a lot to be said for selecting multiple choice options as it forces you to focus on specific characteristics, one at a time. If it all seems too much, you can always come back later and add to it.
Having finally created a glowing portrait of myself, I submitted it to uDate's computerised cupids, who conjured up a selection of likely mates, based on my choices. Unfortunately, most of these seemed to live in the USA, so it was back to the Sort criteria, to find ones slightly closer to home (though I am willing to relocate if the right Beverly Hills millionairess should come along).
uDate's manner of displaying likely matches is admirably clear. The main screen has two sections, highlighting features it thinks you will like (green tick for 'own teeth and hair') and ones you won't (red cross against 'free from gaol in 10-15 years, parole board willing'). You can then delve deeper to discover their physical characteristics, interests and even take a look at a photo if they've downloaded one.
Unfortunately, it also cast a spotlight on the limitations of the selection procedure. As a non-smoking, non-drinking, left-wing vegetarian, I'm probably not a standard uDate customer. But I wasn't too impressed to be paired off with people who like to go to the pub two or three times a week, stopping off for a Big Mac or KFC on the way home!
uDate still wanted to marry me off though. Pretty soon the e-mails started arriving. The first
one enthused that several women were just waiting to hear from me. Next came the exciting news that there was a personal message for me. Heart pounding (oh, romantic fool that I still am) I returned for my uDate.
It was then that the commercial aspect of the service hit home. I'd realised that you have to be a fully fledged member to send messages or chat on-line (uDate calls this 'whispering' but you pay through the nose for these sweet nothings).
However, what hadn't registered until now was that you even have to be a paid up member to receive electronic love letters - and at £16.95 a month, it ain't cheap. (There is a week's trial membership, but at £6.95 if I remember correctly, it's even worse value).
So I was in a dilemma. Some fair damsel had put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), presumably to tell me how desirable I sounded, but I'd have to run up the credit card to find out for sure.
I decided to do a bit of research first and was glad I did. She had several characteristics I considered incompatible with my own lefty/liberal leanings. And even more disconcertingly, she said she had joined uDate for 'research' So maybe I was going to fork out to end up as a case study in a newspaper.
True, I had pangs about not even reading her e-mail of introduction. But it sounded like my investment in 'gold membership' was more likely to line uDate's coffers than it was to pave my path to a blissful future.
The wisdom of my decision seems to have been borne out by the fact that this was the only e-mail I received - though uDate has continued to tell me how high I rate on numerous women's compatibility lists.
Yesterday I decided to put all these poor souls, who were obviously pining for me yet somehow unable to bring themselves to tell me how much they wanted me (and how they'd never eat another kebab after a night on the piss if only I'd be theirs), out o
f their misery, and I asked uDate to take me off their books. I'm pleased to report, when I tried to log in tonight, my membership was not recognised, indicating that I am no longer among cupid's chosen ones.
Like I said (or was it The Beatles), money can't buy you love. But it can buy you a dating service. The tradition of the commercial matchmaker goes back centuries. And compared with some bespoke services, uDate isn't extortionate.
It seems to attract a slightly more mature clientele than you tend to find with free dating services, such as those offered by Lycos or Excite, with more thirty-somethings. This is probably a by-product of the charges and will undoubtedly be a plus for some people. Paying to play should also help root out the timewasters and jokers.
However, despite the high-tech approach, I doubt the accuracy of its selection procedures, at least if you or your intersts are anything out of the ordinary. And I couldn't help noticing that a good number of its members seemed, like me, to be on free trials, suggesting that they wouldn't be swapping romantic words by e-mail either.
A dating service has to attract a varied membership before it can start to make matches and uDate is promoting itself heavily via attractive banner advertising. It looks reassuringly professional.
But while Excite and Lycos's free routes to romance might not be quite so streamlined, and you may have to do a bit more work to find that perfect person, they may just be more rewarding in the long run.

Summary: