Complaints

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  Elite Private Search

  3433 Broadway St NE STE 200 Minneapolis, MN 55413-1740

  
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  Elite Private Search

  121 S 8th St Ste 823 Minneapolis, MN 55402-2879

  

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/24/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I originally was a member of It's Just Lunch (IJL) dating service owned and run by **** *******. After I requested not to be set up with any more widowers, and requested matches who were closer to my own education and income level, ******* called me. ******* works for Elite Private Search (EPS), the sister company to IJL. ******* gave me a hard sell to make the very expensive upgrade to EPS (An additional **** for 12 dates). ******* said that EPS recruits men by having matchmakers going out into the real world to recruit men at events I asked if they did background checks. ******* said "no," but later said that they visited everyone's homes to better know people and match them. This created a sense of safety for me. ******* also repeatedly emphasized that the contract was "risk free" because I could turn down any match I wanted and get my money back. Her sales pitch was misleading and almost entirely untrue. I quickly learned my matches were all recruited from LinkedIn and simply had brief phone (not video) calls with matchmakers. This was not what I was told. Further, I think the brief interactions that the matchmakers have with the men they recruit on LinkedIn led to the poor matches I experienced. (There was one good match- made by the dating coach who had had in depth conversations with me and another client.) In summary, EPS used deceptive sales practices to persuade me to purchase its very expensive dating service. ******** ***** informed me in an email that they record all phone calls. I request that the 2 phone calls (including one 50 minute call) I had with ******* be made available to the BBB. The biggest lies in the sales pitch are: the matchmakers meet and recruit the men in person, the matchmakers visit the clients and men's homes, and the contract is "risk free." I have been extremely unhappy with this program and the matches, yet they won't give me a refund on unused matches as ******* had implied.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/30/2022

  We are writing in response to the complaint made by Ms. ***** ********  Ms. ******* became an Elite Private Search client and signed a non-refundable contract with us on 12/8/2021.  The membership purchased included 12 months of active time and 12 dates (with 18 introductions).  A copy of her signed contract is attached.
  We do, in fact, go to ‘real world events’ to recruit men for our clients.  This is one of many ways in which we meet great matches for our clients, in addition to our online network, such as LinkedIn.  However, on 6/28/22, Ms. ******* requested to only meet men who are paying clients of our program.  We accommodated her request and agreed to only provide matches in that criterion.  Additionally, Ms. ******* asked to work with a new matchmaker, which we accommodated as well.  Then, on 7/29/22, Ms. ******* emailed her new matchmaker indicating that she was now comfortable meeting men recruited from LinkedIn. 
  Finally, on 8/23/22, when Ms. ******* was displeased with her most recent match, her matchmaking team was able to get special approval to add an additional introduction to her membership as a sign of good client service – this also was done to accommodate the request from Ms. ******** 
  Ms. ******* has been on six dates with us, five of which she liked and gave positive feedback on; she went on second dates with three of them and indicated she would’ve gone on a second date with a fourth.  This is proof that we are servicing the membership as we said we would, she is meeting men she enjoys through us, and we know that can and will continue.  Additionally, Ms. ******* married a match that we introduced her to on a previous membership and we are confident that she can find success again.
  We have done everything Ms. ******* has requested during her time with us – apart from a refund, which is clearly stated in her membership as not being an option.  We are looking forward to continuing to work with her should she give us the opportunity. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/30/2022

   I am rejecting this response because: it does not address my primary concern about deceptive sales practices.  It also makes illogical and irrelevant arguments and then calls this "proof" that I "liked" 5 of my dates.  First, EPS's response does not address my main point that *******'s sales pitch included multiple lies.  1. ******* told me that the men were recruited in person at events- including galas, country clubs and driving ranges.  I never met a man who was recruited in person.  2. ******* told me that the matchmakers go into the homes of both clients and the men in order to see how they live and make better matches.  This lie created a false sense of safety for me.   3. ******* repeatedly stated that the contract was "risk free" because if I didn't like the profiles they showed me I could turn down the match and get my money back.  This is extremely misleading.  4. ******* told me the kind of men they would introduce me to do not go online and do not pay for dating services.  They have a recording of these two phone sales phone calls.  ******** *****, in an email, informed me that all calls are recorded.  So the company can clearly hear that ******* used these lies in her sales pitch.  Yet, ******** did not address my primary complaint in her response.  This is typical of my experience with this deceitful and manipulative company. 

  
  

  Eighteen years ago, when IJL was a very different company, I had a good experience with them.  The company was founded by a different woman, and had only recently been sold to the current owner, **** *******.  Back then my experience was good.  That was why I trusted my IJL matchmaker when she referred me to ******* at EPS.   Unfortunately my trust was misplaced.

