They promise “smart profiling” to deliver compatible partnership suggestions, in line with your personal search preferences – and the manual verification of all new profiles to ensure a “smooth, safe environment in which to meet other like-minded singles”.They use “matching algorithms” to try to help clients find someone, i.e.It was a mission of note, nothing was clear and while I thought I had signed up for a year (R815), apparently it was only six months.This came with loads of disclaimers that membership is automatically renewed at the end of your term.“They suspended my membership and sent me a demand for the full amount for the next six months.” So, Bianca deleted her profile and mailed them back, asking what they were trying to charge for.She wanted a copy of the agreement they claimed she had entered into, and was sent a paragraph claiming she had bought the “minimum period” membership (no time limit detailed) with an “automatic renewal for R”.
“On November 20 last year, I signed up with Elite Singles after a friend recommended them, saying they were more expensive than other sites, but basically the profiles you encounter there are of a bit of a higher calibre and you get fewer chancers looking to take advantage etc.They claimed she was liable for the entire amount and threatened to hand her over.But Bianca’s no consumer pushover, so she informed them they were breaking the law, as the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) requires they send a membership expiry reminder at least 40 days beforehand (and not more than 80 days before) and that they failed to offer her a cancellation fee. They have no phone numbers and claim to operate from a building in Germany.She’s one of the lucky ones: others warned about having to kiss a lot of frogs, catfishing (luring someone into a relationship by adopting a fictional online persona), and dodgy fraudsters.Besides the bothersome human element, it’s pure business for the operators: in the US, the industry made .5 billion last year.