Together Dating is a scam, and don't let their pressure salespersons tell you otherwise. If by filing this report, I can spare even a single person of the TDS sham, then it is worth it. Hopefully they will be taken out of business for good. Here is my story:
I am a young professional who has recently graduated college and has started a career in a big city. I am a small-town boy who moved to D.C. On my own, so as you can imagine I was a little lonely. Within a month of moving in, I came home from work to my small 1bdrm apt one night and found a flyer pasted to my door promising a 'free dating service for Alexandria singles' (I live in Alexandria, Va... Suburb of D.C.) So of course I call the number and they were extremely friendly and prompt about scheduling me to sit down with one of their representatives to have a "personality profile". I showed up to the 'interview' within a week of making my first phone call inquiry (they were friendly, and persistent). My personality profile interview lasted approx. 30 mins, followed by friendly chit-chat and stories of successful 'pairings'... Then the hammer dropped.
Mind you, I was at their office for about an hour at this point and the representative I was speaking with, Angela, said, "Now what package are going to purchase with TDS today?" This was the first mention of money in the 1 week that I had been in contact with representatives of TDS. I thought, "ok. Prolly like match.com or those other services, she'll prolly ask for like 50-100 bucks." I was wrong... The friendly Angela turned into an entirely different person when she saw me balk at the price tag of their service, but like any good fisherman she fought and reeled me in like a 185 lb. Fish. I don't want to bore you w / the pressure sales tactics she employed, but rest assured, they worked and the friendly Angela returned once I signed the contract. As soon as I left the parking lot I had that heavy feeling of one who knows they've been had, but I thought, "hey, alexandria is a densely populated area and I was pretty specific about the types of girls I like. So maybe I'll meet someone"
My first 'Introduction' didn't come until a whole month later. I had forgotten that I had even paid for their dating service at that point because I was starting to get my feet underneath myself and starting to make friends naturally on my own. I was curious, though, and definitely wanted to get what I paid for. The first girl happened to live so far away that it took an hour and a half drive (traffic in the d.C. Area is terrible) for both of us to meet halfway. That introduction obviously didn't work out, and the next intro lived closer but was nearly ten years older than me (I specified an age range of 18-28 because I am 24 years of age). Strike three was a sweet girl, but a girl that I had absolutely no attraction to whatsoever. There was at least a 3 week lag after each of my notifications that I wanted to move on before I got my next intro. My premonition that it shouldn't be hard for them to match me with someone in a densely populated area was dead wrong.
I'm an avid sports fan so strike three did it for me. I wanted a refund on the remaining half of my contract since I paid for 6 introductions. I called and emailed customer service, but got stonewalled everywhere I turned. So much for customer service. Finally, a manager calls me and tersely explains to me that I signed a contract with a non-refundable clause in it... Smells scammy to me, but I'm left with nothing but to report this ripoff online in hopes to prevent Together Dating Service from ripping off anyone else.
Frankly, I find it pitiful and disgraceful what this company does. They prey on the lonely and desperate to provide a service that Match.com provides for pennies on the dollar compared to TDS and Match.com does a MUCH better job. Please, if you have read this far I thank you for your time, and be sure not to fall into the same trap I did when I moved to a new city. Also, if you could warn others, that would be great, as I would feel greatly satisfied if we could take this fraudulent company out of business for good.
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