Match.com… Like to Pay for Sausage Parties?

The purpose of my writing this is to hopefully help some lonely young lovers save their money and invest in themselves. Additionally, it’s a way for me to get back at these companies by publicly documenting how both are ineffective and how Match.com just simply ripped me off.

People are generally embarrassed to reveal that they subscribe to a matchmaking site for the same reasons many fear taking-out, or even responding to a personal ad in a newspaper. It is these same insecurities that these companies manipulate to take the customer’s money and fail to deliver their promised level of service. The interface that is used guarantees the anonymity of the user, eliminating fear of discovery, but also immediately establishing a dehumanized environment of secrecy under the guise of “safety.” Fears aside, this is a legitimately alluring product, still ambiguous, but attractive enough to charge shockingly expensive rates which ironically deliver an impression of quality. At the time of writing this, eHarmony and Match.com charge $251.40 and $203.88 respectively for a year of service.

I was seduced into these services the same way I imagine most are, through promotions offering free trial periods and reduced rates. Both sites also offer the ability to sign-up for free with a limited account allowing you to view photos but not communicate with users. How much are you really willing to pay to sort-of talk to someone? My experience using each of these sites is comparable, both introducing me to rejection and artificiality on an entirely new level. I’d be matched and would then message people with little to no reciprocation. Sorry guys, but girls generally don’t need a website to find a date. They get more attention than they desire in the real world so you better start making yourself visible because odds are, they are not paying these rates to search the internet and find you.

In particular, I found Match.com to be especially devious and deceptive. I initially signed up to Match.com by taking advantage of a promotion for a free 6-month subscription. After having thought to have deactivated both of my accounts on each of these sites months ago, I notice a charge of over $100 to my credit card by Match.com on the very day the promotion period was to expire. I immediately logged in to the site, and discovered that while I had deactivated and had been given the impression I had canceled my account, the auto-renew account setting was on by default, and I was being charged despite my obvious inactivity and efforts to discontinue service. I turned the setting off and e-mailed customer service saying I wanted to discontinue service and asking them to discontinue the pending transaction on my credit card. I received an e-mail later the very same day (the same day the promotion was to expire and I turned off auto-renew) which was bold enough to provide instructions on how to disable auto-renew as well as mention that I had done it earlier in the day. My guess is that they were implying I was too late in making this change.

My rage comes first in the form of being refused a pending transaction cancellation on the day-of expiration, which to me is like still being charged for something even though I didn’t sign the receipt because I noticed a pricing error. Mainly, Match.com sucks for the obvious deceitful tactics they use, enabling an obscure auto-renew setting by default, and even more damning, never sending an e-mail expiration notice. They were clearly trying to hide the service renewal and were deceitful with their promotion. Hear my words and feel my wrath Match.com… Match.com is a dishonest business that thrives on tricking their customers and obscuring the means for subscription cancellation. At least eHarmony is upfront about their subscription lifetimes and fees, e-mailing their customers before charging their credit card.

I imagine that there are people who find what they’re looking for on these sites, but at what odds and what price tag? If you really want to try a match-making site, there are plenty of free alternatives, some of which I have used, that are more friendly and from my experience, a way better shot at communicating with and possibly meeting someone. My advice would be to not make the same mistake I did with these sites. As we adopt the internet and related technologies deeper into our lifestyles, we dehumanize ourselves and forfeit authentic experience. Communication today keeps people in their safety zones, inhibiting interaction as a product of living. Even worse, the convenience it provides eliminates the experience and events which define who we are. In the end, it’s as if we are all the same lonely person on the internet, beautiful for the very reasons we are foolishly trying to hide.