I signed up with Together of San Fernando in October with their plan that would introduce me to 10 candidates. They charged me $8,290 upfront, with only 3 business days to cancel the service (which is per CA State Law). I did NOT hear from their company's representative within first week or so, so I obviously waved my right to cancel without even realizing consequences.
After about a week or so, I received a first phone call from the Together's representative, saying they had this great guy for me, how lucky I should be to be given the chance because he is "a wealthy foot surgeon whom any woman would like to date." I declined because he did not match my personal preferences (Together never provides photos of candidates).
Shortly after, they attempted to introduce me to two more candidates, only to find out they are far cry from my expectations. Monique Dony, an employee in their Encino office (all of their sales people look very good and make you feel like as if you are dealing with the high clientele dating services), did her best to make me feel like I was in "best hands", and like she is my best buddy.
Before I signed up, I had to fill out a personality test and an extensive questionnaire asking among other things for my Drivers license, SSN, my credit limit, my income, etc. I refused to provide any of the above, only to get an answer "that everybody complied, and I will be no exception". That was before I even got to hear what their actual services were, and how much they charge for it. I was about to walk out, when Monique all at sudden became available to meet me (she was late about an hour). We spent over an hour in her office, and when I refused to pay for their top service, her manager asked if I was a student (he did not realize I could hear him), and how come I can not afford to fork out $10K!
Long story short, I followed up with emailing Monique couple of images of my previous partners, to give her a better picture of what I was looking for. Also, prior signing-up she made a comment that they just got two candidates, who were "Gorgeous looking European men", with whom she'll match me up with very soon.
As soon as I left her office, I heard no word from her anymore, but instead I started getting phone calls from her assistant Melissa, whom I never met. She tried to set me up with a "Foot surgeon", saying how lucky I was because there are so many other women trying to date someone "in his calibre". I declined, as he did not meet my personal preferences.
Next candidate was a 48 year old "Self-made millionaire" from Malibu, who was way over the age limit I had specified. Melissa again was very pushy on the phone, saying the guy is great looking, very funny and very successful (seems as if candidate's financial status is all they really care about). I spoke with the gentleman, only to hear from him that he is looking for a model, and that his own experience with Together was disastrous.
Even before I got a chance to setup a date with him, or fill and mail out my feedback report, I already got info on another candidate. I never met with either one of the gentlemen, the only service I really used was 1h phone talk with the Malibu candidate. I decided not to meet him either, because of his age, and because Together lied, hiding that he had three small children living with him.
On the bottom of Together's Feeback form they clearly state that they may not send info on other candidates, until they receive filled out form from the previous possible match. I confronted Monique about it, and she never answered why they proceeded with sending me info on the third candidate. I hired a lawyer, requesting to cancel their services. I also filled a dispute with my credit card company, which just decided to return the charge to the merchant, and also advised to file a lawsuit against Together. My credit card company'ss reply was that they can not intervene with the merchant's cancellation policy.
I am very disappointed, and about to take legal actions against Together of Encino. I wish I did background check on them before I decided to walk into their offices. At BBB's site, there are more than 30 reported complaints in past 2 years, and their rating is the lowest grade F.
Dating services is becoming a booming industry in the US, and there are many scams out there. I definitely would like to see stricter laws about it, especially when these guys sell anything they can, while no law protects us, the customers.
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