A retired North Ridgeville man said he was duped into renewing his paid subscription to an online dating site after the company sent him misleading emails.
The man, who newsnet5.com will refer to in this story as Sam, said he signed up for the site SeniorPeopleMeet.com.
Sam said he let his subscription expire but then started receiving emails that stated someone wanted to meet him and was repeatedly putting him on her “fave list.”
“I’m having one or two every day favor me,” he said. “So I’m like ‘Wow, okay I want to meet somebody!”
Sam paid $50 for a new subscription, curious to see if this woman could be the woman of his dreams.
But he said he logged on to find his inbox was empty.
“There were no new favors, not one,” he said. “I was so disappointed because that’s what I was looking forward to.”
Sam contacted the company but was denied a refund. He said a service representative told him that sometimes there are glitches with the email system.
Sam said he wasn’t as upset about paying the fee as he was about the company misleading him and playing user’s emotions.
Another dating site user from Highland Heights told newsnet5.com he was scammed by the website OkCupid.com.
He said he paid for a subscription and before he had a chance to message anyone he was locked out of his account. He was told that he’d been “reported for fraud” and was unable to get a refund.
According to the Better Business Bureau, online dating scams are increasingly common as more and more Americans take to the web to find their mates.
The BBB said the New York-based OKCupid.com has an F rating with organization due to a failure to respond to 85 of 124 complaints. Complaints concernde customer service issues, bogus postings, security and privacy issues, stalking, and technical issues.
And Sue McConnell, President & CEO of the BBB serving Greater Cleveland, said People Media, the company that owns SeniorPeopleMeet.com, has an even worse track record.
“They have over 500 complaints and over 300 of those have gone unanswered,” McConnell said. “The company has not even responded.”
She said many of the complaints are about sales practices and billing issues.
McConnell said it’s important for users to do their research before paying for an online dating subscription. Read the contract, especially cancellation and refund policies and make sure to never disclose confidential information like a Social Security Number.
Ratings can be found on the BBB’s website.