  
  

  I had previously worked with Tawkify (a much less expensive matchmaking service) and had matches that ranged from fair to great with zero poor matches.  So  I was shocked when my first date with EPS was so poor that I could not even justify a second date.  (The matchmakers recommend a second date in case someone is nervous, and that is my personal practice unless a match is very poor).  ****** argued that I "liked" all 5 matches.  The purpose of a dating service is to provide someone who is a good match.    I always started out by stating the qualities I liked in the man, and then talked about my concerns and things I did not like.   For example, for one of my better EPS matches, I stated that he seemed personable and attractive, but I thought it was weird that he inquired about my sex drive and told me that he was "very horny" on a first date.  He also indicated that he was financially unstable and was stressed about finances.   I was open-minded and went on a second date, but the pressure for sex was too intense too early (among other issues) and I declined a third date.  I don't "dislike" this man, but we are not a good match.  MY CRITERIA FOR EPS IS THAT THEY CAN PRODUCE MATCHES THAT ARE AT LEAST AS GOOD AS THOSE I CAN EASILY FIND FOR MYSELF ON HINGE OR BUMBLE, AND COMPARABLE TO THE AVERAGE MATCH  PROVIDED BY MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE DATING SERVICES.  Overall, that is not the case.  

  
  

  Throughout this process, I am the one who has been flexible,.   I bought this package because of the lies I had been told- including that the matchmakers recruit the men in person.   When I confronted them about this lie they never offered to introduce me to men who had been recruited in person.  Instead they offered that I could meet IJL clients.   I agreed to this DESPITE THE FACT THAT IF ******* HAD NOT RECRUITED ME TO EPS, I WOULD HAVE BEEN MEETING IJL CLIENTS WITHOUT PAYING AN ADDITIONAL $******.  After the first  IJL match was also poor, I was even more flexible and  agreed to be introduced to BOTH men who had been recruited on LinkedIn and men who were IJL clients.   It is ironic that of the 6 matches I have received so far, the only good one is a man who is a current client of  IJL.  This is true despite the fact that ******* had told me that men with similar levels of education and income to mine do not pay for dating services such as IJL.    (More ironic, EPS had tried to convince him to upgrade to EPS for $45, 000, but he declined.  IJL tried to convince him to upgrade despite the fact that they say they do not have enough men with similar education and incomes to the female IJL  clients whom they are also upselling to EPS.)   

  
  

  Throughout this process I tried to determine how such an expensive dating service could generally create such subpar matches.  Notably, my first matchmaker never did an intake with me- not even over the phone.  She initially refused, saying, "Let's give you a few matches to see what you like first."  All she had were notes from the IJL matchmaker.  This made no sense to me.  After 4 poor matches I asked to be switched to another matchmaker and insisted that this matchmaker do a video intake with me.  After this I had one good match.  Then my new matchmaker matched me with my worst match I have ever had from any source (the man who seems on the spectrum - he repeatedly missed social cues.  For example after an hour when I asked for the check he ordered food.  He described in detail how he rents out  rooms in his home to boarders.  Even when I acted incredulous about this he continued to tell me the details- the boarders "have to be up-to-date on the rent or they can't have men/women sleep over."  "They have to pay more money if they want  to use the kitchen," etc.).  

  
  

  A fair response to the very poor match described above would have been to refund/ redo the ****** match.  I signed up for this service because I am busy.   It was bad enough that this date was a waste of time, and worse that I paid ****** for it.   (The contract is for 12 guaranteed matches which the client may accept or reject from up to 18 profiles.  The profiles are called "introductions.")   When I asked for a refund/redo for this date,  Michelle wrote that it was a "less than perfect match" and "that's why there are 12 of them".  She offered to provide an additional profile for me to choose from.  That does me no good because all of these men look good on paper.  Also, some of the information in the profiles has not been true.   EPA's consistent policy continues to be to deny all responsibility and to blame the client. 

  
  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/02/2022

  Because we respect the BBB's complaint process and we value our partnership with them, we've addressed Ms. *******’ additional response below. Any further discussion about specifics of her membership will have to be had with our team directly as this forum is clearly not resulting in true resolution.

  
  As previously stated, we do recruit at real world events as one of the many ways we meet wonderful matches for our clients.  Since we recruit in so many different ways, we make no guarantees as to what source a client’s match will come from or that they will only come from one particular source.  The reason Ms. ******* didn’t meet someone from a particular source (in person, per her complaint) is because shortly into her membership she requested to only meet other paying clients (IJL clients). 

  
  Regarding the membership being risk free; Ms. ******* does have the opportunity to pass on matches she doesn’t agree are a fit, which is why the membership has 18 referrals and 12 dates.  This does not mean she would get any money back; refer to the membership clearly stating no refunds on each page. 

  
  I can also say with confidence that ******* would never state that we would visit the homes of all of Ms. *******’ potential matches as our company has a policy against such a thing for the safety of our staff.  We do, however, still meet and have in depth interviews with each match a client would meet.

  
  As for Ms. *******’ matchmaker not doing an intake with her, that is because the intake was done with ******* when she became a member of Elite Private Search.  It wouldn’t make sense to do an intake of a client after they join, that is information we would get upfront. 

  
  As Ms. ******* stated, she did meet a great match who she shared with our date coach she is happily dating.  We are thrilled for her and wish her nothing but the best as she explores this relationship.