Anonymous wrote:I used to work at a matchmaker and will be straight with you. If you are an older guy you will have your pick of women. If you are a woman it’s going to be difficult, better to spend your money which can be in the thousands getting out and about.

Anonymous wrote:Call Sima Tapatia, LOL!

Anonymous wrote:Many years ago, a couple of my single friends and I decided to sign up for "It's Just Lunch."

Biggest waste of time and money ever. None of us wound up meeting anyone even remotely worth consideration. I had one date where the guy showed up high on something, made a few hostile and critical remarks to me, then left the table and began flirting with a waitress. I threw some money down on the table and left.

When I called up the service and told them they didn't seem to be overly concerned. I'm sure they probably tried to match him with someone else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I once reached out to join the database of one of the very legitimate matchmakers in the area. Apparently she liked me because she emailed me the next day, met me for coffee to get to know me, then started setting me up on dates with her clients. She was in constant communication with me and said she really wanted to find me someone great. She was running a very legitimate business, was very good at it, and very kind. I went on 3-4 dates with clients of hers, but ultimately backed away as I've learned over time I'm not sure I want to be married and do the family thing like I once thought I did. Her clients were good, decent, successful men. I also felt safe and I could tell she provided those that paid her excellent service and usually always ultimately ended up finding her clients a match. From talking to her, it does sound like she has a much easier time matching her male clients than female, but does have success with female clients as well...it just seemed to take a little more time. If you are willing to pay for it and a very serious about wanting to find someone, I would recommend it. But from what I understand, its a pricey endeavor.

What's the name of the service?

DC Matchmaking...Michelle Jacoby. She's a bit Millionaire Matchmaker like, but I found her absolutely delightful and it was a good experience overall if you are very serious about wanting to meet someone. I know she's very pricey if you actually want to be a client with her actively matching you. I somehow just stumbled in to the situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I once reached out to join the database of one of the very legitimate matchmakers in the area. Apparently she liked me because she emailed me the next day, met me for coffee to get to know me, then started setting me up on dates with her clients. She was in constant communication with me and said she really wanted to find me someone great. She was running a very legitimate business, was very good at it, and very kind. I went on 3-4 dates with clients of hers, but ultimately backed away as I've learned over time I'm not sure I want to be married and do the family thing like I once thought I did. Her clients were good, decent, successful men. I also felt safe and I could tell she provided those that paid her excellent service and usually always ultimately ended up finding her clients a match. From talking to her, it does sound like she has a much easier time matching her male clients than female, but does have success with female clients as well...it just seemed to take a little more time. If you are willing to pay for it and a very serious about wanting to find someone, I would recommend it. But from what I understand, its a pricey endeavor.

What's the name of the service?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many years ago, a couple of my single friends and I decided to sign up for "It's Just Lunch."

Biggest waste of time and money ever. None of us wound up meeting anyone even remotely worth consideration. I had one date where the guy showed up high on something, made a few hostile and critical remarks to me, then left the table and began flirting with a waitress. I threw some money down on the table and left.

When I called up the service and told them they didn't seem to be overly concerned. I'm sure they probably tried to match him with someone else.

Was that one of the services when only the guys pay? Reminds me of the stories that came out later about a bunch of speed dating services where the guys paid and the business model was all about keeping them signing up — even to the point of bringing in girls who weren’t really available. Just saying it’s probably worth understanding the fee structure of both sides to get some idea of whether you think it would draw the type you are interested in.

No we (women) paid too. We got the most basic option available and it was still several hundreds of dollars.

We were thoroughly disgusted with the so-called service from IJL. It was a complete rip-off since they didn't even remotely think about matching based on any criteria we requested. It was like they just threw names in a hat and picked a couple of them out. Even physical attributes.

One friend was tall so she reasonably asked that men be at least 5'9" (which was still shorter than her.) IJL sent her on a date to meet a guy who was barely 5' tall and very small statured. She felt very awkward because he was a nice guy but the height/size difference was something she told service she did not want. Plus he was younger. She felt like she was on a date with a high school kid.

But I will say that we got YEARS of good laughs out of the experience after the disappointment faded. The so-called matches were THAT bad. Now that on-line dating services are more available I'd advise others to do that before dropping any dime on a service. FWIW we (women) all wound up meeting others and getting married.

It was an expensive, although somewhat humorous, lesson learned. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone though.

Anonymous wrote:I once reached out to join the database of one of the very legitimate matchmakers in the area. Apparently she liked me because she emailed me the next day, met me for coffee to get to know me, then started setting me up on dates with her clients. She was in constant communication with me and said she really wanted to find me someone great. She was running a very legitimate business, was very good at it, and very kind. I went on 3-4 dates with clients of hers, but ultimately backed away as I've learned over time I'm not sure I want to be married and do the family thing like I once thought I did. Her clients were good, decent, successful men. I also felt safe and I could tell she provided those that paid her excellent service and usually always ultimately ended up finding her clients a match. From talking to her, it does sound like she has a much easier time matching her male clients than female, but does have success with female clients as well...it just seemed to take a little more time. If you are willing to pay for it and a very serious about wanting to find someone, I would recommend it. But from what I understand, its a pricey endeavor.